PCOS Becomes MPOS: What Changes (and What Doesn't)

You're in your thirties. Maybe your acne resists everything. Your periods come and go as they please. You're gaining weight without understanding why, and your doctor tells you it's "all in your head" — or worse, that you just need to eat better.

Maybe you've spent years feeling like you're fighting your own body.

This syndrome has a name. And since May 2026, it finally has a better one — and a definition that truly honours its complexity.

On 12 May 2026, at the International Congress of Endocrinology in Prague, PCOS — Polycystic Ovary Syndrome — officially changed its name.

It is now called MPOS: Metabolic Polyendocrine Ovarian Syndrome.

A name change that is far from trivial.

Because the word "polycystic" has long been misleading: no, not all women with MPOS have cysts. And no, not all cysts mean MPOS.

This renaming corrects a confusion that has persisted for decades.

And it says something important: this condition is metabolic and polyendocrine — it affects several hormonal systems at once, not just the ovaries.

A Syndrome Long Underestimated by Medicine

MPOS affects between 10 and 15% of women of reproductive age. It is one of the most common female hormonal disorders in the world.

And yet, the average time to diagnosis is still 2 to 3 years.

Women spend years being told their acne is a skin problem, their body hair is aesthetic, their weight is a matter of willpower.

This is not a coincidence. It is a systemic blind spot in women's healthcare.

Let's not beat around the bush: conditions that primarily affect women are historically underfunded, understudied, and underdiagnosed.

MPOS is a glaring example of this.

What Naturopathy Says (and What It Changes)

In hygienic naturopathy, the first goal is not to suppress a symptom.

We seek to understand what the body is expressing.

MPOS is not a mistake made by the body.

It is a language.

A language that says: something in this body is overloaded — the liver, the intestines, the nervous system, the adrenals. And the hormonal system pays the price.

In a holistic approach, we pay as much attention to the vital terrain as to the symptoms.

The vital terrain is everything that builds a woman's health: her diet, her sleep, her chronic stress levels, her emotions, her bodily history.

Four Profiles, an Infinity of Women

In October 2025, a study published in Nature Medicine identified four subtypes of MPOS:

HA-MPOS — androgenic dominant (acne, body hair, hair loss)

OB-MPOS — metabolic dominant (insulin resistance, excess weight)

SHBG-MPOS — hormonal dominant (irregular cycles, fertility issues)

LH-MPOS — neurohypophyseal dominant (LH/FSH imbalance)

These four profiles allow for a better understanding of the diversity of the syndrome.

But be careful: they do not define women.

Because every woman is different. Deeply, uniquely different.

In my practice, I have never met two women with MPOS who are alike. Same clinical profile, completely different life stories, different vital terrains, different needs.

That is why I personalise absolutely everything. No standard protocol. No list of things to do or avoid. An approach built for you, and for you alone.

What MPOS Expresses Across Four Dimensions

MPOS cannot be reduced to a hormonal panel. It expresses itself across four dimensions — physical, emotional, mental and energetic — and it is only by considering all of them together that support can be truly transformative.

The Body Speaking in Cascades

On the physical level, MPOS is often a reflection of an overburdened vital terrain.

The liver struggles to process excess hormones. The intestines no longer filter properly. The adrenals, exhausted by chronic stress, dysregulate cortisol, which dysregulates blood sugar, which dysregulates sex hormones.

It is a cascade.

And the good news is that the body knows how to regulate itself — if we give it the means to do so.

An important connection, confirmed by a study published in Frontiers in Endocrinology in 2025: intestinal dysbiosis (microbiome imbalance) is strongly correlated with MPOS. Systemic inflammation, insulin resistance, hormonal dysregulation — it is all connected.

The gut, time and again.

In the support work, I address the physical body through detox (gentle or more intensive, depending on what you are ready to do and what your body can handle) but also mineralisation, potential deficiencies, and overall support for the organism. We force nothing. We listen.

Years of Believing It Was Your Fault

Women who have fought for years to understand why their body "wasn't working".

Years of feeling betrayed by their own body.

Years of believing their acne was a hygiene problem, their excess weight was a lack of discipline, their menstrual irregularity was all in their head.

That experience leaves marks.

And it deserves to be recognised, not minimised.

In naturopathic support, we also work on this emotional dimension. Because the

emotional body and the physical body are not separate.

My consultations are a space where you can set things down. To be heard with respect, empathy, without judgement. What you are living, what you feel, what you have been carrying for years — it all has its place here. And sometimes, simply being heard is already the beginning of liberation.

The Weight of Not Matching the Model

On the mental level, MPOS strikes where it already hurts: body image.

The media bombards us with injunctions about what a woman's body should be — smooth, slim, fertile on demand, without body hair or excess.

And when the body does not match that model — because there is acne, stubborn weight, body hair, unpredictable ovulation — the mind bears the brunt.

This weight is real. And it is heavy.

MPOS did not create this societal problem, but it amplifies it.

And perhaps it also invites us to question it.

We work together on the beliefs, the injunctions we have internalised without realising it — "your body doesn't work", "it's all in your head", "you lack willpower". These messages leave deep traces. Identifying them is already the beginning of breaking free.

What the Ovaries Are Trying to Create

If we venture into the realm of the sacred feminine and the symbolic approach to the body, MPOS often speaks of something deep.

The ovaries, in many traditions, are the seat of feminine creativity — not only reproductive, but creative in the broadest sense.

MPOS can be an invitation to ask: what am I creating in my life? What am I holding back? What am I not expressing?

I am not saying that MPOS is "a lesson to be learned". That would be reductive and false.

But I am saying that the body speaks. And that listening to this language can open doors.

And we do not forget to work at more subtle levels — releasing what is held in the energetic body, what the physical body cannot always express alone.

Fasting: A Very Powerful Tool for MPOS

Fasting is one of the most effective tools in supporting MPOS.

Not fasting done any which way. Not fasting alone, without preparation.

But fasting that is well prepared, supervised and personalised — the kind that allows the body to regulate itself deeply.

An Australian randomised controlled trial, published in Journal of Clinical Medicine in 2025, showed that therapeutic fasting over 12 weeks produced significant improvements in hormonal markers in women with MPOS.

What I observe in consultations points in this direction.

Fasting is a reset: hepatic, intestinal, metabolic, hormonal.

And for women with MPOS, this reset can be transformative.

I offer supervised fasting retreats for women who wish to go further. If this applies to you, let us talk about it in a consultation first — because here too, everything is prepared and personalised. But long fasting is not the only option — and it is not always the right entry point.

Depending on your vital terrain, your history and what your body is ready to go through, we can consider very different approaches: a gentle detox spread over several weeks or months, one fasting day regularly integrated into the cycle's rhythm, a targeted purge or micro-purges to gently restart elimination.

This is something I offer regularly. There is no one-size-fits-all protocol.

There is the protocol that suits you, at your point in life, for your body as it is today.

Plants, Allies of the Hormonal Terrain

Plants are an integral part of my support for MPOS. Some act on systemic inflammation, others support the liver in its hormonal detoxification work, others regulate the pituitary-ovarian axis or soothe the adrenals exhausted by chronic stress.

Among those I use frequently depending on the terrain: nettle, raspberry leaf, vitex, cinnamon, turmeric, yarrow — as herbal tea, tincture, or powder.

But here again, a plant is not harmless. What suits one woman may be contraindicated in another. That is why I never give a list of plants to take on your own — plants are prescribed, they are personalised.

What I See in Consultations

I have been supporting women with MPOS for years. Some come in a pre-conception context, others simply because they are tired of not being heard.

What I consistently observe: when we work on the vital terrain — the liver, the intestines, the pancreas, the overall metabolism — cycles regulate. Body hair diminishes. Acne calms. Energy returns.

I do not cure MPOS.

But I help the body find balance again. And in that balance,

women rediscover a potential they thought was lost.

This is why I do this work.

Because I have seen too many women suffer for too long, fighting their bodies for years, when simple and natural solutions existed — adapted to their vital terrain, their rhythm, their history.

I promise no guaranteed results. That would be lying to you. But I commit to accompanying you with sincerity, with everything I have learned and experienced — so that you can find your full potential and be the best version of yourself.

Because that is what you deserve.

Want to Go Further?

If you see yourself in this article, or if you want to go further:

I invite you to book an appointment for a naturopathic consultation.

We will assess your vital terrain, your symptoms, your history. And we will build together a protocol made for you — and for you alone.

Book a consultation