The PolyBiotics Journal

Cortisol has become the internet’s favourite hormone to blame. But is cortisol really the problem, or is chronic stress the bigger issue? In this article, we explore what cortisol actually does, the difference between true medical conditions like Cushing’s syndrome and Addison’s disease, the relationship between stress and magnesium, and why the wellness industry’s obsession with “lowering cortisol” may be oversimplifying women’s health. We also examine the rise of adaptogens like ashwagandha and rhodiola, and the lack of robust research in premenopausal women.

PCOS has officially been renamed PMOS: Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovary Syndrome. After 14 years of international debate, medicine is finally acknowledging that this condition was never just about ovaries. In this article, women’s health doctor Amina Hersi breaks down the good, the bad, and the uncomfortable reality behind the PMOS rename — from metabolic recognition and research funding to patient confusion, representation, and why Africa and Asia being underrepresented in the process matters more than most headlines are acknowledging.

Women need more sleep than men, experience it differently, and pay a heavier price when they do not get enough. A clinical breakdown of what sleep does for the female body, why poor sleep hits harder for women, and practical changes you can make tonight.

Hair grows from the inside, and what you eat sets the conditions for what shows up at the scalp months later. Here's what the evidence actually says about the nutrients that support healthy hair in women — zinc, selenium, biotin, and iron — including why most supplement brands lean on biotin and why we don't.

Think insulin resistance means high blood sugar? Not quite. Your glucose can look completely normal while insulin is already elevated — driving androgen production, disrupting ovulation, and causing real metabolic dysfunction that standard tests miss entirely.

Learn why insulin rises first, how this connects to PCOS phenotypes, and why understanding the distinction between insulin and glucose actually matters for your health.

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You've probably seen the "four types of PCOS" circulating on social media — insulin-resistant, adrenal, inflammatory, post-pill. They're everywhere. But here's what most posts don't tell you: none of these are recognised in clinical guidelines or medical research. In this article, a women's health expert unpacks what the science actually says about how PCOS is classified, why the online "types" can be misleading, and what a more accurate picture of PCOS really looks like.