Your Comprehensive guide to training with PCOS (Part 5)

PCOS and Cinnamon 

In my research I came across several coaches recommending cinnamon as a cure for PCOS, and while I am generally skeptical of these types of naturopathic remedies, I looked into the research to try to understand if these claims had a scientific backing. To my surprise, there is actually a fair amount of research that sees the compounds in cinnamon, a type A polyphenol, as having insulin sensitizing properties. The meta-analysis done by Qin et al in 2010 detailed 10 studies, 5 of which showed a statistically significant effect of cinnamon on insulin sensitivity when taken in doses of at least 2 grams per day. Unfortunately, the other 5 studies showed no significant effects, but with the caveat that the participants in these studies were already taking medication like metformin to help regulate their blood glucose. 

So would I recommend someone with PCOS take cinnamon extract? Probably not. Another meta-analysis showed negligible effects and postulated that it would take another 1,166-6,853 subjects to form a definitive opinion based on the potential effects of random chance. All in all, there is just not enough evidence to show its effectiveness. It’s always so tempting to draw conclusions from small sample sizes, but in the end these things tend more often to be noise than anything real. 

And there you have it! I wish I could honestly give better, more precise specifications based on research done on women with PCOS. Hopefully, in the next five to ten years more research comes out that highlights these questions and can give us more definitive answers. But, in the meantime, understanding insulin resistance as the defining feature of PCOS gives us a ton of clues on how we should best train to improve this condition. We know that strength training and cardiovascular training can play a massive role in a treatment plan and eating a balanced diet of nourishing foods is essential for us being the best versions of ourselves. If our levels of visceral fat are high, losing even small amounts of weight can be a game changer, but we should not feel pressured into losing weight unless it feels like a realistic and sustainable goal. In the end, a lot of these recommendations probably come across as quite simple. This should be heartening, as it should not take wholesale changes to your life to have some incredibly powerful effects. Adopting small lifestyle changes can be an absolute game changer, but if you are struggling to figure out what exactly to do first, consider getting a coach. Whether it’s working with a coach at Woven or somewhere else, having someone in your corner pulling all the pieces together can completely transform your life.