65: What booze is really doing to your PCOS symptoms (and how to balance this over the festive season)

Office Christmas parties, gatherings over dinner and drinks, virtual festive wine nights over zoom with your girlfriends, your annual holiday dinner with your extended family, heading off to the beach to enjoy some cold drinks and sunshine, live music festivals with friends (for those of us here in NZ!). Whatever way you’re planning to do this year to celebrate the holidays - whether it’s virtually or in person if you’re no longer in lockdown - there’s one thing that tends to find its way to all of these catch ups. Alcohol! Given that it’s the kick off of the ‘silly season’ as us Kiwi’s call it, I figured it was the perfect time to talk about a topic a lot of you have been requesting - alcohol and PCOS. And I’m sorry going to have to be a bit of a Grinch… the long and short of it is that alcohol is very likely hindering your progress with improving your PCOS, rather than helping it. I mean, it’s not surprising - alcohol is a toxin!I’m by no means saying I’m anti-alcohol. But I think, like anything, it’s important to be making an informed choice. That way you can understand HOW alcohol affects your PCOS, what types of alcohol are better than others if you decide to have a couple of drinks and whether or not it’s worth having a few drinks if it may mean you take longer to reach your goals, whether that be fertility, improving acne, stopping those hangry attacks or something else (hint: there’s no right or wrong answer here - it’s completely situational).So if you’ve been wondering how alcohol affects your PCOS and how to navigate drinking and your PCOS over this festive season, this episode is a must listen!This episode is for you if:You enjoy a glass or two of wine before bedYou’re finding it hard not to lean on a bit of alcohol whilst in lockdownYou fall asleep easily but always wake up tiredYou’re finding your sleep is quite fragmentedYou are insulin resistantYou have trouble with inflammation and stressYou find you often have a low moodYou’re struggling to get pregnantSome things we cover in this episode:How alcohol affects your sleepHow alcohol affects your PCOSThe relationship between alcohol, your liver and your insulinHow alcohol before bed can affect your core body temperature and HRAlcohol and sleep disturbancesOrdering my book: Getting Pregnant with PCOSChristmas / New Years shut down period for those planning to join The PCOS ProtocolResources and References:My Book: Getting Pregnant with PCOSEffects of maternal and paternal alcohol consumption on the success rates of in vitro fertilisation and gamete intrafallopian transferHabitual alcohol consumption associated with reduced semen quality and changes in reproductive hormones; a cross-sectional study among 1221 young Danish menThe influence of ethanol and liver disease on sex hormones and hepatic oestrogen receptors in womenLinks to our programs:The PCOS ProtocolEggducated

Om Podcasten

It can be ridiculously confusing living with PCOS, you're constantly reading conflicting advice. Each week, I, Clare Goodwin, will be helping to simplify this for you by sharing with you some actionable steps to take and breaking down the latest research so you can actually understand it. I'll also share some real life stories of women who've improved their PCOS symptoms to give you that weekly boost to just keep putting one foot in front of another. If you have PCOS and you want some real talk about what to do, hit that subscribe button now.