PCOS is a hormonal condition in which the ovaries produce excess androgens, usually driven by insulin resistance. It causes irregular periods, weight gain, acne and excess hair growth. It cannot be cured, but symptoms improve substantially when insulin resistance is treated through diet, movement and sleep.
Symptoms of PCOS and PCOD
Symptoms vary, and few people have all of them. These are the ones most commonly reported.
2-minute check
Do your symptoms fit the PCOS pattern?
Four questions. Your result appears immediately — we do not ask for an email.
How regular are your periods?
Has your weight changed in a way that resists effort?
Any changes to skin or hair?
Do you get strong cravings or energy crashes after meals?
Your answers do not strongly fit the PCOS pattern
That is reassuring, though it does not rule anything out. If symptoms persist, a consultation and basic blood work will settle it.
Some of your answers fit the PCOS pattern
Several of these overlap with thyroid and insulin issues too, which is why they are assessed together rather than one at a time.
Your answers fit the PCOS pattern closely
This is not a diagnosis — only blood work and a scan can confirm it. It does suggest a proper assessment is worth doing.
This check is an indication, not a diagnosis. It does not replace medical advice.
When to see a doctor
Arrange a medical appointment rather than waiting if you have:
- Fewer than eight periods a year, or none for three months
- Twelve months of trying to conceive without success
- Rapid hair growth, a deepening voice or sudden severe acne
- Excessive thirst, frequent urination or unexplained weight loss
What causes PCOS and PCOD
The trigger is not fully understood, but the chain that produces the symptoms is. In most cases it runs through insulin.
Cells respond poorly to insulin, so more of it is needed to move sugar out of the blood.
The pancreas produces more insulin to compensate, and levels stay high.
High circulating insulin stimulates the ovaries to produce more testosterone.
Ovulation is disrupted, fat is stored more easily, and skin and hair change.
Risk factors
- A mother or sister with PCOS
- Weight gain around the abdomen
- A diet high in refined carbohydrate
- Low physical activity
- Chronic stress and short sleep
- South Asian ancestry, which carries a higher background rate of insulin resistance
How PCOS and PCOD is diagnosed
| Test | What it indicates |
|---|---|
| Total and free testosterone | Androgen excess |
| LH and FSH | The ratio between them, often raised in PCOS |
| Fasting insulin and glucose | Insulin resistance — the usual driver |
| HbA1c | Average blood sugar over roughly three months |
| TSH, T3, T4 | Thyroid function, which mimics and worsens PCOS symptoms |
| Lipid panel | Cardiovascular risk, often raised alongside PCOS |
| Pelvic ultrasound | Follicle count and ovarian volume |
Not sure which of these you have had?The assessment asks, and tells you which are worth requesting.
Check my health parametersWhat happens if it is left untreated
Stated factually, because these risks are real and manageable rather than inevitable.
- Type 2 diabetes, as insulin resistance progresses
- Raised cholesterol and blood pressure
- Difficulty conceiving
- Thickening of the uterine lining where periods are absent for long periods
- Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
- Anxiety and low mood, which are commonly under-treated
How Health Total treats PCOS and PCOD
Our protocol runs alongside whatever your doctor has prescribed. We do not ask anyone to stop medication.
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1
Establish the baseline
Full blood work, cycle history, medication and what has already been tried. Nothing is prescribed before this.
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2
Restructure carbohydrate, not remove it
Rice and roti stay. What changes is the pairing, portion and timing, so the same staples produce a flatter glucose response.
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3
Target the inflammation
Specific foods and, where appropriate, Ayurvedic support selected by a practitioner rather than applied as a standard kit.
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4
Re-measure
Markers are re-tested at defined intervals. Progress is judged on the blood work, not only on the scale.
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5
Maintain
A maintenance plan, because PCOS is long-term and the months after a programme decide whether the change held.
What makes this different
A standard diet plan
- A fixed calorie target
- Removing rice, roti and fruit
- The same plan for every woman
- Progress measured only on the scale
How we do it
- A plan built from your own blood work
- Staples kept, pairing and timing changed
- Routed by your markers and your cycle
- Progress judged on markers as well as weight
Nine questions. Two minutes.You will see your result before we ask for your name.
Start my free assessmentAudited results
Publication pending. Aggregate outcome figures for this condition — sample size, inclusion criteria, mean and median change, range and dropout rate — will appear here once the audited outcome report is complete and signed by a second clinician.
Under the ASCI Healthcare Guidelines, a success rate, timeline or efficacy claim requires peer-reviewed data or the organisation’s own audited outcome report. We would rather publish nothing here than publish a number we cannot substantiate.
Case studies
De-identified clinical records — the plan as delivered, the markers as measured, and adherence as it actually was. Each signed by the supervising clinician and verified by a second.
Case file 1
Awaiting the case production line — dependency D6.
Case file 2
Awaiting the case production line — dependency D6.
Case file 3
Awaiting the case production line — dependency D6.
The standard each case must meet before publication →
Published with specific, informed and withdrawable consent. Individual results vary.
Why Health Total for PCOS and PCOD
Clinicians, named
Over 200 doctors and nutritionists. Every condition page here carries the name and credentials of the person who wrote it and the person who reviewed it.
Indian food, Indian bodies
Thirty years of treating Indian patients, with plans built from Indian kitchens and read against Asia-Pacific metabolic cut-offs.
Our own data
Outcomes come from audited internal records, not from studies conducted elsewhere on other populations.
Somewhere to walk in
Physical centres across India, which most app-based programmes cannot offer.
Recipes for PCOS and PCOD
Methi thepla with curd
The same thepla, with a flour blend and a partner that flatten the glucose rise.
See the recipe →Moong dal chilla
Thirteen grams of protein at breakfast, and the difference shows up at four in the afternoon.
See the recipe →Cinnamon and fenugreek water
Two minutes, modest real evidence, and an honest account of its limits.
See the recipe →Protein and folate bowl
Built for the three months before conception, when the groundwork actually happens.
See the recipe →Articles
Insulin resistance, explained without the jargon
One mechanism sits underneath PCOS, fatty liver, acne and stubborn weight.
Read →What actually changes in a PCOS diet
Not a list of forbidden foods — a set of changes to how meals are built.
Read →Hair fall: the causes worth testing for
What you are seeing today started three months ago.
Read →Questions we are asked
Can PCOS be cured?
PCOS is a long-term hormonal condition rather than an infection, so it is managed rather than cured. Symptoms including irregular periods, weight gain and skin changes can improve substantially when the underlying insulin resistance is addressed.
What is the difference between PCOS and PCOD?
The terms are often used interchangeably in India. PCOD usually describes ovaries producing immature eggs; PCOS describes the wider metabolic and hormonal syndrome. In practice the nutritional approach is similar, and treatment follows symptoms and blood markers rather than the label.
Do I have to give up rice and roti?
No. The aim is to change how carbohydrate is combined, portioned and timed rather than to remove staples. A plan that removes the food a household actually eats is rarely followed beyond a few weeks.
Which blood tests confirm PCOS?
There is no single confirmatory test. Diagnosis typically combines cycle history, blood work covering testosterone, LH and FSH, fasting insulin and glucose and thyroid function, and a pelvic ultrasound.
Are there any side effects to the programme?
The programme is non-surgical and non-invasive. Nutrition changes are made alongside any medication you already take, and your clinician will ask about all of it at the first consultation.
Start with your own numbers.Free assessment, free first consultation, and no figure quoted that we cannot substantiate.
Start my free assessmentReferences
- Rotterdam ESHRE/ASRM-Sponsored PCOS Consensus Workshop Group. Revised 2003 consensus on diagnostic criteria for PCOS.
- International evidence-based guideline for the assessment and management of polycystic ovary syndrome.
- WHO Expert Consultation. Appropriate body-mass index for Asian populations.
- [Further references to be completed by the medical review panel.]