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 📩

4 Root Causes of Pelvic Pain

Have you ever wondered if there might be other ways to deal with endometriosis and pelvic pain than to just take the birth control pill?

Then keep reading.

Even though the causes and contributing factors are unique to each woman dealing with pelvic pain, there are common causes we can investigate with functional medicine. For example:

1️⃣ Hormone Imbalance

Some women with endometriosis have estrogen dominance, or a mismatch between the amount of estrogen and progesterone produced. How do we test? Hormone testing.

2️⃣ Gut Microbiome

Research has found unique changes in the gut microbiome associated with endometriosis. How do we test? Stool tests.

3️⃣ Immune Reactions

Higher concentrations of inflammatory molecules and immune cells are found in endometrial tissues, suggesting immune reactions may be at play. How do we test? Blood tests.

4️⃣ Chemicals & Toxins

Common everyday products like plastics and lotions often contain endocrine-disrupting chemicals that mess with your hormones and can contribute to endometriosis and pelvic pain.

Give us a tap ❤️ if you’d rather get to the root cause than take a pill until menopause.

And then head on over to our website to get started. Getting to the root cause is our specialty.

[New Study] How Intermittent Fasting Affects Women’s Hormones

✨new research on intermittent fasting in women ✨

Intermittent fasting is effective for weight loss, but we have never known whether it has any effect on female hormones—until now.

A study at The University of Illinois Chicago looked at the hormonal effects in 23 obese pre- and postmenopausal women following the “warrior diet.”

The warrior diet restricts eating to a 4 or 6-hour window each day and allows only for water for the other 18-20 hours.

Here’s what they found after 8 weeks:

↔️ There were no changes in testosterone or SHBG levels in pre- or postmenopausal women

↔️ There were no changes in estrogen or progesterone levels in postmenopausal women (these weren’t tested in premenopausal)

⬇️ DHEA levels dropped by about 14% in both pre- and postmenopausal women

The women following the warrior diet did experience weight loss and improved insulin sensitivity.

The study was published in Obesity in October 2022.

The takeaway?

👉 Intermittent fasting may lower DHEA levels in women. This is a hormone that is important for fertility and as a precursor to other hormones after menopause.

We need to weigh the risks and benefits for each individual because there is no one-size fits all. Plus, we need to keep following the research as it comes out (we’ll do that part so you don’t have to!).

If you need a personalized approach to your hormones and weight, please book a consult. Appointments can be scheduled at elementsnatmed.com 🔗

Reference

Faiza Kalam, Rand T. Akasheh, Sofia Cienfuegos, et al. Effect of time‐restricted eating on sex hormone levels in premenopausal and postmenopausal females. Obesity, 2022. [link]