PCOS & Hormonal Health

Irregular cycles, stubborn weight, acne, unwanted hair, or a diagnosis handed over with no plan.

10–13%

of women globally live with PCOS

Up to 70%

of them are never diagnosed

General guidance, not a personal plan

Everything below is drawn from public health sources, cited at the bottom of the page, and Fredericka is confirming it against her own clinical experience before this page is treated as final. It is not a diagnosis or a meal plan for you specifically. For that, a consultation is the fastest route to an answer.

What PCOS can look like

Irregular or absent periods
Acne, or excess hair growth on the face and body
Elevated androgen levels on a blood test
Polycystic ovaries seen on ultrasound

Only two of these four are needed for a diagnosis, which is why PCOS looks different from person to person.

What is PCOS?

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is diagnosed when someone has at least two of three features, once other causes are ruled out: irregular or absent ovulation, clinical or biochemical signs of high androgens (acne, excess hair growth, or elevated blood levels), and polycystic ovaries on ultrasound. This is the Rotterdam criteria, the diagnostic standard used internationally since 2003. Because only two of the three are required, PCOS is not one fixed presentation. Two people can both have it and share almost none of the same symptoms.

It is also common and widely missed. The World Health Organization estimates that 10 to 13 percent of women globally have PCOS, and that up to 70 percent of them do not know it.

Why does nutrition come into this at all?

Because PCOS is closely tied to insulin resistance, where the body's cells stop responding normally to insulin. The body compensates by producing more insulin, and that excess insulin is believed to push the pituitary gland to release more luteinizing hormone, which in turn drives higher androgen production, one of the main mechanisms behind symptoms like irregular cycles and acne. Food is one of the levers that affects insulin levels day to day, which is why it is part of managing PCOS rather than incidental to it.

Does that mean there is one right diet for PCOS?

No, and the current evidence is specific about that. The 2023 International Evidence-based Guideline for PCOS, endorsed by 39 medical organizations worldwide, states there is no evidence that any one type of diet works better than another for PCOS, and specifically warns against unduly restrictive or nutritionally unbalanced eating. Separately, a 2021 systematic review of clinical trials found that eating patterns built around a lower glycemic load did improve insulin sensitivity and some hormonal markers in women with PCOS. Both things are true at once: no single named diet is “the” PCOS diet, and how quickly a meal raises blood sugar is still a lever worth using deliberately.

What does that look like day to day?

For most people, it means shifting the balance of a plate rather than replacing it. Fibre, from foods like the leafy kontomire in a stew or the legumes in a bowl of waakye, slows how quickly a meal raises blood sugar, the same reason whole grains like millet behave differently in the body than more refined starches such as white rice. None of this requires cutting out rice, banku, or fufu. It means paying attention to what they are eaten alongside, and how much of the plate they take up.

When does this need a dietitian rather than general advice?

As soon as symptoms are present, because general information cannot account for an individual's labs, cycle history, or other conditions that overlap with PCOS, including thyroid disorders, which need to be ruled out rather than assumed. A dietitian working alongside a doctor, not instead of one, is what turns “eat more fibre” from a slogan into a plan built around an actual diagnosis.

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