The post Why PCOS Is So Misunderstood appeared first on HUM Nutrition Blog.
]]>PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) is a hormonal imbalance that can result in cysts on the ovaries and a variety of other symptoms including irregular cycles, weight gain, acne, and facial hair.
It’s important to know that it comes in several forms. Knowing which type you have is key to knowing the right treatment protocol for you. Every type of PCOS is given the same name, even though the root causes are actually quite different. Often in mainstream medicine, every type of PCOS is managed with the same suggested treatment—even though these treatments only work for some women, some of the time.
Different types of PCOS all have different symptoms; not all women with PCOS are overweight, or have acne, or have excess hair growth. This confusion can delay diagnosis and therefore delay proper treatment and support.
The Three Types of PCOS
Insulin-Resistant
This is the most common PCOS type. High insulin levels stop ovulation in its tracks, causing irregular cycles and symptoms. Diet spurs insulin resistance. The symptoms are weight gain, acne, hirsutism, mood swings, and lack of periods. Women with this kind of PCOS are usually considered borderline diabetic.
Inflammation-Based
This kind of PCOS can affect women who are at a normal weight or are even underweight. They may not feel they have any of the classic symptoms of PCOS. The inflammatory response that stops ovulation and causes irregular cycles comes from the body’s response to foods like gluten, dairy, sugar, or soy. It may also come from overexposure to endocrine-disruptive chemicals like chemical lawn spray or dry-cleaning chemical.There are multiple influences that can cause suppressed ovulation and irregular cycles. It could be an over-reliance on artificial sweeteners (I’m talking too much Diet Coke or Stevia-based products). Or it could be due to poor diet, especially if you’re eating very little, only vegan, only raw, or no carbs whatsoever. The lack of ovulation will cause symptoms, but it won’t necessarily look or feel the same as the insulin-resistant type.
Synthetic Hormone-Induced
This type is common for women who have been on the pill or other hormonal birth control for a long time. They’ll come off and see their periods don’t return. The synthetic hormones shut down communication between the pituitary gland and the ovaries in order to prevent pregnancy. Often, it can be challenging to bring back online. It’s possible to have a combination of these types of PCOS, as I did, or for the root cause to change and develop over time.How To Manage PCOS
The two most commonly prescribed treatments—Metformin and the birth-control pill—aren’t very effective at helping women. Metformin is only effective for women with insulin-resistant PCOS. Even then, due to its risks, you should pair short-term use with diet and lifestyle changes.
I assist many women with managing and controlling their PCOS symptoms using the FLO Living protocol when Metformin does not work. The birth-control pill simply acts to mask the problems with PCOS. It may suppress symptoms short term, but they’ll return when you stop using it. Even worse, they could be exacerbated. The Pill happens to amplify many of the root causes of PCOS, including insulin-resistance and inflammation.
The FLO Living protocol works for all of the types of PCOS I’ve mentioned here to address the root causes by stabilizing blood sugar, eliminating endocrine disruptors, and improving estrogen metabolism.
Read more about The FLO Living protocol and Alisa’s tips for hormone balancing here.
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]]>Alisa Vitti on Hormone Health, Cycle Syncing, and more
symptoms of poor hormone health
There are so many signs that women don’t know to look for! Moreover, the symptoms are often sneaky. On the more obvious physical front: period problems are absolutely an indication that something is off with the endocrine system. In fact, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology recently declared the menstrual cycle as the fifth vital sign in determining your overall health. But period problems can take a lot of different forms: irregular periods, painful periods, heavy bleeding, no bleeding… All of these variations are indications that something is wrong with your hormones.
The major signs women tend to ignore are often written off as “PMS.” Here’s the big secret: PMS is not normal! If you’re feeling bloated, fatigued, irritable, anxious, moody at one time of the month or another, you’re not living in what I call ‘FLO’, and you’ve got to fix that issue with the right lifestyle tools. You can check to see what your hormone levels might be by answering 7 questions on this period-evaluation tool.
causes of hormonal imbalance
Estrogen dominance is at the root of countless conditions like hormonal acne, endometriosis, ovarian cysts, fibroids, PCOS, and more. It happens when there’s just too much estrogen in the body in relation to progesterone. This can be a direct result of the foods we eat, the products we use, stress, disrupted gut microbiome, micronutrient deficiencies, poor sleep, and other environmental factors. It can be very hard to completely avoid estrogen excess, because we are surrounded by endocrine disruptors. Luckily, knowing how to eat and live in a hormonally-supportive way can help you avoid the toxins that lead to estrogen dominance and the subsequent issues that result from it.
how diet affects hormonal health
Food is everything when it comes to hormonal health! The right foods can help support the thyroid, the adrenals, and the metabolization of estrogen through your elimination organs. Foods like leafy greens, complex carbohydrates, and colorful, vibrant veggies can completely rehabilitate an imbalanced endocrine system.
Of course, much of our hormonal dysfunction stems from eating the wrong foods. Sugar is the number one enemy when it comes to hormonal harmony. When you eat a lot of sugar or carbs and there’s a ton of glucose in your system, your body sends out lots of insulin to deal with this. Over time, this disrupts ovulation and causes a hormonal imbalance and leads your fat cells to secrete estrogen. The more sugar you eat, the more fat cells you create, and the more estrogen they secrete. This hormonal imbalance is a root cause of common issues like PMS, cramps, irregular cycles, acne, along with PCOS and infertility issues. If you have insulin-resistant PCOS then having excess glucose in your bloodstream will cause inflammation, which leads to many chronic health issues.
what foods to avoid for hormonal health
Just one coffee in the morning will throw off your whole endocrine system for an entire 24 hours. Caffeine messes with your blood sugar and cortisol levels, and your body won’t be able reset until you go to sleep and wake up the next morning. Caffeine also depletes essential micronutrients and minerals that we need for happy hormones.
Soy (the processed kind found in so many packaged foods) is terrible for women with estrogen-dominance hormonal imbalance conditions because of the phytoestrogens it contains. Processed soy is anything that substitutes like soy milk, soy meat, soy cheese, soy yogurt. Fermented, organic, unprocessed soy is tempeh, miso, and tamari.what is cycle syncing?
In my research I found that the right foods can offset and nourish the hormonal ratios present in each phase of the menstrual cycle. It not only brings them back to optimal levels but also maintains ideal hormone ratios for the long term. This is the Cycle Syncing Method
, that I created and have been pioneering for the past 15 years. It was made popular through my bestseller, WomanCode and the the much beloved MyFLO period improvement and biohacking app. You can get much more information on what foods and activities work for each phase by downloading the MyFLO app.
How to Sync with Your Menstrual Cycle
To start though, here are the four phases of your menstrual cycle and a few tips on how to support your hormones at each phase:Follicular
- Eat fermented foods.
- Do a fun new group fitness class that challenges you and is cardio focused.
Ovulatory Phase
- Eat raw foods.
- Do a mix of something strenuous and social and that’s HIIT focused.
Luteal Phase
- Eat root veggies.
- Focus on pilates and power yoga.
Menstrual Phase
- Eat proteins and fats.
- Focus on walking and stretching.
What about hormonal birth control?
There are so many reasons to avoid all forms of hormonal contraception:
Hormonal birth control acts just like an antibiotic in your gut, destroying the essential microbiome balance. Repairing a damaged microbiome, while not impossible, takes time. The impact of the pill on the microbiome will last long after you stop taking it without concentrated, focused actions to replenish good gut bacteria.
Hormonal birth control also prevents the absorption of micronutrients, vitamins and minerals. It robs your body of B vitamins, magnesium, and vitamin C in particular. This has short and long term impacts on your health. Once you’re micronutrient deficient, and unable to absorb what you need even from additional supplementation, you are set up for poor physical and mental health. It takes a nutrient dense, targeted diet to replenish your body’s reserves and repair the avenues of absorption. If you are prescribed the pill for cramps, PMS, or other common period problems, you should know that those issues result from hormonal imbalance and inflammation in the body. The pill does not treat these root causes — it’s only a Band-Aid solution. Once you come off the method, the problems will return and potentially have worse symptoms than before, as well as becoming harder to treat and resolve. It’s better to tackle these problems head-on and not wait until you’d like to conceive or suffer the long-term health consequences.birth control methods for optimal hormonal health
Here are some great non-hormonal birth control options:Condoms
They allow you to forgo synthetic hormone exposure and they actually work. When used correctly and consistently they are about as effective as the Pill at preventing pregnancy and they prevent bacterial and viral infections. Your lady parts are very sensitive and prone to picking up bacteria or viruses. STD’s can impact your fertility as well as being super uncomfortable and unpleasant. If you want to be a mom at some time in the future – use condoms today! It’s the best way of protecting your vaginal environment and keeping your reproductive organs healthy.
The diaphragm
A new one-size-fits all diaphragm just came to the US! Caya is available by prescription, but you no longer need to find a doctor who knows how to do a fitting.
The sponge
Even though you can still buy the sponge at RiteAid or CVS, you never hear about them anymore. I don’t know why, because it’s a great natural alternative contraceptive. You do use spermicide with this, but you could choose a natural option like ContraGel.The copper IUD
If you want something more permanent, then this is a very effective and safe option. There are risks with the implant, and many women report having increased cramping and bleeding while it’s implanted.cycle syncing results
The success stories have truly been awe-inspiring. Women have put every kind of menstrual disturbance into remission – from PCOS, to fibroids, endometriosis, to ovarian cysts, PMS, to synthetic birth control syndrome. They’ve lost weight, cleared painful cystic acne, and restored their energy and moods. Women have been able to improve their fertility as well! Most importantly, many have reclaimed their health and happiness.
When I was in my early 20’s and struggling with major symptoms of PCOS myself, I dreamed of a place that would have been able to help me with my issues. The FLO Living Hormone Center was created because I know first hand how overwhelming it can feel when your hormones are off balance to know what to do that is really going to make a difference. The FLO Living Hormone Center takes care of women from all over the world through our digital health programs. I’m proud that we have a huge community that we call the #FLOsisterhood.
If people want to learn more, what resources can they turn to?
- The FLO Living Hormone Center
- WomanCode – The Bestselling Period and Hormone Book
- MyFLO Period Biohacking App
- Talk to a FLO Period Coach
- Discover Your Period Type
The post Hacking Hormone Health with Alisa Vitti of FLO Living appeared first on HUM Nutrition Blog.
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