Research

Energy balance

Weight loss via a low-calorie, low-fat diet significantly increases Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin (SHBG) and decreases Androstenedione levels in obese, hirsute women, regardless of metformin use.

Lose weight by eating fewer calories (around 1500) and reducing fat intake to 30% of your diet. This will naturally raise your SHBG and lower androgens, improving hirsutism markers over 4 months.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
SHBG levels increased significantly in both groups after 4 months of treatment... A levels decreased significantly in both placebo and metformin groups.
Jean Charles Crave et al. · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · 1995

Why this rating

RCT design, clear statistical significance (P < 0.05) for SHBG and Androstenedione changes in both groups.

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

rct · n=24Cited 282×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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