Is my PCOS linked to my IBS?
Aless Bove (The PCOS Expert)
I help women break free from PCOS Brain Fog and 10x their focus.
If you have PCOS and your digestion is in tip top condition, then this blog is not for you! BUT, if you have PCOS and you also experience bloating, gas, gripes and constipation or diarrhoea and you’re wondering if there is a connection and what you can do about it... have a read of my short blog explaining the link between PCOS and your gut health.
As if it wasn’t enough that PCOS comes with a whole range of hormonal symptoms that can really mess with everyday life. I’m talking about the anxiety, the hair loss, as well as unwanted hair growth (in places that you really wish it wouldn’t), to fertility struggles... research has now found a strong link with PCOS and gut problems which can add insult to injury and leave you feeling at the very best, uncomfortable. Let me explain to you why these things are linked and some simple yet effective ways to beat the bloat, reduce the gas and get your energy back!
Who am I and why am I writing this blog post?
Before we go any further, let me quickly introduce myself. I am Aless Bove, a Nutritional Therapist specialising in PCOS and women’s hormones. I do this job because more than anything, I want to stop people from living in unnecessary pain and discomfort.
In the final year of my nutrition course, I started to see clients and four of those clients happened to be women with PCOS. Each one of them was struggling in different ways and getting little to no help from their GP except a prescription for the contraceptive pill (boo), I knew that I had to help them. From that point on, I knew PCOS was what I wanted to specialise in and it became an obsession. I made it my mission to read every research paper and every book to expand my knowledge of this complex condition and to help as many women as possible suffering on a daily basis.
By the time they come to see me, these women have usually been in pain for some time, and one thing I will say, is that they are shocked at how quickly, nutrition and lifestyle can impact their symptoms... just as soon as we have worked out why they are there in the first place.
So let’s cut to the nitty gritty, how are my gut symptoms linked to my PCOS?
A 2010 study found that 42% of women with PCOS also had irritable bowel syndrome or IBS as you might know it. IBS is a common condition of the digestive system causing cramping, bloating, diarrhoea and constipation. The study also found that the women with PCOS and IBS had significantly higher BMI’s (body mass index) than those without IBS. PCOS and IBS are similar in that they are both syndromes which means they are a collection of symptoms that could have multiple causes, meaning that to solve them, you must use an approach tailored to you personally.
Now, you have probably heard about how important gut health is for most things, but why is this? Well your gut contains TRILLIONS of microbes responsible for many different things but arguably the most important thing is your immune system. These microbes make up 70% of the body's immune system and they control the way your body absorbs the food you eat and the nutrients from that food.
There are beneficial microbes (or as you probably know it - beneficial?bacteria) and there are harmful bacteria and an imbalance between the two can cause ‘gut dysbiosis’. When there is an imbalance, the harmful bacteria can become overgrown and so can other things like fungus and yeast. You may notice for example, after a course of antibiotics that your IBS symptoms flare up, this is because antibiotics are not targeted to wipe out only bad bacteria - they wipe out all bacteria including the beneficial kind and this can cause ‘gut dysbiosis’
So how can all of this be linked to PCOS?
Research now shows that an imbalance of good and bad bacteria in the gut can cause IBS symptoms, but it can also cause inflammation and insulin resistance in the body, which are two of the hallmarks for PCOS and both inflammation and insulin resistance can cause an increase in male hormone levels. You may have heard these male hormones being referred to as androgens, and you might already have been tested for testosterone by your doctor. High male hormones are one of the main symptoms for PCOS and they can be responsible for the disruption of your periods and monthly cycle, preventing ovulation and also causing face and body hair growth, acne and hair thinning.
The science (simplified)...
Your gut wall, which is about 5 foot long, is formed of tightly packed cells and they decide what comes in and what goes out. So ideally these cells will be letting in the important nutrients from your food, and keeping out the baddies and the toxins.
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This process can quite easily become impaired from things like stress, alcohol and typical western diets which are low in fibre and high sugar and processed food. When this happens, it is possible that your gut stops absorbing in the nutrients and starts letting in the nasty toxins as well as partially digested food and bugs and this can wreak havoc on your digestive system and trigger inflammation in the body.
Now some inflammation is good, for example when you hurt your knee or you’re sick your body responds with inflammation as a way of recovery. However long-term inflammation (also known as chronic inflammation) that is not switched off and stays in your body for long periods of time can interfere with lots of bodily processes. In the instance of PCOS it can interfere with your hormones and lead to insulin resistance which as we mentioned earlier, is a hallmark sign of PCOS.
Insulin is a hormone that regulates the amount of sugar in your blood, high levels of insulin in the blood means your body becoming resistant to insulin, and insulin resistance can cause your ovaries to overproduce testosterone. Too much testosterone can mess up the delicate balance of hormones that are needed for your monthly cycles and for ovulation, sometimes meaning that you won’t ovulate at all (which might sound familiar for some of you). And when you don’t ovulate and the egg is not released, the follicles on your ovaries that hold your egg stay ‘stuck’ and this what the PCOS cysts are that show up on the ultrasound.
So if this sounds like it might be you, what can you do about it?
Firstly it’s really important to note that you can repair and restore an unhealthy gut and there are lots of different ways you can do it. For those of you who want fast and targeted action, working with a nutritionist who offers a range of stool testing is a really quick way to get to the bottom (pardon the pun) of what is going on in your gut. This works by sending off a sample of your poo to a specialist lab and it will be tested for a vast range of different markers including overgrowth of certain harmful bacteria or a lack of good bacteria as well as yeast overgrowth, inflammation markers and much, much more!
Other things you can do are increase your fibre and reduce your sugar and starchy foods, de-stress and reduce alcohol.
My finishing message to leave you with is ALWAYS to remember that no one person is the same, so what’s driving your IBS and PCOS may be totally different from the next person, and it's vital that you find out what is going on in YOUR body.
If this blog has resonated with you and you would like to find out more about how nutrition and lifestyle can help you take control of your hormones, book in for a free exploratory call with myself on [email protected] now!
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