How does PCOS make you fatter?

[lljkk]

where "fatter" = total body fat %, rather than where the fat is deposited on the body.

I seem to read this claim on MN, that PCOS makes women fatter, by... I'm not sure how. That's what I'm asking. What Google tells me is that PCOS makes people feel more hunger (so then they eat more). That PCOS changes where the fat is stored (so makes someone look fatter). I'm reading something confusing about how PCOS may delay fat breakdown, but maybe only if you're overweight with PCOS. But the way PCOS is discussed implies something else has happened, something that means that when a person with PCOS has 100 kcal, that's like a person without PCOS eating 200 kcal in terms of fat-making potential. How does that happen?

Besides making people feel more hunger and making them look fatter because of where any fat is stored, how does PCOS make women fatter on fewer calories?

No

It does “make” anyone fatter

I'd be interested to know this too - I have lean PCOS and asked my doctor about the differences (took forever to diagnose because I'm not overweight and so GP kept dismissing me). He said those with lean PCOS are less likely to be insulin resistant compared to those with PCOS, so maybe this is something to do with it?

it does NOT “make” anyone fatter

It’s only hard to get your head round these things if you believe that all bodies use all calories from all sources in exactly the same way. I take medication for a medical condition that means I am more susceptible to high blood sugars than someone else, so my body breaks down, uses and stores food with different compositions in different ways to “normal” people. Are you just looking for a way to say that if women with PCOS are fat then it’s because they are eating in a way that you disapprove of?

I've got PCOS and I'm not aware of this "fat making potential"that you speak of.

From what I know, PCOS results in insulin resistance, where because your body is less influenced by insulin, your pancreas produces more of it. And that causes an increased appetite and increased fat storage, and it also stops the breakdown of stored fat.

You also get a high androgen level - this is a male hormone which increases your appetite and causes fat to be deposited in the abdominal area .

In other words, you are screwed . It's really difficult to lost weight when you've got PCOS and of course there are other factors which can make life really difficult, like crappy skin and infertility. It's obviously a complex problem, so maybe there is something I don't know about regarding the weight issue. I'll have to do some more reading.

I am shamefully ignorant on the science of it all, however...
As a child, even from very young, I looked like the weird fat one in a family of very slim people. Never over eaten/eaten in secret/spent own money on crap etc, mum cooked from scratch - everyone else stayed slim, I got fatter.
By 11 I was overweight, Dr put me on the Audrey Eyton F Plan diet - didn't work.
Periods started at 10, regular fainting, very heavy flow, extremely painful. Put on pill at 13, didn't help. Assured they'd be better once I'd had a baby!!
Yo-yoed weight wise throughout my teens. Ate/drank same as my housemates in uni - they were all slim, I got fatter.
TTC in my 20s after I got married - nothing. After 3 years, GP arranged tests - pcos.
Got pregnant after 7 years, one child. MC 4 years later, never pregnant again.
I seem to look at food and put on weight and find it incredibly difficult to lose it - cutting back for a few days does nothing. I can put on half a stone of water weight in an evening. I've been struggling with my weight for over 40 years and if there was an easy answer, I'd have found it.
DD also has pcos, diagnosed at 13. She gains weight very easily too.

It affects your hormones, hence the weight gain. Have a look at the work by Lara Briden, who has loads of info on her page:

https://www.larabriden.com/4-types-of-pcos-a-flowchart/]

I have PCOS and insulin resistance, the biggest issue is that in order to not gain weight I have to strictly limit all carbs, even a small amount and I gain. I know how to lose weight, I have to eat a fully keto diet with the bare minimum of carbs from green veg only, but I find it virtually impossible to sustain and as soon as I add in any carbs aside from green veg I start to gain again. I've experimented for years with this and even the addition of berries is enough to stall any weight loss, which means for me a diet means eliminating all fruit, bread, pasta, rice, veg grown below ground as well as the obvious cakes, sweets, biscuits. I have to live forever on eggs, meat, dairy and green veg grown above ground.

My weight sits on my belly so I'm apple shaped with slim legs.

" it also stops the breakdown of stored fat."

What does that mean, I've tried googling but not seeing an elaboration. I thought it might be something to do with spot-removing fat from specific parts of body, but I didn't think that was possible for anyone, anyway.

So the thing about PCOS & insulin resistance is that a person with PCOS who eats 40grams of carbs (200 kcal), the net effect is as though they had 900 kcal, in terms of weight gain potential? As though they had 100grams of dietary fat?

https://www.larabriden.com/4-types-of-pcos-a-flowchart/

That page doesn't mention weight. It mentions acne, facial hair, no periods, androgens, histamines, headaches, skin conditions ....

@CyberCritical have you looked into carb pairing? May be an option for you if you’re this sensitive to carbs?
I found out about it when I had gestational diabetes and finished my pregnancy lighter than when I conceived!

“So the thing about PCOS & insulin resistance is that a person with PCOS who eats 40grams of carbs (200 kcal), the net effect is as though they had 900 kcal, in terms of weight gain potential? As though they had 100grams of dietary fat?”

is this what you are saying happens, or what you think other people are saying happens?

the body processes fats differently to those carbs regardless of health conditions. As someone who is susceptible to high blood sugar because I take steroids for a health condition, I eat lots of fats and very little carbs to avoid blood sugar spikes and it works very well. A person with normal blood sugars wouldn’t need to eat the way I do to avoid blood sugar spikes. Why would you think every single body reacts to carbs in exactly the same way?

Why the focus on this aspect of PCOS? Often when people are just “asking questions” about things like this it’s because they like to find ways to reassure themselves that it’s ok to blame fat people for being fat, and they think that it’s ok to treat fat people badly. Is that the case here?

Are you warming up for some big reveal or gotcha moment, OP?

Pcos makes you hungry. Your body floods itself with insulin every time your blood sugar rises. Insulin makes you hungry and knackered. So you move less, eat more, blood sugar rises and the cycle spirals. It’s fucking miserable.

Thanks, BabyY. Those parts are well explained, that PCOS makes you hungry & more fatigued. The parts I got stuck on was 1) "breaking down fat". I think this might be same as "burning fat". I can't find a simple explanation for how people with PCOS burn fat different from people without PCOS. Beyond "too tired to exercise" effect.

Also, I get it that people with PCOS may tend to feel less satiated. But that doesn't explain why they might say they can be very active and only have a tiny amount of calories/day else gain weight. I feel like those are the stories I read on MN.

My only friend with PCOS (only mate who told me she has it) doesn't say any of these things about her condition. Although she used to worry about infertility.

Fung's comments are all about feeling full after meals, I think?

I was always slim until my mid 20s where I rapidly gained weight and found it way harder to lose, started noticing the other symptoms ie excessive facial hair and acne, low mood. Scan confirmed the diagnosis. Not fun. I’m overweight and I really really struggle to lose it despite sticking to low calorie diet and over the recommended weekly exercise. I will always try my hardest but is really really hard to maintain a normal weight- my GP has explained this to me re insulin resistance & weight gain/ weight loss difficulty. As has all the research from reputable medical sources Iv read so please can some of the posters on here stop trying to say this is not a significant contributor to weight problems.

PCOS is a symptom of insulin resistance, weight gain is another symptom... not all sufferers of PCOS will have weight gain. This video highlights this:

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