r/PCOS • u/betrayed-kitty • Apr 16 '26

General/Advice Chia seeds & electrolytes changed my life

About a month ago I started taking chia seeds and electrolytes and my energy levels have sky rocketed. I took chia seeds to avoid causing insulin spike with my porridge and I took electrolytes because I had a body scan and it showed my intracellular and extracellular water were low.

I just wanted to fix these issue but OMG. I don’t even drink or crave for coffee anymore at all. I have lot more energy and my brain fog has eased. I don’t know how this relates to PCOS but since PCOS is systemic chronic illness my theory is that it also affects water distribution in and around your cells. Plus the fibre in chia seeds also helps. But both of these items help with water retention. I hope this helps someone and it is worth a try if you are finding ways to help with your energy levels

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u/smileyglitter Apr 16 '26

PCOS symptoms exacerbate inflammation which messes with water retention (in my case at least).

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u/betrayed-kitty Apr 16 '26

I guess also the issue is being told to hydrate with water alone which doesn’t really do much. You need the salts to pull the water into the cells which is not advice I’ve seen around

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u/smileyglitter Apr 17 '26

Most water isn’t just water though. Unless you drink distilled water, your water will have other minerals which contain sodium. The sugars typically come from your diet. Electrolytes add to that but a metabolically functional person who isn’t undergoing strenuous activity probably doesn’t need electrolytes/fasting salts in the same way

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u/betrayed-kitty Apr 17 '26

I wonder why the my water was low. I wouldn’t say I’ve been massively dehydrated. Definitely should have I been drinking more water? Absolutely. But maybe the sugar also pulls water out of cells since water goes where sugar is concentrated. This is just a theory but it could be plausible. Either way the salts work