Tired of being told "everything looks normal" when you know something's off? In this unfiltered kickoff to our 3-part series, we're diving deep into the often-overlooked connection between insulin resistance and PCOS. You'll learn what insulin resistance really is, how it wreaks havoc on your hormones, hunger, and energy—long before blood tests catch it—and why so many women are left in the dark. If you're frustrated by symptoms like weight gain, cravings, fatigue, or irregular cycles with no real answers, this episode is your first step to clarity and empowerment. No fads. No shame. Just real talk and practical tools to help you reclaim your health.
Episode Notes – EP01: The Hidden Driver – What Doctors Miss About Insulin Resistance and PCOS
In this kickoff episode of PCOS Unfiltered: Nourish, Heal, Thrive, we’re tackling a major missing piece in traditional PCOS care: insulin resistance.
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A simple tool you can start using today: the food timeline
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(0:02 - 0:25) Welcome to PCOS Unfiltered, Nourish, Heal, Thrive, the place where real talk meets real healing. I'm Lindsay, health coach, nurse, mindful eating advocate, and fellow health warrior. Each week, we're diving deep into the truth about PCOS, from nutrition and mindful habits to emotional healing and everything in between, all without the filters, the fads, or the shame.
(0:25 - 2:21) If you're ready to nourish your body, heal from the inside out, and finally thrive, you're in the right place. Let's get started. Welcome, welcome. So today we are talking about insulin resistance, specifically what it is, how it shows up in your life, and why it is often missed entirely in traditional medical care. So let's be real. If you've been told everything looks normal, but you don't feel normal, then this episode is for you. So let's start at the beginning. What exactly is insulin? You might be asking. So it is a hormone that your body makes in response to food, specifically when you eat carbs. So anything like breads, pasta, even fruit, oatmeal, a lot of processed packaged items are going to be heavy in carbs. And what that does is your blood sugar or blood glucose rises. And then your pancreas releases insulin to help move that sugar out of the bloodstream and into your cells to use it for energy. So it therefore affects every single cell in your body. When you think about it that way, it could be from your brain to your heart to the nerves in your toes, everything in between. And it's really a beautiful system when you think about it like that until it isn't right. So when your body starts needing more and more insulin to get the same job done, that is called insulin resistance side note, this affects more than 133 million Americans and up to 88% of adults in the U S I'm crazy, crazy numbers. And there are definitely big ties to this with PCOS. So that's why I wanted to kick it off talking about resistance.
(2:22 - 4:26) Um, so yeah, so with this, it's like your cells just stop answering the door when insulin comes knocking. So now you've got more insulin floating around and a higher blood sugar and your body's like, well, I guess I just need to make more insulin. You bring that blood sugar down. So it just kind of keeps, keeps going and continues. Um, so most people think about insulin resistance, uh, as just blood sugar, it's just related to blood sugar, but insulin plays such a big role. Uh, it is involved already kind of talked a little bit, but, um, breaking it down, uh, fat storage, hunger and satiety signals, ovulation and hormone regulation. Um, yes, that's a big key one there inflammation and immune response, um, energy in the brain energy in the ears or hearing, uh, your heart size, blood pressure, bone growth, nerve growth, muscle growth, um, and then glucose storage and fat production in the liver as well, which you may have even been told that you have something called non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Um, and yeah, that can be tied to insulin resistance as well. And that can be a precursor. So if you've ever felt like your hunger is always turned on, you're always hungry. Your PMS is intense or your period has disappeared. Then yes, insulin could be part of the problem. The unfortunate thing here is that most doctors don't connect the dots. They see symptoms in isolation. They're taught to see symptoms that way, unfortunately, because if you think about it, we have specialists for all these different symptoms, right? You go to your gynecologist for this, you go to a GI doctor for that. Um, but they're not talking to each other. The physicians aren't talking to each other. And they're also just not taught to look at the big picture, even when you go see the specialist.
(4:27 - 6:08) So that big picture is could insulin be at the center of all of this? Um, there is the silent struggle here. So insulin resistance can be happening for years before your blood sugar ever looks abnormal. A lot of the times doctors run a basic fasting glucose or an A1C. Those are probably fine. And then they say you're fine, but inside, you know, that the struggle is real, you know, that something is going on. And so here's where PCOS, um, you know, comes in. So for women with PCOS, it's even more common. Uh, it's estimated that about 70% of women with PCOS deal with insulin resistance. And this can be what's driving weight gain, cravings, irregular periods, fatigue, inflammation, that whole roller coaster, right? So the unfortunate thing is that very few providers take the time to explain this or test for it early. So tell me if this sounds familiar, um, because this is a lot of the times how it plays out. So you might kind of have like a phase one with just subtle changes, for example, feeling tired after meals, maybe some strong cravings, clothes are starting to feel a little tighter. And then phase two is where that scale doesn't budge. So you've noticed that you've gained some weight, you're trying diets, you're counting calories, restricting, whatever it might be, you're working out. Um, and then even working out as hard because your energy has really dropped and you're not getting enough sleep. Um, and you're just noticing the scales not moving.
(6:09 - 8:06) And then you kind of go into this hormonal chaos. So your periods go missing. You might develop acne, hair loss, facial hair, mood swings. And then this is the final phase where your blood sugar finally changes. Uh, so your labs flag a high glucose, um, an elevated a one C maybe even a high cholesterol, but the symptoms have been around for years when you think about it. So you don't have to wait for things to get bad enough to take action. That's the good news here. Um, you might be experiencing, uh, I want to cover these symptoms again, might be experiencing some of these symptoms or signs, um, that you could be insulin resistant. So belly fat that won't budge, uh, feeling tired or foggy after meals, maybe hangry or shaky. When you miss meals, maybe you go into a really dark place. Um, if you miss a meal, constant cravings, especially for sugary items, workouts that don't help with your weight, um, skin tags or dark patches on the skin. That is a really big one. I teach my clients that the skin is the largest organ of the body. Maybe, you know, this, maybe you don't, but the skin tells so, so much. Um, and it gets missed because like things like that, we don't really associate with what is going on inside our bodies. So yeah. So skin tags and dark patches can also be a sign and then normal labs, but you're still feel off, right? There's probably reason you went to the doctor, but then they say your labs are all fine. And they just kind of send you on your way. Um, those could all be signs of insulin resistance. So this does not, uh, come down to a willpower issue. It comes down to biology, but it can change.
(8:07 - 8:50) So imagine insulin is the key and your cells are the lock. So that lock starts getting rusty and your body keeps trying more keys, um, sending more keys to, or the keys again, are the insulin sending in more insulin to open up that cell or that, that lock. Um, and the thing is your glucose levels stay normal because those doors, um, do actually open at some point, despite sending more and more insulin in, uh, you know, to open that, that door, but the doctors continue to see normal glucose and then assume all as well.
(8:51 - 9:02) But your body is actually working 10 times harder behind the scenes. And that's the part that they don't get. So you need to test both insulin and glucose to see the real picture.
(9:03 - 9:40) Um, I will get into it more. Like I said, this is the first of a three part series. So we will talk about more as to why some doctors may not, uh, test for insulin. But, um, for right now, what happens if you think about it, if this is you, um, you, you have to think insulin resistance is not a side effect. It's the driver. And so you go to the doctor and a lot of times they put you just on birth control then because you're having some of these symptoms, um, that or they just tell you to lose weight, but without any specific guidance on how to do that.
(9:40 - 10:12) And no one explains how insulin resistance is, um, like what's going on behind the scenes and how it's messing with our hormones, our hunger energy. So just know that you are not broken. You're just missing this critical information here. So some simple steps you can take, ask your provider for a fasting insulin test. They may or may not order it. Um, but step one here is you being the advocate and you taking the power back to control your health and your journey.
(10:12 - 10:54) So, um, ask your provider. Um, sometimes they may not order it because there is some varying, uh, what do I say? Um, the research kind of varies as to what normal is. So in general, I think, um, most of the consensus is optimal is between a two and a six or like less than seven basically for your insulin level. But typically anything below 10 is also good. Some labs will say up to 25, but that would seem way too high. Um, so below 10, I would say good.
(10:54 - 13:14) If it is something that you can track over, you know, a few months or a year period, and you're seeing a steady increase, then that's also a good indicator as well. So, um, you here's the other thing you can without the insulin test, you can also, uh, help yourself determine if insulin resistance might be playing a role here. Um, so something I like to call the food timeline and you want to start tracking, even if you just do this for like two or three days, because sometimes more than that can stress you out and guess what happens. It can lead to more insulin resistance. So, um, so just a couple of days, but start by tracking how you're feeling at the start of a meal, maybe how your energy is. Um, if you're having a craving, like why you're actually eating that meal, is there a certain hunger going on? Um, and then maybe a few bites into the meal immediately after the meal, and then maybe an hour or two after, and then even the next morning. And what I want you to pay particular attention to are your energy levels, your cravings, and your hunger. How are you feeling around those again, at the beginning kind of middle, you know, during your, your meal immediately after, and then long after your meal, um, because your body is telling you something you just need to listen. And, um, this is a great tool to help you listen. So I'm going to stop there. Again, this is, uh, the first of a three-part series about insulin resistance. So today we broke down what it really is, how it shows up and why it matters way before your blood sugar ever does. So next week in part two, we are diving into what causes insulin resistance because it's not just about sugar. There are root causes, uh, hiding like stress, um, your sleep, your environment, and even your past diets. So hopefully you enjoyed this today and I will see you very soon. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of PCOS unfiltered. If today's episode spoke to you, be sure to subscribe. So you don't miss a thing.
(13:14 - 13:28) And if you loved it, a quick review would mean the world to me. Remember healing is a journey, not a destination, and you deserve to feel empowered every step of the way until next time, nourish your body, heal your heart, and thrive like the boss you are.