PCOS Oracle

We've been misinformed about PCOS and it's root cause. In this video I delve into the true root cause of PCOS.

When diagnosed, doctors commonly focus on the high male hormones and as a result we end up fixating on finding ways to lower them. We never get told the root cause, what's really driving those male hormones. Because the high male hormones, irregular cycle and polycystic ovaries are all signs/symptoms of PCOS. Remember PCOS is a syndrome.
https://youtu.be/zKbvy902NSk

I've spent an endless amount of hours searching online for the best reputable brands that provide supplements that are natural, pure and created with care. These are my favourite supplements for PCOS!
https://youtu.be/dsxH-05ZBRs

My Favourite Supplements: 7 Natural Supplements for PCOS These are my favourite supplements for PCOS!Saturée https://saturee.com.au/f/despina use code 'DES' for 5% OFFAncient Minerals Magnesium Oil Spray https://am...

Must have health gadgets for 2022!
In today's video I share with you 3 health gadgets that I love and recommend for 2022.
I recommend the best health gadgets for fertility tracking, weight loss, blood sugar optimisation and metabolic health.
https://youtu.be/93XSvCSRHwA

🙅Your metabolism isn't broken and you don't have to live with a slow metabolism forever. But, unfortunately, a lot of the ways you read online, that are said to boost the metabolism are in fact putting you further into a low metabolic state.
So how do we REALLY boost and heal our metabolism?
✔️The thyroid is often referred to as a ‘hormone powerhouse’. This is because it plays a role in various functions in the body including metabolism and ovulation. Resolving a sluggish thyroid will help progesterone production (which happens to be thermogenic).
👉Eat every 3-4 hours
👉Avoid excessive workouts
👉Eat carbs. Avoiding carbs means we inhibit thyroid hormone production. T4 is converted into T3, the active form of thyroid hormone, in the liver. But for this process to take place, the liver needs glucose. If the liver does not have adequate glucose, T3 levels will be low and as a result, there will be a decrease in ATP production.
👉Saturated fats like coconut oil are pro thyroid
✔️Add salt
Salt restriction causes an increase in stress hormones like adrenalin. Adding salt increases thermogenesis and lowers stress.
⚠️Avoid PUFAs
"They damage mitochondria, causing respiration to be uncoupled from energy production. Use of oxygen isn’t directly proportional to the production of ATP. Mitochondria is producing more carbon dioxide without necessarily producing more ATP."- Dr Ray Peat
⚠️"Serotonin can reduce the production of energy by inhibiting mitochondrial respiratory enzymes (Medvedev, 1990, 1991), and appears to interfere with the use of glucose (de Leiva, et al., 1978, Moore, et al., 2004)."
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbYnFHF-MYi0Z-nRLbowC9A

We are 4 days into 2022, have you made some changes to your daily habits? Most importantly are you consistent? Improvement in your health happens when you are consistent.
We all have bad habits that we wish to ditch and good habits that we want to implement into our daily life.
Keep it simple:
➡️Eat Breakfast
Sleep minimises the rise in cortisol, however, it fluctuates throughout the night depending on your blood sugar levels.

A spike in cortisol levels is what wakes us up in the morning. Cortisol then decreases through the day. By eating within 30-60 minutes of waking we can blunt the cortisol spike.

In addition, we've been fasting for around 12 hours or more depending on when your last meal was and when you wake up in the morning.

In the morning our stored glycogen levels are low and when glycogen levels are low, stress hormones rise in order to manufacture glucose. Without adequate amounts of glycogen we cannot make thyroid hormones.

🍽️So breakfast is an important meal because it replenishes glycogen levels, keeps blood sugar levels stable and supports the thyroid (kickstarting the metabolism).
➡️Prioritise Sleep
A lack of sleep can have a huge impact on our overall health and wellbeing.
⚠️A study found sleeping 5 hours a night for 1 week, reduced insulin sensitivity by 24%.
Due to all the technology we have around us and the hustle mindset we lived by, we lot become disconnected from our circadian rhythm.
👉Melatonin is secreted at 9pm which makes you feel sleepy
👉Our deepest sleep happens at 2am
👉5:30am cortisol is released to start the waking process
➡️Eat regularly throughout the day
Not eating for many hours decreases our glycogen stores.
Adrenaline is secreted to release more glycogen (as long as it's available) but also releasing fatty acids, when fat is broken down.

Feeling stressed?😬
Cortisol, the primary stress hormone, quickly depletes various nutrients. To help mitigate the adverse effects stress causes the body include these vitamins and minerals in your diet.
🍫Magnesium calms your nervous system and prevents excessive cortisol.
🍊High amounts of vitamin C are found in the adrenal glands and get released in response to stress.
🥔Potassium levels are significantly reduced in response to stress.
🥛Vitamin B6 has an important role in adrenal functioning. It is involved in the production of our adrenal hormones and in the conversion of food to energy. So, low levels of vitamin B6 can affect the body’s ability to process food into energy. Resulting in symptoms like fatigue and muscle weakness.
🦪Prolonged stress can deplete zinc in the blood. Zinc acts on normalizing cortisol levels.
🧂Sodium-Salt restriction causes an increase in stress hormones like adrenalin. This causes us to retain sodium and excrete potassium which in turn leads to water retention and high blood pressure.
We are constantly exposed to various stressors and so our bodies are being depleted of nutrients. It is therefore essential to replenish your body with these lost vitamins and minerals so your body can return to homeostasis.
So consume a range of wholefoods that provide your body with these key nutrients. If necessary, choose a good quality supplement as an additional source.
⚠️Before buying a supplement always read the label. Some companies may use additives, unwanted fillers, bulking agents, binders and dyes.
Vitamin C supplements tend to use ascorbic acid, a synthetic form of vitamin C which is usually derived from GMO corn.
👉Natural supplements will list food sources.

Is your workout suppressing your thyroid and slowing down your metabolism?🤷
Exercise isn’t bad. The problem is how much exercise a person does and how they are supporting their body pre and post workout.
👉Here’s the deal.
Exercise is one of those “good” types of stress. But it’s a stress on the body, nonetheless.
It’s common to think that because exercise has so many benefits for our overall health and wellbeing, there can be no adverse effects.
➡️But that is just not true.
When dealing with hormonal issues like PCOS, there is a fine line between doing too much exercise and not doing enough. If you train too long or too intensely, you can end up creating even more hormone havoc.
🥇Many people look to athletes as an example of how they should exercise and of course, there’s nothing wrong with that. It can give you inspiration and the motivation to exercise. But many don’t realize that just because athletes look ‘fit’ or ‘healthy’ on the outside, it doesn’t mean they are healthy on the inside.
👉A study found endurance athletes that put their bodies through prolonged intense training and competitive races suffer from chronically higher cortisol levels. Researchers have also uncovered thyroid disorders are among the most common endocrine conditions among athletes.
Women with PCOS tend to suffer from low thyroid and high cortisol, so over-exercising will set you back or push you further away from achieving hormonal balance and reversing your symptoms.
Measure your body temperature pre-workout and then post-workout. If after the body has returned to its rested state (and after a nourishing meal) your post-workout BBT is low, this is an indication that your thyroid has been negatively impacted.
Testing your pulse can give you a further indication of cortisol levels.

🙆‍♀️Change isn't always easy, but it is often necessary.
To make change less scary and overwhelming, there are a few things you need to understand and accept when making changes.
✔️Start slow. Don't dive straight into making huge drastic changes, instead ease into it. This will make the change(s) feel less overwhelming and more sustainable.
✔️Don't expect things to be perfect. Whenever we make changes and start something new, we always expect things to be perfect and that we will have everything figured out in the beginning. But the truth is it won't be perfect. Things might go wrong, you might even want to give up.
Let's be real, you probably won't have it all figured out when you first start and that's okay. No one has it all figured out. We are all unique, making changes requires trial and error. There will be lots of experimenting.
✔️Find an approach that works for you and stick to it.
✔️Don't compare yourself to others. We are all different and at different stages in our life.
✔️Be patient! Things take time.

So you've come across the benefits of intermittent fasting including weight loss, improved insulin levels, autophagy, and are thinking of giving it a go.
But here's the problem...
❌There are not enough studies looking at IF on women. Those that have been done on women show a different story. One study (found in Obesity Research) found that after 3 weeks of IF, blood sugar control worsened in women but wasn't the case in men.
⚠️Rats subjected to intermittent fasting for 3 months had a decrease in overall body weight, but researchers found an increase in abdominal fat tissue, damage in the cells of the pancreas which release insulin, markers of insulin resistance and increased levels of free radicals.
⚠️Another study found in PLoS found that female rats that fasted for 3-6 months experienced a reduction in the size of their ovaries, stopped ovulating and had sleep problems.
🙅Fasting is a stressor. So by adding IF to the mix, in addition to all the other stressors we are exposed to on a daily basis (emotional, physical) is not very supportive for healing our hormones or metabolism.
At first we feel great because stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline are high. ⁠Going long periods without eating puts stress on the liver, adrenals and suppresses the thyroid which then slows down the metabolism.
👉Not eating for many hours decreases our glycogen stores. Adrenaline is secreted to release more glycogen (as long as it's available) but also releasing fatty acids, when fat is broken down. But as most of our diets have been chronically high in PUFAs these are released into the bloodstream during stress.
Cortisol increases to break down tissue, like muscle, thymus gland, to make glucose.⁠
⚠️Having no appetite is something to address as this is a sign the body is under stress.

⚠️Maintaining healthy blood sugar levels is something that should concern everyone.
As I mentioned in yesterdays post, the aim isn't to completely avoid blood sugar spikes, because of course if you have a meal containing carbs, your blood sugar will spike. But the goal is to work on preventing large spikes and addressing chronically elevated spikes that take several hours to come down (which is a sign glucose is not being used efficiently).
Blood Sugar Balancing Tips include:
🍗🥔Balanced meals- combine protein with carbs. Eating protein with a carb will lead to a gradual glucose response.
🕧Eat every 3-4 hours
The body requires a steady supply of glucose to fuel our cells and keep blood sugar levels stable. When we do not provide the body with carbs/sugar, stress hormones rise to make glucose through a process called gluconeogenesis. So the body manufactures glucose, through breaking down tissues, when cells do not have enough fuel to meet the energetic demands being put upon it.
🥥Coconut oil activates the metabolism and keeps blood sugar stable.
⚠️Unsaturated oils tend to lower the blood sugar. Decreased blood sugar is a basic signal for the release of adrenal hormones. They lower blood sugar in at least three ways.
1. Damages mitochondria
2. Suppresses the activity of the respiratory enzyme
3. Tends to direct carbohydrate into fat production
☕You don't have to avoid your hot cup of coffee for better blood sugar levels!
Caffeine raises the metabolism and because of this, it also raises your need for nutrients.
When you drink coffee, you need to make sure you there is adequate fuel (glycogen) in the tank to meet the increase. If there is inadequate blood glucose to meet the demands of improved metabolism, the stress response is activated.
⚠️The common symptom of feeling anxious or shaky/jittery after drinking coffee is from a lack of nutrients, which causes low blood sugar.

It’s normal for blood sugar to fluctuate slightly throughout the day. However, frequent blood sugar swings (peaks and dips) over time causes chronic inflammation and damage to the body's blood vessels and nerves.
Maintaining healthy blood sugar levels is something that should concern everyone.
High Blood sugar (Hyperglycemia) occurs when there is too much sugar in the bloodstream. Insulin, a hormone released by the pancreas, works to take sugar out of the bloodstream and send it to the cells of the body.
➡️As insulin continuously rises to meet those high blood sugar levels, the cells become desensitised to insulin and prevents them from using it properly which leads to insulin resistance.
Signs of high blood sugar include
⚠️Increased cravings for carbs/sugar
⚠️Increased thirst
⚠️Frequent urination
⚠️Fatigue
⚠️Decreased energy levels and midday crashes
⚠️Blurred vision
⚠️Headaches
⚠️Brain fog
The aim isn't to completely avoid blood sugar spikes, because of course if you have a meal containing carbs, your blood sugar will spike. We should be working to avoid the chronically elevated spikes that take several hours to come down (which is a sign glucose is not being used efficiently).
Low blood sugar (Hypoglycemia) occurs when blood sugar levels drop below healthy levels.
Signs of low blood sugar include:
⚠️Irritability
⚠️Hunger
⚠️Headaches
⚠️Dizziness
⚠️Blurred vision
⚠️Shakiness
⚠️Anxiety
⚠️Confusion
⚠️Excess sweating
‼️Severe low blood sugar that goes untreated can be very dangerous, it can cause loss of consciousness or death.
⬇️Reactive hypoglycaemia is where fasting blood sugar levels are normal before eating, but roughly 1 and half to 5 hours after eating, blood sugar levels drop very low.
⬆️The body overproduces insulin to compensate for its low sensitivity to insulin. Now, the overproduction of insulin leads to a severe drop in blood sugar levels.

Are you getting your minerals?🤷
When you start to make changes to your diet it's common to focus on the calories and macronutrients. Understanding the 3 macronutrients: carbs, protein and fats is a great starting point and foundational to any nutrition plan. But it's important to also understand what minerals the body needs to function.
Minerals are also needed to make enzymes and hormones. Here are 6 minerals to include:
🦪Copper (Cu)↔️Needed for energy production, regulates iron in the body, skin and hair colour, strong bones, supports the nervous system.
Foods: oysters, shellfish, liver, mushrooms, dark chocolate
🥛Calcium(Ca)🧀↔️Needed for strong bones and teeth, to carry out bodily functions including muscle contraction and controlling heart rate.
⚠️A deficiency in calcium can stimulate the parathyroid glands to produce more parathyroid hormone which increases calcium absorption, but also removes calcium from the bones.
Foods: milk, cheese and other good quality dairy products.
🍫Magnesium (Mg)↔️Keeps PTH down, helps with sleep, PMS cramps, headaches, bloating, constipation. Mg is needed to absorb and retain calcium.
Foods: chocolate, coffee, green leafy veg, bone broth.
🍊Potassium (K)↔️Pushes sugar into the cells. This helps decrease the effect on insulin. Needed for thyroid, adrenal and nerve function.
Foods include oranges, apricots, potatoes, mushrooms, coconut water, milk.
🦐Selenium (Se)🥚↔️Antioxidant that supports thyroid function.
Healthy levels of selenium are necessary for the conversion of T4 to T3.
Foods include brazil nuts, liver, shellfish, eggs, cottage cheese.
🧂Sodium (Na)↔️Salt restriction causes an increase in stress hormones like adrenalin. This causes us to retain sodium and excrete potassium which in turn leads to water retention and high blood pressure.
"Sodium stimulates energy metabolism, increases carbon dioxide production and protects against inflammation." -Ray Peat
✔️Choose white sea salt