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A Powerful Tool for PCOS

February 13, 2026 | 25 Comments | Clinical Tip Team

In this week’s video, I focus on PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome), a big name for a hormonal imbalance that affects a reported ~10% of women, a woefully low estimate in my opinion. The excess androgens and related hormone imbalances present in these women will lead to many states of dis-ease downstream. It’s an important one for you to master!

These women may struggle with a wide variety of symptoms including Weight gain, Fatigue, facial or excess body hair growth, Thinning hair on the head, Infertility, Acne, Irritability, Insomnia, and Headaches.

As usual, we want to focus here on understanding the Dynamics at play in this type of imbalance (and not the Diagnosis).  Many women with PCOS are not ovulating optimally (or, therefore, not making much progesterone), and this often puts them in an estrogenic overload state as well.  This anovulation is often caused by excessive androgens (e.g., DHT, testosterone) as a result of high insulin levels due to insulin resistance and brewing metabolic dysfunction.  Are you checking fasting c-peptide or insulin in your patients with PCOS-like dynamics?    

We know that insulin resistance is epidemic!  And it is indeed reversible in many cases with persistent lifestyle change.  Targeted short-term supplementation use can help to increase insulin sensitivity.  In the case of PCOS, I want to introduce you to the power of Inositol.  Check out this sample entry about Inositol from our Q&A Treasure Chest.  This database supports our students with a vast array of questions and case studies about biochemistry, interconnectedness, symptoms, lifestyle choices, interventions, nutrients, labwork, supplements, medication considerations, and much, much more.

This is the fourth in a four-part series about hormones.  If you missed the other ones, check out the first video (unexpected, negative effects of oral hormone supplementation), the second (why oral progesterone may help with sleep but other solutions might be more appropriate), and/or the third video (PMS rapid relief recommendations). 

I hope this information is helpful to you and the patients and clients you serve!

Warmly,

 

P.S.  If you are passionate about transforming healthcare through the power of functional medicine, we encourage you to learn more about SAFM’s practitioner training programs. Enrollment for our next cohort is now open!

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25 Questions for “A Powerful Tool for PCOS”

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  1. 13
    Ann says:
    September 14, 2023 at 11:56 am

    How effective is it in post menopausal women with increasing insulin sensitivity? I also know it helps in gout and inflammation but can you point to studies?

    Reply
  2. 12
    Amanda Ruppel says:
    February 13, 2023 at 2:40 pm

    Can inositol be used with 15yo girls that have PCOS?

    Reply
  3. 11
    Lulu says:
    July 4, 2021 at 4:36 pm

    Will inositol help with high luteinizing hormone? I’ve been diagnosed with PCOS, all other hormones in normal range except LH. Tried conventional treatments but wondering if this would help.

    Reply
  4. 10
    Cheryl Backes says:
    May 27, 2021 at 1:45 pm

    I have a client who has been diagnosed with PCOS based on her labwork (high testosterone) and her symptoms (weight gain, irregular menstrual cycle, hair loss on head). She currently has a hormonal IUD to prevent pregnancy. She has not told me which one, however I assume that it is one that suppresses ovulation. Since inositol can restore ovulation, should I assume that this would not be a prudent supplement to recommend to her? Thanks!

    Reply
    • 10.1
      SAFM Team says:
      June 5, 2021 at 9:37 am

      Hormonal IUDs may suppress ovulation but this is not their primary mode of preventing pregnancy. The progestin that is typically the working hormone in an IUD primarily thickens the mucus to make it harder for the sperm to travel and meet the egg; it also changes the contractions of the fallopian tubes to make it harder for the egg to get to the uterus; it can also affect how long sperm lives in the female genital tract. Whether or not a person does ovulate depends on the hormone dose in an IUD and how long they have had an IUD for (the longer the less potent hormone effect).
      As discussed in the video series inositol can restore ovulation in PCOS clients. This is also an interesting study on this topic:
      https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25259724/
      The primary mode of action of inositol is reversing insulin resistance. Thus a person who is working on the root causes of PCOS can use inositol and if they want to prevent pregnancy with an IUD they may want to take additional precautions.

      Reply
  5. 9
    Alana says:
    April 20, 2021 at 5:50 am

    Hi!
    Thank you for the wealth of information on your site. Can I take IP6 with Calcium D-glucarate? Thanks again!

    Reply
  6. 8
    Alma says:
    March 27, 2020 at 1:02 pm

    Is Inositol safe for teenagers? I’ve been reading on supplements and inositol and came across your page, please help.

    Reply
  7. 7
    Alexandrea Casini says:
    March 4, 2020 at 3:46 pm

    Hi!
    This is very helpful. What is the difference between Myo-inositol and the inositol itself, such as in NOW brand? Which brand would you recommend? Thank you!

    Reply
    • 7.1
      SAFM Team says:
      April 8, 2020 at 6:48 am

      The NOW brand supplement is Myo-inositol, but one needs to go to their website to find that detail:
      https://www.nowfoods.com/supplements/inositol-500-mg-veg-capsules
      There are nine isomeric forms of inositol and Myo-inositol is one of the most ubiquitously needed in the body for various functions, and when a supplement says ‘inositol’ one needs to dig deeper into which form or forms is it. There are many great brands on the market for Myo-inositol and it’s hard to call one to be the best, but to give a few examples, one can look at:
      Inositol from Pure Encapsulations or form Designs for Health, or combination formulas such as Cenitol from Metagenics, or Metabolic Ovary Support from DaVinci.

      Reply
  8. 6
    Melissa Homner says:
    June 25, 2019 at 5:42 pm

    This information is fascinating and very clear. Thank you all for sharing in this conversation. I am about to jump on a call with my first PCOS prospective client. Cheers! Melissa Homner

    Reply
  9. 5
    Samantha says:
    February 16, 2019 at 2:13 pm

    Is Inisitol safe for pregnant and breastfeeding moms?

    Reply
  10. 4
    Keira Coverdale says:
    February 8, 2019 at 8:30 am

    Hi SAFM Team,
    I have found such great information about PCOS on this site – thanks!!! It is clear that insulin resistance is the key. Tracy outlined several specific supplements and brands which is so helpful(Thorne’s Basic B, Sensitol, Thorne’s Berberine, Metagenics probiotic, HistaEze). My question is: For a patient who does not want to take metformin, what should the supplement protocol be in conjunction with the diet change (low glycemic and diary/gluten elimination)? Start with Inositol or Berberine? Can you start the B-complex supplements simultaneously to starting one (or both) of those?

    Reply
  11. 3
    Shoba Kumar says:
    June 8, 2018 at 11:46 pm

    Hi

    Inositol and Sensitol are same my doctor recommend sensitol for me. Need some feedback on this.

    Thanks
    Shoba

    Reply
    • 3.1
      SAFM Team says:
      June 9, 2018 at 11:42 am

      Indeed, Sensitol is just an excellent-quality brand name supplement by Designs for Health that contains inositol, in both the myo- and d-chiro forms (which I mention below).

      Reply
  12. 2
    hannah says:
    June 8, 2018 at 10:01 am

    Hello. Inositol seems to be the supplement of choice for PCOS within functional medicine now. I also hear of dietitians recommending it. I personally experienced such rapid weight gain with inositol that I hesitate to recommend it to PCOS clients who also have subclinical hypothyroidism like myself. I’m interested to know your thoughts on this.

    Reply
    • 2.1
      SAFM Team says:
      June 9, 2018 at 12:04 pm

      Fascinating. I personally only know of cases of the opposite. I know of no reason why inositol would be specifically connected to weight gain; it may be that other coincident dietary changes, supplement additions, or increased stress is at play? In fact, there is some evidence that inositol helps to improve thyroid function – via immune modulation which notably reduced autoantibodies (and by the role of normalized progesterone in better balancing estrogen in order to increase available free thyroid hormones). These may be of interest to you: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5331475/ and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28724175 . There are indeed certain supplements that can promote weight gain in some individuas (e.g. S. Boulardi probiotic), but again, I know of no data/pathway of that for inositol (assuming you were using a bio-available form with myo- or d-chiro and ideally a combination of both). I can think of 3 things which might be helpful:
      1. If you have subclinical hypothyroidism, it’s likely that you have trouble in particular with T4 to T3 thyroid hormone conversion, and indeed, supporting yourself as appropriate with key nutrient cofactors would be key – especially selenium and zinc.
      2. It’s also key that in using inositol in situations to improve insulin sensitivity (and reducing fasting insulin) that (1) dietary change to decrease the potential of elevated blood sugar and (2) stress reduction to keep cortisol optimal are still crucial. Otherwise, we keep promoting the vicious cycle of high blood sugar eventually promoting the return of insulin resistance.
      3. If you had rock-bottom progesterone and your body started to (finally) make some via ovulation, there can indeed be a short-term effect of increasing estrogen dominance if that dynamic is already at play (in addition to PCOS). This is because progesterone primes estrogen receptors. Perhaps this promoted some water retention? So for a given individual, we still have to deal with the separate impairments at play, and supporting better estrogen clearance and balance would be key if this is an issue. At SAFM we are always talking about making sure that downstream pathways are clear and functioning before addressing upstream factors; in other words, you wouldn’t try to address poor water pressure by turning the spigot on more fully for water to flow through a hose that still has holes in it. We fix the hose first; then turn up the water. I hope that helps!

      Reply
  13. 1
    Angela Gladkowski says:
    June 8, 2018 at 9:35 am

    Hi Tracy,
    Such wonderful information! My question is if a client is taking metformin they can safely take Inositol at the same time? And in addition to the Inositol cantaking a b-complex be helpful, especially if the client has a MTHFR gene mutation? Thank you so much!

    Reply
    • 1.1
      SAFM Team says:
      June 9, 2018 at 1:16 pm

      Yes! Certainly a person should check with their physician for any unique considerations, but I know of no reason these would be contraindicated. Just keep in mind that any collection of agents designed to improve insulin sensitivity might eventually lead to low blood sugar from over-medication with the metformin. If the aggregate intervention in reversing the insulin resistance is effective, a person will eventually need to lower/cease their metformin in order to allow blood sugar to be optimal.

      Reply
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