Hormone Balance: Supporting PCOS naturally

Policystic Ovarian Syndrome or Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome (PMOS) is one of the most common hormonal imbalances that women face, affecting each time more women, around 1 in 8 of reproductive age. The condition is also underdiagnosed, since around 70% of women lack diagnosis due to the historical focus on ovarian cysts instead of the systemic metabolic and hormonal features. As the new name indicates, now the condition contemplates the complex metabolic disorder women face, such as high insulin levels, high cortisol and high androgens.

Personally, I was diagnosed with the condition when I was 13, and over the years I could finally understand what my body was going through. Depending on your lifestyle, it can be easier to manage. For example, if you have a routine, a regular schedule and regular sleep patterns then to manage the overall symptoms will become much easier. Today, I will like to share with you a few action steps that will start to make a difference in how you look and how you feel, and of course, on the overall hormonal balance.

1. Balance insulin

This is the first and essential step to manage weight, and specifically all the androgen levels. Insulin is the most significant cause and symptom of women with PCOS, regardless of the weight.

For instance, I have always been lean, and when I was first diagnosed with the condition I was very skinny. When my symptoms were at the worst, with acne all around my face, hair growth around my jawline, and an increasingly growing belly pouch, it was when my blood sugar was the most irregulated. When insulin is high, there is less Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG), a protein that binds androgens, so you will have more testosterone circulating, therefore, causing the symptoms that I have previously mentioned. At the same time, insulin is the fat-storage hormone, so it will be harder and harder to loose weight.

Simple action step: never have carbohydrates on its own, but always pair it with protein and healthy fat. If the carbohydrate is with fiber, even better, it will take longer for the body to digest it.

2. Reduce stress

This is the second most important step.

When cortisol is released, it tells the liver to release more sugar into the blood and the muscles to take less of it. So you will have more sugar circulating in the blood, which directly correlated with the previous point.

Maybe you believe you are not stressed, but if you do long fasts, drink caffeine on an empty stomach, you like to do cold showers, hard training, HIIT training, and are constantly rushing or under emotional stress, then you are stacking on stress.

So which are the action points here? Let's go back to basics, have a nourishing breakfast one hour after waking up, ideally packed with protein (think some scrambled eggs, scrambled tofu, avocado toast with hard-boiled eggs or some chickpeas, plant-based protein packed oatmeal. Then, do not drink caffeine on an empty stomach, and train after giving your body the right nutrients .

3. Manage Sleep

In order to keep cortisol and insulin at healthy levels, it is essential for you to sleep 7-9 hours per night, ideally from 10pm. A night of skipped sleep can increase insulin resistance, and it will mess up your cortisol awakening response, as well as your circadian rythm. At the same time, when you do not sleep enough at night, your hunger and satiety hormones (leptin and ghrelin) will be also messy, leading you to sugar and refined carbs cravings, and with more hunger than usual.

So, always aim to sleep at night, and from 7 to 9 hours, depending on the phase of your menstrual cycle and your current activity levels.

4. Resistance Training

It is already known that increasing muscle mass will help to improve your insulin sensitivity, since muscles consume more glucose. In fact, muscles absorb more than 80% of the glucose that insulin manages after eating. Muscles also act as the main storage to save glucose in form of glycogen and use it as energy. So, incorporate strength training at least 2-3 times per week to begin with, sessions ranging from 20-40 minutes are ideal.

5. Incorporate Herbal Support

This is one of my favorites, but it is only noticeable when you are already managing the first steps. The basics will always be to manage cortisol and insulin, and all the herbal and supplement support will be the cherry on top.

Two of my favorite herbs to manage PCOS symptoms, specifically high androgens are spearmint and dandelion.

On one side, spearmint tea will help to reduce acne and hirsutism, if taken for 1-3 months it will help drop free and total testosterone levels, and it will also help to drop DHEA and androstenedione, other androgens present in the body.

Dandelion root tea is also excellent since it supports the liver to help cleanse the excess hormones, so it will help to get rid of the previous hormones and circulating toxins as well.

This are easy actionable steps to help to manage PCOS or PMOS naturally. It might take some time to see and notice changes physically, but energy levels can improve quite fast.

I hope this short guide is a good beginning to make sustainable changes in your healing journey.