PCOS: A Naturopathic Perspective

Steven D. Ehrlich, NMD

Once a relatively rare condition, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is becoming increasingly prevelant. Women with PCOS can have irregular or even absent periods and often experience ovulation and fertility issues. Ultrasound will often reveal cystic masses on the ovaries. What’s going on here?

Naturopathic physicians generally view PCOS as being a symptom of an underlying hormonal disequilibrium. Many women with PCOS have a relative dominance of Estrogen and Testosterone in relationship to Progesterone. Estrogen and Progesterone are both anabolic hormones which promote growth of tissue. Excess Estrogen will cause growth of endometrial, ovarian and breast tissue, while an abundance of testosterone can result in abnormal growth of facial hair, acne and hair loss.

Symptoms can be mild to severe, but women with PCOS often go from physician to physician trying to find a solution. Oral contraceptives have been the conventional medical treatment of choice for years. This however, often only masks the symptoms and does little to cure the underlying imbalance.

Naturopathic Physicians often look to the liver as the seat of hormone metabolism in the body. It’s the job of the liver to “package” hormones for elimination from the body after they have served their purpose. Once packaged, these now neutralized hormones are sent out to the colon to be removed with the rest of the body’s waste. If the liver is not functioning optimally, there will be a back-log of circulating estrogen just waiting to be processed by the sluggish liver. This estrogen is free to exert its’ proliferative effects on target tissues of breast, ovaries, endometrium, etc. Even if the liver is functioning properly, are body has a back up system in the colon in which an enzyme is secreted which liberates the packaged hormone so that it can be free to circulate around the body.

Besides liver detoxification, other metabolic factors come into play in PCOS. Hormones breakdown into a myriad of byproducts called metabolites. Some metabolites are healthy and beneficial to the body, others are more harmful and are linked to a variety of diseases. Certain nutrients known as dietary indoles, help shunt metabolism of our hormones in favor of the friendly beneficial byproducts and away from the harmful ones. Broccoli is a major source of dietary indoles.

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