PCOS. Polycystic ovarian syndrome. Cysts in your ovaries. Endocrine (hormonal) disorder. I had it. I beat it.
I’ll be the first one to say that PCOS is a super frustrating diagnosis. I was diagnosed when I was 16 at my first OBGYN appointment. I remember the doctor telling me that I’d probably always struggle with my weight because the hormonal disturbances caused by the disease make weight loss extra hard. Over the years, doctors put me on various medications that they claimed would help me lose weight and perhaps improve my PCOS. None of them worked. I was frustrated. They had no answers.
Then there were the infertility challenges. I am, quite frankly, not willing to share that with the world yet. Just typing that sentence makes me incredibly emotional. Fortunately, I don’t believe those will ever be a challenge for me again because I overcame PCOS. Without the help of doctors. Without the help of drugs. With a TON of research, persistence and hard work. But I have the benefit of an educational background in nutrition & biochemistry. Most people don’t have that. I’ve tried to write this post before but it’s such a complicated topic that it always ended up in the drafts folder. Until today. I’m just going to keep typing until I’ve got my thoughts out and then I’m hitting “publish”. Come what may. I know it’s a sensitive topic.
PCOS is a super complicated disorder so forgive me if I oversimplify, but we’re gonna talk nuts and bolts. PCOS is often caused by estrogen dominance. I am convinced that was the case in my situation. Now, estrogen dominance doesn’t necessarily mean that you have an overabundance of estrogen in your body. It MIGHT mean that. But it could also mean that your estrogen is too high relative to its counterbalance hormone, progesterone. So your estrogen levels might be “normal” but if your progesterone levels are low, you are considered “estrogen dominant”. You might also have an imbalance in the TYPES of estrogen. Yup, there are several different types of estrogen – some good, some bad. You need to have appropriate ratios of these estrogens. Or maybe you are producing estrogen correctly and you have the right ratios but you are impaired in your ability to metabolize estrogen so it can be removed from your body. What happens then? It accumulates. Or, as if those weren’t enough options, your body could be producing too much estrogen. That happens in many overweight or obese people (men and women) because our body fat cells actually can produce estrogen! Talk about a compounding problem!! We’re not done though….your body might not be the problem. You might be CONSUMING an excess of estrogen. Wait, we can consume estrogen?! Yup, sure can….
Some of the most obvious ways we “consume” estrogen are birth control pills and hormone replacement therapy. But there are also environmental estrogens and estrogen-like compounds in TONS of things to which we expose ourselves DAILY. They can be in the water we’re drinking, leaching out of the plastics we eat and drink out of, in our cosmetic products, cleaning products – even in the foods we eat.
Fortunately for us, there are specific things we can do to reduce our overall estrogen load. These include changes in our diet & lifestyle. These are the changes I made to go from more than 20 cysts in each ovary to absolutely zero. These are the changes I made to go from never having a menstrual cycle to having a cycle that is like clock work. And, as I made these changes, I lost 140 pounds.
- Consume estrogen detoxifiers.
Certain vegetables are natural estrogen detoxifiers. They improve our body’s ability to metabolize and excrete estrogen so we get rid of the excess and prevent estrogen accumulation. I’m talking about cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, etc. I started adding 2-5 cups of cruciferous veggies to my diet every single day. - Get off birth control pills.
If you have an issue with hormonal balance, birth control is only going to compound the problem. This is pretty obvious. There are better ways. Use a condom or whatever else you need to do to be safe but your health is a priority. - Skip the soy.
Soy contains phytoestrogens which have estrogen-like effects in your body. If PCOS or estrogen dominance is an issue for you, stay away from soy. - Eat organic.
Conventionally raised proteins (beef, chicken, etc) are often treated with hormones to accelerate their rate of growth and maximize profit for the rancher. Do NOT willingly introduce those hormones into your system. That is a very common way we introduce excess estrogens. This is also true for fruits, vegetables & dairy. Pesticides & herbicides can have estrogenic effects. Make it a priority. - Don’t use plastic products.
I’m talking mostly about eating and drinking from plastic products (bottles, tupperware, etc). Plastics contain estrogenic compounds that transfer to our foods. This is compounded when we heat plastics. At an absolute bare minimum, do NOT ever heat your food or drink in plastic containers. - Wear gloves when you handle cleaning products.
We’ve talked about the estrogen-like compounds in chemicals. Avoid them. - Get a water filter for your kitchen and your shower.
Check out your city’s water supply quality report. It is incredibly common for hormones and hormone-like compounds to be found in our water supply. Play it safe and get a filter. - Balance your blood sugar.
Our hormones are all inter-related. When one is out of balance it impacts the rest. When our blood sugar is out of control we are more likely to store extra body fat. Extra body fat produces more estrogen. The easiest ways to control your blood sugar are by cutting out processed foods, wheat, oats & grains. This step, along with cruciferous veggies, had the most significant impact on my overall hormone balance.
Bonus tip: control your stress levels. When we are chronically stressed, our body will use the hormone progesterone to manufacture more of the stress hormone cortisol. Use progesterone in that way obviously lowers our overall progesterone levels and that alone can create (and worsen) estrogen dominance because estrogen & progesterone need to be in balance.
Listen, I know that PCOS is frustrating. I get it. I thought I’d never lose the weight. Yeah, it’s hard. It’s harder than it should be. It’s harder than it is for people who DON’T have PCOS. But it’s not impossible. There is hope.
For more specific strategies on balancing hormones naturally via food, check out the new Primal Potential podcast here:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-009-carbohydrate-spillover/id954984769?i=331926914&mt=2&lds=1
Plus, you can check out the Hormones & Fat Loss ebook! 50 pages of diet & lifestyle strategies to help you naturally optimize your hormones and get into fat-burning mode!!
I didn’t know all this about PCOS, thanks for this post! I should be more careful while using plastic and cleaning agents, even though I don’t have the disorder, these are important.
Thank you so much for reading and commenting! I really felt like I needed to get it out there!
inwas diagnosed with PCOS 30 years ago…the only aspect ever addressed was the frequency of my monthly cycle. Wish I would have known (and my doctors would have known) all of this back then! Thanks for sharing!
I know, right? To this day my doctors don’t give nutritional advice. Just the recommendation to “lose weight” while acknowledging that it will be very difficult bc of the PCOS. Thanks so much for commenting!!
Hi Elizabeth, this is Melidy, Tonias’ friend. I just wanted to tell you I enjoy your postings. This one was really timely with that new TLC show starting, “my Big Fat Fabulous Life”, and that’s what led to her weight gain.
Hi Melody! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the blogs! So nice to “meet” you!!
Wow! I was diagnosed 5 yrs ago and all they gave me was birth control and some type of diabetes medication they also informed me I wasn’t going to have kids well let’s just say before I even took that I was expecting my daughter 🙂 she is healthy and a year old! So that part may not be so true for everyone! Thank you so much for the information it will definitely help with my weight loss journey!
Congratulations Mayra!! Thanks for your comment and good luck on your journey! You’ve got this! 🙂
This is great. Thank you for being brave. I have PCOS and I have been waiting for someone like you to share this information. I too will beat this disease. Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!!!
Totally my pleasure! Thank you for commenting 🙂 I KNOW you can overcome this!!!!
Hi Elizabeth – I absolutely love your podcast and straight forward way of communicating about nutrition!
I have heard a little about weight loss complications caused by PCOS before, but this article was extremely informative and helpful. I haven’t been diagnosed with PCOS specifically, but I do have endometriosis and have had multiple surgeries for it. I am wondering if you happen to know if there is any link between endometriosis and having trouble with weight loss due to estrogen levels. Any input would be super helpful! Thanks!
http://www.just-jensen.com
Hi There! Thanks so much for reaching out! Inflammation has a huge impact on endometriosis and our food choices and hormone balance all significantly influence inflammation. With that said, the general strategies I talk about for Primal and for PCOS may be very beneficial for women struggling with endometriosis. Any dietary strategies for estrogen dominance (or really any estrogen abnormality) including the ones I talk through in this post may also really benefit women with endometriosis.
Thank you for sharing. I also was diagnosed when I was 16. I was put on birth control for 10 years in order to regulate my cycle and “control” the cysts. I was told I would have a very difficult time getting pregnant because my left ovary was damaged from the cysts. Well low and behold, I gave birth to 3 kids and all started from my left ovary! There was a time when it was recommended by my Dr to remove that ovary. Thank God I didn’t! It did take 4 years of trying but I received zero fertility assistance.
Thanks again for sharing. I did not know this stuff!
Wow! This was sooooo interesting and enlightening, thank you so much! Been diagnosed PCOS since beginning of ’90s and been on medication and the birth control pill since then. Been followed by an endocrinologist for years and now by family doctor and nobody ever explained all this to me! Finally succeeded in losing 45-50 pounds in recent years, and don’t even know if I still have the cysts anymore and need all this medication! Also been on intermittent fasting and think it’s helped with insulin resistance and hunger, going to see family doc in a few days but every time I ask questions to know if I still need all this, reaction is usually in the likes of “why change if it’s working”? Any suggestions?
Remember that you are in control of your health care. I’m not a medical doctor. But it’s important to remember that decisions aren’t permanent. You can always try without and see what happens. If problems arise, adjust accordingly. You’re in control either way 🙂
Thanks for the article very interesting. I had a couple of questions:
1. When you talked about adding vegetables do they have to be raw or is cooked acceptable?
2. Did you have a hard time when you went off birth control?
Thanks!
Hi Ariel – raw or cooked. Cooked can be a lot easier on the stomach.
Did I have a hard time going off birth control in what way? It took a long while for my cycles to get regular and of course I had to be really mindful of cravings & hunger, but that was practice that I needed to build self-discipline. Everything is an opportunity for practice. 🙂
Hope that helps!
I am new to your blog/podcast but this post was great. Thank you for sharing! And yes PCOS and infertility is horrible and traumatizing!
I am excited to kick my weight loss journey up a notch and in an entirely new direction!
Excellent! I’m so glad you found it! Please never hesitate to reach out if you have questions or suggestions!
I have PCOS and was able to get pregnant quite easily due to diet. However, now that I’ve had my child and somewhat stressed and sleep deprived, I am having a really hard time losing the weight. Thanks for sharing your story that PCOS is beatable!
It is 100% my pleasure! Please never hesitate to reach out anytime if you have questions or suggestions! Have a great week & thanks for being here!
Hi,
I was wondering if you also had other PCOS symptoms like acne and hair loss? If so, did those get better too? Thank you! C
Hi C! Yes, my acne cleared up entirely! I had painful periods and those are significantly better. I did not have hair loss. All of my cysts disappeared and all my PCOS symptoms went with them.