In today's episode, Jane sits down with naturopathic doctor and licensed acupuncturist Dr. Lana Butner to learn about naturopathic medicine, acupuncture, and our hormones. 

Dr. Lana owns her own practice and helps people with chronic conditions and unexplained symptoms identify the root cause of their health issue. She helps her patients with gut health, hormone and fertility issues like PCOS, and more. If you have been struggling with a health issue and are curious about exploring how naturopathic medicine or acupuncture could help you, this episode is for you. 

Tune in to learn:

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If you would like to learn more about Dr. Lana or work with her, check out her website (https://www.drlanawellness.com/). You can find her on Instagram and Tiktok at @drlanawellness.

Use the code POLLIE15 for 15% off Dr. Lana's new PCOS Recipe Booklet and DRLANA2WEEKS for 2 weeks free of Pollie's PCOS Program (just search "Pollie" and apply the code at checkout in the App Store or Google Play Store).

Labs to ask for if you are concerned about your thyroid health (hint: TSH is oftentimes not enough!) 

Looking for an acupuncturist to work with? Look for the following 

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Learn more about Pollie on our website (www.pollie.co) or Instagram and Tiktok (@pollie.co).

In today's episode, Jane sits down with Clara Nosek, RD (@yourdietitianbff) to talk about the downsides of the wellness and nutrition industries.

Clara is a registered dietitian who moonlights as an educator and content creator in the anti-diet and wellness accountability space. Her content goes much deeper than her hilarious wellness and diet culture memes, though. She provides digestible and science-backed education to help people better understand the ways that wellness culture can oftentimes reflect and perpetuate discriminatory systems in our society, and she uses research and history to explain the problematic parts of this industry.

If you've been thinking about whether wellness or diet culture has gone too far and may be negatively impact your life, this episode is a good jumping point to start more deeply reflecting on how external influences and massive systems have played a role. It's also a great listen for those who work in the wellness or nutrition space and want to make sure they are staying accountable, acknowledging their specific privileges and biases, and practicing with their clients (or educating their platforms) in a way that is inclusive, aware, and not unintentionally harmful to certain communities.

Tune in to learn:

You can find Clara @yourdietitianbff on Instagram and Tiktok as well as her website (https://www.claranosek.com/). 

SHOW NOTES

Clara's recommended resources (in this order!) include:

The two anti-diet dietitians / creators Jane calls out are:

Learn more about Pollie on our website (www.pollie.co) or Instagram and Tiktok (@pollie.co).

PCOS and endometriosis both impact at least 10% of women and people that menstruate, and are largely known as being fertility-related conditions. But despite being quite different disorders, they are sometimes confused with one another. Why is that?

In today’s episode, Jane and Sabrina dive into what PCOS and endometriosis both are, how they are diagnosed, and what makes them similar vs. different.

Perhaps the most commonly-shared symptom of PCOS and endometriosis is infertility and irregular menstrual cycles. However, PCOS tends to be “irregular” in that people get fewer cycles per year than average, whereas endometriosis tends to be “irregular” in that it can make people’s periods incredibly heavy and painful (although, heavy and painful periods are also a symptom for many people with PCOS!).

PCOS and endometriosis are complex conditions and sit at the intersection of several bodily systems. PCOS, for example, is a hormone imbalance at its core but is also a metabolic and / or inflammatory condition for some people. Endometriosis is generally characterized as an inflammation condition but can be worsened by hormone imbalances. Both have been linked to genetic factors as well.

Whether you have PCOS or endometriosis, are trying to support someone in your life who does, or just want to expand your knowledge about women’s health, this episode is a quick deep dive into why it is important to distinguish the two conditions.

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SHOW NOTES

Study that suggests PCOS may increase endometriosis by 9x: https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/100/3/911/2839432

Other studies (e.g., https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.5301/je.5000181?journalCode=peva&) show there is a likely link between the two conditions

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Learn more about Pollie on our website (www.pollie.co) or Instagram and Tiktok (@pollie.co).

PCOS is known as being the leading cause of infertility, and it does have a reproductive health impact for a majority of people who have it. One of the diagnostic criteria for PCOS is having irregular or absent ovulation, after all, and if you are not ovulating (or are not ovulating consistently) getting pregnant will indeed be more difficult.

That said, a PCOS diagnosis is not an infertility sentence. While you will not be able to get pregnant in any given month that you don’t ovulate, spontaneous ovulation is possible even in unmanaged PCOS. And the good news is that managing your PCOS with lifestyle and medication can make ovulation even more likely. In fact, over 60% of people with PCOS can achieve ovulation with lifestyle changes alone. And adding in fertility treatments like clomid, IUIs, and IVF is also a helpful tool if that is desired and financially feasible.

Whether you were diagnosed with PCOS yesterday or a decade ago, if you are looking for a crash course on what this means for your family formation journey, this episode is for you.

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Study referenced about how lifestyle changes can encourage ovulation for 60% of people with PCOS: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26401593/

This deserves its own episode, but if fertility treatment is not covered by your employer or health insurance it can be a steep out of pocket expense. We are fans of Future Family as a financing option: https://www.futurefamily.com/ivf

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Learn more about Pollie on our website (www.pollie.co) or Instagram and Tiktok (@pollie.co).

Hormone Zone is back after our break! We’ll be starting a new bite-sized format mixed with specialist interviews.

Today’s discussion gets into a question we hear a lot: are ovarian cysts the same thing as polycystic ovaries or PCOS?

While the two certainly sound similar, they are actually quite different. Ovarian cysts are fluid-filled sacs in or surrounding the ovary. They affect 8-18% of pre and postmenopausal women. While they oftentimes cause no discomfort or symptoms, they can sometimes become twisted or burst open which can be painful and dangerous. There are different types of cysts such as follicular cysts, corpus luteum cysts.

Polycystic ovaries, on the other hand, refer to a state of your ovaries having an abnormally-high number of follicles surrounding them. They do not cause any harm or pain and are not dangerous.

And as one final clarification point: having polycystic ovaries does not automatically mean that you have PCOS! They are commonly seen with PCOS, but can also be due to another hormone imbalance or just be a “normal” variant of your own body. They must be accompanied by high androgen levels (detected through lab work) and / or irregular or absent ovulation (detected through irregular menstrual cycles) to be diagnosed as PCOS.

If you have any questions or have a topic you would like us to discuss in a future episode.

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SHOW NOTES

Pollie’s advisor Dr. Pooja Mahtani has a great blog article covering this topic: https://poojamahtaniwellness.com/polycystic-ovaries-vs-pcos-whats-the-difference/

https://www.clevelandclinicmeded.com/medicalpubs/diseasemanagement/womens-health/ovarian-cysts/

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Learn more about Pollie on our website (www.pollie.co) or Instagram and Tiktok (@pollie.co).

Since September is PCOS Awareness Month, Jane and Sabrina are tackling one of their favorite topics: stigma and PCOS.

PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) impacts at least 10% of menstruating people. Common symptoms like irregular periods and subsequent infertility, weight gain, acne, female-pattern hair loss, hirsutism, and mental health conditions are all very stigmatized in today’s culture. For that reason, many people with PCOS may struggle with internal, external, or anticipated stigma.

In today’s episode, Sabrina and Jane start off with Jane’s own experience with PCOS before getting into the research behind stigma and chronic conditions. Tune in to hear more about:

STUDIES

OTHER EPISODES

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Learn more about Pollie on our website (www.pollie.co) or Instagram (@pollie.co).

In today’s episode, Sabrina and Jane are joined by Pollie advisor, OBGYN PhD, and health educator Dr. Dylan Cutler to talk all about plant-based (and vegan) diets and PCOS.

While plant-based eating is often brushed aside in the world of hormonal health due to a focus on low glycemic or even borderline keto diets, there are many benefits to adding more vegetables, fruits, grains, and legumes to your diet - even if you decide to not commit 100% to being vegan or vegetarian.

In fact, if we focus on whole foods, plant-based eating is a pretty stellar way to make sure we are getting plenty of fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants throughout the course of the day, all of which are known to support balanced hormones.

Tune in to this episode to hear:

FOOD SENSITIVITY TESTS

At-home food sensitivity and allergy tests are popular, but their efficacy can be a controversial topic. Sensitivity testing, for example, can often come up as “sensitive” to foods that you eat frequently but do not actually have an adverse reaction to. Be sure to speak with your physician if you are concerned about a serious food allergy or if you are considering making any lifestyle changes (e.g., eliminating certain foods / food groups) based on results from one of these tests.

Follow Dr. Cutler at @dr.dylancutler on Instagram!

Learn more about Pollie on our website (www.pollie.co) or Instagram (@pollie.co).

In today’s episode Jane and Sabrina talk about online health communities, with most of the conversation centered on Reddit. With 1 in 10 people (and growing) going to social media for health information and over 1 billion health questions searched on Google every day, this topic is an important one, especially when it comes to parsing out misinformation.

They discuss whether content on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok is ever legit (hint: it depends), how to tell if specific community platforms for chronic conditions, and Jane’s obsession with Reddit UTI groups.

The conversation concludes with weighing the benefits of health-related subreddits as well as their limitations, as well as what Jane and Sabrina think community platforms should have to monitor any misinformation (and we need a better tool than Facebook automatically censoring any mention of the word “vagina,” sigh) while also fostering organic engagement.

Learn more about Pollie on our website (www.pollie.co) or Instagram (@pollie.co).

Fertility awareness methods (FAMs) have gained popularity in recent years both for being effective support tools for those trying to conceive and even for people who are hoping to avoid pregnancy.

In today’s episode, Jane and Sabrina discuss FAM as a birth control method as well as the risks (and benefits) associated with this approach. They discuss the different types of FAM (i.e., Standard Days, Cervical Mucous, Basal body temperature (BBT), Symptothermal), how people can use these methods for both birth control and family planning, how FAM stacks up to other birth control methods with typical vs. perfect use, and more.

While there are many benefits of fertility awareness methods there can be risks if this is being used for contraceptive purposes. Jane and Sabrina take a look at these risks and shed some light on their thoughts about how FAM can be portrayed on social media.

If you are curious to learn more about what the fertility awareness method even is, how basal body temperature tracking and cervical mucous can provide a clue into our fertile window, FAM-related devices and apps, this episode is for you!

Note: The day after this episode was posted, Natural Cycles announced a partnership with Oura Ring (https://www.ouraring.com). This is exciting because Oura Ring automatically takes your BBT while you sleep. However, it is priced at $300, which we recognize is not accessible for everyone. 

***Disclaimer: While these methods are great additions to the routine of someone who is trying to conceive, being informed about how they work and how to maximize efficacy is especially important if you are using FAM for birth control. Be sure to talk with your doctor before starting BBT tracking, cervical mucous tracking, or any other FAM method as a form of birth control. While research shows “perfect” FAM use can prevent pregnancy in over 90% of cases, even the most diligent efforts can be hindered by a hormone imbalance like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) or monthly hormonal fluctuations caused by stress or other medication.

FAM-RELATED APPS & DEVICES

Tempdrop* (device for monitoring BBT): https://www.tempdrop.com/

Ava* (fertility tracking device for monitoring BBT): https://www.avawomen.com/

kegg* (device for monitoring cervical mucous): https://kegg.tech/

Natural Cycles** (birth control and family planning app using BBT tracking): https://www.naturalcycles.com/

*Not FDA approved for birth control and lacking studies for pregnancy prevention; if your goal is to avoid pregnancy, be sure to use this in combination with other FAM methods and barrier protection.

**FDA-cleared and CE-marked, but make sure to still talk with your doctor before using this as birth control and do your research about what constitutes perfect vs. typical use.

OTHER LINKS

https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/fertility-awareness-based-methods-of-family-planning

https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/birth-control/fertility-awareness

https://www.healthline.com/health/healthy-sex/how-effective-is-birth-control

Hormone Zone episode on birth control with Dr. Mare Mbaye: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0aG9u5CUsDAqTPa9NMG6mJ?si=07a2f4a2bcd64ebc

Learn more about Pollie on our website (www.pollie.co) or Instagram (@pollie.co).

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is an incredibly common hormone imbalance that impacts 10% of menstruating people. While it is the leading cause of infertility and is oftentimes framed as a reproductive issue as a result of this, there is much more to PCOS beyond this: it is a risk factor infertility, diabetes, heart disease, mental health issues, and more. Not to mention frustrating day-to-day symptoms such as irregular or absent ovulation, wonky periods, trouble losing weight, acne, hair loss, hirsutism (male-pattern hair growth), mood-related symptoms, sleep issues, and more.

Given all this, being diagnosed with PCOS can be pretty scary. That’s why Jane and Sabrina started Pollie (www.pollie.co) to help people find personalized symptom management support. In today’s episode Jane and Sabrina go through a crash course on PCOS and discuss everything from systemic issues that make this condition difficult to find support for to their top tips for having PCOS.

Tune in to hear:

At the end of the day, it is important to remember that PCOS is a complex condition and no two cases are the same. For this reason, figuring out what works for you in terms of symptom management may just take a bit of experimentation.

If you have any questions about Pollie’s PCOS Program, feel free to reach out to their team at [email protected]

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Helpful labs to ask your doctor to check for PCOS include:

PCOS is a diagnosis for exclusion! For that reason, make sure you work with your physician to rule out other conditions such as (includes sample labs):

Ulta Lab (https://www.ultalabtests.com/) is a helpful platform for ordering labs yourself if you are having trouble getting comprehensive bloodwork done through insurance.

***Note that you should still work with your physician to determine which labs you should be checking to monitor your overall health in addition to your PCOS and what to do if you receive low or abnormal results.