How to Heal PCOS Naturally

by Deborah Maragopoulos FNP | Feb 6, 2023 | PCOS, Blog | 0 comments

Polycystic ovary syndrome affects about 10% of women. Many of them suffer for years with hirsutism, irregular periods, infertility, acne, obesity, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome, before they’re diagnosed with an imbalance in their sex steroids. Fortunately, there are ways to heal PCOS naturally.

My first step with all of my PCOS patients is to support their hypothalamus.

This is because the hypothalamus is at the root of all hormonal imbalance. Correcting the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis can help regulate menstrual cycles, lower androgen levels, and increase fertility. Within 3-6 months, my PCOS patients who are using Genesis Gold to support their hypothalamus will have enough correction in their hormonal imbalances to appreciate positive changes, like regulation of their menstrual cycles, improved fertility, decrease in hirsutism, provement of acne, and reversal of insulin resistance.

However, supporting the hypothalamus is not the only way to treat polycystic ovary syndrome. Women with PCOS also need to change their lifestyles.

First, they must increase their physical activity.

Being sedentary increases the risk of insulin resistance, and makes it harder to keep your hormones in balance. Exercise helps metabolize and detoxify your hormones properly. So regular exercise, particularly aerobic exercise, is incredibly important in reducing insulin resistance associated with polycystic ovary syndrome. My favorite exercise is HIT, which is high intensity training. HIT can be done in very little time – just five to seven minutes of a warmup, and three 20 second bursts of speed of any kind of activity you’d like to do – running, swimming, cycling, rowing, and then cool down. Doing HIT just three times a week has been shown to help reverse insulin resistance within about eight weeks.

Yet, hypothalamus support and exercise are not enough if you’re not eating properly.

It’s really important that you’re following a plant-based, low glycemic index diet. This means that you’re not eating carbohydrates that turn into sugar quickly, and that most of your carbohydrates come from plants. It’s also important that you eat an adequate amount of protein for your lean body mass, as well as healthy fats like omega threes.

You also need to be sure that you’re getting adequate sleep.

Studies show that women with polycystic ovary syndrome tend to suffer from sleep disorders, and people with sleep disorders are more likely to have insulin resistance. So correcting your sleep disorder is crucial to heal PCOS. In order to do this, you need to adopt good sleep hygiene. You can watch my video on that right here. Plus, if you’re supporting your hypothalamus, you will naturally start to correct your sleep dysfunction.

Polycystic ovary syndrome can be treated naturally, but it does require lifestyle adjustments and hypothalamic support. If you have any questions regarding healing PCOS naturally, please join me in our Hormone Support Group. You can access it through my free Hormone Reboot Training.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Can your hypothalamus cause weight gain?

Yes. The hypothalamus is the master regulator of metabolism, controlling how your body stores and burns energy through its signaling to the thyroid, adrenals, and pancreas. When the hypothalamus becomes dysregulated by chronic stress, poor sleep, inflammation, or blood sugar instability, it defends a higher weight "set point" — causing the body to hold onto fat regardless of diet or exercise. This makes hypothalamic dysfunction an upstream root cause of stubborn weight gain.

What is a weight set point and why won't mine move?

A weight set point is the body weight your hypothalamus works to defend, calibrated over time by stress, sleep, hormones, and inflammation. When you diet, the hypothalamus perceives scarcity and responds by slowing metabolism, increasing hunger hormones, and suppressing satiety signals to return you to that set point. This is why most people regain lost weight within two to five years of conventional dieting — the set point itself was never recalibrated, only temporarily overridden.

Why do I gain weight under stress even when I'm not eating more?

Chronic stress raises cortisol, which disrupts blood sugar regulation, promotes abdominal fat storage, and signals the hypothalamus that the body is under threat. In survival mode, the hypothalamus defends fat stores and slows metabolism — so weight can increase even without any change in calorie intake. The stress chemistry, not the food, is driving the weight gain, which is why stress reduction is essential to any lasting metabolic reset.

Why do I regain weight after stopping GLP-1 medications?

GLP-1 medications work peripherally on appetite and gastric signaling, but they do not address the underlying hypothalamic dysregulation that sets your defended weight. Because the hypothalamic set point is never recalibrated, the body resumes defending its original weight once the medication stops — leading to significant regain. Long-term success requires restoring hypothalamic regulation so the set point itself lowers, rather than relying on appetite suppression alone.

How long does it take to reset your metabolism?

Genuine metabolic recalibration takes a minimum of 90 days, because the hypothalamus needs consistent signals of safety and sufficiency before it will lower its defended set point. This differs from a diet, which produces temporary suppression the body quickly corrects. A 90-day reset typically moves through three phases: stabilizing stress chemistry (days 1–30), rebuilding metabolic efficiency (days 31–60), and lowering the weight set point (days 61–90).

Why does my thyroid feel slow even though my labs are "normal"?

Under chronic stress, the body converts thyroid hormone into reverse T3, which blocks active thyroid receptors and slows metabolism at the cellular level — even when standard lab values appear normal. This means you can experience genuine symptoms of slow metabolism, such as fatigue, cold intolerance, and brain fog, while your thyroid panel looks unremarkable. Addressing the upstream hypothalamic and stress signaling often improves thyroid conversion and symptoms.

Is stubborn weight gain a willpower problem?

No. Stubborn weight gain is a signaling problem, not a willpower problem. The hypothalamus governs weight through survival mechanisms that operate below conscious control — defending its set point by slowing metabolism and increasing hunger when it perceives threat. No amount of discipline can override this system; lasting change comes from restoring hypothalamic regulation through reduced stress, balanced blood sugar, restorative sleep, and targeted nutritional support.

About the Author - Deborah Maragopoulos FNP

Known as the Hormone Queen®️, I’ve made it my mission to help everyone - no matter their age - balance their hormones, and live the energy and joy their DNA and true destiny desires. See more about me my story here...

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Last Updated: January 24, 2023