Oxidative stress, in the body, is much like rust on a car. It chips away at the integrity of body tissues, rendering them unavailable to function as they should. I don't have to tell you that…if you have PCOS and you have brain fog, it's a pretty huge red flag that you've got a degradative process going on. A recent study out of China has shown that oxidative stress is present in all women with PCOS, regardless of weight. Being lean does not protect you. This is extremely important to understand because the vast majority of advice I see given to women with PCOS, is simply to lose weight. Even though, if you are overweight, and you do lose weight, you may only be taking care of part of the picture. This Chinese study is important because it took the time to take out the weight issue, which can distract a lot of researchers from what may be the core issue. Forty-three obese women with PCOS and forty-two lean women with PCOS were evaluated for levels of several markers of inflammation and oxidation, including superoxide dismutase, 8-iso-prostaglandin F2alpha, and visfatin. For each of these compounds, regardless of weight, women with PCOS had higher levels of oxidative stress indicators than infertile women without PCOS. In the lean women, these metabolic disruptions were not as obvious, but they were still there. It looks like this is an additional layer of pathology that women with PCOS have, over and above infertility. And if all your physician or dietitian has done is suggest"lose weight"--it potentially could be part of the problem. I don't have to tell you that this can be an ominous task with PCOS, and women can often overexercise and over-restrict their diet in an effort to do so. Both of those choices can fuel the fire of oxidative stress and push your body in the wrong direction. See that Patriot missile in the photo? Oxidative stress works like that. It's like a million metabolic missiles floating all over your body, searching and destroying DNA, tissue, hormone function, pretty much everything. Losing weight the wrong way won't get you where you want to go. On the contrary, it only unleashes a whole new battalion of them. My message to you is this. Instead of beating yourself up in the gym with too much exercise and then punishing yourself when you get home with too little food, focus on ways to reduce that metabolic stress. You know we have four areas we like to see you focus on: (1) eating in a balanced fashion with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, (2) moving your body in a moderately active way, (3) getting enough sleep, and (4) managing your stress. It's not news on this blog. We just have some new friends in China who gave us some great research to reinforce that message. Liu J, Zhang D. [The role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of polycystic ovary syndrome]. Sichuan Da Xue Xue Bao Yi Xue Ban. 2012 Mar;43(2):187-90.