Lara Briden - The Period Revolutionary
Leading the change to better periods and hormones
The role of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome in common menstrual problems such as PCOS, heavy periods, and perimenopause. Hyperinsulinemia or high insulin can impair ovulation and increase androgens in polycystic ovary syndrome. It can also cause progesterone deficiency, anovulatory cycles, and increase the thickness of the uterine lining contributing to heavy periods.
The supplement inositol is a superstar for treating polycystic ovary syndrome. It’s also been clinically trialled for weight loss, thyroid disease, anxiety, insomnia, and premenstrual mood symptoms.
In episode nine of my podcast/YouTube video, I look at “what is inositol?”, how you can get it from diet, the difference between myo-inositol and D-chiro-inositol, and why it’s all a little confusing.
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is not one disease. Instead, it’s “a heterogeneous disorder with different underlying biological mechanisms.” In other words, it’s a set of symptoms (androgen excess and anovulatory cycles) caused or driven by several underlying factors. To successfully treat PCOS, you need to identify which factor (or factors) is driving the symptoms. In other words, you need to know your functional type of PCOS.
The four functional types of PCOS include insulin-resistant PCOS, post-pill PCOS (which is temporary), inflammatory PCOS, and the far less common adrenal PCOS.
Insulin resistance is a hormonal condition associated with chronically high insulin. It’s also called hyperinsulinemia, metabolic syndrome, or pre-diabetes and is a major player in many women’s health conditions, including PCOS, acne, fibroids, perimenopause, and heavy periods.
Insulin resistance also causes abdominal weight gain and is a risk factor for diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, dementia, and heart disease.
Do you have insulin resistance? It’s time to find out.
Phytoestrogens are a special group of phytonutrients that occur naturally in most plant foods. The two major classes are isoflavones in soy, and lignans in seeds, whole grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables.
They’re called phytoestrogens because they interact with estrogen receptors but they’re not estrogen. In fact, they bind so weakly to estrogen receptors that they effectively block estradiol and are therefore better categorized as anti-estrogen.