Our NYF client came to us struggling with irregular cycles, short luteal phases, and bloating. She had a diagnosis of PCOS and insulin resistance and had been struggling to maintain a healthy pregnancy after going through two miscarriages. In order to improve her cycles and optimize her fertility, we had to get to the bottom of her insulin resistance and inflammation. Here’s what we focused on:
The first thing we focused on was optimizing her nutrition. This client was previously trying to limit her carb intake since she was told that’s the best option when you’re insulin resistant. She ended up undereating, which was causing her body even more stress. We had her track her food in a food journal and then started to adjust her meals to add more protein and eat a little less frequently. She was eating small, snacky meals, which can also make it hard to balance your blood sugar. Once she made larger meals, centered around protein, and prioritized eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner, she saw a significant difference in her energy. She also noticed her bloating improved. We also found she felt better including more carbs at breakfast and less with lunch and dinner. This isn’t always how it goes (we often see the opposite), but that’s why it’s so important to experiment.
We utilize hair mineral testing with all of our clients. When we reviewed this client’s hair test results, we saw that she was very low in most of her minerals. Her body was very depleted, which wasn’t shocking since she also did a stool test and had many signs of poor digestion. We focused on increasing sodium and potassium first and then we slowly added in support for calcium and magnesium. When you support your minerals you support your liver and detoxification as well as digestion. This was prep in order to get her ready for her gut protocol. Like we mentioned in the last newsletter, sodium and magnesium are very important for insulin sensitivity and blood sugar balance. The goal with supporting her minerals wasn’t just for blood sugar though. We wanted to support your digestion as well to support gut health. This client has quite a bit of inflammation going on in the gut and bacterial imbalances, which can also lead to worsening insulin resistance.
The other area of focus that helped improve this client’s insulin resistance was supporting her gut health and reducing inflammation. This is another source of worsening insulin resistance, which can lead to elevated androgens and anovulatory or irregular cycles. With her history of PCOS, bloating, and miscarriage, we knew we had to take a look at what was going on in her gut. Women with PCOS are more likely to have imbalances in their gut microbiome and immune system. Both of these can make it difficult to not only conceive but maintain a healthy pregnancy. It’s hard to raise progesterone levels when inflammation is present in the gut. Her stool test showed that her digestion wasn’t great and she has pathogenic bacteria that was triggering her immune system and leading to inflammation. She was also reacting to gliadin, which is a protein in gluten. We knew eliminating this would also help reduce her inflammation. We created a protocol to support digestion, eradicate pathogenic bacteria, and reduce inflammation. This included targeted supplements specific to what we found on her test. This took her 3 months to complete. After about 5 months, she had her first 30-day cycle ever and then went on to conceive the next cycle. 🎉
As you can see, it’s important to look at the whole person and not just focus on food when it comes to insulin resistance, especially when fertility is a concern. The mineral deficiencies and gut imbalances that were impacting her insulin resistance, were also impacting her fertility. This client is now 12 weeks pregnant and we are honored to support her through a healthy pregnancy.
Here is a great blog post on how to avoid extremes when it comes to insulin resistance that you may also find helpful.
reminder: i’m currently accepting people into my Nurture Your Fertility program. you can learn more here about the program and fill out an application!
