144: Navigating PCOS: Insights from a Plant-Based Nutritionist

In this episode, I chat with Rohini Bajekal, a board-certified nutritionist and lifestyle medicine practitioner, about Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), a condition that affects roughly 1 in 10 women but often goes undiagnosed for years.

Rohini shares her personal journey with PCOS and explains why a holistic approach focusing on plant-based nutrition, lifestyle, and community support is key to managing symptoms. We bust common myths, explore practical strategies for PCOS management, and highlight the importance of compassion for yourself.

Top takeaways from our chat

• PCOS affects 1 in 10 women, and many remain undiagnosed.
• Lifestyle changes are the first line of defense in managing PCOS.
• A holistic approach and community support make a big difference.
• Recognizing symptoms early can lead to quicker diagnosis and better outcomes.
• PCOS is not a life sentence; there is hope, strategies, and support available.

Helpful links

• Buy a copy of Rohini’s book, Living PCOS Free
• Rohini’s website
• Follow Rohini on Instagram
• Long-term consequences of PCOS
• Free factsheet on PCOS from Dr Nitu Bajekal
• Start a free trial to Meal Plan Club
• 141: Be a Plant-Based Woman Warrior: Food, Family, and Living Vibrantly at Every Age with Jane and Ann Esselstyn

About Rohini Bajekal, Nutritionist and Co-Author of Living PCOS Free

Rohini Bajekal (MA Oxon, MSc Nutrition and Food Sciences, Dip IBLM) is a nutritionist and board-certified Lifestyle Medicine professional. Prior to becoming a nutritionist, she studied Theology at Oxford University. Having previously worked in India and Singapore, Rohini is based in London and provides evidence-based nutrition and lifestyle advice to her clients around the world. She is a Nutritionist and Lifestyle Medicine Professional at Menopause Care, the UK’s leading provider in online menopause support. Rohini also hosts regular CPD-accredited webinars for Plant-Based Health Professionals UK.

About Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder worldwide, affecting at least 1 in 10 women, non-binary and transgender people. It is the number one cause of infertility with symptoms including acne, excess weight gain, irregular periods and hair loss and higher risk of long-term complications such as type 2 diabetes and womb cancer. Alarmingly, 3 in 4 of those with PCOS remain undiagnosed because of the complex nature of the condition.

#PCOS #PolycysticOvarySyndrome #HormonalHealth #WomensHealth #Fertility #PlantBasedWomen #LifestyleMedicine  #CleanFoodDirtyGirl

*The information shared in this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only; it is not a substitute for medical advice or individualised care from a qualified health professional.

Transcript (auto-generated and auto-edited, may have errors)
Molly Patrick (00:30)
Hey everyone, thank you for listening and watching this episode of the Clean Food Dirty Girl podcast. I’m super excited to talk with our guest today. This is Rohini Bajekol. You are coming from the UK, right? So we have an, from London, fabulous. You know, I’ve never been to London actually, weirdly enough, and I need to get there. So you are, ⁓ you have a very specific,

Rohini Bajekal (00:44)
Yeah, from London.

Molly Patrick (00:58)
kind of expertise and that is around PCOS. And so that’s what we’re going to dive into today. But you’re also a board certified nutritionist and lifestyle medicine practitioner. And so you bring a lot of expertise to the table and I know that your mom is an OBGYN and you do a lot around ⁓ hormonal health and menstrual health.

And so I thought it was high time to bring an expert such as yourself on, and you ⁓ have a book called Living PCOS Free, which I haven’t read, but it looks fantastic. It has wonderful reviews. And I love that, yeah.

Rohini Bajekal (01:36)
This is

what it looks like. So when we created it, wanted to have, those of you watching on YouTube, you can see this, but otherwise it’s this bright pink book and it’s got yellow text and it’s got polycystic ovary at the top, which sounds really graphic, but it actually looks like a little strawberry. And the aim was I wanted to be able to ride it, use it on the train, ride the train without feeling embarrassed to be reading this book. Like no one should feel…

Like, this is a stigmatized condition that’s hard to sometimes talk about. And I think sometimes just adding, know, just de-stigmatizing it by thinking about, yeah, having something that is attractive and brings that joy into your life. And that’s what living PCOS speaks about.

Molly Patrick (02:22)
Fabulous. Yeah, the cover is really fun. And I love that you teamed up with your mom to write this book. I just talked to yesterday for the podcast, I just talked to Anne and Jane Esselstyn. I don’t know if you’re familiar with them. ⁓ And they are a great like mother daughter dynamic. And I love talking with them. So I love I love it when mothers and daughters team up. I’m super close with my mom. And she’s a plant based badass at almost 82. So

Rohini Bajekal (02:36)
Absolutely.

Molly Patrick (02:51)
and she gave me a lot of the inspiration for what I do. So I love that you did it with your mom, first of all. So let’s, ⁓ I just want to jump right in. Like I have, coming to this as like somebody who’s new. So I don’t know a lot about PCOS. I know I did talk to for the podcast a couple of years ago, somebody from our community who really was able to ⁓ help her PCOS.

dramatically through lifestyle changes. And I did talk with her and interview her and that was a really cool conversation. We’ll put it in the show notes. But I want to come to this as like a beginner’s mind and just ask the really basic questions for people who don’t really know anything about this because I think we’re starting to hear more about it. But this is something like when I was growing up, when I was in my 20s, you never heard like I never heard this term before this condition before. So

Can we start by just, can you give us, you know, the kind of quick and dirty, what is PCOS? What does this stand for? you know, kind of broad level, what is it?

Rohini Bajekal (03:58)
Well, firstly, yeah, thank you so much for the warm introduction, Molly, and you know, for platforming PCOS and creating a space to talk about this, because it’s something that we all need to be aware of. It’s something that affects, I can guarantee, always say to people, whether or not you have PCOS, can guarantee that someone that you love has this condition. That is how common it is. And I think it’s important to first, yeah, exactly, talk about what it is. So…

PCOS, or that’s the short form, it stands for polycystic ovary syndrome, is a complex endocrine or hormonal condition, and it affects how the ovaries function and has a wide range of symptoms. So it’s sort of like a constellation of symptoms. It’s not a disease where you have sort of one cause or, you know, one cause or one reason or one gene involved. It’s a quite complex condition.

And it has a wide range of like metabolic, psychological, reproductive issues. It really is a whole body condition. So despite the fact that it has ovary in the name, it actually needs to be thought of in that really whole body way. And that’s the way that I practice as well by looking at that 360 degrees holistic approach. And I think more and more practitioners are now shifting to that. But when it comes to PCOS, at least one in 10 women are affected or…

those assigned female at birth. And in some studies, it suggests it’s even more common than that. It can be up to one in four of those who are living with excess weight or living with fertility issues. But most people have never heard of this condition. And it’s estimated that three out of four of those with PCOS remain undiagnosed. That means three and four walking around and they have no idea that that excess body hair or the irregular periods or the fertility issues are connected to this condition.

in the UK. It takes on average about eight years to get the diagnosis and in some parts.

Molly Patrick (07:01)
Whoa,

that’s eight years. Wow.

Rohini Bajekal (07:03)
Yeah, and in the US

and other places, it’s eight, nine years, it takes a really, really long time because most people struggle with disjointed care. And what that means is the way the healthcare system is set up is that you might go and see a gynaecologist for your irregular periods, then you might go and see a dermatologist because you’ve got acne, which is a common symptom in PCOS.

You might see a trichologist because your hair’s falling out. You might see a dietitian or nutritionist like me because you’re struggling and the weight just keeps piling on and you’re thinking, my goodness, I’m trying to eat healthy, but why can’t I shift the weight? So you’re seeing all these different health professionals and allied health professionals, but you’re not really getting answers. And it’s really frustrating because no one is joining the dots. And that’s what’s so important to have that care where

all health professionals are educated about it. They understand that it can look different in each individual. I always say no, no one person with PCOS is the same as the next. And but the reason is, it’s so important is that it can have ⁓ like these really quite serious complications, including things like infertility, which is a medical condition. It’s the number one cause of an ovulatory infertility. So because you’re not having regular cycles, that means that you’re not ovulating regularly.

And ovulation is sort of like the star event of the menstrual cycle. You really need to ovulate regularly, unless you’re pregnant or on birth control. But otherwise you want to be ovulating, or in the menopause. But the reason you want to have that regular ovulation is it’s important for your mental health, for your bone density, for your overall wellbeing, your libido. It’s really, really important. So…

And those with the condition are at a greater risk of also long-term chronic conditions. And you talk about this so much on your podcast, Molly, so many of your guests are experts in this, but if you’ve got PCOS, you have a six times higher risk of type two diabetes. You’ve got a higher risk of gestational diabetes, which is diabetes in pregnancy, a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. So you’ll see often see higher cholesterol levels, blood pressure issues.

metabolic syndrome, overweight and obesity, womb cancer, and I’m making it sound like all doom and gloom, but actually, these are things that are in the medical literature, but most people and most health professionals as well are not necessarily aware of. So it’s really important to educate people, but also remember that there is so much that’s also in your power, that’s in your control. There is a lot that we can do with this.

So I should say first of all, you might be thinking, my goodness, you I have acne, I’ve got irregular periods, do I have PCOS? The answer is you might well do, but PCOS is a diagnosis of exclusion. So we always have to rule out other uncommon or serious conditions. So if you’ve got PCOS, you want to rule out, know, to make sure someone has PCOS, you want to rule out things like maybe an eating disorder, or someone’s under fueling and they’ve lost their cycle, that can happen, that can be a condition called…

hypothalamic amenorrhea, or they might have other issues such as Cushing’s or rare tumors. There could be so many different reasons why you might not be menstruating. They could have early menopause. So that’s why it’s important to know what a regular menstrual cycle is. And that’s a period that comes between 34 and 35 days and ideally at predictable regular intervals. So sure, if you’ve had a really stressful month, maybe you’ve sat some exams or you’re going through a house move, your period might be off by a few days, but generally

Molly Patrick (10:25)
Mm-hmm.

Rohini Bajekal (10:32)
You want it to be pretty regular and it shouldn’t be like 24 days, one month, 35 to next. You want it to be sort of like, you know, 28, 29, 27, 28 kind of really predictable, ideally, maybe with a few days variation, but often in PCS we’ll see these long drawn out cycles where people are getting cycles that are 55 days, 90 days, know, 75 days. It’s just hopping and skipping and it’s…

Molly Patrick (10:38)
Hmm.

Rohini Bajekal (10:58)
really all over the place and some women with PCLS have regular cycles. So that makes it even more confusing. There is that criteria. So in 2003, a bunch of experts got together in Rotterdam and they developed the Rotterdam criteria. So to have adult PCLS, we have different criteria for teenagers. You we don’t tend to rush into diagnosing more teenagers really quickly because it’s time where there’s quite a lot of flux, but there is specific criteria. And adults, we’ve got to have

Molly Patrick (11:03)
Hmm.

Rohini Bajekal (11:28)
two out of three of the following criteria. So irregular or absent periods. So you’ve got you’re not ovulating regularly. then clinical signs or biochemical, which is lab evidence of androgen excess androgens are hormones, the most common of which is called testosterone. And testosterone is often thought of as a male hormone. But that’s totally incorrect because both males and females have estrogen and testosterone in varying amounts.

And so that’s not accurate, but you might see signs of androgen excess in the clinical setting like excess facial and body hair. The facial has often along the jawline. You might notice thickening, you know, hair in places you might not really want to. But you might also see other signs of androgen excess, such as scalp hair loss. So finding that you are losing hair on the top of your head and then you have hair in places you don’t want to have it. It’s super frustrating.

And then acne, so cystic acne, and I’m not talking about one or two spots, you know, those pimples that are real pain, we’re talking about that cystic acne along the jawline that’s really frustrating, and you’re no longer a teenager, you’re like, why am I dealing with this? You know, I want to be done with this. So those are the kind of most common signs of androgen excess. And then the last one, and you might see it on blood test results as well. So you might see an altered

FSH-LH ratio or high testosterone levels on lab tests. But this is something you need to go and see a medical professional to get a diagnosis of. Please don’t self-diagnose. You might have your suspicions, maybe even hearing this podcast, but this is where a trained medical professional, a gynaecologist ideally or an endocrinologist would help you get that diagnosis. And then the final one, and this is where…

It’s almost the name is currently under review to be revised. This has been a debate for the last, I don’t even know how many years, but the key thinking, why do we call it polycystic ovary syndrome? Because people think PCOS, you must have these giant cysts it’s actually the opposite. In PCOS, you don’t have giant ovarian cysts, you have multi-cystic follicles, which are like tiny little immature follicles on your ovary. And usually you’ve got to have like 20 or more on at least one ovary to have

diagnosis and to meet that diagnostic criteria. But you might have it in both ovaries and you find this out by doing an ultrasound scan. And the ultrasound scan, during that time, the sonographer will count the number of follicles and it looks like a pearl necklace on the ultrasound. That’s what PCO presents. But it’s remembered that just having polycystic ovaries doesn’t mean you’ve got PCOS because one in four young women will have polycystic ovaries. But unless they meet that other criteria,

they don’t necessarily have PCOS. The reason those young women have it is, you know, you’re more fertile when you’re in your 20s and you’re going to have more follicles. So that’s why you need to have at least two of the three criteria and the androgen excess, that criteria is more heavily weighted. So ideally, you you would want to be seeing a combination really. So you’d be seeing those long cycles and you’d be seeing someone who might be struggling with those symptoms like the excess hair growth and the acne.

And then they may or may not have PC on ultrasound, but you need to have two out of three criteria, basically. So that’s important. Some people meet all three criteria and that’s obviously more clear cut. But I hope that explains that a little bit.

Molly Patrick (14:52)
Okay. Yeah, that was very thorough. And I can see why it takes so long to be diagnosed. I mean, because there’s a lot going on and it seems like everybody has a different experience with it. And it’s not, I mean, it’s not just cut and dry. Like maybe if you have type two diabetes, like, you know, that’s pretty, there’s not so many variables. So I can see why it would take a long time to figure this out.

Rohini Bajekal (14:56)
You

Molly Patrick (15:20)
Just from the little I have heard about it, I know that it can be really frustrating trying to figure it all out because like you said, there’s different specialists that somebody might go to for the different symptoms coming up. And if nobody is, you said it really well, like piecing together, right? Putting those dots together and not being looked at holistically, I’m sure it’s really easy to miss. it doesn’t, those statistics of like, you know, so many people have it but aren’t.

Rohini Bajekal (15:45)
Thank you.

Molly Patrick (15:49)
diagnosed or don’t know, it’s not surprising after hearing that. So thank you.

Rohini Bajekal (15:55)
And

it’s what’s even more frustrating or difficult, as you said, it’s like, there’s actually so many other symptoms that we haven’t even mentioned. So disordered eating is common in women with PCOS. Excess weight gain, so finding that you just struggle to keep weight off and you might be trying to eat really healthily, you you might be exercising, but you’re just finding it much harder. You might be in a family where you’re seeing other siblings and they’re doing fine, but what’s happening to you? You’re just struggling with that.

And I love that you mentioned type 2 diabetes because PCOS can be thought of as like almost like a cousin of diabetes. It’s insulin resistance is the hallmark of PCOS. So it’s where, you know, our body basically struggles to use that energy from carbohydrates, that glucose, and to use it efficiently. And over time, that can lead to obviously increased risk of things like prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. So

Molly Patrick (16:47)
Right.

Rohini Bajekal (16:49)
that insulin resistance is the driver for a lot of the symptoms, most people with PCOS. And because it is so complex, it’s easy for it to get ignored. It’s difficult for people to fully understand. The health professionals don’t get enough training around women’s health. So it can be a long drawn out process. And then that time, it’s frustrating because people aren’t getting the chance to address it. And, you know, this

became something I’m really passionate about because I have PCOS myself. You’re never cured of PCOS, but you can absolutely. Yeah, and it’s such a question. You will see on a lot of podcasts or personal stories, people saying, I cured my PCOS, I reversed my PCOS. And I always preferred the term remission because I think if I was to go back to eating the standard Western diet, I was sedentary all day.

Molly Patrick (17:25)
That was my next question. Yeah, okay.

Rohini Bajekal (17:46)
My PCOS symptoms would be full throttle. would be having, you know, face full of acne like I used to. It would be really, really tough. It’s something that I have to be on top of every day in the sense that my lifestyle is a really important piece of the puzzle. And that’s not just true for me. It’s true for everyone. In the national and international guidelines for PCOS, lifestyle remains the first line management for PCOS before any drugs, before anything else.

it’s lifestyle first, and that is so powerful. Now, that doesn’t mean that everyone with PCOS can just completely manage their symptoms using nutrition and lifestyle alone, but it can go a long way in addressing the metabolic aspects of PCOS, even the kind of complicated other symptoms I mentioned, lessening the psychological burden and all of the other issues that come with it. But it’s a process and it’s definitely not easy. So when I was at university,

when I, this is many moons ago, about 17 years ago, that’s when I first noticed the symptoms of PCOS. And I think part of the reason was I’d been vegan for many years. I’d gone vegan for ethical reasons. When I was quite young, I was about 13 at the time. This is back in the day when no one was vegan. You’d go to a special supermarket to get your soy milk. And you’re seen as incredibly weird. I remember not ever meeting anyone else who was vegan. It was my sister who’d first gone vegan and then my mom and I followed.

And, and we were always the odd ones out, but luckily we lived in London. So we had access to some great Asian food and other things. And my parents are South Indian, but there’s not a lot of dairy in South Indian diets. And it’s also very easy to be plant-based. And my mom would and dad would both, they’re both surgeons. worked really long hours, but they always prioritize healthy eating and we love.

fruit, we all love fruit. And so I grew up like, unlike most teenagers actually eating really nutritious food. And I think that’s probably why my PCOS symptoms didn’t show up too much later, because they usually start in the reproductive years. And of course, most, most women will start their periods when they’re around 12, 13, most girls around that time. So, and because I was eating, you know, a lot of Dahl brown rice,

veggies, lots of fruit. wasn’t binge eating like a lot of teenagers can get into because of weight cycling and other things that happen in the teenage years. It was only when I went off and I was studying at Oxford and studying very hard and didn’t have time to cook, didn’t have access to a kitchen and it was not easy to be vegan back in those days. So I was living on a really poor quality diet when I was at university. There wasn’t, my university didn’t provide very great nutritious food.

And so not many beans or, you know, plant-based proteins. So would often fill up on chips from the chip van. I would eat a lot of bourbon biscuits, which are a type of biscuit in the UK that’s accidentally vegan, a bit like an Oreo. I had a lot of caramel, soy lattes, and the soy bit was great. The caramel and the sugary syrup, not so much.

Molly Patrick (20:45)
You

Rohini Bajekal (20:53)
And I drank a lot of alcohol because I was really anxious and I felt like an odd one out for being vegan. And I was often teased for my choices and told that, you know, was I rummaging in the bin for food? And I was like, no, that’s a freegan. I just want to help animals. I just don’t want help animals. And it seemed like such a strange thing. And this is way before things like cow sparrows, or game changers, or the internet even like in the way that it exists now. We didn’t have

the plethora of vegan influences and this awareness around even the environment. So back then, I didn’t even know that being vegan was supposed to be good for health. I thought it was probably not good for health, but I was like, you know, I don’t want to animals. And I really struggled with self-confidence. It was very isolating. I didn’t have a vegan community. I didn’t know about health. And I can’t tell you how much I suffered with my PCOS symptoms. it was my hairdresser was cutting my hair and was like, you’re losing so much hair. And I was, you know, almost

Molly Patrick (21:33)
Mm.

Rohini Bajekal (21:50)
had a huge bald patch and it was really distressing. Imagine being 20 and losing most of your hair. I had such severe cystic acne all over my face. I often wouldn’t leave my bedroom for days when I was at university because I just felt so, so insecure. acne is known to have a profound mental health impact on people as well. So by the time I left university, you know, I just

And I was very open about this because my journey was not linear. I’d started to eat some dairy and some things like that outside. I felt awful because I think once you know, you don’t know those things. And in my house, I was always completely plant based. But because it was so difficult to find options, I always struggled. And it was a few years until I kind of I think once like, you know, there was a bit more awareness and I felt a bit more confident in myself was able to fully kind of, yeah.

embrace veganism fully again, but it was, this was many years ago, this was about 15 years ago, so it was a very different time. And it was when I had moved to India, actually in my mid-20s to work for a startup, that everything changed for me, because I’d gone from this incredibly fast-paced London life, binge drinking, know, eating really not great foods.

and eating a lot of sugary refined carbohydrates in particular and being just really lost about nutrition. Like I would try and eat these protein bars that I thought were really healthy and then, you know, package snacks all the time that I thought they had a healthy label so they must be good for me, but they clearly weren’t. And I found that I was a bit worried about eating fruit because I’d heard it had loads of sugar, so I was completely warped. And when I moved to India, that’s

That was amazing because it was like a return to my roots. I think embracing your culture and embracing your cultural traditions can be really powerful. I’m, as I mentioned, I’m South Indian originally. And when I moved to India, was living in a house share and we had access to someone who would come and cook some meals for us. And I started to eat just healthy, wholesome, whole food, plant-based foods. So I was eating ⁓ brown rice and red rice and quinoa and different types of dals and fresh fruit.

in abundance every day and so many different types of beans and the excess weight that I had gained a little bit of dropped off. I’ve no longer felt the urge to binge drink because my anxiety had lessened and I found that because I was eating better, I was also sleeping better and my skin cleared up. I became so confident. I actually met my now husband over there. So it changed the course of my life and that’s when I realized I want to go back.

and study nutrition and I want to help other people discover this because this is incredible and I can’t believe this is what I needed to help me. You know, I’d struggled with my mental health for so many years and so many other things and realizing the power was what lay at the end of my fork was incredible. I had no idea the impact for hormonal health. And so it’s been a journey since then, you know, setting up my practice, seeing clients from all over the world, running group programs for women with different hormonal health issues and

PCOS is just one of them. PCOS can exist with other things as well. So you could have PCOS and fibroids or PCOS and endometriosis or different things. But I think it was just, yeah, it was an amazing journey. And I always like to share it because I don’t believe in perfection. I believe in progress over perfection and embracing that struggle sometimes is really important to get you to where you are. And I know, I think because of those things that I

Molly Patrick (25:27)
Hmm.

Rohini Bajekal (25:32)
experience, I’m able to relate more to people who feel that, will I ever get better? Will I be able to make the stick? How can I? It’s so tough. So yeah, I’m sure some of that resonates with you as well, Mollie, because I know that you’ve talked about your journey with, you know, going alcohol free, and it’s not always easy with the culture that we live in.

Molly Patrick (25:44)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm. Yeah, thank you for sharing the personal aspect of all of this. And I always, it’s always wonderful to talk with people who have, who are doing what they’re doing because of the lived experience that really inspired them or motivated them to do that. And so I love to see people doing what they really love to do. And since you were able to help yourself so much and extending that to then other people, I think that’s, that’s fantastic. So

Follow-up question, before you moved to India in your 20s, were you diagnosed with PCOS or did you not find out until much later?

Rohini Bajekal (26:30)
Yeah, I didn’t when I kind of saying it retrospectively, it seems so obvious that I had PCOS. But my mother being a gynaecologist had said to me, listen, I think you may have PCOS. And like all 19 year olds, I was like, I know better mom, don’t worry. I’ve got it under no one likes to listen their mom, do they say I was like, let me do my thing. And I did go and see a couple of health professionals, but I was told that I was, you know, despite gaining a few pounds from

Molly Patrick (26:35)
Mmm.

Yeah.

Rohini Bajekal (27:00)
not eating is wholesome, I’d always been quite, you know, lean and I then was told, oh, you don’t have PCOS because you’re not carrying excess weight. And there’s this misconception that actually 20 % of those with PCOS are in smaller bodies and are lean. So it’s, it’s quite frustrating on MRIs when they’ve done comparisons with controls, they have found that those with PCOS have more visceral fat and more kind of that unhealthy fat and errors that you wouldn’t want it, but it shows up on an MRI. They might

Molly Patrick (27:08)
⁓

Rohini Bajekal (27:30)
still have a lower BMI, they might not be visibly overweight. Many with PCOS are, and it can be a real struggle because of those hormonal drivers and the fact that insulin resistance does create more cravings, more metabolic disruption, and that can really impact your appetite and satiety regulation. And especially if you’re on top of that, making other…

Molly Patrick (27:32)
Mm-hmm.

Rohini Bajekal (27:56)
there’s other kind of lifestyle impacts of things that it might be affecting your sleep, your stress levels, your ability to show up in your friendships and relationships, which if you’re struggling with acne and excess hair, you don’t feel worthy. It can be really hard. It can be really take a toll on your self-esteem. And we live in a very patriarchal society as well that has very strict beauty standards for women. it’s, if you don’t fit into, you know, a very…

thin, clear skinned, almost model ask, blue eyed blonde hair, size two, and the US or size six of the UK, know, that sort of body. You feel like you don’t feel that you’re seen or you’re worthy. And I think social media has made it much worse in that regard and filters and you know, all of the different trends. And it’s not as simple as just social media. But I think if you’ve got PCOS, it can

Molly Patrick (28:36)
You

Rohini Bajekal (28:53)
really take its toll because you, no one can judge you just saying, ⁓ I know exactly what you’re eating. There’ve been times in my life where I’ve been eating a really wholesome diet, trying to do everything and my PCOS has bled up. So it’s not as just simple as just do this and everything’s magically fixed. It’s really, that’s why I got into lifestyle medicine because nutrition is something I live and breathe every day. I just love nutrition education and I just adore it, but it’s one…

piece of the puzzle. And it is a cornerstone because when you change what you eat, it has that domino effect. It often impacts how you sleep, how you feel. But if you’re meal prepping for two hours a day, you’re eating 100 % whole food, plant-based, no oil, are preparing all of your meals, but you are never going out for a meal with friends and you’re not having maybe an occasional late night where you’re staying up talking and laughing with your friends.

all of these things are going to have an impact. You do need to bring in that balance. And that’s what I do sometimes with people if they’ve got obsessed with just, you know, clean eating and down that rabbit hole, sometimes it’s actually peeling it back and going, okay, and how would it look? What would it look like if you were to bring in a little bit of space? What about on a Friday night, you met your girlfriends and you went out somewhere and you were still eating part based that maybe there’s a bit of oil in the food or there’s like not as

Molly Patrick (30:06)
Mm-hmm.

Rohini Bajekal (30:20)
not quite as wholesome as what you’d make at home, but you’re getting that social interaction, you’re getting that stress release. Maybe you go for a walk after dinner and you know, chat, chit chat with your friends. There are so many benefits of that. It can’t just be all this one, one way of looking at things. So I like to zoom out and I like to take a really 360 degrees approach. There’s no magic bullet for PCOS.

Molly Patrick (30:42)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, I think that’s a great point. And I think the whole magic bullet thing like that for anything, you know, I run ⁓ a plant powered weight loss club and I am a coach and a life coach, but I turn that into specifically weight loss coaching. And one thing that I always emphasize is we’re going to do this imperfectly.

Like we’re not, we don’t want to go for perfect. We’re gonna find out how to do this imperfectly. And that just, like just frees people up and it can be hard for people. And so I think it’s a really good reminder of like, hey, if you are so obsessed with this that you are not having any joy, it’s time to take a step back and reassess. And I also really like what you said about,

Rohini Bajekal (31:31)
this.

Molly Patrick (31:35)
⁓ So there’s been times when you’ve been eating whole food plant-based and very healthy and you have a flare up. ⁓ I don’t have PCOS, but I did have a condition called perioral dermatitis. you know, I had this was, I mean, I was eating whole food plant-based. was sleeping well. I was getting plenty of exercising. I was hydrating. wasn’t, you know, drinking or smoking like I had a very healthy lifestyle. This was like maybe six years ago ⁓ and my skin just looked awful.

And people were like, wait a minute, like, are you really, you know, cause I have the face of clean food, dirty girl. And, and it was really hard because like, no, I really am healthy. Like I really am healthy and just something is going on. And I figured out some of the triggers and I was able to like navigate that, but it is, and that’s, you know, it’s, frustrating to have that be the first thing that people see because there comes with a lot of judgment and it is, I mean, it can really zap your confidence. ⁓

And especially when you’re doing all the things and it’s sort of still happening. So I have a lot of empathy for people who are struggling with this. So thank you for bringing up all those very good points.

Rohini Bajekal (32:48)
Yeah, I I wish we could all just be more compassionate to ourselves, to the planet, to animals in general, like widening that circle of compassion, as Brenda Davis says so well, that, you know, it starts with ourselves, though, we really can’t pull from an empty cup. And I wish that we could just embrace our differences and stop judging people because health really looks different on everyone. And I want people to focus on what is in their control, which is, you know, bringing in some joyful movement.

Molly Patrick (32:53)
Mm-hmm.

Rohini Bajekal (33:17)
and maybe going and doing some volunteer work if that’s gonna that can really also help with that. Those feelings of building self esteem and things as well and doing good for the world. And whatever it is, it’s just building in those daily habits and small habits go a long way in PCOS. It’s such a difficult condition. It’s linked to other mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, binge eating without purging. And because hormones like and

Androgens such as testosterone are actually appetite stimulating. So it’s not your fault that you’re struggling in the larger body. It’s really connected. But I like to focus on what I can empower myself and empower my clients to do. And it sounds like you’re doing that with your in your work as well. It’s like rather than shaming yourself because you it’s that all or nothing mentality that leads to more to worse outcomes. I’ve had one slice of cake might as well have the whole cake, you know, rather than

Molly Patrick (34:00)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Rohini Bajekal (34:16)
showing that compassion of, okay, and why don’t I go for a gentle walk? Why don’t I call my mom or a friend? Like, you know, try to extend that compassion to yourself. And it really, really helps. So reframing food rather than seeing it as good or bad, but looking at, okay, the foods are going to nourish you, the foods that are going to nourish yourself on the inside out, that are going to give you everything. We know that in PCOS, we have a more disruptive gut microbiome.

Molly Patrick (34:33)
Mm-hmm.

Rohini Bajekal (34:44)
And that means that we have less beneficial gut bacteria. They found more harmful pathogenic bacteria in the microbiome of those of PCOS. So one of the things that we can do is eat a variety and the diversity of plant foods, especially whole plant foods, feed that microbiome. And remembering that one of the drivers in PCOS is that inflammation. So we do need a higher antioxidant intake. So making sure that, you know, maybe snacking on pomegranate seeds rather than going for the

you know, the chocolates rather every all the time or just bringing in that balance. And it doesn’t have to be perfect. And I know that healthy eating, sadly, is not a right that everyone can access. It’s healthy food is expensive. It’s really expensive in some parts of the world. And it’s really difficult to always be on top of all of these things. And that’s why it’s that just making the changes that are in your control can be starting with something small, but it can make

It can make a big difference. And there are things that are not in our control, including things like air pollution, you know, and the fact that there are so many endocrine disruptors and it really bothers me. They recently found microplastics and breast milk. But while I can’t do anything about that, I can look at like, what products am I using? Am I using things with fragrances? Am I burning candles all the time? Are there little things I can shift in my life that could make a difference and be kind to myself and to the planet and to my skin?

Molly Patrick (35:55)
Mm.

Yeah.

Rohini Bajekal (36:10)
And that actually matters with PCIS as well, because we know that those with the condition are more sensitive to these endocrine disruptors, which also disrupt fertility and they disrupt male hormones as well. So it’s something that is really helpful to make small shifts in, even something as little as not heating food and Tupperware, but using glass containers or stainless steel for food and that all of that can make a difference. So it’s…

Molly Patrick (36:32)
and

Rohini Bajekal (36:36)
not just one thing. And sometimes if you try and do everything, you get really overwhelmed and you get kind of just burnout. So I like to make it fun and break it down. And that’s why we wrote Living PCOS Free, the book that I wrote with my mum. So I always said I want to write the book I wish I had like 20 years ago, because that’s what I really needed. Something that brought together the science with the fact that there you need to have that holistic care and that

understanding of behavior change, because it’s not just going to happen overnight. And but realizing there is a lot you can do, whether or not you still need to take that metformin or the pill or whatever you need to take. There is so much you can do to support yourself. And yeah, just, I think looking at food as something that can really nourish you that can bring out bring out the best side of you that can.

look after yourself, use it as self-care. Such a lovely way to look at food.

Molly Patrick (37:33)
Yeah, that’s wonderful. it’s also, yeah, I I think that doing the little things that you can and also remembering that it’s not just about looking at what you’re putting in your body and not only what you’re consuming through your mouth, but on your body as well. And, but also what maybe you could consider leaving out, like you mentioned fragrances, right?

and I am imagining a lot of like skincare that have a lot of chemicals is gonna be a disruptor. So can you just talk ⁓ a little bit about like, and I know I’m sure that you go, ⁓ like anybody who is curious about this or wants to know more, definitely pick up a copy of Rohini’s book. Cause I’m sure I haven’t read it, but I’m sure that you go into this. But just for the sake of, what was that? It’s a thick book. Yeah.

Rohini Bajekal (38:22)
It’s a chunk of it. And you

can’t get everything. There’s chapters on body image, on fertility, on sleep apnea, or sleep issues, and mythbusters, and over 500 scientific references. So we didn’t want to leave any stone unturned. And like I said, everyone looks different for the condition. So you were saying that you had a question about one area.

Molly Patrick (38:32)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah,

so for the point of this conversation, can you just hit on maybe three or four of some of the most important things to add into either your diet or your routine, whatever that looks like, if you have PCOS, and then three things or four things that should definitely work on being avoided.

Rohini Bajekal (39:12)
Yeah, so I kind of summarized, I have like an eight step approach or a mnemonic and PCOS free. So one is like plant predominance. So centering your meals around whole mostly whole plant foods, which obviously rich in that fiber that’s going to help feed that gut microbiome. Thinking about simple swaps, if you’re already having, you know, your breakfast, could you add in a handful of blueberries? Or could you add a handful of kale into your curry, just making that switch? I think community and connecting with others.

building quality relationships that are going to support your wellbeing. There are great PCOS support groups, but it doesn’t need to be specific to that. It could be a book club or a running club or, you know, just hanging out with your family. It’s really, really important to have your people. And I think optimism, it sounds like a ridiculous thing after I’ve said all these really difficult things you’ve got to deal with PCS, but I do see it as, ⁓ you know, up to having that optimism. It’s an opportunity as well to look.

to listen to your body and adopt positive lifestyle changes. Many people don’t get that opportunity to do that from a young age and they might be met with a much more, know, it might be met with a very serious diagnosis or not a chance not to come back from something that’s been really difficult lately. So I do feel like it set me on a path of healing early on and I wouldn’t wish PCOS on anyone. It is a serious condition.

that it is something that I think has transformed my life and my family’s life in many ways. And I think self care, so setting healthy boundaries, looking after yourself and pace of self love, know, really, as women, often put so many other people first, but taking care of your own needs is important. And then the F is part of, you know, I said PCS free, F is fun. It’s you touch on this, it’s got to be fun. You’ve got to find joy in the little things and maintain that.

playfulness and curiosity in your life. can’t just be, my gosh, I have to meal prep, I have to get rid of my fragrances and my candles and this and that, you know, it just gets really intense. Rest, we live in a world where constant hustle is prioritized, constantly working, being on our devices, so setting those healthy boundaries that, you know, making sure that you have really good physical and mental downtime because stress is a huge driver of PCI symptoms.

Cortisol dysregulation, cortisol is the main stress hormone, is common in PCLS. So making sure that you really build and rest every day in an active way, whether it’s doing a puzzle with your friends or meditating or going for a walk in nature with your dogs, like just finding that rest.

E is exercise, or I like to say movement. So finding a way to move in a way that feels energizing and enjoyable and little things can make a big difference. Like a 10 minute walk after meals can help bring down blood glucose, you know, ⁓ sort of elevation. So it can be really helpful, especially to get that energy if you often find that you’re in a slump post lunch, which can be a common time when you might feel very sluggish with PCOS. And then lastly, I think

E for empower. So believing that, you know, I think really trusting that you know your body best, but that self advocacy and advocating for yourself and for others, empowering yourself with evidence-based information. So while I’m a huge fan of social media, you know, there is a lot of misinformation around supplements and things like that on PCOS on TikTok, and you can go down rabbit holes and in forums and making sure that you, you really

go for the evidence-based advice. It’s great to hear personal stories, but N equals one is not enough data for the most part. So we’ve got to look at, what does the science say around this? And it can be really helpful if you’re prone to catastrophizing, which can happen. You can feel like, my goodness, like, I’m just, this is so overwhelming, but, and it can be really overwhelming when you first have a diagnosis, but trust me, there are many days where I barely think about PCOS because I’ve…

kind of got that lifestyle has just become my life now. That’s just what I enjoy now. I truly crave those delicious foods. It’s something I look forward to. I kind of remember the days where I used to be out clubbing till three drinking alcohol. Like I crave the cozy evenings and watching a movie with my girlfriends. Like you just, you learn to love what loves you back. And I think that is a really empowering place to end.

Molly Patrick (43:23)
Mm.

You

Mm-hmm. Yeah. That’s, yeah, wonderful. So I just, have a couple of questions. ⁓ Do you mind taking just a few questions from the community about this? Okay. Okay. So here we go. The first one is, am starting the IUI process in August and haven’t heard great things about the success rate. I also have two friends who have been told that they will never have kids naturally because of their PCOS.

Rohini Bajekal (43:54)
I love actions, yeah. Bring it on.

Molly Patrick (44:10)
What are some specific dietary things women with PCOS should be doing besides eating whole foods? I mean, you hit on a lot of this, but I’ll just see where you want to go with that answer.

Rohini Bajekal (44:19)
I love

this question. The thing that many of my comments tell me even years later and sticks in their head and we talk about this in our book is, ⁓ my goodness, I remember the time when I got my PCS diagnosis, I was 15 and I was told I’d never have kids. And it may not have been phrased that way by that particular doctor, but it’s often this very traumatic moment in someone’s life where they’re

terrified that they’re not going to get their dream of having a child. Not that all women want to have children, of course, and I want to respect everyone’s choices, but it’s a really big deal for a lot of women. And it’s really, really hard to be told that or have that implied. Maybe it’s a combination of things of what you take away from that conversation. And I want to really reassure people that the majority, vast, vast, vast majority of those with PCOS go on to have healthy children and don’t.

there are many many different tools that we have whether it’s lifestyle or medical interventions like IUI and IVF. So IUI is Intra-Waterline Insemination and it has about a 20 % or so success rate depending on the age and you you need to have open tubes, fallopian tubes for it and it needs to be done with a medical expert and there are different forms so sometimes they give you an ovulation induction agent and then PCOS

That’s important if you’re not ovulating, so they might give you something called Clomid or Leptrazole. I won’t go into the details of it, but the important thing is that there are things that you can do. What I would always urge someone, while it is possible, totally possible, and millions and millions of women get pregnant with PCOS, is a few things. One is, if you’re under the age of 35, and, you know, they say to try for a year before you get help, if you have a known condition like PCOS, I would not wait that long. I would…

Go after six months if you’ve not had success. And if you have really irregular periods, go earlier. Don’t wait that whole time because you could lose precious time. And if you’re older, especially if you’re 35, then ideally just seek that consult. You you can do basic tests before that. And if you’re 40, then immediately, of course, because age and fertility are closely linked. But it might, the journey might take longer if you have PCOS, but it’s…

very, very possible to get pregnant. And one thing I would say is because we PCOS is more associated with those increased risks in pregnancy, whether it’s large for gestational age babies or higher risk of gestational diabetes or preeclampsia, it’s so important to try and make healthy lifestyle changes well before pregnancy. Not everyone can plan a pregnancy, but don’t just think, okay, there’s fertility treatments. I don’t need to make the changes. You want to get as healthy as you can. You want to have…

really good reserves of all those nutrients. take a good quality prenatal with folic acid, but also just really nourish yourself and start exercising before, know, start leading that healthy lifestyle because it’s going to help you in that pregnancy and with the recovery as well. it’s not just about getting pregnant, but you want to ideally, you know, be able to maintain that healthy pregnancy. Sadly, miscarriages are more common with PCOS as well.

But like I said, millions and millions of women do get pregnant with PCIS, so please don’t give up and there is a lot of support available.

Molly Patrick (47:34)
Okay. And we talked about this a little bit before, but especially here in the US, the medical system is very disjointed. And so if somebody was like, okay, I have symptoms and I, you it sounds like you kind of hit on it before, but I want to make sure I heard correctly. Would you start with your gynecologist?

Rohini Bajekal (47:42)
Mm.

Yes, I would start with your gynaecologist or an endocrinologist depending, but usually a gynaecologist, if you’re showing symptoms of things like thyroid issues, which can happen with PCIS or like you’ve got prediabetes, an endocrinologist would usually get involved at that point, but your gynaecologist would often be your first bet. But the most important thing is to find an empathetic, qualified health professional, someone who really hears you, not someone who gaslights you or dismisses your symptoms, which sadly can happen to many women, especially

you know, if you’re a person of color or your LGBT, like there’s a lot of different intersections that can make it harder to get hurt. just, there are really incredible health professionals. So please don’t stop pushing. Don’t take no for an answer. You deserve to get hurt and you deserve to have someone who’s going to support you and advocate for you because it’s

We know that diet and lifestyle changes can help people to become more insulin sensitive and to manage their PCS symptoms, but they might need that extra bit of support. And like we said, if you’re trying to get pregnant, that would be a good example of that. You you don’t want to just be told, go away and don’t worry about it. It doesn’t, it doesn’t help you.

Molly Patrick (49:04)
Yeah, yeah, and I imagine it and you hit on it before but a lot of healthcare professionals don’t know a lot about this and some of the at least here in the US ⁓ There’s a lot of bad advice given to doctors because they don’t know anything about nutrition and so Do you do you work with people do some of your clients and some of the people and patients that you work with? Are you kind of working in?

Rohini Bajekal (49:12)
Yeah.

Thank

Molly Patrick (49:31)
Like, are they on some kind of medication that helps with some of this stuff and also incorporating lifestyle changes? Like, is it usually a combination of kind of, yeah, medication and lifestyle?

Rohini Bajekal (49:43)
I love the question. And you’re so right. There is a lack of education around women’s health, whether it’s endometriosis or PCOS, there’s just a real lack of training and education. It’s not that doctors don’t want to help. They often have short times they’re really pushed and there is medical misogyny. There’s very little that’s invested into things like PCOS care or other forms of women’s health. And it’s really, really frustrating to see the…

downstream effects of that and it’s I think the situation’s getting worse to be honest as well it’s really tough but I think I do a lot of talks to health professionals and to GPs here in the UK and I have loads of clients in North America and I will say that what’s amazing is that many of my clients are thriving just using the nutrition and lifestyle changes alone and I get messages all the time when I my book first came out on April 22 my Instagram request folder was full of ladies who said I followed your plan and

I’m pregnant now and I started ovulating and my skin’s cleared up and I get, you know, a lot of Gen Z, I’m a real millennial, but all these Gen Z, amazing women who’ve educated themselves about hormonal health and TikTok is to thank for that, that they, you know, they’re really worried about that acne or other things. And that makes me feel so happy, just as happy as if someone was to get pregnant when they say, I feel so comfortable in my skin. I feel great. you know, my hair growth is decreased. I feel really confident wearing a tank top. Amazing, great.

And so I know how powerful the nutrition and lifestyle changes are. It’s not, this is woo woo. This is just wellness. Like this is real hardcore evidence-based science. I want to get that across. And then I do have clients who might be on other medications. And now the one of the big things that is emerging, especially in the U S and UK is GLP ones like a Zempic and other things and really important. So they need to be, they do have their place for PCOS for some people.

Molly Patrick (51:30)
Mm-hmm.

Rohini Bajekal (51:37)
especially if they’ve got clinical obesity and are living with other underlying conditions sometimes too. It can increase pregnancy rates, so you’ve got to be really careful and you’ve got to be following medical advice. You can’t just be self-prescribing, that would be really dangerous. Before that, there’s other things as well. Netformin is an off-the-label drug that’s an insulin sensitizing agent that you might have heard of being used for diabetes, but it’s often used for PCOS and it can improve ovulation rates, it can improve excess.

hair growth and other things like that. But in some people, it really varies at success and some people get gastrointestinal symptoms from it. So it means, and that can be helpful alongside the lifestyle changes. I never see lifestyle as optional. Lifestyle goes alongside medication. Lifestyle medicine runs alongside allopathic medicine. It’s not one or the other. Lifestyle should always be part of the conversation. But there are some cases where that might be needed just to give a helping hand. And then there are

there an alternative to metformin is inositol, which is an insulin, which is a really interesting one. It’s actually a vitamin, inositol hexaphosphate, and it’s found in foods like fruits and vegetables and whole grains and beans. And guess what? Those are all foods you find on a whole food plant-based diet. But those foods, when you’ve got PCOS, you do need a bit more of that. And some people are seeing benefits of including inositol.

quite a lot of interest in it at the moment. And it’s been growing in recent years and it works similarly to metformin, but it’s natural. And the optimal combination is myoinositol with D-chiroinositol and a 40 to one ratio. It’s shown improvement for things like insulin sensitivity and improving ovulation rates and those with PCOS. So something that might be worth a try. Yeah.

Molly Patrick (53:22)
Okay. Okay.

All right. Very good information. So the next question is, our bodies have a different time clock and insulin resistance. So are there things with timing or the amount of food we eat that could help with fertility issues?

Rohini Bajekal (53:38)
There was a really interesting study done on this by Hannah Kaliova from PCRM. And she was looking at kind of this in people with diabetes and found that those who ate more of their calories earlier in the day, sure saw benefits for insulin sensitivity and weight management. And they haven’t done as much research on just PCOS, but they have found that those of PCOS have a dysregulated circadian rhythm. And to simplify that, it just means that our internal body clock is a little bit

confused. And one of the things that I do with all my clients with who’ve got PCOS is getting out first thing in the morning for a 10 minute walk or even eating breakfast outside on your terrace or in your garden or if you’ve got access to that, of course, that can make a huge difference to your your metabolic health, your mental health, your insulin sensitivity. We are most insulin sensitive first thing in the morning. This is true for everyone, by the way, money, not just those with PCOS. So

starting your day with a good size breakfast. So I always say breakfast like a queen, lunch like a princess, dinner like a pauper ass, get in more of your energy intake earlier in the day. That’s when you’re the most active, you’ve got the highest energy levels. Whereas if you’re eating at 10 o’clock at night, that’s when your melatonin is the highest and you really want to be winding down and that can really impact your metabolic health adversely if you’re kind of

not eating much all day, maybe you’ve just had a light salad for lunch, maybe a yogurt for breakfast, and then dinner, you are eating a huge cheesy lasagna, garlic bread, pudding, you know, it’s not, it’s too, that’s not the way we want to be doing it. So that can make a big difference. And that’s such a good question. So yeah, we do see that. And we see it in other individuals as well, like shift workers. So those who are working, yeah, they might be

driving a trolley, a truck at night, or they might be working in the healthcare system, the shift workers. So one thing that we really want to be doing is shifting our natural internal clock and that can really help with insulin sensitivity and metabolic health.

Molly Patrick (55:45)
Okay, great information. Okay, so there’s two more. The next question is, my daughter deals with this and it’s tough to sort through because she seems to be in the minority of cases that do not involve insulin resistance. It would be interesting to hear the various types of PCOS. think, I mean, you covered on the fact that it kind of looks different for everybody, but do you have anything to add to this?

Rohini Bajekal (56:08)
Yeah, so I would say firstly, we do think insulin resistance affects like 85 % of those in PCOS. But what’s really difficult is that insulin resistance, we know that even lean women with PCOS have got insulin resistance, but it’s just really hard to detect. There aren’t that many very good tests for picking up insulin resistance. So your daughter might still have insulin resistance that’s not being picked up. We don’t really talk about the phenotypes in PCOS. like the, you know, there’s ones like looking at kind of the

androgenic sass or other sort of forms of PCOS that’s really used in more research settings where they have these four phenotypes of PCOS. But really, it’s a similar approach. So everything I’ve said still absolutely applies for that to reduce the inflammation. So there’s one that’s thought to have more kind of an inflammatory pathway. But I think certainly managing stress levels, if she doesn’t have weight to lose, and we certainly should not be making people lose weight who

and don’t want to or if they are lean, they should be focusing more on that body composition. So, strength training is something I’m super passionate about, know, lifting weights, doing things like reform of Pilates, but particularly loading the muscles. So that can really help because losing weight alone can just be really disempowering, it be really hard to see that scale shift. But if you focus on building muscle, muscle is like a glucose sponge.

And it’s so helpful for bone density, for metabolic health, for energy levels, for everything. it’s a superpower for PCOS. So would definitely say get her into some kind of strength training early. That would be good. Look at some, maybe some natural remedies like spearmint tea can be really good. We’re reducing elevated androgens like testosterone. Make sure she’s not deficient in vitamin D and things like that, and that she’s managing her stress levels overall.

Molly Patrick (58:00)
Okay. And then the last question is the same woman who asked this. My daughter loves tofu. Some people express concern about soy for hormone imbalance when there is already estrogen dominance. Obviously processed soy is different than tofu, but I’d be interested to hear what she has to say about soy and PCOS.

Rohini Bajekal (58:19)
So, oestrogen dominance is a term that’s used by quite a lot of people in the wellness world, but it’s not actually a scientific term. And the oestrogen is thought to be kind of to fuel certain hormonal conditions like fibroids, endometriosis, adenomyosis, PCOS, that oestrogen dominance isn’t a diagnosable sort of thing. And…

The wonderful thing is that soya is beneficial for all genders. It is fantastic for hormonal health, cardiovascular health, you name it, it’s got the evidence behind it. There’s about a hundred thousand studies on soya. I would look up the work of Dr. Mark Messina, fantastic work. We know that research consistently shows that minimally processed soya like edamame beans, calcium-set tofu, I like the calcium-set type because it’s fortified with extra calcium.

Tenpeh, is a fermented form in calcium-fortified soya milk and soya yogurts, which we have a lot of here in the UK, can really help improve PCOS symptoms. So they can include improved metabolic markers like the insulin sensitivity, which I said is the driver, but as well as things like testosterone levels. And we found that it can also be helpful for weight management. It can help women impair menopause and menopause with hot flashes. With skin health, it’s been shown to reduce the appearance of wrinkles. I mean, who wouldn’t love it?

And it’s a great source of nutrients like iron and calcium and protein. Fantastic source of plant protein, really good source of all the nine essential amino acids. There’s about 17 grams of protein and 100 grams of firm tofu. It’s something I eat religiously. I don’t think there’s a day that goes by that I include soy in my diet. I have between three and four portions a day because I’m active that my whole family eats soy. I’ve been eating soy since I was…

teenager and I’m really glad because we know that introducing soya early has benefits as well for those who introduce soya in childhood for boys and girls there is a lower risk appears to be a lower risk of prostate cancer lifelong and maybe a reduced risk of breast cancer as well so phytoeustrogens which are plant oestrogens in soya work very differently to the mammalian oestrogen that you get in things like cow’s dairy and and soya

has this thing called the CERN effect. So it’s actually pro-eustrogenic in tissues like the bone, helping to build strong, healthy bones, which is what we want. Especially if you are lean, you want to have really, all of us should have strong, healthy bones. And it has an anti-eustrogenic effect in places like the breast and tissues like that where we don’t want to develop breast cancer. And obviously it’s not as simple as just eat soy or, you know, just don’t get breast cancer. You know, wish it was as simple as that. Of course it isn’t. These are really complex conditions, but

Soya is a healthful, health promoting food and it’s so great that your teenager loves soya. mean, amazing. She can put it into curries, into sandwiches, have it in her snack box at school, like brilliant. So it should be included. And I love doing things like frozen edamame because it’s really cheap. So adding it into a stir fry or defrosting it and snacking on it with some chili and lemon is delicious. So yeah, I’m really happy to hear that people are eating soya and

I really want to highlight how useful, how good it is for improving ovulation rates and PCOS. So if you want to help your PCOS, definitely get on that soil train.

Molly Patrick (1:01:36)
Mm-hmm.

Love that. I love hearing that. There’s so many misconceptions about such a healthy, awesome food. ⁓ so I love hearing that from you. ⁓ Okay, so those are the questions that, I mean, we’ve been, it’s over an hour now that you shared so much information and I have a much better understanding of PCOS and how it all ties together with the healthy lifestyle and…

Rohini Bajekal (1:01:49)
Thank you.

We have.

Molly Patrick (1:02:10)
overall hormonal health. So thank you for sharing your time and your knowledge and everybody, you know, you’re on Instagram, ⁓ your website, we’re going to link to that in the show notes, but to find out more about you and to ⁓ follow you on Instagram and to get your book, where’s the best place to find you.

Rohini Bajekal (1:02:27)
Thank you so much, Molly. I really appreciate you drawing attention to this subject because as you can see, it has such wide ranging impacts and just knowing this knowledge can you could actually help get someone diagnosed or just to gently kind of point them to the fact that this might be connected. And so yeah, I’m at Rohini Bajaykal on Instagram. My website is RohiniBajaykal.com. I have a sub stack called Full of Beans where I share recipes and loads of other tips. And if you enjoy this episode,

please do support the podcast by liking and leaving a review, but of course do share it with someone if you think it could help them with their hormonal health, because I think sometimes just opening up this conversation and all of us joining in, whether you’re a man, women, you you’re an employer, you can help so many people who are struggling with this condition. That is so much hope and there’s so much joy. And I just really appreciate you.

platforming this and kind of yeah, just giving it the space that I think that I wish more people can learn about PCLS and hopefully those who have the condition, you feel that there are lots of things that you can do to support yourself and yeah, don’t give up. It’s definitely not a life sentence. There is so much joy to be had with this condition.

Molly Patrick (1:03:46)
Yeah, wonderful. that’s so hopeful. And I know that so many people will find a lot of hope in these words and a lot of encouragement. So thank you for sharing and thank you for sharing your personal story and for sharing your gifts with the world. Yeah, me too. Thanks. Bye.

Rohini Bajekal (1:03:58)
Thank you so much, Molly. Take care.