Although your doctor may be quick to prescribe birth control to treat your PCOS, many of the symptoms can actually be managed through lifestyle and diet changes.  

1. Start by identifying your type of PCOS. If you have insulin-resistant PCOS, then the most effective treatment is avoiding concentrated sugar, including fruit juice and natural date desserts.
2. Balance your blood sugars. The number one priority for women with PCOS is to balance their blood sugar levels and this is entirely possible through nutrition. Most women with PCOS thrive when they eliminate dairy and gluten. 
3. Work in healthy movement for your body everyday— this could be walking, yoga, weight lifting, etc. Be careful with too much intense exercise.
4. Carbs + fiber + protein = :) Diet can make a powerful impact on PCOS, so prioritize quality proteins from healthy animal sources, nourishing fats from foods like avocado, wild fish, olives, coconut, egg yolks, and grass-fed butter/ghee, and low starch carbohydrates primarily from vegetables and low sugar fruits.
5. Incorporate PCOS-friendly foods to help balance elevated testosterone and imbalanced insulin levels, which lie at the root cause of PCOS— include walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, ground flaxseed, spearmint tea, and licorice tea.
6. Seed Sync, Cyster! Try seed syncing/cycling to provide more regular periods. Fun fact: our moon seeds and moon bites contain pumpkin seeds and flax seeds- two PCOS-friendly foods!

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Our free hormonal health eBook is filled with tips from endocrinology specialists, registered nutritional dietitians, registered nurses, life coaches and more. The ten passionate practitioners that contributed to this post are: 

Dr. Lara Briden, ND, Cory Levin, MS, RDN, Tracy Beckerman, MS, RDN, Dr. Meghan McNaughton, ND, Jenna Longoria, FDN-P, Amanda Montalvo, RD, Kim Perez, MA, NTP, Dr. Alexsia Priolo, ND, Dr. Laura Pipher, ND, Kelli Shallal, MPH, RD