Ep 20: 3 Hard Truths About PCOS and What to do About it...

With Caitlin Johnson, your functional medicine dietitian, this podcast is a private podcast. In every episode, I will leave you with something you can do today to help your PCOS. I'm so glad you're here.

When you get a PCOS diagnosis, you have likely heard things like:

• "This may make it harder to get pregnant."
• "In order to improve your symptoms, you need to lose weight."
• "Here is a prescription for metformin and birth control."

For some, there may also be medication for mental health, such as anxiety or depression. And you're likely going home thinking, When will my hair stop falling out? When will my chin hair stop growing so coarsely? What am I actually going to do to manage this condition I was just diagnosed with?

I know when I was diagnosed, I asked the doctor what PCOS was. His response was that it was the number one leading cause of infertility for women in America. He left me with very little information about what was going on metabolically within my body and what I could do about it. He basically sent me off on a mission to lose weight—the weight that I had just gained. That was a hard pill to swallow because I had gained the weight while training for a half marathon. I was really at a loss for how I could manage my PCOS.

Does any of this sound familiar to you? Do you feel like, Yeah, I was offered the same solutions, or I have the same questions and feelings?

Well, here are some hard truths I’m about to deliver to you.

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Hard Truth #1: PCOS Is a Metabolic Health Issue

PCOS is as much a gynecologic issue as it is a metabolic health issue. In order to treat the hormone imbalances driving your hair loss and coarse hair growth on your face, chest, or groin, we need to focus on metabolic health. Metabolic health impacts hormone health, and vice versa—your hormone health can make your metabolic health worse.

Today, we’re going to talk about how we can improve those things so that we’re not just left with hard truths, but also with ways to manage them.

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Quick Break:

Check out PCOS Formulas, specifically the Metabolic Berberine Formula. This combines alpha-lipoic acid and berberine to support insulin resistance, improve blood sugar regulation, and help shift your body into fat-burning mode. It’s designed to help you use fat for fuel, especially during fasting periods like overnight or between meals. For more information, head over to pcosformulas.com and check out the weight loss bundle today!

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Truth #2: Weight and Hormonal Health

Your metabolic health impacts your weight, and your weight impacts your metabolic health. As we gain excess fat tissue around our midsection, we start creating hormone disruptions. These disruptions affect how full we feel, cause energy dips, influence testosterone and estrogen levels, and impact cortisol (the stress hormone).

When your doctor says losing weight will help with ovulation, they’re not wrong. Losing weight can improve all symptoms related to high androgen levels (like testosterone, DHT, and DHEA). However, losing 5-10% of your body weight can feel overwhelming, especially if you’re already 250 pounds. A 5% loss would be 12.5 pounds, and a 10% loss would be 25 pounds, which is no small amount.

I understand the frustration when losing weight feels nearly impossible. But doing something to improve how your body processes insulin can help. Here’s a tip: stop what you’re doing 10 times a day and do 10 squats. Wherever you are—unless you’re driving—stand up and do 10 squats. The next day, switch to push-ups. This helps your muscles use the insulin available in your blood more efficiently.

You can also start your day with 30 grams of protein at breakfast or try using supplements like those in our metabolic bundle to support your metabolic health and help you lose weight.

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Truth #3: Hair Loss Takes Time to Improve

Losing hair from the top of your head while growing coarse hair on your chin, chest, or belly button is driven by DHT, a potent form of testosterone. PCOS makes it way too easy for the body to convert testosterone into DHT, which affects hair follicles and causes male-patterned hair growth or hair loss.

This process takes time to reverse, but it’s possible. I’ve seen clients improve these symptoms, but it requires patience. Dietary changes, supplements like spearmint or green tea, and products like Androgen Assist can help. Androgen Assist contains licorice and peony, which are known to lower testosterone levels.

These changes take time, but they can reduce hair loss and slow down coarse hair growth.

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Temporary Solutions: Medications

Temporary solutions like birth control, spironolactone, and metformin can help reduce symptoms but won’t reverse PCOS. When you stop these medications, if you haven’t worked on the underlying causes, symptoms may come back and be even worse than before.

I’m not saying don’t use these medications—they can be helpful, and sometimes even life-saving. But they have risks, side effects, and downsides. When you talk to your doctor, make sure you understand those risks and ask about an exit plan. For example, “Let’s try this for a year while I work on my metabolic health.”

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Wrapping Up

There is hope and light at the end of the tunnel. You can do things to improve your PCOS, like drinking spearmint tea, switching to green tea, eating more protein at breakfast, and engaging your big muscle groups throughout the day. Pick one small step to start today, and stay tuned for our next episode, where I’ll discuss medications for PCOS and how to advocate for using them well.

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That wraps up this episode! Thanks for joining me, and don’t forget to take action on one thing we talked about today.