I love it when I have the opportunity to get out there and share the message about what Polycystic Ovary Syndrome really is, how to conquer your PCOS naturally, and the simple yet incredibly powerful and empowering steps and strategies that can change your life – and the lives of others.
Today I was interviewed by the lovely Miriam Henke from Ways To Wellbeing. She is a woman after my own heart in sharing how people can truly achieve wellbeing and real health, so it was an honour and a privilege to be on her show. You can sign up for her radio show and receive updates for future shows as well.
Here’s the interview. And as always, there is the transcript below for those of you who prefer the written word 🙂
Miriam: Welcome to the Ways to Wellbeing radio show. In this radio show, we explore lots of different modalities and ways that you can improve your health and well-being and live a happier life. I’m a health psychologist, and my name is Miriam Henke. I am the host of the show, and in each episode of the Ways to Wellbeing radio show, I introduce and interview different experts who have specific knowledge related to particular conditions or modalities.
Today, we’re exploring polycystic ovarian syndrome, or PCOS, and those who are listening, I imagine you may know a bit about this condition. Still, if you’re not too familiar with it, I have an expert on PCOS with me today. Her name is Dr. Bec Harwin, and Bec is a chiropractor and a nutritionist who works with women worldwide who have PCOS. She’s also an international best-selling author of the book, “Conquer Your PCOS Naturally.” Welcome, Bec.
Rebecca: Thank you very much for having me.
Miriam: It’s an absolute pleasure. You are the PCOS expert, that’s what people know you as. For those listening, could you tell us a little bit about your journey and how you got into specialising in PCOS?
Rebecca: Like most things, I have the condition myself, so I was diagnosed when I was 17. I didn’t have a period, an actual natural period, for 15 years. I put on a lot of weight and couldn’t lose it. I had acne, excessive hair growth, mood swings that were crazy and all the other things that go along with PCOS. Eventually, being a health practitioner and a research nurse, I discovered what I could do to heal myself, and once I did that, I thought I had an obligation to help all the other women around the world to do that, too.
Miriam: That’s excellent, Bec, you know, it’s terrific that you have walked this journey yourself, which means that the women that you work with really understand the journey that they’re going through.
Rebecca: Absolutely, and there’s so much judgment around these conditions inside of the medical profession, in other professions as well as in the general community, so being able to know where that person’s coming from makes a massive difference.
Miriam: Absolutely. For those who are listening, could you give us, I guess, your explanation of what polycystic ovarian syndrome is so that we’re absolutely clear on this condition?
Rebecca: It shouldn’t really be hard to diagnose because it comes down to three diagnostic criteria. You need two or three for the diagnosis. The first thing is you go in and you have an ultrasound of your ovaries and pelvic area, and they say yes, you’ve got cysts on your ovaries. The second thing is that you’ve got high testosterone, so that can be done easily with a blood test. The third thing is that you have absent or irregular periods, so fewer than eight periods a year. If you fit two of those criteria, then you fit the diagnosis. It’s pretty simple. There’s lots of other things I feel should be tested but that’s the basics of it.
Miriam: It’s interesting, Bec, it would seem that it would be so simple to diagnose, and yet why is it that not more women have this diagnosis early on and can do something with it?
Rebecca: I don’t know, their statistics show that most women have to go to between two and four different medical professionals before they get the diagnosis. Within women 60% who have moderate to severe acne have PCOS, so if you’re a woman with acne, you need to get checked. The same stats apply to excessive hair growth. If you have hair in places that are generally considered masculine, you should get tested.
My husband now walks down the street and will say, “Oh, Bec, I think she’s got PCOS, what do you think?” Most of the time, he’s on the mark. I think it’s just a lack of knowledge out in the general community and the health field, rather than it being an actual difficult diagnosis.
Miriam: Before Bec, you mentioned that you had had the condition yourself, did some research to find out what you could do to help yourself naturally; what did you discover in your research?
Rebecca: That I’ve written several books about. In PCOS, the biggest thing is insulin resistance. If we look at natural approaches, everything that makes sense: reducing stress, ensuring a balanced diet, getting sufficient sleep, and exercising regularly— all of these are crucial. I think we tend to think in complicated rationale these days, so we think that the simple things don’t really matter, but all of the research shows that’s what matters the most. Keeping things simple, having fun, and making sure you enjoy your life, while eating well, are really key secrets to beating PCOS.
Miriam: Why would a woman want to pursue a more natural way of helping their PCOS? What would motivate a woman to do that?
Rebecca: Basically, if they want the best approach, that’s the best approach. There’s nothing really that can be done medically. They can give you insulin-sensitising medications, which can help, but they don’t actually address the underlying cause. If you’re looking to address the cause, you need to do that. The pill is, I won’t get too started on that, but the pill is what is most often prescribed, and the pill has been shown to increase insulin resistance, which is a leading cause of PCOS in the first place. It increases your risk of deep vein thrombosis, which can potentially lead to death. It increases something called oestrogen dominance, which most women with PCOS have. It obviously reduces ovulation, which is how it works, which again drops progesterone, which is really important for women with PCOS.
The pill is absolutely the worst thing you can possibly do for this condition. Most women, given that advice, can determine what they should do. Still, if you address things naturally rather than the medications that could potentially cause a problem in the first place, then you’re really addressing the cause of the issue, and that’s what’s going to get you better.
Miriam: Absolutely. That sounds sensible to me, Bec. In working with women, what’s the first thing that you address with women when they come and consult with you one-on-one?
Rebecca: I usually do quite a detailed questionnaire to find out where their health’s at and also what they want because there are so many different approaches, and although there’s a basic look after insulin resistance, check out if your thyroid’s working well; different women want different things. If someone wants to, their main concern is to be able to fall pregnant, then that’s a slightly different approach than if someone wants to lose 20 kilos. We always start off with what their main outcomes are and then work from there.
Miriam: That sounds sensible. Is there anything you recommend women do to ensure they have a precise diagnosis? Are there any particular tests or approaches that they can sort out?
Rebecca: They definitely need to have testosterone levels checked, so when you have these, don’t just have testosterone checked; you also need to have a couple of other tests that go with it. Sex hormone-binding globulin, which is the thing that grabs the testosterone and stops it from working. If this is low, then that means there could potentially be more active testosterone. Additionally, there is a free androgen index, known as FAI, which compares these two factors and assesses the activity of your testosterone.
Getting your ovaries ultrasounded, so making sure you have cysts, is another important part of the diagnosis. Then there are two other tests I recommend all women with PCOS or likely PCOS should have. The first is related to insulin resistance, so insulin resistance testing needs to be conducted correctly through a two- or three-hour glucose tolerance test with insulin at different intervals. Blood sugars are taken with insulin at fasting, 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 120 minutes, and 180 minutes. See if it says three-hour test.
You also need to make sure that these tests are done in a specialised pathology lab that’s been supplied immediately; otherwise, the test results might not be accurate. Then, thyroid function should also be checked, so not just your TSH, which is the standard medical test, typically done, and which, by the way, should be between 1 and 2, or 2.5, not the typical path lab range of 0.5 to 4 or 5. You also need to have your T4, T3, reverse T3, and thyroid autoantibodies checked, as this is a comprehensive panel that includes these key measurements. These are the tests that I recommend all women with PCOS should definitely have without question.
Miriam: This is something they can request with their GP. What’s the best way of getting these tests organised?
Rebecca: They certainly can request them with the GP. The GP should be able to refer them to have the insulin test without too much trouble. You would need to ensure that you’re quite firm in requesting both insulin and the glucose tolerance test at the same time, not just the glucose tolerance test. The thyroid test can be a little more challenging, so I refer people to a functional path lab because they specialise in these tests.
The issue in Australia is that Medicare doesn’t cover all tests, and it only covers some of them. If your TSH is being shown to be what they consider abnormal, you’re better off going and finding someone who can refer you to a functional path lab, and then the tests won’t be an issue. It does mean that you’ll have to pay the fees instead of Medicare covering it, but it’s so well worth it.
Miriam: Excellent. Some of our guests and listeners may have some homework to do.
Rebecca: Yes, absolutely.
Miriam: A little bit of research. Obtaining a precise diagnosis is obviously a crucial step. Once a woman has that diagnosis, what is her next step?
Rebecca: Her next step is, well, she’s got a couple of steps. Either start researching it herself. I have a blog on my website that provides helpful information. Alternatively, you can find a health practitioner who specialises in this area. Look for someone who focuses on natural health and female hormone conditions, specifically, if possible, PCOS.
Miriam: For women who may be thinking, all right, well, I like the idea of a natural approach, what’s something that they can start doing straight away that will help their condition?
Rebecca: The first thing is to start loving yourself because self-love comes before all of the other things. If you don’t love yourself enough, you won’t actually take action. Don’t wait until you’re thinner or feel happier; start working on affirmations and doing things that bring you joy. Whatever brings joy to your life is really important. Then things like making sure that you eat often enough, because women with PCOS often actually don’t eat enough and don’t eat regularly enough.
They might be worried about their weight, so they’ll skip meals or go days trying not to eat hardly anything…* They don’t have to be big meals; just snacks, like a boiled egg or a handful of nuts, can make all the difference.
Sleep is really important, so making sure you go to bed and get up at the same time each night is a priority. Nothing else should get in the way, because one night of poor sleep can affect all your hormones, including insulin.
Make sure to exercise with interval training, where you go and do an eight-second sprint followed by a twelve-second rest, so you’re still moving but just less frantically. Repeat this for 15 minutes, three times a week, and you’ll notice a significant difference.
There are other supplements that can be particularly helpful, especially for individuals without regular menstrual cycles. There’s a herb called Vitex, which can be a godsend for women with PCOS, but again, it’s best to have this on the advice of a health professional who can help you with the correct dose and know that you actually need to be on these.
Miriam: Good food, good sleep, good exercise, they’re all essential things. You talked about interval training Bec, and you said sprinting and rest or a bit lower intensity; is that riding bikes, is it swimming; what kind of exercise are we talking about that you can do this in interval training with?
Rebecca: Anything where you can speed up and slow down quickly. Rowing is excellent, an elliptical, or you can do it jogging. If you’re just getting started, start walking a little bit faster for one block, or one house length, and then walk a little slower for the following two house lengths. Just start where you’re at, there’s no right or wrong, go a bit faster at a time, and then a bit slower and then just sort it up as your fitness levels increase.
Miriam: That sounds simple.
Rebecca: It is.
Miriam: I guess it is about setting up good habits because these good habits make it a lot easier to maintain. With women who come and see you, Bec, I assume that they all have different goals that they would like to achieve; what are some of the common goals that women with PCOS want to achieve?
Rebecca: The first two would definitely be weight loss, and I want to have a baby. They’re the two main things that I see all of the time. Then there are things like acne; I see younger women who are not as concerned about other things. Teenage girls and women often have acne or excessive hair growth. Then a little further down the list of things like mood swings, grumpiness, relationship trouble, because of all these other issues that are going on. They’re probably the main things.
Miriam: Weight loss, pregnancy, and acne are probably the three biggest ones. Is there a different approach you take with women who want to get pregnant as opposed to women who want to lose weight or sort out their acne?
Rebecca: Yeah, there are a lot of similarities between all of them because looking after yourself is the best place to start. If someone wants to restore their cycle, for example, because they wish to have a baby, then there are undoubtedly different supplements that we might recommend. As I mentioned, Vitex can be incredible, and there’s another product called Cinnamon Complex, which contains cinnamon and is particularly beneficial for women with PCOS.
You might start someone on these approaches first. For instance, if someone wants to lose weight, you might use other supplements to help improve insulin sensitivity. If they’re not sleeping, which can be one reason they struggle to lose weight, then consider using something like melatonin to help with sleep. The basics are pretty much the same for everything.
Miriam: What role does nutrition play in this? Are there any particular foods that you recommend for women with PCOS?
Rebecca: Yes, food’s just so important, I could talk about food all day. Things like good fats like avocados, eggs, and nuts are really important because we’ve been trained that fat is harmful, but fat’s not bad at all; the wrong fat is bad. Artificially altered fat is bad, but all of our cells are composed of fat; our brain, nervous system, and every part of us need fat to function correctly. Starting to increase the good fats, as we just discussed, is really important.
A lower carb load is also critical, so avoid eating many processed foods if possible. Get all the carbs you need, not just for your brain and kidneys, but also for your liver. They run on carbs, so you need glucose, which comes from the right carbs. Carbs from fruit and vegetables are ideal. Try to limit your intake of grains, particularly those containing gluten; avoid any gluten-containing grains. Then, lots of water is really important, but if you stay away from packaged foods and stick to the outside of the supermarket, avoiding the aisles with boxes and other items, that’ll serve you well.
Miriam: That sounds like very sensible advice and good not just for PCOS but for stress in general, health, wellbeing, that’s, I guess, whole, whole life advice really.
Rebecca: Absolutely. It’s just the way a human runs, so it doesn’t matter whether you have PCOS or whether you have mental health issues or any other problems at all; just addressing the basics can make notable changes in your life.
Miriam: What role do relationships play? I mean, for women who might want to get pregnant, the intimate relationship becomes about baby-making and less about the intimacy. What would you recommend for women who want to get pregnant?
Rebecca: I recommend that you consider your partner as well. It’s such an isolating thing to be infertile or sub-fertile, but he is part of the process as well, and he’s going through this with you, so make sure that you include him in the journey. Also, have sex for fun, have sex to connect, make it about intimacy or it doesn’t have to be all about baby making, it’s just not healthy, it’s not, you won’t be in the right head space, the stress is higher, you’re thinking oh my god, I’ve just ovulated, I’ve got to find my husband and have sex in the next twelve hours. Don’t make it about that; make it about connection and building a relationship. Lean together rather than making it an actual baby-making event.
Miriam: That’s good for your relationship as well as for your health, right?
Rebecca: It is, and the other thing is we know that orgasm increases your chances of conception, and you need to be relaxed for that to happen, so even if you don’t have penetrative sex but do other things to just encourage connection and relaxation, that’s really important in the long run for baby making.
Miriam: Again, such simple advice, but obviously incredibly necessary for women who have PCOS. For women who come and see you for one on one consults, Bec, how do you take them through the process, what would be I guess a common thing for all your clients?
Rebecca: The first thing I do is take them through a really detailed questionnaire, this does take some time but it’s really worth it. Then I can assess every area of your health, because you’ll be amazed at where PCOS can impact you. I also have people do a three-day food diary so that I know exactly what they’re eating, not just what they’re eating, but how it makes them feel. When they’re feeling more stressed, they might want to eat more carbs; I need to know that.
Then I take them through a what do they actually want out of the experience questionnaire as well so that I know where their focus is and what they really want to achieve because everyone wants to be well but that’s often not the reason they come, they want to have a baby or they want to lose weight, or they want to feel sexy, whatever it is. We go through all of those things, and then an initial consult after I’ve gone through and analysed all of that, it’s about half an hour, and then we determine from there whether that person needs ongoing support or whether they feel ready to run with it and then come back to see me if they need me.
Miriam: If our listeners want to get in touch with you, what’s the best way for they to do that?
Rebecca: At ConquerYourPCOSNaturally.com, I have a blog with hundreds of articles and oodles of information. I’m on the social media sites @conqueryourpcos. I have a website called PCOSNaturalTreatments.com dedicated to providing specific resources and programs for PCOS.
Miriam: What’s your final thought you’d like to leave our listeners with today, Bec?
Rebecca: Start to love yourself, do whatever you have to do, find joy in your life, that’s the most potent first step anyone should do, and that’ll get you ready to take the other steps to help heal yourself.
Miriam: Excellent. How would you best recommend people learn to love themselves? Is there a particular process or resource that they could contact?
Rebecca: They can see someone like yourself, or affirmations, or exercise is fantastic, those endorphins and happy hormones, and you can look in the mirror after you’ve exercised and you’re so much more attractive. Go out with friends, join support groups, whatever it is that floats your boat, do that thing.
Miriam: I really like what you shared today, Bec, thank you so much. I’m sure that all the women who are listening, as well as the people who love them and are going through this journey, will be able to take away a lot of really great advice from this. There you go, guys, thank you so much, Bec. It’s been an absolute pleasure to have you here.
Rebecca: Thank you for having me.
Miriam: What an incredible journey into polycystic ovarian syndrome, and I think if there’s anything that you can take away from this, it’s hope, hope that there is a possibility for people with PCOS to achieve their goals. That’s it for today’s episode. Thank you so much for joining us. If you have any comments or suggestions for future episodes, please leave a comment in the box below this episode, and we’ll connect again next time. Have a wonderful day.
As always, feel free to share! Together, we can change the world for many women with PCOS!
From PCOS to perfect health, with love,
Dr. Rebecca Harwin
The PCOS Expert
Chiropractor & Bestselling Author of
Conquer Your PCOS Naturally
www.ConquerYourPCOSNaturally.com
P.S. The transcript has been edited to make it easier to read and updated.
* “Whereas, to keep your blood sugar level and balanced, you actually need to eat probably five meals a day.” Research on this topic has evolved, and depending on who you speak to, this may no longer be accurate.
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