How Stress Affects PCOS

⬇️How Stress Affects PCOS ⬇️

Sometimes people with PCOS continue to struggle with symptoms even when they’re following a healthy diet, exercising, and taking supplements.

Why?

Because of stress.

On a biochemical level, the culprit is cortisol—the hormone we pump out in response to stress. Cortisol is useful in the short term (to give us energy to respond to stress) but damaging if produced too much for too long.

In PCOS, cortisol can:

❌ Worsen insulin resistance

❌ Increase testosterone even more

❌ Interfere with thyroid function

❌ Decrease progesterone even more

This last point is key. Did you know that cortisol is made in part from progesterone? That means that stress actually steals progesterone to make cortisol. Since progesterone is already low in PCOS, this can make things worse.

It may seem like a small and insignificant thing, but managing stress is an extremely important part of feeling good and thriving despite a diagnosis of PCOS. Small habits every day add up to make a big difference. Things like:

✅ Getting enough sleep

✅ Moving your body

✅ Drinking plenty of water

✅ Taking time to relax

If you’ve missed my recent posts about PCOS myths, facts, and metabolism, be sure to check those out. I have one last post coming your way—all about key foods to avoid.

Drop me a comment if you have any questions about the way we treat PCOS with functional medicine 📩

How PCOS Disrupts Metabolism

💥 How PCOS Disrupts Metabolism 💥

Most people think of PCOS as a hormonal condition, but it actually affects both the hormones and the metabolism. 

Hormonal patterns typically seen in PCOS include elevated testosterone (causing hair to grow in all the wrong places or acne beyond teenage years) and estrogen dominance (high estrogen and low progesterone). 

But here are some ways PCOS interacts with metabolism:

1️⃣ Insulin Resistance

Insulin Resistance is strongly associated with PCOS. This leads to elevated blood sugar, high cholesterol, and trouble losing weight. 

2️⃣ Chronic Inflammation

PCOS is often accompanied by increased levels of inflammation throughout the body. This can make it harder to maintain blood sugar balance and a healthy weight.  

3️⃣  Thyroid Function

Women with PCOS are more likely than the general population to also be diagnosed with low thyroid function. That translates to a slower metabolism, fatigue, and weight gain.

Why does this matter?

Because if all we do is look at testosterone and estrogen in PCOS, we are missing a huge opportunity. We need to treat PCOS as the whole-body condition that it actually is. We need to support insulin function and thyroid function while, at the same time, working to quell inflammation. 

That’s what we do in functional medicine. 

This is part 2 of 4 in my series on PCOS, so pay attention. Stress can also get into the PCOS mix—messing with both hormones and metabolism. That post is coming soon. Be sure to like and follow ❤️so you don’t miss it. 

What Is Seed Cycling?

Have you heard the hype about seed cycling? Let’s break it down. 

Seed cycling is a naturopathic therapy that has been used for many years. It means eating specific seeds during different phases of the menstrual cycle to support hormonal balance. 

Our hormones are changing every day, and a healthy period depends on a cyclical change in hormones every month, like this:

🔹 During phase 1 (days 1-14 of your cycle), estrogen levels gradually rise to trigger ovulation on day 14. 

🔸 During phase 2 (days 15-28 of your cycle), progesterone levels peak. 

The idea with seed cycling is to eat seeds during phase 1 that support estrogen metabolism and seeds during phase 2 that support progesterone. 

Like this:

🔹 Eat 1 tablespoon each per day of ground flax seeds and pumpkin seeds during phase 1.

🔸 Eat 1 tablespoon each per day of sesame seeds and sunflower seeds during phase 2.

It’s best to eat ground seeds so that you’ll absorb the most nutrients from them. 

We know that seeds are rich in healthy essential fatty acids as well as nutrients and minerals like zinc. 

But to be clear—even though seed cycling has been used by thousands of women who report improvements in their menstrual cycle, there are no actual clinical trials on this method. 

Still, there is no harm in eating nutritional seeds every day, so it’s something that I often recommend as part of a complete naturopathic approach to hormone balance. 

Especially for women wanting better periods. 

Have you tried it?