Recently, this Facebook forum lit up with women asking about Inositol as the buzz on this supplement is beginning to feed through. The responses ranged from "I'm thinking of trying inositol, can anyone give any advice, what I should take, and if there is anything else that may help" to, a few weeks later:
"So I decided to give inositol powder a try. I have been taking it for a little over a week and wanted to share what it has done for me. First I have not had to wax my facial hair since I started it. I have been in such a better mood, not so depressed feeling and I actually wanna get up and do things. The best thing is I think I'm actually ovulating. Woke up this morning with heavy ewcm which has never ever happened, my cervical position is very low and soft. I hope this helps some of those thinking about the powder."
"I too have noticed a difference! My facial hair seems to be growing a lot slower. I also had dark color skin under my arms and my upper inner thigh - glad to say that after having that since I hit puberty way back in the day, that is almost all gone now!! Love the stuff!"
"I'm taking inositol and complex b, the hair on my arms seems to be finer and less coarse, my mood is fantastic, my skin is loads clearer and I too have had signs of ovulation."
So what exactly is it and how does it work?
Inositol comes from food sources like grains, nuts and fruits – but some of the best sources of inositol are organ meat! We eat around 1g a day if we have a healthy diet and our kidneys make around 2g. Inositol is sometimes called Vitamin B8. Inositol is a natural substance and not a pharmaceutical drug used to balance insulin in the body.
However, like metformin, it will work on the signaling system at a cellular level in regards to insulin. It's the warm-up act to insulin so to speak and tells insulin how to function when and during release and works directly on the receptor sites.
There are lots of different variations of this substance but for this article I will focus on two that have been the subject of many tests over the last ten years: Myo-inositol and D-chiro Inositol. Both have a similar effect but depending on your situation and hormone panel can affect you in different ways.
Below, I have consolidated most of the trials I feel are of interest and give hope to many thousands of women worldwide that suffer with PCOS and are trying to conceive. Many are lacking in a basic cycle and in all cases inositol seems to support and enhance better reproductive function.
Menstruation
Myo-inositol combined with folate 4g a day for over six months resulted in: Twenty-two22 out of 25 (88%) patients getting spontaneous menstrual cycle during treatment, of whom 18 (72%) maintained normal ovulatory activity during the follow-up period. A total of 10 pregnancies (40% of patients) were obtained [1].
Improved pregnancy rate
A study was conducted comparing two groups of 15 women: one group were given Myo-Inositol of 4g the other a placebo, the result was an improvement in pregnancy rate (33.3% v 13.3%) [2].
Improved egg quality and pregnancy rate in women with failed IVF
46 women were treated with 4g/day myo-inositol and were about to go for IVF again. After treatment, the number of mature oocytes, the fertilization rate, the number of both, total and top-quality embryos transferred were statistically higher compared to the previous IVF cycle. After treatment, a total of 13 pregnancies occurred, 9 of them were confirmed [3].
Comparison of D-Chiro-Inositol v Myo-Inositol
Both forms work on different areas for example the percentage success is higher using D-chiro for:
- supporting testosterone management
- managing and increasing Serum DHEA
- managing and harmonising SHGB
Overall it is a good choice to use D-Chiro if suffering from obesity, blood pressure issues and higher testosterone as "d-Chiro-inositol increases the action of insulin in patients with PCOS thereby improving ovulation and decreasing serum testosterone concentrations, blood pressure, and plasma triglyceride concentrations" [4].
Myo-inositol worked more on:
- balancing and improving Progesterone [5]
- lowering LH, testosterone, and insulin resistance [6]
- significantly reduced hirsutism [7]
Both had an equal effect in terms of insulin.
What else does it do?
Well, do you need anything else!? I was sold many years ago, when I started using it myself. I have mild insulin issues (confirmed by doing a genetic test that told me I have this 23andme). At the time I was suffering from acne, a little extra ‘hair’ and issues with my hormonal health. It worked a treat. It also has some other fabulous benefits, namely:
- works on serotonin, dopamine and Noradrenalin so helps in terms of mood and depression [8] - reduces panic attacks [9]
Since then I have used it as one of the first elements in a treatment protocol for balancing hormones particularly if PCOS is presenting.
I like to think that supporting women on this journey is a bit of a calling, as sadly its 12:53am and I’m still up writing this, as I feel so passionate about helping to balance hormones and supporting women to conceive. Using supplements is one thing, but I’m also all about ‘healing with food’ and through this, understanding why this condition may have some roots. Visit my last blog to look into this further https://fertilegroundnutrition.blogspot.co.uk/
If you do think Inositol is for you, you also need to put it together with healthier food choices and lifestyle suggestions. Sadly there is a bit of a desert when it comes to this area as doctors tend to treat disease and advising on diet and lifestyle is in my view a tough call to make with patients as I have been told this constitutes around two hours of their seven years' medical training. Those that are familiar with this tend to have an outside interest and regularly keep up to date with it, which I applaud as many GPs are so busy it's unreal! In this case, I would always however seek out professionals that are willing to listen to you and make sure they are behind you and supportive when you proactively move forward with some healthy suggestions in all areas.
Doctors are not trained in nutrients and nutrition so don’t expect them to have all the answers when you do ask them, even more so when it comes to supplements. Seek out a nutritionist who is trained in this area if you do need advice on food, as most offer free chats to help guide you on your way and if you are lucky you may even get the answers from some of them who sit writing blogs posts at silly o’clock!
Thank you and hope this blog has helped - Angela x
NOTES
Angela is the founder of Fertile Ground Nutrition. She is a Nutritional Therapist and an international expert in Fertility Nutrition. In 2013 Angela had an 80% success rate. Angela works closely with a number of internationally renowned experts in the field of fertility.
She is a regular speaker on the largest free online fertility event; ‘Fertility Question Time’, is a member of the team for Natural Fertility Expert and is part of a global network of practitioners that work around using DNA analysis and epigenetics. She also talked at the largest Fertility online event in 2014 the Fertility Focus Telesummit.
She works in partnership and developed a fertility detox programme in conjunction with Amchara specifically for women with PCOS, Fibroids and Endometriosis.
As a Nutritional therapist her view and approach is to empower people towards optimum health, often working alongside conventional medicine practitioners in order to ensure the best outcome.
[1] https://pubget.com/paper/17952759/myo-inositol-in-patients-with-polycystic-ovary-syndrome-a-novel-method-for-ovulation-induction
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21300338
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21463230
[4] https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199904293401703
[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18854115