Healing PCOS Naturally: Functional Medicine Approach to PCOS

Healing PCOS naturally doesn’t have to be intimidating. Yes, it requires you to take action, but it will be SO worth it once you are in charge of your own health. Natural PCOS treatment exists so you don’t have to rely on birth control to cover up your PCOS symptoms. You can address the root cause of what’s causing your PCOS and heal it naturally.

Did you know PCOS is the leading cause of infertility in the United States, affecting around 1 in 10 women of reproductive age? But infertility is just one of the unfortunate outcomes for women. Having PCOS increases your risk of diabetes, high cholesterol, and heart disease. This is why healing PCOS naturally to fix the underlying causes, rather than covering it up, is vital to your overall health. When you fix the underlying causes, you also reduce your risk for those other chronic health issues.

What is PCOS?

PCOS stands for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. However, it’s not just about having multiple cysts on your ovaries, as the term might suggest. PCOS is really just an umbrella term for a collection of certain symptoms that are associated with a specific hormonal imbalance resulting from a metabolic issue.

However, PCOS usually has underlying inflammation and blood sugar dysregulation (insulin imbalance) associated with it. The inflammation and insulin resistance can lead to elevated insulin, which tells your ovaries to make excess testosterone. This is what may cause the majority of your symptoms.

How do you know If you have PCOS?

If you have PCOS, you may already show signs. If you are struggling with any of the following, please know that PCOS may be the culprit, but there are also other hormonal imbalances that may be contributing to them.

Also, women may express PCOS in various ways. What your friend with PCOS experiences may not be the same thing you experience.

Side Effects of PCOS

• Acne (on back and chest)

• High loss

• Irregular periods

• No periods

• Heavy menstrual flow

• Hirsutism (excessive body hair)

• Infertility

• Recurrent miscarriage

• Debilitating PMS

• Weight gain (even if you consume a clean diet)

• Elevated insulin and glucose in the blood

• Sugar cravings

However, PCOS is diagnosed using the following criteria. You need at least 2 out of the three:

• Irregular or Absent menstrual cycles (Oligo- or amenorrhea)

• Clinical or biochemical signs of elevated androgens (such as high testosterone)

• Polycystic ovaries (confirmed via ultrasound)

What Causes PCOS?

Since PCOS is a syndrome, it means that there are many different symptoms and many different causes. While the exact cause of PCOS is not known, there are still underlying metabolic abnormalities to PCOS. These metabolic issues usually stem from insulin resistance/insulin sensitivity and inflammation.

Factors contributing to the severity of PCOS may include:

• Toxin exposures (endocrine disruptors)

• Underlying chronic infections

• Thyroid and adrenal dysfunction (may not be directly related but can impact PCOS symptoms and severity)

• Poor diet (high inflammatory foods)

I want you to know that healing your PCOS naturally is an option- if you are ready to take charge of your own health.

Can you Get Rid of PCOS?

Women usually get offered birth control pill to “treat” their PCOS symptoms. But, you may want to look at more natural ways to treat PCOS.

The birth control pill can help with symptoms, however, the pill also has some damaging side effects such as- nutrient depletion, low libido, mood changes, weight gain, and migraines to name a few. Check out my blog on the pill to learn more.

This is why I highly suggest finding the underlying cause of your specific PCOS case and addressing those factors first. This way, you won’t have to continue this struggle for years and unnecessarily battle acne, hair loss, and infertility.

By incorporating different diet changes, supplementation, and lifestyle interventions (based on your unique body) into your daily routine, you will start to see relief and finally, be able to address your PCOS.

5 Tips to Healing PCOS Naturally

Since PCOS is really a hormonal issue, you want to get to the root cause of the hormone imbalance- many times PCOS is a consequence of inflammation and blood sugar levels.

1. How to Balance Your Hormones

You can check out my blog on how to naturally balance hormones. Sometimes, excess estrogen can lead to PCOS, and even other hormonal imbalances can contribute to it. If PCOS specifically isn’t the cause of your symptoms, another hormone imbalance may be. Balancing your hormones can significantly help those symptoms you are currently experiencing.

2. Eliminate Toxins In the First Place

Toxins could be hiding in places that you aren’t even aware of! Endocrine-disrupting chemicals that are found in plastics, household cleaners, and even beauty products may have lasting implications. If there’s any prenatal exposure, it could potentially contribute to transgenerational health effects, including a higher risk of PCOS.

3. Detox Daily

If your body is struggling with systemic inflammation, detox is vital. You can detox daily to slowly eliminate any daily toxins that are contributing to that inflammation. Definitely check out one of my most popular blogs on 12 Daily Detox Practices To Reduce Inflammation– it doesn’t have to be hard!

4. Consume an Anti-Inflammatory Diet

Since inflammation is one of the main contributors to PCOS, we need to reduce it as much as possible. You’ll want to avoid high-sugar foods and processed foods (which exacerbate inflammation) and instead, consume a diet filled with foods that contain anti-inflammatory properties.

Anti-inflammatory foods: 

• Berries

• Fatty Fish

• Broccoli

• Green Tea

• Avocado

• Nuts

5. Reduce Your Stress Levels!

Stress can contribute to your adrenals going into overdrive, causing your cortisol to skyrocket… and then completely burn out. Imbalanced cortisol and damaged adrenals can have a harmful cascade of effects on ALL your other hormones. Not to mention, when you are stressed out, it can exacerbate your symptoms and inflammation.

Be intentional with your time and take notice of your stress levels throughout the day. Incorporate some yoga, meditation, and even simple deep breathing exercises to improve your PCOS symptoms.

Work with a Functional Medicine Provider

Treating any underlying cause and eliminating it for the long haul will take some time. However, when you work with a functional medicine provider, you’ll address your PCOS or any kind of hormonal imbalance, really.

You will gain the tools, information, and guidance on what steps YOU need to take to get your health back on track. Because PCOS can be a systemic issue, we want to ensure your body is running optimally on all levels.

A functional medicine approach to treating PCOS includes testing for:

• Nutrient deficiencies

• Heavy metal and non-heavy metal toxin burden

• Gut health

• Thyroid, estrogen, progesterone, cortisol levels

Lifestyle behaviors, diet, current supplementation, full health history, genetics, and current symptoms will also be reviewed.

Healing PCOS naturally can be a possible solution for many women.