OK. Today's the day. There was finally a quiet morning to read the research about d-chiro inositol. Ever since I posted a link to Sasha Ottey's interview on the topic on her PCOS Challenge radio show, traffic linking to us with that keyword has been very high. I've known we needed a blog post, but I just wanted to be sure it was scientifically accurate and presented information in a way that was beneficial, not hurtful.
What is inositol? It is a chemical that is necessary for several body functions, including: cell structure, insulin function, nerve function, fat breakdown, and maintenance of healthy cholesterol levels.
Inositol comes in nine different forms. Two of those types of inositol, myo-inositol and d-chiro-inositol, have been found to have therapeutic value. Myo-inositol supplementation has been found to alleviate symptoms of bulimia, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, agoraphobia, depression, and bipolar disorder. d-chiro-inositol supplementation has been found to be useful for symptoms associated with insulin, high androgen levels, and menstrual irregularity. It is also reported that myoinositol can help prevent hair loss.
Both categories of symptoms are common in PCOS, so it appears that inositol levels and metabolism may be problematic with a high percentage of readers of this blog.
One thing you can do to help improve your levels of both myo- and d-chiro-inositol is to know their dietary sources. Myo-inositol is found in brewer's yeast, liver, milk, whole grains, brown rice, oats, nuts, citrus fruits, molasses, legumes, raisins, and bananas. The best sources of d-chiro-inositol are buckwheat and garbanzo beans (hummous, anyone?)
The theory is, that women with PCOS have trouble converting myo-inositol into d-chiro-inositol. So they need to bypass that metabolic bottleneck with a supplement.
I haven't had the opportunity to use d-chiro-inositol with my clients yet. I haven't wanted to recommend anything unless I'd researched it. But I had a client once, with severe OCD, who responded well to myo-inositol in a way medication and behavioral therapy never achieved. The only issue she had with the supplement was the large dose she needed to take (10 grams per day) in order to see benefit.
Fast forward to today, I've been wondering for awhile if maybe the symptoms attributed to myoinositol deficiency weren't actually myoinositol issues at all, but d-chiro-inositol issues, and the large dose needed was because the conversion in this population is so low.
So here's the best way I would think it would work to determine if d-chiro-inositol deficiency is your problem.
1. Be sure to include all the foods I mentioned above in your diet on a regular basis.
2. Try d-chiro-inositol. Give it three months of regular use to see if it helps.
--If it helps with your insulin levels, androgen levels, and menstrual cycles, then by all means continue using it!
--If it helps with the above, but doesn't help with binge eating, mood, or obsessive thinking, then consider adding some myoinositol to the mix.
3. And please, check back with us. I'm really curious to know what happens. If d-chiro-inositol also helps with mood, etc., that's very important information.
Recommended doses of each: myo-inositol 12-30 grams per day
d-chiro-inositol 100 mg, twice per day
I know, I know, if you're obsessive, you're going to want to take the higher dose of myo-inositol, or even double the dose I've listed. :) I strongly encourage you to resist the temptation and start low and titrate up as you need to.
I spent quite a bit of time in the supplement department at Whole Foods, to get an idea of what readers would find if they went to buy inositol. As you can see at this link, the options on amazon.com
, as they are in most health food stores, are primarily myoinositol. If you'd like to purchase d-chiro-inositol, the most popular source for women with PCOS appears to be www.chiralbalance.com.
5 comments:
Hi, does anyone know if these supplements function as blood thinners? I have PCOS and would love to try these supplements, but I am also an opera singer and any blood thinners can be very dangerous for the voice. (We can't supplement with garlic in high doses, for example) Voice doctors don't seem to know much about these supplements, unfortunately. They just tell us to stay away from most supplements, but that isn't so helpful.
Hello.
Everybody talks about d-chiro inositol for PCOS. I checked from various pharmacies and nobody sells that. In fact, some of them told me they heard this for the first time. Can any one tell me where I can get in New York City. It is a big city so there should be some seller!
Please respond by email (shrikantbadve@yahoo.com)
Shweta
shrikantbadve@yahoo.com
Hi there,
I'm going to start d-chiro-inositol in a few days, so I will let you know how it goes. I have fairly moderate pcos for a young, thin 25 year old, and I am hoping it will be the winning ingredient in my life.
I recently tried myo-inositol the other day (about 600 mg each time) and I experienced a severe amount of brain fog, and a bit of hair loss. However, by the end of the day, on the two days I took this supplement, I had clarity of mind and a lot of energy. But it ran me through the grinder first. I would continue taking it, but right now I feel like I am creating a massive imbalance of myo-inositol to d-chiro-inositol (dci) because it probably takes me all day to convert this stuff into to dci. Four days later, and I am still experiencing the benefits of the converted dci, as I have a lack of an oily scalp, more clarity of mind, etc. Or maybe its just all the hummus I'm eating as well, haha. But I never wake up with a dry non-oily scalp, so this is positively unusually great for me. I can't wait to see how I respond to dci. I shall let you know :)
Alison, no, I don't think d-chiro-inositol is a blood thinner. I get nosebleeds when I take even one fish oil capsule, so I am sensitive to blood thinners and DCI doesn't do this to me.
I think the dose of DCI mentioned above is too low, though. It comes in 600 mg capsules and the recommended dose is 2 per day.
I have OCD and a history of babies born with anencephaly. I have just discovered that inositol may help prevent/treat both of these . I have been taking d-chiro inositol for a couple of years and have had a successful pregnancy. Researchers have proved this is much more effective at preventing neural tube defects than myo-inositol. I wonder if my two problems are really the one you have described here. At least there must be something wrong with my methyl- folate metabolism. Also I recentl ran out of DCI and have been taking myo-inositol instead, perhaps that explains the increase in my OCD lately. Thanks for your help!
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