Kati reached out to me because she was absolutely exhausted.
She has been trying to lose weight by eating better and attempting to exercise. But her energy hasn’t been getting any better. It almost seems like things have been getting worse for her.
She’s been battling PCOS since her cycle started as a pre-teen. She noticed so many years ago that she went from a very energetic girl to wanting to sit and rest all the time.
Now here’s the thing that not many people understand about PCOS and fatigue. They are linked together and today I want to share two reasons why this is and what you can do about it.
But first we need to understand how energy is created. You see, in our cells we have enzymes that take fats, carbs, proteins and a few other molecules and use them to make a molecule called ATP.
ATP is used, either directly or indirectly, to run just about everything in our body. Without ATP our body shuts down and we die. This is why lack of oxygen leads to death. Because the ONLY purpose of oxygen in our bodies is to be used in the creation of ATP.
When ATP levels are low we get tired to preserve our energy. So how does all of this relate to PCOS?
Well, research in the last 5 years has shed some light on what is going on with the PCOS Metabolism. Mainly there are two processes our bodies use that are a little blunted with PCOS. Namely, insulin resistance and carnitine deficiencies.
Let me touch on the first. Insulin plays an important role of opening our cells so that glucose, also known as sugar and carbs, can enter and be broken down during the creation of ATP. Without glucose entering the cell we can’t use it to create energy. Without the energy we’ll feel tired.
This is why your doctor may prescribe Metformin, it helps your cells open the doors for glucose with less insulin. This drops your blood sugar levels because the glucose is going into the cell to be converted into energy.
But unfortunately, a lot of PCOS sufferers don’t do well on metformin. It often tears their gut up. So let me give you some alternatives.
First, Myo-Inositol and Chiro-Inositol have been shown to be just as effective as Metformin at opening the cells to glucose to make energy.
One of my favorite things to have people do is exercise before we eat some carbohydrates. Doing this not only gets your body primed to absorb carbs and turn it into needed energy, it also slims your waistline and helps with weight loss,
The cool thing is when we exercise our body doesn’t need insulin for a short time. It usually lasts about 30 minutes up to as long as 3 hours. The movement of our muscles actually causes the exact same opening of our muscle cells as insulin.
So, get your workout on and take your inositols and you’ll notice a bump in your energy.
The next reason we struggle with energy is because PCOS makes it hard to burn fat.
How, you might ask?
Think of it this way. Imagine you live in a house that needs to be heated in the winter by a fireplace. So all fall you cut wood and nicely stack it next to the house. Then when it is time to heat the house you bring some wood into the house and set it NEXT to the fireplace, but not in it.
After 20 minutes you get up frustrated that your house isn’t getting warmer and grab some more firewood and again, place it next to the fireplace, but not in it.
Sounds pretty ridiculous, but this is basically what is happening inside of our cells with PCOS.
PCOS does not affect how we breakdown fat. It doesn’t affect how well we transport fat to our cells to be burned. It doesn’t even affect how well we bring it into the cell.
But PCOS does cause a carnitine deficiency. Why is that important to know? Well, the main job of carnitine is to grab fat that has come into the cell to be burned and to put it into the “fireplace” A.K.A. the mitochondria, where it will be broken down.
So basically without carnitine our bodies do a great job with breaking down fat, and sending it to our cells, and even drawing it into the cells. But at that point it all stops. The fat sits in our cells waiting to be burned, just like the firewood outside the fireplace is just waiting.
So to fix this, the best thing to do is to supplement with carnitine. Specifically with acetyl-L-carnitine.
When I taught Kati these two steps she could take I got this message from her, “Is it normal to feel hot after taking the carnitine? And is it normal to feel restless?”
The easy answer is yes to both of those. They are both symptoms of… having energy!
So if you are struggling with energy due to your PCOS, start by taking these supplements and getting your pre-carb workout in.
And if you want more info on how to lose weight with PCOS and improve your symptoms head on over to https://FatExtracitonMethod.com
Thanks
John Gibson