#WhatSupp Helps Me Manage My PCOS

Raise your hand if you take supplements! Okay, put your hand down. And if you are in a public place, bravo you - being honest with yourself and the world. I like that! I am raising my own hand, too.

Have you walked down the aisle at a natural foods store and seen the endless amount of supplements and brands available? It can be overwhelming. There are floor-to-ceiling shelves jam-packed with thousands of bottles of supplements. It’s a lot to take in. Well, sadly - I am not here to help you with that part! But I am here to tell you WHY I take supplements and HOW they help me.

There are supplements for everything: sleep, stress, energy, gut health, beauty, men, women, teens, kids and more. You can see a great comprehensive article from New Hope Network, HERE. It’s important that you talk to your doctor to see which supplements are right for YOU! It’s so important that I will tell you that a few times in this post.

We all need different kinds of supplements, different amounts and for different reasons.

Here’s the truth - I take A LOT of supplements - all regulated and guided by my doctor. I take them for gut health, my immune system and more. Some are common: vitamin d, vitamin c, coQ10 and probiotics. Some supplements I take every single day, and others are when needed. I am very strict about my supplement regimen. I don’t miss a day. Have I? Of course! Is that a common occurrence? Nope! Even if I forget to take all of them (literally have put them in a baggie to take with me for the day and left them on the counter), I still make sure I take the few that are my “must haves.”

Sad to say, I have heard many people (even big influencers who are not doctors) say on social media that if you take supplements then you aren’t eating the right foods. That is so beyond far from the truth! We are all made differently. Even if you eat the healthiest of diets, you could still fall short of nutrients and minerals that your body needs. The best way to see if you need to take any kind of supplements is to talk to your doctor.

About 8 years ago, I found out that I had Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). PCOS is a common hormone imbalance that affects MANY WOMEN! I have heard many different numbers as to how many women actually have it (1 in 15, 1 in 10, 1 in 7) and regardless of which number is right, I think it’s safe to say that so many women have it and, to be honest, don’t even know that they have it.

SUPPLEMENTS FOR PCOS

I do take a few supplements to manage my PCOS. I have thankfully been able to manage my PCOS symptoms (irregular period, cystic ovaries, hormone imbalances and more) through food. I won’t go into too much detail on this blog post, but you can read more about that, here. Eating the right foods for my body due to PCOS is a great start and a must, however, I do take supplements, once again guided by my doctor, to help manage the effects of PCOS.

- I take Myoinositol (in powder form) to help control the affects of PCOS. There’s a lot of benefits for those of us who have to live with PCOS… It helps to lower testosterone, improves insulin sensitivity, managing hirsutism (is a condition of unwanted, hair growth in women) and ovulation. Unfortunately, these are issues that women with PCOS have to deal with on an ongoing basis.

- I also take NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine). This supplement helps to improve fertility, helps to lower testosterone levels and improves insulin sensitivity.

- I take Iron in a roundabout way because of my PCOS. My PCOS in the past has caused very heavy and irregular menstrual cycles. Over time I had become severely anemic to the point that I was very weak, would feel dizzy on occasion and was even losing my hair. I don’t take Iron because of PCOS, but because of what PCOS has caused. I can say now that I am no longer anemic, though I still take a lower dosage now to manage it all.

- I take Vitamin C because taking it alongside Iron increases the iron absorption in the body. Once again I take this because of the affects of PCOS.

Take into consideration the cost of your supplements. Taking supplements can add up financially over time so if you don’t want to spend a lot, talk to your doctor about the most important supplements that you need. This way you are looking at the quality of the supplements and not the quantity (choosing to take many different kinds of supplements but that are lower in quality). Also, what is important to you? That your supplements are organic? Gluten free? NonGMO? All of the above? Talk to your doctor or even the retailer (at a natural foods store) about what you are looking for.

Keep in mind, the supplements that you took in your teens may not be right for you in your twenties, and then supplements or vitamins that you took in your twenties may not be right for you in your thirties. You may need a different dose or type. There are so many factors that go into this. New Hope Network put together a great guide of what supplements one might need as young adults, women in childbearing years, women in perimenopause and menopause, men, as well as anyone 55 years and older.

If you have PCOS or if you think you have PCOS then you should talk to your doctor about the right steps you should take when it comes to your diet and supplement plan. If you don’t have PCOS then I still recommend that you talk to your doctor about what supplements are right for you. If you have food allergies, make sure that your supplements are “safe” for you to take.

I don't mind taking these supplements (and then some) everyday. I am grateful that they help me manage my PCOS in ways that my body cannot do on it's own or simply with food.

This post is sponsored by New Hope Network’s Inside the Bottle and its partners in high-quality nutrition: Natural Factors, NatureWise, NeoCell, Orgenetics, Sabinsa, SoftGel, Trust Transparency Consulting. All opinions are my own. I only share my honest opinion.