How to Improve Fertility with PCOS
Have you been researching ways to improve your fertility with PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome)? Or perhaps you’ve been given advice such as “just lose weight” or “don’t eat carbs”...which are often the blanket statements given to women when they are focusing on their fertility with PCOS and haven’t found that to be helpful at all.
After working over the past couple of years with women trying to improve their fertility with PCOS, I’ve come up with my top tips that will help manage the PCOS symptoms and also optimize fertility.
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome or PCOS, is due to a hormonal imbalance that impacts the ovaries ability to release an egg regularly every month. Women with PCOS typically have irregular cycles or anovulatory cycles that are longer in length than normal.
This can make trying to conceive much more difficult…but it is not impossible! In fact, there are multiple holistic, natural remedies that can enhance your fertility with PCOS, you just need to commit to the changes and give them some time to take effect. Below are a few of my top tips but if you want our full guide for how to optimize fertility, download here.
1. Minimize sugar
Most women with PCOS also have insulin resistance meaning their body’s have an abnormal reaction to sugar and can lead to increased levels of blood sugar. It also means that by minimizing sugar in your diet, it can help counteract this.
A good range to start with is less than 25 grams of added sugar per day. On the nutrition label, you will see “total sugar” and then underneath it will be “added sugar”. Total sugar will include sugars from natural sources, such as apples in apple juice. If there is additional sugar added, it is shown in the “added sugar”...and this is what has a bigger impact.
Sugar additives come in all different forms but it can exacerbate the hormonal imbalance, insulin resistance and increase overall inflammation in the body - all of which impair fertility with PCOS.
2. Consider Specific Supplementation
Sometimes using very specific supplements can help improve hormone balance and ultimately enhance fertility. Two of my favorites are zinc and magnesium! Taking both of these daily can help regulate your menstrual cycle and improve ovulation and the regularity of your cycle. Seed cycling is another way to get both of these minerals but you will likely get a higher dose from supplementation.
When starting to add these into your routine, just keep in mind that it often takes 3 months to see changes based on the length of time it takes for a follicle to mature within the ovary. Zinc and magnesium help with many different menstrual health issues so you may even notice improvements in cramping, heaviness of flow and other PMS symptoms.
3. Balance the HPA Axis
“Have less stress” is poor advice that is often given to women trying to conceive. And in my opinion, stress is difficult to avoid. In fact, our body needs some stress to function properly. However, there are ways to better cope with stress and to also balance the stress response.
The HPA Axis is a term to describe the interconnection between the hypothalamus in the brain, the pituitary gland and the adrenal glands that are responsible for hormones. Focusing on techniques to help calm the nervous system can also calm the HPA axis and lead to better outcomes.
For example, taking a 10-15 minute break at lunch time to meditate, journal or go for a walk can do this. It also helps your body go into a recovery state rather than being in a stress state. There are lots of different options and everyone is different so getting a personalized plan is the most helpful here.
4. Address the Inflammation
Something that I don’t hear people talk about often in regards to trying to conceive and improving fertility with PCOS is inflammation. There can be increased levels of inflammation throughout the body but it can also manifest as pelvic congestion. This is when fluid gets trapped in the pelvis and doesn’t drain out properly. This ultimately leads to inflammation and less healthy tissue and environment.
Working with a pelvic floor physical therapist that is trained in pelvic congestion can make a huge difference with improving fluid movement, bringing blood flow back to the area and getting rid of inflammation that can impair fertility.
If you are local to the area, feel free to reach out to learn more about our fertility program!
And if you want our full guide to optimizing fertility, get it here.