The Basics of Managing PCOS: Nutrition and Digestion
Catherine Mcleod-Moya, RN
If you’ve been diagnosed with PCOS, you’ve likely been frantically researching online how to best manage the condition.
Depending on the provider you have, you may have received additional nutritional and lifestyle recommendations to help you navigate your symptoms. If you suspect you may have PCOS, read about how PCOS is diagnosed here.
There is so much to cover with this topic, so we’ll break down a few basic concepts and give you some recommendations to start implementing today! We’ll focus on nutritional strategies and digestion. For a more in-depth look at your condition, let’s connect!
Photo by Victoria Gloria
Diagnosis criteria for PCOS typically include:
Polycystic ovaries on ultrasound or ovarian dysfunction
Clinical evidence of high androgens, while excluding any conditions that may cause high androgens
Polycystic ovaries, irregular cycles, and mild insulin resistance are actually common during puberty and many healthy women are found to have polycystic ovaries 25% of the time. PCOS as a syndrome is a metabolic issue involving insulin receptor dysfunction and an increase in androgens. A lack of ovulation will cause follicles to continue to grow until you end up with many small undeveloped follicles aka cysts. This will cause your sex hormones to be imbalanced, which leads to a host of symptoms (you are probably familiar with).
If there’s an important takeaway here, it’s that in order to have a normal cycle;
A: you need to produce adequate amounts of progesterone (in the second half of your cycle)
B. which means you need to ovulate to produce progesterone
How can you boost progesterone levels and ovulate normally? Start with blood sugar balance and improving gut health.
Photo by Monique Sourinho
Eat nutrient-dense meals. Opt for the most-bioavailable sources of nutrients and vitamins. Important micronutrients include: vitamin C, E, A, B, copper, zinc, selenium, iodine. The best way to get these is through quality animal sources like beef, eggs, dairy (choose pasture-raised, grass-fed, organic).
Don’t skimp on the carbs. Your cells run on glucose for energy, so you need those carbs. Go for fruits and starches. Avoid over-processed, refined carbs. Maybe you’re not tolerating starches so well because your gut health is compromised? Stick to fructose for now-- things like fruits and honey. Your body won’t need to work quite as hard to digest those and they’ll give you the energy your cells are craving. And, yes, you can eat fruits when you have PCOS!
How do you balance blood sugar? Eat within 1 hour of waking, have a bedtime snack. EAT ENOUGH. All of your meals and snacks should include protein/fat/carbs.
Just to emphasize it again-- eat enough. Forget fasting and restrictive dieting. That’s stressful for your body. Stress, under-eating, nutrient deficiencies, circadian disruption triggers a release of cortisol. Women need proper nourishment to produce sex hormones. Sex hormones actually improve HPA axis function because estrogen is anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective, and progesterone acts upon GABA, calming the body.
Inhale your food and chew slowly. Digestion begins in the mouth, and your digestive enzymes are beginning to break down food before it can be absorbed by your intestines. Eating your food slowly and breathing deeply also lowers cortisol.
Healthy gut function promotes healthy blood sugar and insulin levels by properly digesting our food. Calming stress by balancing blood sugar improves gut health and the stress response system. This way, the microbiome is not constantly sending out stress signals to the brain (a.k.a. anxiety). Consider adding digestive enzymes and fermented foods (to add gut-friendly bacteria). Repair the gut lining with aloe, bone broth, collagen, gelatin.
Always:
Eat real, whole foods.
Choose organic or at least non-GMO.
Choose pasture-raised, organic sources of meat and eggs.
Other things to consider:
Cortisol overdrive
Estrogen dominance
Underlying thyroid disorder
Liver health
Environmental toxins
Potential pathogens
Poor sleep, lack of light
Stress
Chronic medication use, including past birth control use
If you need extra support putting the pieces together, we work 1:1 with you to uncover root cause or you can join Healthy Hormones for Women (enrolling soon)!
Catherine is a Registered Nurse and hhc Holistic Health Coach. Her mission is to provide holistic health education and coaching services to women and new moms seeking hormone balance in the postpartum period and beyond.