Hormonal
In obese, hirsute women with hyperinsulinemia, metformin administration provides no additional benefit to androgen profiles or SHBG levels beyond what is achieved by a low-calorie, low-fat diet alone.
If you are obese and have hirsutism with high insulin, focus on a low-calorie, low-fat diet. Adding metformin will not improve your hormone levels (SHBG, testosterone) any more than the diet does on its own. You may avoid the medication and its side effects (like diarrhea) without losing hormonal benefits.
These results suggest that the beneficial effects of diet were not related to metformin administration, and no additional benefit from metformin was obtained in this short period of our protocol.
Why this rating
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with a small sample size (n=24) and short duration (4 months).
Source
Effects of diet and metformin administration on sex hormone-binding globulin, androgens, and insulin in hirsute and obese women.
Jean Charles Crave et al. · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · 1995
DOI 10.1210/jcem.80.7.7608255
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