Lately, all my PCOS clients are telling me that her doctor prescribed the Keto diet to reverse her PCOS. I must admit I am not surprised as it happened to me too! I know Keto has its place especially in the treatment of certain conditions such as epilepsy. But as someone who suffered from an eating disorder in the past, such a highly restrictive diet can be dangerous and can put me back into binge mode. Furthermore,  the idea of eating so many high-fat foods was not appealing especially when I struggled for so long to understand my body and what it needs.

So, what is the Keto diet?

My doctor recommended a nutritionist who specialized in keto – 2 weeks in I felt so bad I wanted to cry. That is when I decided to write my master thesis on PCOS. Since then I have gone on to study functional hormone health. And this is why I decided to write this article.

So let’s start by understanding what Keto actually is. The ketogenic diet was developed in the early 1920s as a therapeutic protocol to treat epilepsy in children where conventional medication was failing. A true keto diet is high in fat (approximately 75% fat), moderate protein (20%), and low in carbs (around 5%).

For an adult woman, this would be around 20-25 grams of carbohydrates daily – that is less than 1 banana or 1 sweet potato.

By starving your body from carbohydrates your body is forced to switch to using fat for fuel. Whilst doing keto you also need to be mindful of how much protein you are consuming as protein is converted to carbohydrates.

So are there any benefits to keto?

Research has proven that this diet can significantly improve symptoms of epilepsy, lower insulin levels and improve insulin resistance, lower blood sugar and help with weight loss.

So now you are probably thinking YESSSSS That is exactly what I need! …. Hold your horses not so fast!!

The Keto diet is shown to Make some PCOS symptoms worse

Our body’s preferred source of energy is sugar, when our sugar levels get too low this puts our body under stress. As a result, our adrenal glands can start producing higher quantities of cortisol (cortisol is our primary stress hormone and is also a fat-storing hormone).

Having overactive adrenal glands and high levels of cortisol is already one of the characteristics of PCOS. In fact, my cortisol was actually high for a very long time, and let me tell you this is a recipe for disaster.

One of the functions of cortisol is to jump-start our bodies every morning. Cortisol does this by increasing sugar levels in our blood therefore persistently high cortisol levels can make insulin resistance worse over time. And we all know that 95% of women with PCOS already suffer from insulin resistance.

Something that most of my clients complain of is the difficulty of losing belly fat or the fact that they tend to put on weight around their midsection. This again is the result of high levels of cortisol. Belly fat increases our risk for cardiac problems and type 2 diabetes so we definitely want to avoid this.

So yes Although you might notice an initial weight loss whilst on the keto diet (this is normal as you are literally cutting out an entire food group) the long-term effects of having consistently high levels of cortisol may do more harm than good. As you can see I am substantiating everything I am writing with medical studies. So please feel free to click on any of the above links and check out the studies.

The keto diet has a negative impact on our gut microbiome and PCOS

One of the root causes of many conditions including PCOS is having an unhealthy gut microbiome. We have millions of bacteria in our gut. From studies, we know that having a healthy gut is crucial for many processes in our body.

The world within our gut is still very unknown however lately there are many new studies being performed in this area and all the studies are very clear and all point in the same direction. Having less diversity of bacteria in our gut is harmful to our health whilst having a diverse gut microbe is beneficial.

What we do know for sure from some PCOS Studies is that women with PCOS have less diverse gut bacteria, we do not know why but we know that poor gut health is a huge indicator of many of the PCOS symptoms. Research has also found a correlation between high androgen levels and low gut bacterial diversity is in PCOS.

Gut health is essential in controlling PCOS Symptoms

The above studies can already show you how imperative gut health is in the management of PCOS and one of THE most vital ways to support a good diversity in our gut is to eat a diet that is varied and includes lots of whole foods, and fiber. Fibre actually feeds the good bacteria in our gut. Many plant products are also considered as pre-biotics (this is what the bacteria needs to live off) and these include, plenty of vegetables and fruit the more colorful your day looks in terms of fruit and veggies the better. Legumes, beans, nuts, whole grains, and seeds – all are important to support your gut health.

Furthermore, we need fiber to have regular bowel movements. We need to be regular to clear out excess hormones in our system. With PCOS we tend to get estrogen dominance and high testosterone. Not having regular bowel movements does not help your hormonal balance.