Looking for a team of practitioners that can unravel the causes of PCOS and provide natural solutions to your PCOS symptoms?

How Nutrition, Lifestyle and Functional Medicine can help with PCOS

Let’s start with a brief introduction to PCOS and how it is officially diagnosed.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, or PCOS, is a complex hormonal & metabolic imbalance with a genetic component.

Approximately 5 – 10% of women of reproductive age are affected by PCOS globally.

Using the Rotterdam Criteria, a diagnosis of PCOS will be made when a woman experiences any two of the following three concerns:

  1. Infrequent or no ovulation.
  2. Clinical signs or biochemical indications (blood tests) of high levels of male hormones (androgens).
  3. Polycystic ovaries as seen on an ultrasound scan.

Whilst there is no cure and you may always be prone to PCOS, so much can be done to manage the condition, regulate hormones and reverse symptoms.

Concept Of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
Girl Making Heart Shape Sign With Hands At Sunset

There is a different way of living

What you may have to accept is that there is a different way of living that is required to help you manage PCOS so that the symptoms and challenges you currently experience are no longer a concern.

Whilst there is unlikely to be one exact cause for PCOS, what we do know is that there are a few important areas to consider and target:

  1. Insulin Resistance – Our cells become less responsive to the effects of insulin; a hormone produced to regulate our blood sugar. As a result, insulin levels can become chronically elevated and/or you may get insulin surges after meals.
  2. High Androgens – classically regarded as male hormones, females do also have the same hormones but just at lower levels. In PCOS some androgens may increase, and this causes numerous symptoms.
  3. Inflammation – Often low-grade inflammation is a factor in PCOS. It may contribute to insulin resistance and inflammation may also be the result of insulin resistance and weight gain, creating a vicious cycle.

We are here to support your PCOS journey

What are the typical PCOS symptoms?

Conventional treatments for PCOS

The most common treatments recommended to those with PCOS are metformin, oral contraceptive pills and drugs that suppress androgens.

Interestingly, oral contraceptives can induce PCOS once stopped. Their role is to suppress the production of androgen hormones that create some of the symptoms of PCOS, however the moment the oral contraception is stopped, the hormones surge once again. A secondary point with oral contraceptive medications is that they can lead to insufficiencies in certain nutrients, which are essential for ovulation.

Metformin helps to improve insulin sensitivity and is the most common medication used to manage type 2 diabetes. Management of insulin is a very effective way of managing PCOS as insulin can stimulate androgens and promote the growth of cysts.

Androgen suppressing medications are something that treats the symptoms of high androgens and does nothing to address the underlying causes.

Many people are looking for natural ways to restore balance and address the underlying issues that contribute to PCOS.

Doctor And Patient Having Consultation
Healthy Salad Bowl

How we help you manage PCOS naturally

Our nutrition, lifestyle, and functional medicine approach can help you manage PCOS as naturally as possible.

Here are some of the ways that we support that process:

Appropriate Testing

Looking beyond the basic tests carried out by your GP, we can determine in more detail the level of insulin resistance and the hormonal imbalances that may be contributing to PCOS and subsequent symptoms. We can explore nutrient insufficiencies, inflammation levels and even explore how other systems in the body might be impacting on the development of PCOS.

With the data that we gather, alongside a detailed health history, symptom analysis and nutrition and lifestyle review, we can then determine the best course of action for you to take.

Nutrition and lifestyle interventions

Nutrition and lifestyle modifications are at the heart of managing PCOS naturally. Whilst your gene’s might load the gun for PCOS, our nutrition and lifestyle pull the trigger.

We work with you to formulate personalised nutrition and lifestyle recommendations that are both realistic and effective.

Areas we might focus on as part of your nutrition and lifestyle interventions are:

Optimising Dietary Habits
Optimising Dietary Habits

Dietary changes to improve blood sugar management, improve insulin sensitivity, support healthy body composition, and lower inflammation.

Reducing Inflammation
Reducing Inflammation

Addressing underlying causes of inflammation such as diet, excessive body fat, immune, microbiome and other factors that promote inflammation.

Targeted Supplements
Targeted Supplements

Using lab tests to guide your specific supplement needs to help with the underlying causes of PCOS and the associated symptoms.

Exercise Strategies
Exercise Strategies

Helping you develop appropriate exercise strategies specific to those with PCOS and those challenged with weight loss resistance.

Limiting Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals
Limiting Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals

Minimising exposure to chemicals we find in products, food supply and our environment to help support healthy hormone balance.

Optimising Sleep Health
Optimising Sleep Health

Good sleep can improve insulin sensitivity, lower inflammation, and also have a significant impact on the nutrition and lifestyle choices made.

Healthy Microbiome
Healthy Microbiome

Our gut health can be an important consideration for low grade inflammation and also glucose metabolism, thus impacting PCOS.

Stress Management
Stress Management

Lowering stress can help with hormone balance. It also helps us manage our nutrition and lifestyle choices that may be negatively impacting PCOS.

We are here to support your PCOS journey

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