Myo-inositol & D-chiro-inositol: Side Effects and Benefits Explained for PCOS

Written by ELAINE OTROFANOWEI

Elaine Otrofanowei is a Fertility and Women's Health Acupuncturist with a strong and personal interest in peri/menopause. Through ecotherapies.co; she provides Acupuncture and Functional Medicine to patients to help them restore their health and wellbeing and specialise in the treatment of both male and female infertility and other women’s health issues.

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September 9, 2024

Terry Sullivan Guest Post

If you’re looking for natural support for PCOS, take a look at the heavily-researched inositol. It’s a carbocyclic sugar that’s naturally occurring within our bodies. It’s also found in some nutritious foods, such as whole grain bread, peanut butter, dried prunes, and liver.

Inositol plays a major role in our bodies: a messenger role, sending signals that affect the function of insulin (as well as brain chemicals; dopamine and serotonin).

The benefits of myo-inositol for PCOS are clear, so it helps to take a supplement as it can be difficult to make sure your diet provides the right amount. Plus, women with PCOS can find it harder to absorb it and need the combination of alpha-lactalbumin to aid absorption. Myo-inositol and D-chiro-inositol are two of the most popular inositol supplements on the market.

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What are myo-inositol and D-chiro-inositol?

Your body actually converts a little bit of myo-inositol into D-chiro-inositol. So myo-inositol and D-chiro-inositol are nearly identical on a molecular level. But they have totally different roles when it comes to insulin. Myo-inositol helps the body’s use of glucose (via glucose transporters and glucose activation), while D-chiro-inositol is involved in glycogen synthesis and storage.

There are a huge number of studies which provide evidence for the benefits of taking a myo-inositol supplement to help manage PCOS symptoms. Inofolic Alpha contains your optimum dose of myo-inositol, along with alpha-lactalbumin to aid absorption. But there hasn’t been the same large body of research to suggest that taking D-chiro-inositol alone will be beneficial.

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What are the benefits of taking myo-inositol and d-chiro-inositol?

There’s no doubt that the right inositol supplement can be beneficial for those with PCOS, but how and why does inositol benefit you?

Benefits of Inositol.

Reduces risk of metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome is a group of conditions that heighten your risk of chronic disease, including type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Women with PCOS are more likely to have metabolic syndrome. Five conditions are associated with metabolic syndrome:

High blood sugar
High blood pressure
Excess fat in the stomach area
Low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol
High levels of triglycerides in the blood

Studies have found that inositol lowers the risk of metabolic syndrome and helps the body regulate and process insulin. Plus, inositol supplements may be beneficial for those with metabolic syndrome. In a year-long clinical study, 20% of the women taking the inositol supplements no longer met the criteria for metabolic syndrome by the end of the study!

Lowers high cholesterol.

Inositol also helps to lower cholesterol by reducing the overall amount of fat in your body. It does this in part by combining with choline to produce lecithin. You need lecithin to break down fats in your body and prevent fat building up in the cell walls of your heart, arteries, and brain.

Relieves symptoms of PCOS.

Unfortunately, at present, PCOS can’t be cured, but there are ways to treat PCOS symptoms. Myo-inositol has become one way to treat PCOS symptoms—with great effect.

In fact, there are numerous studies examining the way in which myo-inositol does this. One study on myo-inositol and how it can improve PCOS symptoms considers the benefits for women with PCOS who are using assisted reproductive technologies. It concludes that myo-inositol is secure and cost-effective in the treatment of PCOS.

Myo-inositol may also help reduce androgens. High levels of androgens cause symptoms like acne and hirsutism, so taking a myo-inositol supplement will help to manage this.

Reduces risk of gestational diabetes.

Gestational diabetes occurs in pregnancy when your glucose levels are too high. PCOS is linked with insulin resistance and reduced glucose tolerance, both of which are risk factors for gestational diabetes. Research is limited, but the combination of myo-inositol and folic acid throughout pregnancy (as found in Inofolic Alpha) may help prevent gestational diabetes in women with a family history of diabetes. This is also backed by a study where inositols were found to reduce the risk of gestational diabetes.

Improves insulin resistance.

Women with PCOS are often insulin resistant, so PCOS and insulin resistance go hand in hand. But with the right supplementation, that doesn’t need to be the case. Myo-inositol has been used safely for decades by those with insulin resistance and PCOS, but a combination of both myo-inositol and D-chiro-inositol has also been shown to improve insulin sensitivity.

What are the side effects of myo and d-chiro inositol?

Most people don’t seem to have any side effects with the correct doses of Myo-inositol and D-chiro-inositol. But as with any supplements, mild side effects have been reported when taking high doses.

Nausea and stomach pain

Research including more than 250 patients found that myo-inositol taken at a rate of 12–30 g per day was associated with gastrointestinal side effects such as nausea and stomach pain. However, it’s worth noting that that’s a high dose (more than three times the recommended dose), and the normal supplement dose would normally be much less.

Both myo-inositol and D-chiro-inositol have positive effects on glucose metabolism. But D-chiro-inositol only works as a supplement in combination with myo-inositol. Taken in the right dosage, neither should cause significant side effects, and the benefits are clear to see.

Other Inositol and PCOS products are available at the fertility shop.