nutrition

The Use of the Ketogenic Diet for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)

The post is the first in a series that will discuss the peer-reviewed research on the potential of popular diets to address PCOS symptoms.

Due to the prevalence of insulin resistance among women with PCOS, the ketogenic diet is often suggested for women with PCOS. Insulin resistance impairs the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar, and this is particularly problematic when large amounts of carbohydrates are consumed. The body has to pump out large amounts of insulin, and these large amounts of insulin cause increased production of testosterone in women with PCOS. Keeping carbohydrates minimal is one (but not the only!) way to keep blood sugar stable without the need for a large release of insulin, and this can reduce many of the symptoms of PCOS.

PCOS & Insulin Resistance: Part I

It is estimated that about 75% of women with PCOS have some degree of insulin resistance (Moghetti and Tosi 2021). From my own experiences, I have a working hypothesis that this is an underestimate of the incidence, and that perhaps all women with PCOS have some degree of insulin resistance, during at least some portion of their cycle. I say this because for about 75% of my cycle, my blood work looks amazing. And indeed, whenever I’ve had blood drawn, it’s (not surprisingly) fallen in this larger portion of my cycle. Wearing a continuous glucose monitor for the duration of my cycle, however, tells a very different story.

Given my hypothesis that insulin resistance underpins pretty much every woman’s experience with PCOS, I’m devoting a few posts on different aspects of the problem (and there will surely be plenty more coming in the future).

This first post provides an overview of the basic problem of insulin resistance.