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what is polycystic ovary syndrome and
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can nutrition help let's talk about that
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how's it going guys my name is richie
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kirwan and today we're going to talk
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about one of the most common conditions
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affecting women that you've never heard
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about polycystic ovary syndrome or pcos
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so if you've never heard of pcos before
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that's not surprising but what is
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surprising is that affects almost
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one-fifth of women of reproductive age
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making it the most common hormonal
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condition in this group what's also
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surprising is that pcos is one of the
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leading causes of an ovulatory
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infertility in women and still very few
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people know about it hopefully we can
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change that a little with this video now
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before we go any further i just want to
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point out that in this video we're not
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offering any diagnosis or claiming any
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treatments for pcos if you suspect you
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might have pcos go to your doctor and
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get a proper diagnosis and treatment
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what we are going to do in this video is
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talk about what it is how pcos can
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affect health and offer some lifestyle
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based nutrition and exercise
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recommendations that can help support
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women with pcos to live a healthier life
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i also want to say a big thank you to
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both georgia kohlhoff and dr emilia
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thompson who gave me a huge amount of
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input on some of the nutrition and
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exercise strategies for pcos that i'm
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going to talk about here so pcos is a
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condition that results in alterations in
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hormone production in women but because
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it's a syndrome or a group of different
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symptoms that can often associate
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together it often can look very
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different in different women the most
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common groups of symptoms which are
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associated with pcos are
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hyperandrogenism which means an excess
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production of testosterone which can
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lead to hirsutism or excessive hair
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growth and even male pattern baldness in
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someone insulin resistance which is a
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reduced ability of the body to respond
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to the insulin that we produce this is
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often associated with poor glycemic
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control or blood sugar control and it
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leads to a greater risk of obesity
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diabetes and even cardiovascular disease
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chronic irregular ovulation which can
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manifest as irregular or painful periods
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and can be linked with infertility and
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finally polycystic ovaries which means
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having a lot of cysts in the ovaries to
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be diagnosed with pcos you may only need
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any two of the symptoms which i've just
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mentioned which means you can have
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polycystic ovary syndrome without
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actually having polycystic ovaries and
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you can have polycystic ovaries without
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having pcos if all of that doesn't sound
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particularly pleasant it isn't so
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managing symptoms effectively through
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diet and exercise can be really
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important for women with pcos so let's
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start with one of the most common
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manifestations of pcos and that's excess
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body weight it turns out that women with
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pcos are much more likely to be
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overweight or obese compared to women
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without it now that said there is a type
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of pcos called lean pcos where women can
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have the other symptoms of pcos but
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while maintaining a normal body weight
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for women with pcos and obesity losing
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some excess body weight can be
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beneficial and some studies show
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improvements in hirsutism insulin
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resistance and circulating androgen
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hormones like testosterone in fact a
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number of studies have shown that
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reduced calorie diets and weight loss of
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about five percent of body weight can
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lead to improvements in the regularity
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of periods and even fertility in some
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women with pcos now there's a couple of
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reasons for that that are worth
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mentioning here the first is the fact
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that women with pcos can have a much
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lower metabolic rate than women without
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it in fact one study found that women
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with pcos and insulin resistance can
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lower basal metabolic rate than women
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without pcos and insulin resistance in
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the same study women with pcos but no
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insulin resistance had higher bmrs than
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that but lower bmrs than the general
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population that is a huge difference in
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metabolic rate which means it can be a
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lot easier for women with pcos to gain
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weight eating the normal recommended
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daily amount of calories for women
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without the condition that means women
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with pcos may need to be a little more
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conservative with calories compared to
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the general population to make matters
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even more difficult there is evidence
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that the increased levels of
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testosterone in women with pcos can
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affect satiety hormones like ckk meaning
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those women have an increased appetite
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and food cravings and are more likely to
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have a tendency to binge eat as well so
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what can you do practically to help with
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weight reduction in pcos all the
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principles of calorie deficits still
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apply in people with pcos so i'd really
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recommend checking out my video on how
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to plan a calorie deficit the only
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difference like i've already mentioned
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is that someone with pcos may need to be
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more conservative with calories this is
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where food choice can be hugely
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important if you've watched a few of my
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videos you'll know that one of the most
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important factors for long-term weight
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loss is being able to stick to a diet
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long term one way to help you stick to a
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diet is to eat foods that help keep you
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feeling full and that keep hunger at bay
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firstly get plenty of protein at each
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meal protein is the most filling
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macronutrient and helps keep hunger at
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bay for longer aiming for at least 30
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grams of protein per meal is a good rule
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of thumb next eat plenty of low calorie
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density high volume foods like fresh
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fruit and vegetables these keep you
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feeling full and have very few calories
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to help keep your overall calories low
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that can be as easy as aiming for at
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least two servings of fruit or veg with
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each meal stick to high fiber foods or
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high fiber versions of foods fiber can
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keep you feeling fuller for longer by
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absorbing water in your digestive system
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and slowing the emptying of food that
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means foods like fruits vegetables whole
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grains like whole wheat products and
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oats and legumes like beans peas and
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lentils can help keep you feeling fuller
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for longer this type of eating plan
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based mostly around whole foods will
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also have a low glycemic load meaning it
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will have smaller effects on your blood
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sugar which may have some benefits in
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pcos for helping to improve insulin
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sensitivity you may also hear a lot of
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sources online say that you need to
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eliminate carbohydrates and go keto if
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you have pcos that's simply not true
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while a keto diet is absolutely fine if
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you like eating that way and it can help
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you with weight loss in pcos there is no
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reason that you need to do it you you'll
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of people mention a lot of pretty
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extreme diets that they claim you'll
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need to follow if you have pcos they
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might say you need to go gluten-free or
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avoid dairy cut out sugar or go
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completely carnivore on one extreme or
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vegan on the other it's all but
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because food cravings can be higher with
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pcos allowing yourself some of the foods
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that you crave like carbs for example in
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moderation can be a good strategy to
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help you maintain an overall healthy
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diet that said because calories can be
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lower for people with pcos that means
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that overall carbs may be lower too as
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you'll want to make sure you're getting
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enough protein and sufficient fat in
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your diet in that case it might be a
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good idea to bunch your carbs together
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to make a more enjoyable meal while
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other meals might be lowering carbs
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bunching those carbs around your
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workouts either before or after might be
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helpful too for fueling your workouts
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properly or improving recovery depending
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on when you have your carbs in
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particular bunching your carbs earlier
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in the day can be beneficial because we
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naturally are more insulin sensitive in
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the mornings which brings me to my next
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point besides diet exercise can also be
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really important for women with pcos a
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combination of aerobic and resistance
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exercise can not only reduce insulin
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resistance but it can also raise resting
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energy expenditure which i've already
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said can be low in women with pcos on
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top of that resistance exercise and
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exercise in general can help to reduce
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the risk of many of the health
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conditions associated with pcos like
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cardiovascular disease and diabetes
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what's really impressive is that
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exercise can have many of these health
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promoting benefits even without any
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weight loss which is yet another reason
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to make exercise a regular habit getting
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at least 30 minutes of moderate to high
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intensity exercise daily is recommended
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for health and if you can add some
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resistance exercise like weight training
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two or three days a week that can help
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maintain healthy muscle and strength
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levels too i talk all about the benefits
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of muscle as we age in my past videos
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too so check them out for more
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recommendations now while i've been
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talking a lot about weight loss for pcos
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it's also worth mentioning that women
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who have lean pcos meaning they don't
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have a lot of excess body fat shouldn't
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aim for weight loss instead they can use
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a lot of the diet and exercise
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strategies i've just mentioned while
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maintaining their healthy weight losing
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weight may not be helpful in lean pcos
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besides diet and exercise there are some
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supplements that might be really useful
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in pcos without a doubt the most
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exciting evidence for supplements and
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pcos is for inositol or specifically
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myo-inositol this is because there have
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been a lot of studies showing that
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inositol can help with the insulin
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resistance that is common in pcos
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inositols are substances that are
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naturally produced in our cells but
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because of the hormonal disruptions in
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pcos they can be metabolized slightly
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differently in pcos supplementing with
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anastasia can increase insulin
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sensitivity reduce androgen hormones in
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the blood improve blood sugar control
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and even help bring back normal
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ovulation and periods and even fertility
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inositol seems to be a very safe
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supplement to take so current
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recommendations are two grams of
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myonosatol twice a day so four grams in
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total another supplement that might be
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worth considering is berberine berberine
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is a compound found in the roots of some
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plants that are commonly used in herbal
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medicine for women with pcos
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supplementing with berberine seems to
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have many of the same benefits of
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myoanasta that means it can improve
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insulin sensitivity reduce levels of
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androgens in the blood improve blood
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lipids like cholesterol and
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triglycerides and even help to reduce
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chronic inflammation which can be seen
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in pcos in fact some evidence suggests
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berberine may be as effective as
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metformin a drug used to improve insulin
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sensitivity in people with diabetes and
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women with pcos a berberine dose of 500
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milligrams three times a day for a total
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of 1500 milligrams may be useful another
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interesting fact is that women with pcos
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tend to have lower levels of l-carnitine
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a molecule involved in fat metabolism
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and levels tend to be even lower in
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women with pcos and higher levels of
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body fat and more insulin resistance
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because of that supplementing with
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l-carnitine may actually be useful for
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women with pcos by helping to improve
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insulin sensitivity reduce body fat
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improve hormone levels and even restore
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a more regular menstrual cycle we still
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need a lot more evidence before we can
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say it's definitely effective but it may
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be worth trying a dose of 1000 to 1500
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milligrams twice daily and just on a
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final note you'll know that i recommend
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long-chain omega-3 supplements like fish
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oil or algal oil for general health
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especially cardio metabolic health
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because women with pcos have a greater
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risk of diabetes and heart disease it
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may be worthwhile taking a long chain
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omega-3 supplement too fish oils have
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been shown to improve risk factors like
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insulin resistance cholesterol and
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triglycerides in women with pcos a good
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daily dose to aim for is about 1 000
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milligrams of combined epa and dha the
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most bioactive omega-3 fatty acids found
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in fish oils or if you're vegan in algal
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oil supplements we really have covered a
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lot in this video if you have pcos
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yourself you'll know how hard it can be
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dealing with the symptoms like i've
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already said speaking with your doctor
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should be your first port of call in
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helping you to manage it on top of that
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i really hope that the lifestyle and
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supplement recommendations i've just
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gone through here might be able to help
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alongside the medical treatment you
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receive as always if you have any more
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questions let me know in the comments
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below and remember to like and subscribe
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to the my protein youtube channel for
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more great evidence-based nutrition
