How To Use Nutrition To Treat PCOS

Firstly, the ‘cysts’ in PCOS are not really cysts – they are follicles which contain eggs. With PCOS, the ovaries are much larger than normal, and there are a series of undeveloped follicles that appear in clumps, rather like a bunch of grapes.

You may have trouble ovulating given that many follicles are competing for growth and maturation. Sometimes this will cause delayed ovulation and irregular or no periods. Polycystic ovaries can also go unnoticed and have no symptoms. Often women only find out when they are trying to conceive and they go for an ultrasound which shows these excess follicles, often referred to as a ‘bunch of grapes’.

We know now that PCOS is a spectrum you can have polycystic ovaries without having the full syndrome but all women with PCOS will have polycystic ovaries. However, where these hormonal imbalances exist, there are usually many more symptoms.

With the most extreme form of PCOS, you could be overweight, have no or very few periods, be prone to acne, grow unusually heavy body hair, often on the face, breasts and inside of the legs, and be susceptible to mood swings. And with this can come problems with fertility and often recurrent miscarriages. Women with PCOS may be seven times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes because of problems with blood sugar balance.

How Nutrition Can Help

Over the last few years, research into the nutritional approach to PCOS has revolutionised the treatment of this problem and nutrition can most definitely help with PCOS. A good PCOS diet aims to reduce the impact of the hormone insulin on polycystic ovaries. This can help whether you have the hormonal imbalance or not. Polycystic ovaries have a much stronger reaction to insulin, and it can be helpful to keep insulin levels as low as possible throughout the day. This is achieved by eating a low carbohydrate diet, particularly low in refined carbohydrates and sugar. 

Nutrients

So, as well as eating a healthy diet, supplementation is beneficial to help improve PCOS.

Certain nutrients can help to regulate insulin levels and balance your blood sugar. The B vitamins are important for hormone balance, chromium helps with blood sugar balance, magnesium is essential for controlling blood-sugar and insulin levels, zinc is vital for insulin regulation and hormone balance, alpha lipoic acid releases energy by burning glucose, so that your body has to release less insulin to deal with blood-glucose levels and co-enzyme Q10 helps to lower insulin levels.

Stress can worsen the hormone imbalance and trigger many symptoms including moods swings, anxiety, irritability, nervousness, aggressive outbursts, fatigue, palpitations, forgetfulness, anxiety, confusion, inability to concentrate, crying spells, headaches, muscle cramps, digestive problems and food cravings. You may not be able to control the stress in your life, but you have some control over how it affects you physically and also to make sure you are not making it worse. Certain nutrients are important for reducing the impact stress can have on your health both physically and mentally.

The Glenville Nutrition Clinic

Dr Marilyn Glenville who founded The Glenville Nutrition Clinics has been in clinical practice for over 30 years and knows that you need to be able to trust the nutritional advice you have been given and know that any tests that are being recommended are important to help balance your hormones naturally.

At The Glenville Nutrition Clinic we have the experience to support you with dietary advice, supplements and nutritional tests that can help you not only balance your hormones but also improve your general health and wellbeing.

Our aim is to provide help, support and information that can make a real difference to your health.

When you come for a consultation, you will be in the hands of one of Dr Marilyn Glenville’s highly qualified nutritionists.

All of our nutritionists are hand-picked and trained to follow Dr Glenville’s high standards.

If you’re ready to improve your digestive symptoms and general health, please do give us a call and we can set up a telephone or Skype consultation for you.

So make the call now, and take your first step towards achieving your goal.

There are many laboratory tests that can give you invaluable insights into understanding what is going on in your body at the moment and can tell you what vitamin and mineral deficiencies you may have.

The interpretation of these results lets you know what supplements you need to take and what amounts of specific nutrients are needed in order to help with PCOS.

In the clinic we use an exclusive Nutritional Test that checks whether you have any deficiencies or imbalances in 15 different vitamins, mineral and essential fatty acids from one blood sample:

Minerals – calcium, chromium, copper, magnesium, manganese, selenium and zinc
Vitamins – A, C, B12, D, E, folate and beta-carotene
Essential fatty acids – your ratio of omega 6 to 3 fats

We can also test how stressed you are by measuring cortisol with saliva samples which is convenient and accurate, and the sample is collected at home and then posted back to the lab.

We can also organise a complete hormonal analysis with a urine test to see whether you need to address a testosterone imbalance and organise any blood tests you might need.

All the tests we use in the clinic are carried out by accredited scientific laboratories in the UK and the USA.

Your nutritionist will interpret the findings of these tests for you and provide you with tailored recommendations based on your results.

Founded by Dr. Marilyn Glenville PhD, the UK’s leading nutritionist and authority on womens health issues. 

Author of 16 internationally best-selling books and former President of The Food and Health Forum at The Royal Society of Medicine.

For more than 30 years, The Glenville Nutrition Clinics have been supporting patients naturally and is the longest established nutrition clinic in the UK today with a particular expertise for women's health.

Once you’ve booked your consultation my reception will call you in the next few days to book your appointment on a date that’s convenient for you.

The prices above are for a consultation with one of Dr Glenville’s highly qualified nutritionists who have been practicing with me for many years and are all personally trained by me.