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.

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.