4: Do You Have PCOS? Criteria, Symptoms & Nutrition - Ava Nouri
Hormone Healing RD
Amanda Montalvo
5 • 831 Ratings
🗓️ 6 October 2025
⏱️ 72 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Join Patreon to listen to our bonus episode on leptin and PCOS here.
What if everything you’ve been told about PCOS is too simplistic to actually help you heal?
In this episode, I sit down with Ava Nouri, a registered dietitian on my nutrition team who works closely with women navigating PCOS. Her own health journey through fatigue, brain fog, blood sugar issues, and hormone imbalances led her to integrative and functional nutrition, where she now supports clients with the same challenges she faced.
We get into the real spectrum of PCOS, why the conventional boxes don’t fit, and the deeper metabolic and gut factors that drive symptoms. The second half of the conversation unpacks the pro-metabolic movement, what works, what backfires, and why so many women feel stuck trying to make it fit. It’s a raw and nuanced look at one of the most common questions women in my community ask.
You’ll Learn:
- The reason PCOS is more of a metabolic disorder than just a hormone issue
- What happens in the body when insulin resistance drives high androgens and irregular cycles
- The link between gut dysbiosis, inflammation, and worsening PCOS symptoms
- Why so many women with PCOS lose minerals faster and end up depleted
- The damage of excess iron and how it fuels inflammation and gut issues
- What it feels like to follow a pro-metabolic diet that backfires with PCOS
- The missing role of fiber, beans, and vegetables in restoring gut health and hormone balance
- Why one-size-fits-all PCOS protocols rarely work and what to focus on instead
- How mineral testing and stool testing reveal hidden drivers of stubborn symptoms
- The importance of self-experimentation and trusting your body over rigid food rules
Timestamps:
[00:00] Introduction
[06:22] Defining PCOS and why the conventional view misses the mark
[13:24] Insulin resistance as the core driver of PCOS symptoms
[16:23] The role of gut health and microbiome imbalances in driving PCOS symptoms
[23:25] How mineral depletion and excess iron fuel inflammation and worsen PCOS symptoms
[39:33] The pro metabolic approach as a nourishing alternative to restriction and fear of food
[42:49] Reframing the pro metabolic approach for PCOS
[58:09] Finding balance with pro metabolic nutrition by avoiding extremes and trusting your body’s feedback
Resources Mentioned:
Period Repair Manual by Lara Briden | Book
Heal Your Metabolism by Kate Deering | Book
Articles and Writings by Ray Peat | Website
The Feminine Periodical Newsletter | Website
Master your minerals. Harmonize your hormones. Start your mineral journey here.
You can work with Ava one on one here.
Find more from Amanda:
Hormone Healing RD | Instagram
Hormone Healing RD | Website
Hormone Healing RD | Facebook
Hormone Healing RD | YouTube
Hormone Healing RD | TikTok
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I've had so many clients where because they don't have cysts on their ovaries, the doctor's like, no, you don't have PCOS. |
| 0:08.2 | But they fit at least two, sometimes three out of the three of the criteria. |
| 0:13.6 | In the conventional world, people think of it as a hormonal issue. |
| 0:17.1 | But with our approach, we really view this as a metabolic disorder. |
| 0:20.6 | PCS is so much deeper than just hormones. |
| 0:23.2 | There's all these other systems in the body that are going to work together. |
| 0:26.4 | Many women with PCOS also have a sluggish thyroid. |
| 0:29.1 | That's going to impact your stomach acid production. |
| 0:31.8 | That'll also impact your absorption of nutrients. |
| 0:34.4 | We need a healthy thyroid and optimal amounts of thyroid hormone to ovulate |
| 0:38.0 | and have healthy, regular ovulatory cycles. We don't jump to hormone testing with any of our |
| 0:44.5 | clients, but especially the PCOS population. What we like to do is to look at minerals in the gut |
| 0:51.1 | microbiome, which are two huge key factors. That also makes me think of another |
| 0:55.2 | mineral with PCOS. It's like the best mineral that exists. |
| 1:05.2 | Welcome to the hormone healing RD podcast where you'll get clear practical guidance for your |
| 1:10.0 | healing journey. I'm Amanda Montalvo, |
| 1:12.3 | women's health dietitian and mineral experts. After helping thousands of women and navigating my |
| 1:17.4 | own healing, I know how overwhelming the wellness world can be. This show cuts through the noise |
| 1:22.7 | with simple research-backed insights on hormones, minerals, and what your body truly needs to heal. |
| 1:28.7 | In this episode, I'm actually co-hosting it with one of my dietitians that works on my |
| 1:34.2 | nutrition team, Ava. She's amazing and she works with a ton of PCOS clients. So she was the |
| 1:39.6 | perfect person for me to do this episode with. There's two main areas we hone in on. One is just all the |
... |
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