Top 6 Holistic Solutions for PCOS
If you have PCOS, it can feel nearly impossible to lose weight, regulate your periods and have thriving fertility. But there are many ways you can support the body’s natural, innate ability to regulate and heal. Underlying factors like insulin resistance, inflammation, elevated androgens, gut dysbiosis and toxins are key areas to address. Today, I’ll be sharing our top 6 ways you can begin supporting your body and metabolism with PCOS.
Nutrition
Lowering sugars and starches are an extremely important first step to addressing PCOS, as sugar directly fuels the issue of insulin resistance, which is a driving factor for elevated androgens like testosterone, PCOS, weight loss resistance and infertility. Learning how to eat to balance blood sugar and lower insulin is also a key to supporting PCOS. Prioritizing protein and healthy fats as well as avoiding common inflammatory and allergenic foods such as canola oil, conventional dairy and gluten can be extremely beneficial also.
Looking to optimize fertility? Find our top foods, supplements and lifestyle recommendations for thriving fertility in our FREE guide: Fire Up Your Fertility!
Personalized Intermittent Fasting
Fasting in a personalized way can also be helpful for those with PCOS. Fasting is essentially not eating for a set period of time, which can be shorter lengths of time, such as 12 hours, to multiple day fasts. For women, a more gentle or even cyclical approach may be more beneficial, as fasting too intensely can spike cortisol and affect blood sugar levels, creating issues that fuel PCOS. If you’re currently eating from the time you wake up to the time you go to bed, aim for at least 12 hours fasted. You can do this by setting a cut off time, ideally about 2-3 hours before bed, to stop eating and only have water and clear teas. Fasting can be very helpful for lowering insulin when done correctly.
Inositol Supplementation
Inositol is a B vitamin that has been shown to lower blood sugar and insulin and can be especially helpful for women with PCOS. It also supports healthy testosterone levels while improving fertility, egg quality and the chances of a healthy pregnancy. We like to use the product Sensitol by Designs for Health that also contains chiro-d-inositol for optimal results. Magnesium glycinate is another crucial mineral we recommend those with PCOS.
Adequate sleep
Sleep has a profound effect on blood sugar control and insulin resistance and therefore supporting those with PCOS. Sleep does a whole lot more than give you enough energy for the day, it plays a key role in regulating metabolism, hormones, detoxification and overall inflammation levels. Brown fat (the good kind of fat!) also increases while we sleep, which helps you burn more calories and become more metabolically healthy.
Exercise
Regular exercise is a powerful tool to support PCOS recovery, especially HIIT, strength training and walking. One reason is because exercise helps to lower insulin and supports insulin sensitivity within the cell. The key with everything is balance though and really listening to your body to make sure you’re not overdoing it with exercise, as it can elevate stress hormones too much for some women.
Proper Testing & Next Steps
Getting your nutrition dialed in as well as running the proper tests to look at your specific root cause factors is an excellent place to start. Testing allows us to get an accurate picture of your unique hormone profile to ensure the best form of care is executed. Working with a qualified practitioner who understands your condition and can take a holistic and personalized approach is essential.
Looking for 1:1 support? Find our practitioners here.
Asher Kleiber
Registered Holistic Nutritionist
flourishnaturalwellness.com
