In this episode of the Living Legacy Podcast, host Zaakirah Muhammad introduces herself as a brand‑cultivating strategist and photographer before sharing her personal experience with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), diagnosed at age 16. She explains that she represents a "lean PCOS" phenotype—fast metabolism but insulin intolerance—and details a range of symptoms she has lived with, including excessive facial/body hair, chronic fatigue, irregular and heavy periods, persistent acne, and sensitive skin. Zaakirah discusses how PCOS intertwines with fertility concerns, hereditary factors, and its overlap with endometriosis, framing both as chronic inflammatory/autoimmune conditions that affect roughly 1 in 10 women worldwide. She offers holistic lifestyle recommendations: staying active, adopting a mostly plant‑based diet, avoiding processed and fried foods, and using natural skincare (Dr. Bronner’s peppermint soap, apple cider vinegar, rose water). She cautions listeners to seek professional medical evaluation—preferably an endocrinologist before an OB‑GYN—and advises against reliance on birth‑control pills as a long‑term solution. The episode also highlights community resources such as PCOS Diva and encourages listeners to connect with support groups. Throughout, Zaakirah balances personal narrative with practical advice, aiming to empower women to manage PCOS through informed, low‑inflammation choices.
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My name is Zaakirah Muhammad, and you are listening to the Living Legacy Podcast. I am a brand cultivating strategist and photographer. What that means is I help you to make your social media pages look good. At 6 months old, a camera saved my life. At 9 months old, I was officially dubbed a cancer survivor. I have been in 10 countries, including Ghana, West Africa, The Gambia, Senegal, and South Africa. Now it's my turn to teach and inspire you to step outside of your comfort zone. And this podcast will feature women I admire and have met as they share stories about professionalism, entrepreneurship, business, travel, life, men, and how we got connected. Lo and behold, I may interview some of my favorite men too. If you have any suggestions on the topics you want discussed, leave them in a comment below. And as always, please be sure to subscribe and download. This episode is all about PCOS, also known as polycystic ovarian syndrome. I was initially diagnosed with PCOS, or polycystic ovarian syndrome, at the age of 16. That's how old I was when it was officially recognized by a doctor. Most people who already do know about polycystic ovarian syndrome think it has to do with the fact that you're overweight or the fact that you have family who have diabetes, but that's not always the case. See, for me, if you look at me in my picture, I am what they call a lean PCOS. person. So, even though my metabolism is fast, I cannot tolerate insulin. I cannot break down dairy as well as other people. So, that also ties into fertility, of course. Now that's an issue now that I'm a married woman and fertility has come up. Now, one of the scariest things that being told when you're 16 years old is that you cannot have kids. So, of course, at the age of 16, it didn't really matter, but Now it's kind of hitting me. The reality is kicking in. So before I dive into all of my symptoms, I just wanted to make sure that you are aware that I am not a doctor. I'm simply sharing my own personal experience and my own personal knowledge. If you feel like you need to go to a doctor, please schedule a consultation with your specialist. Another one of my symptoms is The fact that I've always had excessive hair. Hair on the face, a lot of hair on my head, but everywhere else. Even the places that you would think, you know, hair really shouldn't be in. So everyone's different, but I would say I had a lot of hair on my eyebrows at a very young age, to the point where I actually shaved them off. At one point. But, I mean, some people will say that as of now they've grown back beautifully. But that was one of my insecurities, just having a lot of hair everywhere. And to the point where I just, I'm so grateful to have married a man who doesn't care if I do not want to shave because there's more to me than this hair. Another one of the symptoms is fatigue. Now, the fact that I've always been fatigued, It just affected my ability to play sports growing up. When I was a child, I was taking swimming classes and I was really good at it to the point where my coach said I could be in the Olympics when I got older. I don't remember if it was 2016, 2011, don't remember which one, but I was supposed to be in one of the 20th and 21st century Olympics. But between the fatigue that I always got, I just could not stay with it. And then add into the fact that I also love doing track and field. In high school, I did it in middle school with no problem, but in high school it was just kind of more serious training. But I just, I barely made it through that training because I was just always tired. Always had a shortness of breath, just always tired. But again, I am what would look like in shape. Now the thing that's the most common misconception about polycystic ovarian syndrome Is the fact that we have cysts, as women have cysts on our ovaries. That's normal. We're supposed to have cysts on our ovaries. Sometimes they can get in the way of, you know, conceiving, of, you know, our ovaries. And, but as a result, another symptom that I actually had and spotted at a very young age is having irregular menstrual cycles or irregular periods. I received mine at the age of 11. So I kind of got my period a little bit early compared to most. But even then, it was never consistent. So, of course, you know, I didn't think much of it. Except at one point, I think I was maybe just became a teenager, and my mom took me to one doctor who basically just put me on birth control in order to regulate those periods. But then it wasn't until more than one doctor really took the time to do blood tests, and then at one point I even had to go to an endocrinologist, which is the doctor of, you know, the thyroid and the inside of, you know, the throat, before I actually got a full-on diagnosis. The most important thing is to be active. That's the thing that I've noticed. Now, not active as in cross-training or Track and field or flag football, none of that. As long as you just keep moving, keep dancing, things of that sort. I also wanted to add that PCOS is hereditary, meaning it can affect my daughter just like my cancer, retinoblastoma, can also affect my daughter. Sometimes it does affect, you know, acne. Another symptom is having excessive amount of acne. And for me, I've always had that growing up. That just became a part of me, just having all this acne. But I will also contribute it to having a holistic diet. As of today, I've officially done exactly 2 weeks with no meat. Now, I tried it again to have like a— tried to have like a vegan, plant-based, whole food diet into the end of, or the early part of, no, the end of 2017. I tried to have a whole food plant-based diet, but it was difficult because sometimes I would feel so ashamed or shy to ask Chick-fil-A to remove the chicken just so I can have their salad. Or if, you know, I'm going on a date with hubby and, you know, we need to split it and he gets a big old chicken meal, I can't— it's hard to say no to that. But as of the past 2 weeks, I have officially had zero meat. Now, I also wash my face with Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Soap. I've always used Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Soap because another symptom is noticing my sensitive skin. My skin has always been sensitive. At one point when I was a child, my mom thought that I— oh, maybe she didn't. I'm not suggesting that. I just don't remember it. But she said that I, at one point, had a rash on my shoulder that would glow in the dark. But anyways, my skin has always been sensitive, so I've always just tried to use Almond Hammer deodorant, natural deodorant, Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap for both my body. I've slowly learned to start using it for my hair, because even the shampoos that I like have a few chemicals that I shouldn't be using. So I use Dr. Bronner's for everything. But as of lately, in addition to adapting to a plant-based diet, I've been using Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap on my face as well as apple cider vinegar as the, I guess, the toner, as well as the final step is the moisturizer of rose water. Now, all of these things can be found in health food stores, of course Whole Foods. We have a place called Sprouts where we are. So you can always find these things if you too feel like you've always had issues with acne, even if you don't actually have PCOS or even endometriosis. The thing about PCOS is that it's all a chronic immune disorder. So, you may not see it, but it's still a disorder that a lot of women have to deal with. Polycystic ovarian syndrome also affects 1 in 10 women between the ages of 15 through 44. So, it affects all and any ethnicities all over the world and usually starts as soon as puberty hits. Today in history, March 8th is International Women's Day. The month of March is Women's History Month, and it's also Endometriosis Awareness Month. Endometriosis is a chronic condition on the same lines as polycystic ovarian syndrome. It has about 1 in 10 women between the ages of 15 and 49 are affected by endometriosis, which in turn is about 176 million women in the whole world. There are lots of celebrities that also are affected by endometriosis, just like there are plenty of celebrities affected by PCOS. A lot of the symptoms are very, very similar, but some of the differences include very painful periods, very painful ovulation, very painful sexual intercourse, and just very painful pain even when it's not that time of the month. So it just really hurts all the time down there. And some people, it literally affects their day-to-day involvement. It can get so serious to the point where it can be part of the reason for anxiety and depression. I highly encourage checking out the website PCOS Diva. Through there, you'll also find ways to reconnect with other sisters, as we call it, C-Y-S-T-E-R, who are going through the same thing that you're going through. Now remember that every Condition is unique to each person. So even though I suffer from high, high level of testosterone, which results in my deeper voice, and also have excessive hair and irregular and heavy periods, because I'm lean doesn't mean that I have the same exact symptoms as someone who is overweight. Someone who is overweight can actually have no problem conceiving, but later on could have complications giving birth or even post-birth, they have complications. So, every— it's to each his own as far as the condition. But if you think you have it, I highly encourage going to an endocrinologist first. You can go to your OB-GYN because you'll probably have to get a referral from your OB-GYN if you think you have those symptoms. But for the most part, they just— if you go to an endocrinologist, you won't have to deal with just being prescribed The simple medication. And the most important thing is to not be on birth control because birth control really affects you later on down the road. It may help regulate the period, but so can food. Food can help do the same thing. Because both endometriosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome is the result of inflammation within the, you know, your internal organ, it's considered an Autoimmune disease. So it's a disease where your body is literally fighting against everything else. So that's why sometimes you may have shortness of breath. That's why, you know, there's so many hidden symptoms that you may or may not pertain to PCOS. You may just think, oh, I'm just tired, oh, I'm just hungry, things of that sort. But inflammation causes a lot of of other issues related to your body. So, if you feel like you're ready to start, I guess I would say holistically, to reduce the inflammation, I'd say start small. Definitely start with not eating out. Do not eat fast food. Start buying groceries. But, you know, take your time with it because it's a long list of the things that cause inflammation, but— You know, a lot of it is not only the food that we get from our fast food restaurants, but even the frozen foods, even our cakes and sugars and sweets, even our white bread, which is easily cheap. But just start small. Start with, you know, a month at a time, just so you can see how different your body will feel. So that definitely includes no more fried fish, fried chicken, nothing fried. You may have to switch out your sweets for more fruit. Anytime you have a sweet tooth, just switch it for a fruit, make a smoothie, whatever is your favorite kind of berry. Definitely try to avoid soda. Now me, that's hard because I just, I love something carbonated. And I have, you know, learned to get used to sparkling water from Deer Park, Kroger. So just start small with nothing processed, which is definitely from even your favorite restaurants. It may mean meal prepping. And even if not, just check out frozen meat brands. They're meatless, but only because they're made with other ingredients like chickpeas, soy, things of that sort. So check out brands like Gardein. Think of it as garden but with an I. And also check out the brand Beyond Meat. Those are 2 of the brands, frozen food brands, that if you really feel like you want some extra protein or just some kind of extra oomph in your meals, Definitely check out those frozen food options. So food is definitely medicine. Food can definitely be your medicine. Thank you for listening to the Living Legacy Podcast. Be sure to subscribe and download so you don't miss the next episode. If you want to learn more, you can visit zaakirahnayar.com. Be sure to share with your friends and suggest any topic that you want to be talked about.
