Dr. Brooke Kalanick: How Exercise Effects Your PCOS and Hormones #37

A licensed Naturopathic (ND) and Functional Medicine doctor, Dr. Brooke (@betterbydrbrooke) attended Seattle, Washington's Bastyr University, where she earned a Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine and Masters in Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine. 

Dr. Brooke's postdoctoral training in women's health and functional endocrinology, as well as her personal battle with PCOS, led her to specialize in female hormone issues including menopause, hypothyroidism (including Hashimoto's), autoimmunity and endometriosis and of course, PCOS.

She helps women reset their hormones, their heads, and their habits, so they can finally feel at home in their bodies.  She is also the co-host of the Sarah & Dr. Brooke Show and co-author of Hangry: Balance Your Hormones and Rediscover Your Joy In Five Simple Steps (St Martin's Press, Jun2 2019).

Regular exercise is a key component to include in your POS treatment plan. But did you know that the exercise you are doing may be causing you more harm than good?

In this episode of the podcast, Dr. Brooke talks about the impact exercise has on our hormones, the positives but also the negatives. She identifies which exercises are best for each type of PCOS and hormonal imbalance.

Find out:

• Types of PCOS (6:28)
• The hormone hierarchy (9:35)
• Why you should focus on your delicate hormones, low cortisol and low thyroid first (10:08)
• What type of PCOS are metabolic conditioning and fat loss workouts suitable for (10:45)
• Why you should pay attention to your thyroid (14:56)
• Symptoms of low thyroid (15:37)
• Symptoms of low cortisol (15:57)
• Tests for inflammation (17:39)
• Signs of inflammation (18:02)
• Hormonal imbalances in Lean PCOS or Adrenal PCOS  (18:22)
• Signs of insulin resistance (18:44)
• Nutrition for Insulin resistance (19:21)
• What if you have low cortisol and insulin resistance (20:12)
• The Birth Control Pill and PCOS (24:06)
• Metformin and PCOS (25:39)
• Supplements to take if on the BCP (31:53)
• Should all women with PCOS do weight training (32:53)
• Fasted cardio or non fasted cardio (39:15)
• Why you should embrace the muscle and muscular physique (43:32)
• Why it is important to listen to your body (47:10)
• Training with your menstrual cycle (55:00)

Please enjoy!

You can find the transcript of this episode below.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your favorite podcast platform.