Intermittent fasting and PCOS: Benefits, risks, and tips

In a nutshell

Polycystic ovary syndrome leads to overweight and obesity in between 38% and 88% of women. Given the significant weight gain challenge associated with this condition, many women with PCOS are constantly seeking effective ways to lose and manage weight, and intermittent fasting might be a good option.

Intermittent fasting and PCOS go pretty well together, offering you such benefits as:

• Hormonal regulation
• Improved insulin resistance
• Inflammation relief
• Metabolic reset
• Weight management

Polycystic ovary syndrome (or PCOS) is a hormonal condition that affects a huge number of reproductive-age women across the world. Affecting the female reproductive system and hormones, PCOS comes along with a variety of unpleasant symptoms, one of which is excessive and hard-to-manage weight gain. If it has affected you, it's natural to seek effective solutions. In this article, we'll talk about intermittent fasting and PCOS to help you find an efficient way to manage your weight and health.

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PCOS and Weight Gain: The Challenge

Before we move on and explore why intermittent fasting might be beneficial for women with PCOS, let’s figure out why there is a prominent weight loss challenge in the first place.

To answer this question, it’s important to understand how PCOS affects your hormones. This condition hinders the normal work of your ovaries, causing them to produce your essential hormones in abnormal amounts:

• Your estrogen drops, leading to irregular menstrual cycle, vaginal dryness, and mood swings.
• Your androgens (male hormones, such as testosterone) rise, leading to additional symptoms like hair thinning, acne, excess hair growth, etc.

Both estrogen and androgens play crucial roles in your body mass index. Lowered estrogen causes fluctuating blood glucose levels, whereas excess androgens are frequently associated with overweight and obesity.

As a result of these changes, your body might develop the so-called insulin resistance–a condition in which your cells stop responding to incoming insulin adequately, causing you to build up glucose in your blood, gain weight, and enter the pre-diabetes state. Together, the state of hormonal imbalance and insulin resistance can make it very easy for women with PCOS to gain weight and rather hard to manage it in the long run. As a result, between 38% to 88% of women with this disorder are overweight or obese.

What Is Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent fasting is a special eating plan broadly used by women of different body types to lose and manage weight. The core idea behind this approach is to get into a fixed schedule of fasting and eating windows and switch between them daily to secure a long-term result.

The intermittent fasting schedules are very diverse, which gives you an opportunity to pick an option that fits your lifestyle, needs, and goals. Namely, some common approaches include:

• 12:12
• 14:10
• 16:8
• 18:6
• 20:4

The first number in each approach stands for the number of consecutive hours during which you have to fast, and the second number indicates your eating window. For example, if you choose the 16:8 approach, you will have to abstain from food for 16 hours and then eat for the remaining 8 hours.

PCOS and Intermittent Fasting: The Potential Benefits

Now that you know the specs of PCOS-related weight gain and the core principles of intermittent fasting, let’s see how well intermittent fasting and PCOS go together.

According to existing research, there are a few tangible benefits of this dietary approach for women who suffer from weight gain caused by PCOS:

1. Hormonal Regulation

As you already know, one of the primary negative effects of PCOS on your body is a hindered hormonal balance. Intermittent fasting can help solve this problem. A 2022 study revealed that intermittent fasting can decrease androgen markers and increase the production of essential sex hormones. Additionally, intermittent fasting has been shown to have a positive effect on the ratio of luteinizing and follicle-stimulating hormones, which are among other hormones affected by PCOS.

The best part? While improved hormonal balance can positively affect your weight loss journey, it’s also important for your overall well-being and reproductive health. Regulating your hormones can eventually help you restore ovulation and menstrual regularity and minimize other PCOS symptoms.

2. Improved Insulin Sensitivity

Insulin sensitivity is another major issue in women with PCOS, and intermittent fasting has also been shown to improve it. According to trials, following intermittent fasting helps reduce insulin levels by an average of 13.25 mU/L. In the long run, it can help you overcome insulin sensitivity and manage weight more efficiently.

3. Inflammation Relief

PCOS is frequently associated with chronic low-grade inflammation. This inflammation can be further accentuated by overweight and obesity, which can also worsen other PCOS symptoms. Hence, addressing your chronic inflammation is also an important element of treatment.

Multiple studies show that intermittent fasting can help reduce chronic inflammation and protect you from it in the long run. This is one more reason to use intermittent fasting for PCOS and insulin resistance.

4. Metabolic Reset

Due to hindered hormonal balance and insulin resistance, many women with PCOS have significant issues with metabolic flexibility. Unable to respond to glucose appropriately, your metabolism slows down, leading to a variety of long-term issues.

Intermittent fasting, however, is known for its ability to flip the metabolic switch. First of all, your fasting windows give your metabolic function and gut some time to rest, improving the overall health and supporting metabolism. Secondly, when intermittent fasting urges your body to start burning stored fat instead of glucose, it also helps reset your metabolic function. In the long run, weight loss caused by intermittent fasting can also help speed up your metabolic rate.

5. Weight Management

Intermittent fasting has been found to help lose, gain, and maintain weight quite effectively for women with all body types. And this is confirmed by studies. A systematic review of 27 cases of intermittent fasting and PCOS research has found weight loss in each examined trial. The rate of weight loss ranged from 0.8% to 13.0% of baseline body weight, depending on initial weight, health condition, and other individual factors.

There are a few reasons proving that intermittent fasting can be effective. First of all, when done right, it initiates effective fat-burning. Secondly, it helps address metabolic and insulin issues that can get in the way of weight loss. And lastly, intermittent fasting is a sustainable strategy that’s much easier to follow in the long run compared to restrictive diets.

Intermittent Fasting and PCOS: Important Considerations and Risks

Now that you know about the biggest perks of combining PCOS and intermittent fasting, it’s worth noting that this approach might not be suitable for everyone. There are a few important considerations and risks to be aware of:

• History of eating disorders - If you used to have had some eating disorders in the past, studies show that it can significantly impact PCOS. Eating disorders can worsen your PCOS symptoms and lead to enhanced weight gain. At the same time, your history of eating disorders might be a big point against intermittent fasting because it can result in restrict-then-binge cycles.
• Underweight - Although many women with this condition struggle with weight gain, there is also a phenomenon known as lean PCOS, in which you can retain a low weight despite the condition. If this is the case and your weight is generally lower than necessary for your height and age, intermittent fasting is also not recommended. It can further reduce calorie intake and make you lose more weight, which can be dangerous.
• Severe hormonal imbalance - If your hormonal imbalance has reached an extreme point, following intermittent fasting can further exacerbate the problem. Calorie restriction can lead to hormonal fluctuations and disrupt your menstrual cycle.

It’s important to understand that intermittent fasting, just like any other diet, can add extra stress on your body. Respectively, it can lead to various side effects and exacerbate your current health condition. That’s why it’s recommended to consult with a healthcare provider to ensure that it’s suitable and safe for you.

FAQ

Why do you need to follow a diet if you have PCOS?

PCOS is a condition that undermines not only your menstrual cycle and reproductive health but also messes with your hormonal balance. By lowering the level of estrogen and causing more androgens to be produced, it can lead to uncontrolled weight gain, with the possibility of developing obesity or diabetes in the long run. Due to these risks, it’s important to balance your diet if you have PCOS.

Is intermittent fasting good for PCOS and insulin resistance?

Yes, intermittent fasting is less restrictive and more sustainable compared to other dietary approaches. Besides, it has a number of proven benefits for people with PCOS–it regulates your hormones, improves insulin sensitivity, reduces inflammation, and gives you a metabolic reset. Respectively, following intermittent fasting can help you not only lose weight but also relieve other PCOS symptoms.

Is intermittent fasting suitable for everyone?

No. Despite a variety of clear benefits supported by studies, intermittent fasting may not suit some individuals, such as those underweight, with severe hormonal imbalances, and with a history of eating disorders. Ideally, it’s recommended to consult with a doctor to choose the right approach to intermittent fasting and ensure that it’s safe for you.

Conclusion

PCOS is a common condition that brings along a wide variety of issues. Yet, uncontrolled weight gain and a significant difficulty managing it tend to be among the biggest challenges out there. So it’s no wonder that many women with PCOS are looking for effective weight-loss solutions.

As you now know, a huge number of intermittent fasting and PCOS research studies confirm the potential benefits of this dietary approach for females with PCOS. According to studies, intermittent fasting can help you balance your hormones, reset metabolic function, improve insulin resistance, and reduce inflammation, while also helping you lose weight. At the same time, there are some important considerations that make this dietary approach not suitable for everyone and emphasize the importance of taking a personalized approach.

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