tea for pcos

By Kelsey Stricklen, MS, RD, CLT  November 1, 2019

D ri nki ng tea can be hel pful for po l y cy sti c ov ari an
sy ndr o me ( PC OS) sy mpto ms li ke faci al hair gr ow th.
Faci al hair gr ow th, o r mal e- patter n hair gr ow th
cal l ed  hi r suti sm ,  i s o ne o f the mo r e co mmo n
co mpl ai nts w e hear fro m w o men wi th PC OS.   T hi s
di str essi ng sy mpto m stems fr o m the ov ari es or
adr enal gl ands pro duci ng to o many andr o gens, and
o ften negativ el y eff ects sel f-esteem l ev el s i n
addi ti o n to bei ng co stly to manage.
 
T he under l yi ng cause o f mo st PC OS i s i nsul i n
r esi stance, but the co ndi tio n can al so be tr i gger ed
by str ess (adr enal PC OS) o r gener al i nfl ammati o n in
the bo dy .   T her e ar e many di et
and  l ifesty l e   changes a w o man can make to hel p
manage her   PC OS   sy mpto ms, but i t can feel
o v erw hel mi ng know i ng w her e to start.   It can be
hel pful to ado pt an “ addi tio n” mi ndset v s. a
“ subtr acti o n” mi ndset w hen wo r ki ng to w ar ds a
heal thi er l i festyl e to bal ance yo ur ho r mo nes.
 
Fo r ex ampl e, i f y o u ar e try i ng to r educe sugar
i ntake, r ather than fo cusi ng o n w hat yo u ar e taki ng
aw ay ( subtr actio n mi ndset) , such as “ I can no
l o nger hav e my dail y after no o n latte” , tr y
sw i tchi ng yo ur mi ndset to “ I get to hav e a dai ly
after noo n cup of tea ” (addi ti o n mi ndset) .
 
T ea i s a gr eat thi ng to add to yo ur dr i nk ro tati o n
w hen y o u hav e PC OS.   Studi es hav e sho w n that
bo th gr een tea and spear mi nt tea can hav e a
po si tiv e i mpact o n PC OS sy mpto ms, i ncl udi ng
hi r suti sm.
 
H er e i s w hat so me of the studi es show abo ut tea
fo r PC OS:
 
Spe armin t Te a
 
In a 30- day r ando mi z ed co ntro l l ed tr i al, 41 w o men
w er e rando mi z ed to dr i nk ei ther a pl acebo her bal
tea or spear mi nt tea twi ce per day.   It w as fo und
that fr ee and to tal testo stero ne l ev el s w er e
si gni fi cantl y r educed i n the spear mi nt tea gr o up
o v er the co ur se o f the study ( 1 ) .
 
A no ther smal l study i n 2007 sho w ed that hir sute
w o men w ho dr ank 2 cups o f spear mi nt tea per day
fo r 5 day s dur i ng the fo ll i cul ar phase o f thei r
menstr ual cy cl e sho w ed a si gni fi cant decr ease in
fr ee testo stero ne l ev el s.   T her e wer e no si gni fi cant
decr eases i n to tal testo ster o ne or
dehy dr o epi andr o stenedi o ne- sul phate (D HE A -S) .  
Fur ther studi es ar e needed, due to the sho r t
dur atio n o f the study and small sampl e si z e ( 2 ).
 
Gre e n Te a
 
A study publ i shed in 2017 sho w ed that the
co nsumpti o n o f 500 mi ll i gr ams of gr een tea ex tr act
twi ce dail y fo r 12 w eeks l ed to w ei ght lo ss,
decr eased fasti ng i nsuli n l ev el s, and lo w er l ev el s o f
fr ee testo stero ne i n ov er w ei ght wo men w ith PC OS
( 3 ) . A ni mal studi es hav e al so show n the po si ti v e
eff ects o f gr een tea ex tr act i n subj ects wi th PC OS.  
One study fo und a si gni fi cant r educti o n i n i nsuli n
r esi stance i ndex as w el l as reduced bo dy w ei ght in
r ats wi th PC OS ( 4 ).
 
H o w do es 500 mg o f gr een tea ex tr act tr ansl ate to
cups o f gr een tea?   One w o ul d pr o babl y hav e to
dr i nk at l east 64 oz o f gr een tea per day to r each
that l ev el , so abo ut 128 oz per day to r each the
ther apeuti c do se i n the human study abo v e.   Is thi s
r eali st i c fo r mo st peo pl e?   Pr o babl y no t.   T aki ng a
suppl ement of gr een tea ex tr act, such as
thi s   o ne  o r do i ng a co mbi nati o n of the tea and the
ex tr act suppl ement, wo ul d be an easi er w ay to
achi ev e that do se fo r mo st peo pl e.
 
O th e r t e as an d be v e rage s
 
D ri nki ng adequate w ater and a goo d v ari ety of
her bal teas, ev en tho se no t studi ed fo r PC OS, i s a
go o d w ay to stay hy dr ated and get anti -
i nfl ammato r y benefi ts fro m the po ly pheno l s and
anti ox i dants i n tea.   Yo u can r ead mo r e abo ut
heal thy dr i nks other than water and so me of o ur
fav or i te tea o pti o ns  her e.
 
Wh at sh ou ld y ou do w ith th is in format ion ?
 
Mo r e studi es ar e cer tai nl y needed to pr ov e the
anti -andr o geni c pr o per ti es o f spear mi nt and gr een
tea for PC OS, but co nsumi ng mor e tea i s a go o d
o pti o n to tr y fo r w o men str uggli ng w i th sy mpto ms
fr o m the hi gh andr o gens that co me al o ng wi th the
co ndi ti o n.
 
If y o u ar e a mo r e than 1 cup per day co ff ee dr i nker,
star t o ff by r epl aci ng yo ur seco nd cup of co ff ee
w ith tea and see ho w i t go es.   Co nsi der usi ng
decaff ei nated gr een tea i f y o u ar e dr i nki ng i t in the
after noo n.  Wo r ki ng to w ar ds an i ntake o f 2-6 cups
o f spear mi nt o r gr een tea per day i s a reaso nabl e
go al fo r mo st peo pl e.     Yo u can fi nd o ne of o ur
fav or i te spear mi nt teas   her e.
 
Reference: https://rootfunctionalmedicine.com/tea-for-pcos/