Health influencers on Instagram: 53 doctors, dietitians, therapists and wellness creators (2026)

This is a list of 53 health and wellness creators on Instagram, grouped by follower count: 1,000 to 10,000, 10,000 to 50,000, 50,000 to 250,000, and 250,000 and up. It holds doctors, nurses and dentists, dietitians and nutritionists, therapists and psychologists, sleep educators, and holistic and herbal creators. For each one you get the follower count, the engagement rate of their typical post, how often they post, the credential their bio shows and one recent post. We picked them from 1,083 health creators that Virev's crawler read between August 23 and September 30, 2026, and opened every profile on Instagram on October 22, 2026.

The pages that rank for health influencers answer other questions. Pew Research Center's May 2026 study profiled 6,828 US health and wellness influencers with 100,000+ followers and found that 41% describe themselves as health care professionals, 31% as coaches and 28% as entrepreneurs, and that 86% are on Instagram. It names no accounts and measures no engagement or ads. Influencer Hero's top 120 is a US list of healthy lifestyle accounts, several of them trainers, with one engagement rate each and no benchmark. Afluencer's 50 wellness influencers, dated December 2025, are creators on its own platform, written up as profiles that quote an engagement rate for some of them and give no benchmark. The top Reddit thread shares a cardiologist's video on the risks of wellness influencers. None of them says what a health creator of a given size gets on a typical post, whether a credential changes it, or what happens to a labeled ad. This page measures all three.

How to read the numbers

• Typical ER is likes plus comments on the creator's median post of their 12 most recent, divided by followers, because one viral Reel can lift an average far above what a paid post will get.
• Posts/wk is the pace across those 12 posts, so a creator who posts several Reels a day shows a high number.
• Bio credential copies the title or license the creator shows in their name or bio, such as MD, RD or LCSW.
• We did not check any credential against a license register, so each one is self-reported.
• Recent post links to a post close to the creator's typical numbers, with the date and the likes we read on Instagram on October 22.
• Instagram rounds like counts above 10,000, so two posts in the tables show 11K and 12K likes.
• Followers come from Virev's last read of each account, between August 23 and September 30, 2026.
• The paragraph on each creator below a table repeats the job, training and employers the creator lists on Instagram, and we did not verify them.

To check a health creator who is not on this list, paste the handle into the Instagram engagement rate calculator. It shows the average and the typical post side by side.

What a health creator gets per post, by follower count

A brand that books a creator usually starts with a size and asks how many likes and comments a post gets at that size. Here is the median health creator in each band.

• A health creator with 10,000 to 20,000 followers gets about 100 likes and comments on a typical post, a rate of 0.69%.
• A creator with 1,000 to 2,500 followers gets about 45, at 2.78%, so the rate is four times higher and the count is less than half.
• The rate holds near 0.5% from 20,000 to 250,000 followers, then halves again above 250,000.
• The 1M+ band holds 27 creators, and their typical post gets about 2,900 likes and comments, 0.13% of followers.

Health creators get about half the engagement of other creators

We measured 53,934 individual creators of every niche the same way. In every tier, the typical health post gets less than two thirds of what a typical post gets across all creators of that size.

• The gap is widest from 10,000 to 50,000 followers, where health creators get 0.60% against 1.48%, about 40% of the all-creator rate.
• The gap holds in the two largest countries in the set, where US health creators with 10,000 to 50,000 followers get 0.53% against 1.17% for all US creators, and Brazilian ones get 0.47% against 1.32%.
• Health creators take labeled deals at the same rate as everyone else, with 16% posting at least one labeled or #ad post this year against 16% of all creators.
• Instagram does not show saves or shares, so these rates leave out how often people save a health explainer or send it on.

Plan a health campaign on these medians, not on a general benchmark. A general figure for a 20,000-follower creator would promise about 300 likes and comments, and a typical health creator of that size gets about 130.

Who shows a credential, and what it changes

Of the 632 measured creators whose bio we had on file, 219, or 35%, show a health credential in their name or bio: a title such as Dr., a license such as RN, RD or LCSW, a council number such as Brazil's CRM, CRN or CRP, or a job title such as dietitian, nurse or psychologist. Among those with 100,000+ followers, 37% do, close to the 41% Pew found for US health influencers of that size.

• Under 50,000 followers, creators who show a credential get lower typical posts than those who show none, 1.62% against 2.13% and 0.56% against 0.71%.
• Credentialed creators take labeled deals as often, 22% against 21%, but post discount codes half as often, 6% against 13%.
• Their labeled posts got 0.80 times the usual response, on 196 posts by 48 creators, against 0.90 times for creators without one.
• The share with a credential runs from 76% of doctors, nurses and clinicians to 46% of mental health creators, 38% of nutrition creators, 15% of general wellness creators and 8% of holistic and herbal creators.

A credential in a bio is self-reported. Before a brand presents a creator as a doctor, nurse or dietitian, check the license in the register of the state or country where they practice.

Health influencers with 1,000 to 10,000 followers

The median health creator in this tier has a typical post of 2.13%, or about 59 likes and comments. All 14 creators below beat it. Search health creators with 1,000 to 10,000 followers in Virev.

Stella Kontak (@stellarbabysleep) is a pediatric sleep consultant in Charlotte, North Carolina. Her July post lists steps for the four-month sleep regression. One of her 2026 posts carries the paid partnership label.

Yasmeen Faraj (@kindacrunchytherapy) is a psychotherapist in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey, who also sees clients by telehealth. Her June post asks parents to swap "be careful" for specific words. She fits parenting and family brands.

Lauren Snyder (@dr.lauren.snyder) describes herself as a board-certified family medicine physician and writes that her views are her own and not medical advice. Her July 3 post on how gynecological care gets dismissed drew 151 likes and 30 comments. Her typical post is five times the tier median.

Jamarah Amani (@goddesspeacebeautiful) is a midwife and birth justice organizer. Her June post shares her op-ed in The Miami Times on how midwives close gaps in maternity care. She posts about once every two weeks, so book one post, not a series.

Manavi Khurana (@khurana_manavi) is a therapist, the founder of Mind over Mutter and a supervisor at Karma Care, with NYU Steinhardt in her bio. Her posts pair therapy topics with jokes, and her typical post is three times the tier median.

Lou Kaufhold (@loucooks_) is a nutrition coach who writes plant-rich recipes for runners and lifters, such as lemon and parsley tofu skewers in July. Her typical post is 5.98%, almost three times the tier median.

Geeta Maker-Clark (@foodplantsdancedoc) is a doctor and the author of Medicine for All People, with NPR, SXSW and UChicago in her bio. Her feed mixes plant-based food, dance and community health, close to four posts a week.

Halleh Akbarnia (@hallehakbarniamd) is an ER doctor and public health advocate whose bio reads "making medicine make sense". Her July post explained aortic dissection after it made the news. She fits prevention and public health campaigns.

Jered Bailey (@perspectivetrainer) runs breathwork and embodiment sessions in Tacoma, Washington. His July post invites people to a post-Pride breathwork session. His typical post sits near the tier median, and he fits local studios and retreats.

Megan Donovan (@megandonovanrd) is a dietitian in Charleston, South Carolina, who posts weeknight recipes. She asks readers to comment a word to get the recipe, which is why her August orzo post had 31 comments on 70 likes.

Amit Javed (@javedamitdr) is a GI cancer and robotic surgeon at Fortis Gurugram. He posts short symptom explainers, such as five warning signs of pancreatic cancer in July. He fits hospital and screening campaigns better than consumer products.

Ellen Wandame (@psiellenwandame) is a Brazilian psychologist who lists her CRP council number and reads novel and TV characters through psychology, in Portuguese. Her typical post is 10.83%, about 620 likes and comments.

Aaisha Alvi (@aaishaalviwrites) is a postpartum psychosis awareness advocate and the author of A Mom Like That, published by Dundurn Press. She writes from her own experience, so she fits maternal health charities and hospitals more than product launches.

Sahil Gupta (@dr.sahilguptamd) is a pain medicine physician and assistant professor who lists Mayo Clinic and a neurology board certification. He posts about seven times a week and mixes pain care with sports performance, such as a July post on Kylian Mbappé's acceleration.

Health influencers with 10,000 to 50,000 followers

The median health creator in this tier has a typical post of 0.60%, or about 129 likes and comments. 10 of the 13 creators below beat it. Search health creators with 10,000 to 50,000 followers in Virev.

Sophie Blake (@sophieblake72) is a former TV presenter living with incurable breast cancer who campaigns for access to treatment. Her July post on HER2-low treatment access in England got 310 likes. Her typical post is five times the tier median.

Shanti Hollis (@somethingnewwithshanti) is an EMDR therapist in Jacksonville, Florida, who writes for women working through childhood trauma. She posts about three times a week, and her typical post beats the tier median.

Ani Neil (@balancewithani) is a holistic nutritionist in Sydney who posts recipes such as ginger beetroot shots. Three of her 2026 posts carry the paid label.

Tina Halabian (@drtinahalabian) is a clinical psychologist whose short Reels on overthinking travel far past her followers. Her July 2 post had 11,000 likes on 13,800 followers. Check her Reel views before you price her by follower count.

Kristen (@meandmycpap) is a therapist with sleep apnea, trained in CBT for insomnia, who posts about living with a CPAP machine. Seven of her 2026 posts carry the paid label, for CPAP retailers and makers.

Amrita Patel (@dramritapatel) is a dentist and practice owner who promises "straight answers from a real dentist". Her August post on how patients judge dentists' advice drew 678 likes and 51 comments. Her typical post is seven times the tier median.

Rachel Brown (@rocketcitydietitian) is a dietitian in Huntsville, Alabama, who hosts Foodie Fix on a local TV station. Her feed is mostly restaurant visits, so she fits restaurants and food brands that want a dietitian's name on a review.

Mollie Eastman (@mollie.eastman) is a former insomniac who hosts a sleep podcast with more than 250 episodes. She posted 6 times in 2026 in our read, so she suits a podcast deal more than a run of posts.

Tom Parkes (@tomparkestherapy) is an OCD and anxiety therapist and ACT trainer who hosts the Mentally Flexible podcast. Five of his 2026 posts carry the paid label, and in our crawl they got a fifth of his usual likes and comments.

Angad Singh Kochar (@mindcare_bydr.angad) is a psychiatrist in New Delhi with 15 years in practice. He explains stress, anxiety and overthinking in plain posts, about three a week.

Meredith Olsen (@defineshock) is an intensive care doctor who teaches ICU physiology to other clinicians. Her August post on patients "bucking the vent" got 1,198 likes. She fits medical device and education brands that sell to clinicians.

Christina (@yinsandneedles) is an acupuncturist in Orange County, California, who posts about fertility, menstrual cycles and cupping. The evidence for acupuncture varies by condition, so review any fertility claim before it runs in a brand post.

Payne Harrison (@oliver__payne) is a travel physical therapist in Florida whose Reels joke about clinic life. Twelve of his 2026 posts carry the paid partnership label, and the case below compares them with his usual posts.

Health influencers with 50,000 to 250,000 followers

The median health creator in this tier has a typical post of 0.44%, or about 482 likes and comments. 11 of the 13 creators below beat it. Search health creators with 50,000 to 250,000 followers in Virev.

Amma Rosavalon (@mamma.amma) is an herbalist who teaches one herb a month and runs free webinars. Herbal products are not approved drugs in the US, so keep brand copy away from treatment claims.

Maggie Ortlieb (@maggieeatsvegan) posts plant-based food finds and where to eat them, several times a day. Five of her 2026 posts carry the paid label, and her typical post is almost five times the tier median.

Zach Trevino (@dr.zachtrevino) is a therapist who posts short, joke-led Reels on mental health and culture, several a day in our read. His typical post beats the tier median.

Michelle Yates (@yatesnutrition) is a dietitian who works on food noise and binge and emotional eating, and sells a program. Her June post on keeping sweets in the house drew 60 comments.

Seema Yasmin (@drseemayasmin) is a doctor, Emmy-winning reporter and professor whose bio runs from Cambridge to the CDC, CNN and Stanford, and who now does stand-up. She posts about six times a week, and her typical post is eight times the tier median.

Melanie Avalon (@melanieavalon) hosts the Melanie Avalon Biohacking Podcast and the Intermittent Fasting Podcast. Eleven of her 2026 posts carry a discount code, the most on this list.

Federica Amati (@dr.fede.amati) is head nutritionist at ZOE, a nutrition lead at Imperial College's medical school and an author. Her June post explains the four stages of feeling full. Two of her 2026 posts carry the paid label.

Liz (@lizrheatherapy) is a therapist for queer and trans clients, licensed in six US states, who also sells trainings to other therapists. Her captions say the account is not therapy, a line other clinicians on this list could copy.

Mamobo Ogoro (@mamobo96) is a cultural psychologist in Ireland who teaches cross-cultural behavioral science and founded GORM Media. Two of her 2026 posts carry the paid label.

Carla Purvis (@thelowtoxqueen) is a holistic health coach who reads ingredient labels on food, beauty and home products. Her posts recommend swaps, so check her claims about ingredients against your own testing before a deal.

Rola Ghaddar (@rola_ghaddar) is a dietitian in Dubai who posts in Arabic about intuitive eating and body image, after 13 years in practice. She posts about once every two weeks, and her typical post is almost four times the tier median.

Brigid Titgemeier (@beingbrigid) is a functional medicine dietitian trained at Cleveland Clinic. She posts about three times a week on inflammation and meals, and her typical post beats the tier median.

Farzanah Nasser (@farzanahnasser_nutrition) is a gut health nutritionist and author with Institute for Functional Medicine certification. Her June hydration salad recipe got 493 likes. Six of her 2026 posts carry an ad mark or the paid label.

Health influencers with 250,000+ followers

The median health creator in this tier has a typical post of 0.23%, or about 1,462 likes and comments. 8 of the 13 creators below beat it. Search health creators with 250,000+ followers in Virev.

Willough Jenkins (@drwilloughjenkins) describes herself as a board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist and posts parenting advice, such as an August post for a father worried about his teen and drinking.

Pradip Jamnadas (@pradipjamnadasmd) is an interventional cardiologist in Orlando whose posts cover fasting and ketosis, with "not medical advice" in his bio. He had 262,000 followers in our crawl and 331,000 when we opened the profile.

Hana Hajdar (@therapyformums) is a couples therapist and mental load coach for mothers. Her typical post is 0.14%, but her average is 1.52%, so a few posts carry the account.

Andrew Weil (@drweil) is a Harvard-trained doctor, the author of 10 New York Times bestsellers and the founder of the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona. His typical post is 0.15%, below the tier median, on 279,000 followers.

Poonam Desai (@drpoonamdesai) is an ER and longevity doctor with UCLA, Cornell and NewYork-Presbyterian in her bio. Her August post lists 10 habits she uses to slow aging. Two of her 2026 posts carry the paid label.

Natalia Dadalto (@nataliadadaltopsi) is a Brazilian relationship psychologist who founded the clinic @clinicapsidoamor. She posts about ten times a week, and her typical post is five times the tier median.

Alex (@alexismswan) posts recipes for each phase of the menstrual cycle and sells recipe books. The evidence for cycle syncing is limited, so brief her on food claims, not hormone claims. Her typical post is seven times the tier median.

Dr. Thema (@dr.thema) is a psychologist, minister and host of the Homecoming podcast, and lists her term as 2023 president of the American Psychological Association. She posted 6 times in 2026 in our read.

Rhiannon Lambert (@rhitrition) is a UK registered nutritionist, author and host of The Wellness Scoop podcast. She posted 8 times in 2026 in our read, and her typical post is more than twice the tier median.

Deborah Moss (@deborahmoss_) posts nutrition and mindset content in Portuguese, about nine times a week. Her bio says her appointment book is closed. Her typical post is more than three times the tier median.

Carlos González (@criandosinmiedo) is a Spanish pediatrician who teaches on breastfeeding and hosts the Criando Sin Miedo podcast. His August post on how much sugar a child needs got 12,000 likes.

Dan Ginader (@dr.dan_dpt) is a physical therapist and clinic director at Mims Method in New York, the author of The Pain Free Body and the founder of the Move Well app. His posts are short exercise demos, such as foot strength drills in August.

Mika (@_joytothefood_) posts high-protein recipes made without protein powder and sends the recipe to readers who comment, so her August muffin post had 1,882 comments on 1,650 likes. Six of her 2026 posts carry the paid label.

Doctors, dietitians, therapists and wellness creators compared

We sorted the 1,083 creators into five groups by the main niche in their Virev creator profile. Sleep creators are few, 8 of the 1,083, so most of them sit in general health and wellness.

* fewer than 20 creators in that cell. Credential in bio is the share of creators with a bio on file. Labeled or #ad and code are shares of creators who posted that way at least once between January 1 and September 25, 2026.

• Nutrition creators take the most brand deals, with 27% of 192 posting a labeled or #ad post this year, twice the share of doctors and clinicians.
• Mental health creators take the fewest, 8% of 159, and their 25 labeled posts, by 12 creators, got a quarter of the usual response, 0.24 times.
• Mental health creators with 10,000 to 50,000 followers hold the highest typical post in that tier, 1.00%, on 29 creators.
• Doctors and clinicians lead the smallest tier at 2.47%, and post codes the least of any group except mental health, 6%.

Labeled ads on health accounts keep 84% of the usual response

We found 687 labeled or #ad posts and 222 code or affiliate posts on the accounts of 1,573 health creators between January 1 and September 25, 2026. A labeled or #ad post has Instagram's paid partnership label or an ad tag such as #ad, #publi or #PR, the same rule as our study of 175,104 sponsored posts. For each post we compared likes and comments with the median of the same account's posts that carry no ad marker, code, gift or giveaway.

• The median labeled or #ad post on a health account got 0.84 times the usual likes and comments, and 64% of them got less than usual.
• Posts with Instagram's paid partnership label got 0.77 times the usual on 468 posts, and posts with only an ad tag got 0.90 times on 219.
• Labeled Reels kept 93% of their usual plays, so people watched the ad and reacted less.
• Gifted posts got 1.07 times the usual, on 116 posts by 28 creators.
• By size, labeled posts got 1.09 times the usual under 10,000 followers, 0.76 at 10,000 to 100,000, 0.87 at 100,000 to 500,000 and 0.61 above 500,000.
• The brand named most often in labeled health posts was Shein, a clothing retailer, in 45 posts by 4 creators, so not every brand deal on a health account is a health product.

Price a health creator on the lower figure. If a creator with 20,000 followers gets about 130 likes and comments on a typical post, plan for about 100 on a labeled post, using the 0.76 multiple for 10,000 to 100,000 followers.

A physical therapist's clinic posts against his Icy Hot post

Payne Harrison (@oliver__payne) is a travel physical therapist with 45,000 followers whose Reels joke about clinic life. Between April 17 and August 21, 2026, 12 of his posts carried Instagram's paid partnership label. Eleven were for Rehab2Perform, a physical therapy clinic in the Washington, DC area where one caption says he worked, and one was for Icy Hot.

What the posts show:

• His usual post gets about 1,325 likes and comments, the median of 12 unlabeled posts we opened on October 22.
• The 11 Rehab2Perform posts got a median 2.64 times that, and 10 of the 11 beat it.
• The best, a July 24 joke about post-op precautions, had about 19,000 likes.
• Each clinic post is a normal clinic joke or tip with one line at the end, such as "If you're in the DMV and need a PT, go checkout @rehab2perform".
• The Icy Hot post, about using the cream while he rehabbed a calf strain, got 317 likes and comments, 0.24 times his usual.
• A gifted box from Under Armour got 0.54 times his usual.

The Icy Hot result matches what we found across fitness creators, where the #IcyHotPartner Reels in our fitness influencer study got 0.21 times their creators' usual response. One creator is one case, and our tables do not sort ads by how they read, so test a clinic-style ad against a product insert on your own campaign before you plan on the gap.

Rules for health claims and disclosure

A brand that pays a creator to talk about health is advertising, and the creator's words count as the brand's claims.

1. Disclose every paid, gifted or affiliate post with the paid partnership label or a clear #ad, as the FTC's guide for influencers asks. Free products and discount codes count too.
2. Back every health claim before it runs. The FTC's health products guidance asks for competent and reliable scientific evidence for claims about foods, supplements and other health products, and it names social media and influencer marketing as advertising.
3. Write the claims into the brief, because the creator cannot add a stronger claim than the brand can prove, and the FTC has brought cases against expert endorsers as well as brands.
4. Treat a credential in a bio as self-reported. Check the license before you call someone a doctor, nurse or dietitian in your own copy, and see the FTC's endorsement FAQ for how expert endorsements must reflect real expertise.
5. Do not repeat a creator's medical claims as fact. This page describes what each creator posts and does not endorse any treatment, remedy or protocol named in their posts.

How to choose health creators

1. Start with the tier table and compare a creator's typical post with the health median for their size, not with an all-creator figure, which runs about twice as high.
2. Check the gap between average and typical post, because creators such as Tina Halabian and Hana Hajdar have a few posts that lift the average far above the typical post.
3. Match the creator's own topic to your product. In our case study, ads for the clinic where the creator worked beat his usual post, and labeled posts on mental health accounts kept a quarter of the usual response.
4. Read the bio and check the license, then read how to check a creator's sponsorship history before you send an offer.
5. Use small credentialed creators for trust in a local market, such as Halleh Akbarnia in emergency medicine or Megan Donovan in Charleston.
6. Write the claims and the disclosure into the brief, and keep both inside what your evidence supports.

How we built this list

1. We started from every public Instagram account with 1,000 or more followers that Virev read between August 23 and September 30, 2026, whose Virev creator profile names a health or wellness niche as its main niche.
2. We kept individual creators and dropped businesses, clinics run as brand pages, and niches led by fitness, yoga, beauty, food, travel, lifestyle or religion, which have their own lists. That left 1,573 creators, and 1,083 of them had six or more recent posts to measure.
3. For each account we used up to 12 recent posts from its own feed, at least three days old when read and not pinned.
4. A random sample of 30 measured creators, checked by bio, content summary and captions, held 23 that post mainly about health or wellness, 2 that mix health with fashion or lifestyle, and 5 that post mainly about something else.
5. We favored creators who posted in the last ten weeks, beat or came close to their tier median, and gave a spread across tiers, groups and countries, and we left out accounts that sell a product with a cure claim.
6. On October 22, 2026 we opened 89 profiles on Instagram, and all 89 were available. We kept 53, removed 14 that had drifted to lifestyle, fashion, home or music content or mixed it heavily, and left 22 out for balance or privacy, such as a family account about a child's cancer treatment.
7. We re-read one post per creator on Instagram on October 22, and the likes in the tables are from that day.

43 of the 53 creators beat the median typical post of their tier. The others are here for a group or a credential that is hard to fill, such as sleep educators and psychiatrists with large followings.

For the sponsored post tables we read every post from January 1 to September 25, 2026 on the 1,573 health creators, 55,499 posts, and kept posts at least three days old with like counts shown. A post's usual response is the median likes plus comments of the same account's posts without a paid label, ad tag, gifted tag, code, affiliate link or giveaway, and accounts needed four such posts. Credentials come from the name, username and bio text. 632 of the 1,083 creators had a bio in our records, so the credential tables use those 632.

Instagram does not show saves, shares or story views, so they are not in these rates. The creators are the accounts Virev crawls, which lean toward accounts brands search for, not a random sample of Instagram. 324 of the 1,083 have no country in their profile, and only 144 are in the US, so this is a global list. Our crawl did not read every post of every account, so the label and code counts per creator are counts of the posts we read. We list only public business details. Contact creators through the channels on their profiles.

Data for journalists

The sample is 1,083 public Instagram health and wellness creators with 1,000+ followers, read by Virev's crawler between August 23 and September 30, 2026, 53,934 creators of all niches as the benchmark, and 55,499 health creator posts dated January 1 to September 25, 2026. Download the list and the tables: health-influencers-2026.csv. Cite as: Virev, "Health influencers on Instagram", October 2026, virev.ai/blog/health-influencers.

Find more health creators

Virev creator search for "health" lists every health creator we track among 180M+ creators, with the same engagement numbers, and lets you set the follower range and country for the tier you want. Try dietitian, nurse, doctor or mental health the same way. The wellness influencer marketing page shows how brands run wellness campaigns in Virev, and the live top wellness influencers ranking updates from the same crawl.

For gym and general fitness creators, see our fitness influencers and gym influencers. For yoga and Pilates teachers, see the yoga influencers. The numbers behind the comparisons are in the sponsored post study and the Instagram engagement rate benchmarks.