Healthy PCOS

PCOS is the most common endocrine (hormonal) condition among females in the world. It’s a condition   t hat deeply affects around 150 million women worldwide. That’s not a typo either — 150 million worldwide! It’s a condition that can have an immense impact on your physical and emotional well being. It’s also the leading cause of fertility issues among women. The first issue is that PCOS is a medical diagnosis, but there’s no surgery to ‘fix’ PCOS, there’s no medication that fixes PCOS so, getting the medical diagnosis simply informs you that your PCOS, it will most likely do little to help you treat it. Even now, 85 years after the first cases of PCOS were first diagnosed, there’s no PCOS-specific medication, not one. Metformin is primarily used to control blood glucose (sugar) levels in people who have type 2 diabetes. Spironolactone, often prescribed to  women with PCOS  to reduce excessive hair growth is actually used to treat high blood pressure and heart failure. Th...

  Exercise is one of those behaviours that can have a hugely positive influence on your PCOS. But, why is that exactly? It’s because all exercise will have a hormonal & metabolic result. Put in simple terms, exercise can change your metabolic and hormonal state but it is important to note that this can be a negative or positive result. Not all exercise will have the same benefits for PCOS. For example, for the last 30 years women have been told to stick to treadmills if they want to lose weight and that stepping foot in the weights area will have them looking like the Hulk. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. We now know that too much long-form cardio, like the advice given to females for decades can increase cortisol (stress) levels and result in depleted muscle mass, slowing down your metabolic rate. Types of exercise for PCOS Types of  exercise: 1) Resistance Exercise 2) Restorative Exercise 3) HIIT Exercise And example of your weekly workout schedule m...

Will losing weight help to reduce the amount of excess hair you're growing due to your PCOS? Excess facial and body hair in PCOS is usually the result of excess androgens in your body. Androgens are male sex hormones, such as testosterone, that are present in both men and women, but men naturally have much higher levels than women In women, androgens are produced by; 1) Primarily by the ovaries, caused by high insulin levels 2) Secondly, the adrenal glands, caused by chronic stress levels 3) Lastly, adipose (fat) tissue, if you are overweight or obese. If your PCOS is causing high levels of androgens in your system, you are likely to experience other androgen excess symptoms, such as; - Hair growth (face, chest, tummy, back) - Acne - Hair thinning or loss on the scalp - Menstrual cycle irregularities & fertility issues There are a few reasons why you're often told that losing weight will help reduce unwanted hair growth, including; - Holding excess body weight can...

M ost of the time when speaking about PCOS you are hearing talk about the physical aspects of PCOS but, you cannot ignore the mental and emotional side of having this condition. Women with PCOS are about 3 times more likely to experience depression and anxiety than women without PCOS. Approximately 34% of women with PCOS have depression compared to 7% of women in the general population and around 45% have anxiety, compared to only 18% of the general population. The Link Between PCOS & Mental Health Issues The exact link between PCOS and poor mental well-being is still unclear but, there are currently two trains of thought as to why PCOS triggers such alarming mental health numbers. PCOS is physically affecting your brain chemistry: It's incredible how connected your entire body is. We know that hormone levels can directly impact neurotransmitter (brain chemical) levels. The brain chemicals are responsible for the regulation of motivation, concentration, learning,...

To truly take control of your PCOS you must first understand, at its core, what's driving your symptoms. PCOS starts off as a metabolic & inflammatory issue that goes on to create hormonal imbalances. There are many possible imbalanced hormones in PCOS but I want to look closely at 3 today but I want to look closely at 3 today. Insulin 50-70% of women with PCOS will have elevated levels of insulin due to a condition called insulin resistance . This leads to unexplained weight gain, poor energy levels, and increased hunger and cravings as the cells of your body start to starve. It also causes the ovaries to over-produce testosterone . Androgens Androgen is the term used to describe male sex hormones. Excess androgens are one of the hallmarks of PCOS. There are a few possible causes of excess androgen production; the ovaries, adrenals, or fat tissue.High androgens levels in the blood lead to symptoms such as acne, hair loss, hair growth, and menstrual cycle irregula...

  Change is hard, it's even harder when you have zero energy to do so. This is the problem facing many of my PCOS clients. They know action is necessary and they truly want change but, finding the energy to do so it's just such a challenge within itself. Change is hard, it's even harder when you have zero energy to do so. This is the problem facing many of my PCOS clients. They know action is necessary and they truly want change but, finding the energy to do so it's just such a challenge within itself. There are many factors affecting someone's energy levels , everything from diet, sleep, mood, time of day, heck, even the weather can impact your energy levels. Specifically talking about low energy levels around PCOS  and the culprit is your hormonal state. Culprit 1: INSULIN RESISTANCE (IR) IR  (Insulin Resistance)  is a condition where the cells of your body no longer respond to the hormone, insulin, as normal. Insulin acts as a 'key' to the cells of your b...

Menstrual cycle period issues in PCOS are a common symptom of PCOS and I find many women haven't been truly educated on exactly what's going on. Remember that every womans PCOS will manifest differently so this will not apply to every woman. 1️⃣ It starts with an underlying triggering issue such as insulin resistance causing high insulin levels, your adrenals being under constant stress or excess body fat tissue. 2️⃣ This causes the female body to start producing androgens (male sex hormones) in too large of quantities, this is what's known as androgen excess. 3️⃣ This causes a cascading hormonal imbalance between LH (luteinizing hormone) and FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone). The ratio between these two hormones is vitally important for the menstrual cycle and ovulation. 4️⃣ The end result being that the menstrual cycle is out of balance and unable to function properly, leading to irregular periods, heavy or light periods, anovulation, or simply not having a period at al...