Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome or PCOS is complex and most women with PCOS fall on a spectrum as far as what their root cause is. There are a few areas I explore for PCOS:
✅blood sugar balance and insulin resistance
✅stress response and adrenal function
✅gut health and inflammation
I find hair tissue mineral analysis so helpful for these clients because we can use one test to dive into all of these areas. This doesn’t mean I don’t use others, but I always start with HTMA to get an idea of how different systems are functioning and how we can use nutrition to support the body.
Blood Sugar & Minerals
About 50-70% of women with PCOS also have insulin resistance. I think the level of insulin resistance varies quite a bit with some being more severe and others only having a small amount, but it’s still contributing to inflammation. What we eat absolutely contributes to our ability to balance blood sugar. For example, prioritizing protein-rich meals can support blood sugar balance. Minerals are also crucial for blood sugar balance and good insulin sensitivity.
- Sodium: helps nutrients and hormones pass through the cell. When levels are low, it can increase insulin resistance.
- Potassium: helps glucose pass through the cell, which can support blood sugar balance.
- Calcium: supports insulin production
- Magnesium: improves insulin sensitivity
- Calcium/Magnesium (Ca/Mg) is the blood sugar ratio since we need adequate levels of both of these minerals to support stable blood sugar levels.
Stress, Adrenals, &Minerals
Another important piece of information that we get from the HTMA is our stress response and what stage of stress we are in.
- Metabolic type and main minerals: tells us how our bodies have been handling stress and what stage of stress we are in
- Sodium is needed for healthy adrenal function and low levels are a stressor
- Magnesium is used up during the stress response and low levels are a stressor
Gut, Inflammation, & Minerals
We also get a look at digestive capacity and inflammation, which is important for women with PCOS since inflammation is often a big contributor to symptoms.
- Zinc is used up to respond to inflammation and is important for stomach acid production. When levels are low, it’s often a sign our gut needs more attention.
- Sodium and potassium are important for stomach acid production as well.
- Phosphorus levels tend to be low when protein is not broken down well (or we need more protein).
Thyroid & Minerals
Lastly, thyroid health! HTMA is the best test for looking at how well your body can use thyroid hormone. 25% of women with PCOS also have thyroid dysfunction, which can further contribute to symptoms like irregular cycles and insulin resistance.
There are a few different parts of the HTMA that give insight into thyroid function and hormone use in the body:
- Calcium: High levels of calcium bind to iodine receptors and make it difficult for thyroid hormone to bind. Elevated calcium also slows down our metabolism in general and slows down how quickly hormones and nutrients can get into our cells.
- Potassium: Helps to sensitize cells to thyroid hormone and get thyroid hormone inside the cell where it does its job.
- Thyroid ratio (Ca/K):
- High ratio: shows slow thyroid activity. Thyroid hormone and other nutrients can have a hard time getting inside the cells. (fatigue, cold hands and feet, acne, thinning hair)
- Low ratio: shows fast thyroid activity meaning it is more effective inside the cell. Can also be indicative of stress and excess heavy metals. (anxiety, sleep issues, heart palpitations, low blood sugar)
- Sodium: transports iodide into thyroid cells in order to make thyroid hormones via the sodium-iodide symporter. Also supports insulin sensitivity, which can impact micronutrient status and thyroid function.
- Magnesium: protects against oxidative stress and inflammation which damages the thyroid gland. Essential for making ATP that powers the sodium-iodide symporter to transport iodine into thyroid cells.
- Selenium: helps initiate the creation of thyroid hormones, activates thyroid hormones, and helps to convert T4 to T3. It also helps to support the recycling of iodide to make more thyroid hormone and protects against damage by reducing oxidative stress and heavy metal contamination.
- Copper: stimulates the production of the thyroxine hormone T4 and helps to maintain optimal thyroid function by supporting energy production in the body. Copper also regulates iron, which is important for thyroid hormone conversion.
- Zinc: important for converting T4 to T3. Supplementing with zinc has been shown to improve thyroid hormone conversion; however, excess zinc has also been shown to cause hyperthyroidism.
- Heavy metal levels:
- High levels of heavy metals increase our need for selenium. Selenium has a detoxifying effect on several heavy metals, such as cadmium, mercury, and lead. Excess mercury can inhibit selenium-based enzymes that are needed to combat oxidative stress (very important for those with autoimmune thyroid disorders).
- While mercury is a common heavy metal that causes thyroid dysfunction in many, other heavy metals like cadmium, aluminum, arsenic, and beryllium can all accumulate if there are deficiencies in a lot of the minerals that impact thyroid health (magnesium, zinc, selenium especially).
If you have PCOS and are looking for support, minerals will not let you down! Below are more resources that you may find helpful:
reminder: i’m currently taking on 1:1 clients. if you’d like to explore what it would be like to work together and if we are a good fit, fill out this form to get more details!
