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Hello all,

My name is Nick and I am a personal trainer based in London. I have a question for you all regarding a client of mine that has Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

(For those of you who are just reading but don’t know PCOS is this… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycystic_ovary_syndrome)

She came to me with 3 goals in mind. 1) Get off Metformin - her diabetic drug (done) 2) Have regular periods again and increase fertility (getting there) 3) Lose weight (Frustrating as hell)

I've implemented a lower carb version of the Paleo diet with her that I am monitoring with a photo food diary once per week (so low she cant take metformin) and have managed to restore much of her insulin sensitivity and menstrual cycle but weight loss is still really stubborn.

I was wondering if there are any good blog posts out there or if someone here can offer me some advice on how to deal with this situation. Is it the case that people with PCOS need to be nigh on Ketogenic to see fat loss? How else can I help this person?

I am looking for very prescriptive information as a "Paleo diet" can obviously mean a great number of things.

Thanks for your assistance as always.

Nick Kinsella

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Sounds like you are doing a lot right! I'm not sure how long you've been working with this client, but I also had PCOS, thyroid issues and severe reactive hypoglycemia. It takes a long time to heal the underlying metabolic issues that cause these problems and they all make weight loss challenging. You are definitely looking at a journey of months, possibly years. Do look into thyroid function if she hasn't already. And encourage her to keep with it. I now have 3.5 year-old twins . . . – Heidi Apr 30 2012 at 14:21
It sounds like you are doing great work here, just remind both yourself and your client that it is a long road back to normal. I've fallen off the wagon here and there, but making more right decisions than wrong ones over the last year led to my first cyst-free ultrasound since my diagnosis 8 years ago. There are still other symptoms, and the weight does not want to go, but overall things seem to be headed in the right direction. – Happy Now May 14 2012 at 19:30

6 Answers

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The following is not a medical advice, just what I personally do for my similar problems:

If she is doing everything right and she still doesn't lose weight, I'd check the thyroid. Also, for some women especially, if the estrogen levels are too high (and usually if you have PCOS, you have high estrogen), a reduction in calories might be needed, not just reduction of carbs. For me, who I'm small framed, if I eat more than 1200 calories per day, I don't lose a gram.

Regarding a Paleo-ketogenic diet (not plain keto), I think it will help lots. I have a few gynecological pains myself that are going away when on less than 40 gr of carbs per day for over a month (25-50 gr of carbs per day is the goal I keep). I also take a grapeseed/pomegranate/trans-reservator extract, and a curcumin extract, that helps with inflammation in these body parts (and they also lower estrogen).

And of course, it's not just what you remove from the diet, but also what you add: bone marrow broth, offal, coconut oil (very important in the keto diet), sea vegetables, live sauerkraut, and home-made goat kefir. If your patient doesn't go out much either, she should consider supplementing with 5000 IU D3 almost daily (which also lowers estrogen btw, among other major things it offers). These are not optional in my opinion. It's what I do to myself to get healthy from similar ailments. My superfoods: http://eugenia.queru.com/2012/03/05/top-10-must-eat-paleo-foods/

Regarding fertility btw, no matter what you might hear about dairy in Paleo sites, home-made GOAT kefir (24-36 hour fermentation, which means very little lactose, and different casein than that of the offending cow dairy), is the top "drug" you need: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=real-males-eat-yogurt Kefir is 5-10 times more potent than yogurt, so as long as your patient AND her husband eat kefir, I'd expect good baby results. But it MUST be home-made (store-bought kefir doesn't contain all the needed yeasts and bacteria because of bottling regulations). More info about kefir: http://eugenia.queru.com/2012/04/19/a-word-about-kefir/

If she's trying to get pregnant (and if her doctor is ok with this, don't take this reply as a medical advice), she might need to supplement with folate (not folic acid, they're different) a few times a week too, about 3-6 months before she conceives. Especially if she goes low calorie Paleo-keto, where folate becomes less common in the food. http://chriskresser.com/folate-vs-folic-acid

I'd highly suggest she keeps a food blog, like on fitday or on Chronometer.com, to see which vitamins she's missing. Then she could supplement accordingly (but not overdo it of course, D3 and Mg are the most important ones).

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+1 Excellent advice. I suffer from PCOS & Hashimoto's and couldn't have said it better. – invisible ink Apr 30 2012 at 10:41
Really awesome, thorough advice. I wouldn't worry too much about the folate recommendation, as that has become such a medically mandatory part of prenatal care that it is tested on licensing exams. It's not a fertility matter, it prevents neural tube (brain/spinal cord precursor) defects in the first eight weeks. I also think you're spot-on with the thyroid. Keep in mind that thyroid hormone receptors are genetically coupled to LDL receptors, which can be dysfunctional in PCOS. Ketogenesis and increased saturated fat intake should help that. – interrobung Apr 30 2012 at 13:43
Don't feel the need to reply with a comment because you said it all! I also had PCOS and thyroid problems and hypoglyemia. One thing I'll say is it really takes a lot of time to heal these types of problems. – Heidi Apr 30 2012 at 14:16
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You might find some useful info on Pepper's websites:

http://www.paleoforwomen.com/

http://paleopepper.com/

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Many women with PCOS need not only to watch their carb intake, but their fat/calorie intake as well.

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That makes sense with the nature of metabolic syndrome, and the associated liver issues that can impair fat digestion. I think shooting straight into that would be pretty difficult for most though. Personally I've found that I really needed to feel fortified by eating to satiety for months with lc/hf before eating less didn't make me feel like a crazy person, and then seemed easier to just skip a meal every few days than to consciously restrict meal size. – Happy Now May 14 2012 at 6:29
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Thanks, I agree with the calorie restriction part for weight loss (unfortunately). I thought initially you just meant that fat needed to be restricted for some other reason. Thanks for the clarification! – invisible ink May 14 2012 at 11:09
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Just speaking from personal experience as a fellow PCOS sufferer..I have been trying to get rid of PCOS related weight gain for about 3 years and the scales only started moving when I INCREASED both my calories and fat intake. I've tracked my macronutrient rations on FitDay for a while and I can confidently say that as soon as I upped the fat, the jeans started to fit. Can't prove causation but still.... – Lily_7 May 23 2012 at 0:08
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Hi Aglaee, I'd be happy to :) especially if it means I can potentially help out fellow PCOSers! I'll email you this evening after work. – Lily_7 May 23 at 16:11
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Just as a testament to individual differences- I have PCOS and hypo and had to reduce fat calories specifically to see weight loss on VLC Paleo while keeping protein high (1g/lbm) – JASmith May 27 at 15:51
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What has been working for me is very low carb, moderate protein and high fat.

There have also been other helpful tweaks; giving up dairy helped, as did adding coconut oil. Now that I have lost much of the weight, I do ok with adding an ounce of almonds and a cup of berries daily.

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I have PCOS and was on metformin until recently. I had issues with metformin in that it made me crave carbohydrates and made animal protein unappealing. I also had to be prescribed waterpills. It was kind of a mess. I was prescribed the metformin to increase my insulin sensitivity, but I have decided to stop taking it and manage it through Paleo and Crossfit. This seems to be working well for me, albeit very slowly. If she drops the weight, the disorder does reverse, but therein lies the problem. She will have to increase her activity. I'm not saying she has to up her sessions to everyday, but doing stuff like walking a couple miles outside more than once a day, or more time working in the yard in addition to regular workouts.

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Why the down vote? – HaileyGallo Jul 27 at 13:27
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You might want to talk to primalgirl.com she seems to have figured it out.

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