There are so many benefits of regular exercise including lowering the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke and some cancers plus exercise can boost self-esteem, mood, sleep quality and energy.

But when it comes to PCOS, there is a lot of confusion surrounding what exercise people should be doing to help with symptom management.

People with PCOS are more likely to have an eating disorder; in one study 21% of women with PCOS reported eating disorders compared to 4% of those without PCOS (3).

With 54% of people resolving to eat healthier and 59% vowing to eat healthier in the New Year it isn’t surprising that diet and weight loss companies prey on people at this time of year and promote a variety of quick fixes to weight loss.

With 17.4% of people with PCOS going dairy-free in an attempt to manage their symptoms (1) it can be tempting to cut out milk, cheese and yogurt and swap to non-dairy options.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a chronic hormone disorder impacting 1 in 10 women in the UK (2). There are a variety of symptoms associated with PCOS including acne, oily skin, rapid weight gain, irregular periods, difficulty getting pregnant, excess hair growth and hair loss on the head (3).

Have you considered going gluten-free to manage your PCOS? You are not alone. Over 18% of people with PCOS said they were on a gluten-free diet to manage PCOS.

If you’ve been diagnosed with PCOS you may have seen advice to go carb-free or low-carb or try diets like Keto and Atkins. But why is this dietary advice so commonly seen for people with PCOS and is there any truth behind it?

If you have PCOS then you may be overwhelmed with the choice of supplements out there which claim to help manage your symptoms and you may have heard of the supplement inositol and wondered if it could work for you. But what is inositol?

Although there is no one way of eating for PCOS or a PCOS diet, there are several gentle nutrition tips we can implement into our diet to help with symptom management. One of these strategies is increasing the amount of dietary protein in the diet.

If you have PCOS then you may be overwhelmed with the choice of supplements out there which claim to help manage your symptoms.

Omega-3 fatty acids are well known for their health benefits, especially around heart and brain health, but are they beneficial for PCOS?

Chromium picolinate is a supplement consisting of trivalent chromium and picolinate acid. Trivalent chromium is typically considered an essential trace mineral as we can’t make it in the body. Picolinate acid is an organic compound added in order to enhance gut absorption (1).

Zinc isn’t one of the main supplements recommended for people with PCOS and may not be on your radar. But there are some studies suggesting that people with PCOS have lower levels of zinc (1) so should we be supplementing with zinc too?

If you have PCOS then you may be overwhelmed with the choice of supplements out there which claim to help manage your symptoms.

Magnesium is a mineral that helps us turn the food we consume into energy plus helps our parathyroid glands work properly.

Although supplements will not replace a nutrient-dense diet, for people with PCOS certain supplements may help with symptom management and to help replace low levels of certain nutrients.

There are so many supplements recommended for PCOS it can be challenging to know what to choose! ⁠⁣⁠

⁠⁣⁠𝘔𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯 is a supplement which is being recommended more and more 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘗𝘊𝘖𝘚. ⁠⁣⁠

⁠Melatonin is a hormone and antioxidant which controls the wake/sleep cycles, circadian rhythms and reproduction. ⁠⁣⁠

⁠⁣⁠But what does melatonin supposedly do for PCOS and what does the evidence say?⁠⁣⁠