PCOS & intermittent fasting?

IwillLOSE40kg

Do you do it?
What hours?
Is it sustainable?
Does it work?

...so many questions lol

I have tried it, it suits me fine... still need to be within calorie target obviously but is no breakfast healthy?

We've been taught for years that breakfast is the most important meal - right or wrong?

lalalacroix

I think I heard that breakfast being the most important meal of the day was brilliant marketing from a cereal company.

If you want to intermittent fast and it helps you stay within your goal then do that. It can be a great tool for staying within a calorie deficit, if you are trying to lose weight.

MikePTY

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day" is a marketing phrase. It doesn't bear out any real world data. In general, you can eat whenever you want, without adhering to a set schedule of specific meals.

With PCOS, the only thing you should be careful of with intermittent fasting is if going without food for long periods of time affects your blood sugar in any way. My wife has PCOS, and if she doesn't eat at regular intervals, she gets really lightheaded and dizzy. However PCOS affects everyone differently. So if you are not feeling any negative affects from it, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to continue. It may be worth mentioning to your doctor though.

apullum

Many people with PCOS have some degree of impaired insulin function. They may be insulin resistant, prediabetic, or diabetic, or some do not have problems with insulin function at all. Whether or not IF is a good idea for you would depend in part on whether you have any of these issues. Your doctor needs to check your insulin function if they have not already done so. A glucose tolerance test is generally used in PCOS patients to check for insulin resistance, since it does not necessarily show up on a fasting glucose test or A1C.

Once you have an idea of your insulin function, ask your doctor for a referral to an RD who specializes in PCOS nutrition. That person would be able to advise you on whether or not IF would be appropriate for you.

Danp

IwillLOSE40kg wrote: »

Do you do it?
What hours?
Is it sustainable?
Does it work?

...so many questions lol

I have tried it, it suits me fine... still need to be within calorie target obviously but is no breakfast healthy?

We've been taught for years that breakfast is the most important meal - right or wrong?

- I guess, in a way, but I don't "do" intermittent fasting as such. I just tend not to be hungry during the day so tend not to eat. This leaves me with lots of calories to eat at night when I do tend to feel hungry. I'm not following any rules about when I eat but my natural hunger patterns just happen to be that way.
- I'll have a coffee in the morning (about 9am) then will eat dinner about 7/8pm
- It is for me, but that's me. Some people would find my eating pattern utter torture. No particular eating pattern is universally sustainable. If it works for you it's sustainable if it doesn't it isn't
- No, but also yes. No, intermittent fasting itself doesn't work for weight loss, you can 100% intermittently fast and still gain weight. But yes, for some people, IF can help in reducing calorie intake enough to achieve the deficit required to lose weight.

Food is food and when you eat is largely irrelevant so no breakfast isn't special.

lgfrie

IwillLOSE40kg wrote: »

Do you do it?
What hours?
Is it sustainable?
Does it work?

...so many questions lol

I have tried it, it suits me fine... still need to be within calorie target obviously but is no breakfast healthy?

We've been taught for years that breakfast is the most important meal - right or wrong?

Can't speak to the PCOS part. Only addressing your last question.

I gave up breakfast to get into intermittent fasting, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Giving up breakfast was hard the first week, but then super-easy. Weirdest thing is, after about a week I started waking up with absolutely no appetite, no interest in food at all. This has allowed me to get the day started with a higher energy level and to compact my eating day into a Lunch - snack - Dinner setup that gives me two full-sized meals, essentially dispersing the breakfast calories to the other meals, which I like. Breakfast is good for people who like breakfast, but it does drain calories from the rest of the day, for people on calorie deficits. It's just a matter of personal taste, 2 large vs 3 smaller meals. There is nothing "important" and certainly not "most important" about breakfast.

mim619

Someone mentioned insulin resistance. I read a study done on IF in regard to insulin resistance. It was better to skip your evening meal. ending your feasting window at 3pm actually lowered the participants insulin resistance. Something to ask your RD when you speak with them about the benefit/risks of IF.

I personally do IF for the reason of it decreases my hunger during my fasting window and I am a baker who works very early mornings. If I don't have my first meal till noon I don't have as much desire to eat at work. But I still have to track my calories. I don't go with a free for all and my weight loss has been slow 1-2lbs/month but since my BMI is 25.2 currently and I lift weights I'm not trying to have a big deficit.

IwillLOSE40kg

MikePTY wrote: »

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day" is a marketing phrase. It doesn't bear out any real world data. In general, you can eat whenever you want, without adhering to a set schedule of specific meals.

With PCOS, the only thing you should be careful of with intermittent fasting is if going without food for long periods of time affects your blood sugar in any way. My wife has PCOS, and if she doesn't eat at regular intervals, she gets really lightheaded and dizzy. However PCOS affects everyone differently. So if you are not feeling any negative affects from it, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to continue. It may be worth mentioning to your doctor though.

Thanks very much for this!!

LernRach

I tried it and found it super difficult... I'm not a massive snacker post dinner though, so in theory I could have very early and not eat till next morning, but actually, weight loss is happening (albeit slowly) with PCOS and food across day so why change it?
My husband is a research scientist who specialises in PCOS, (how it affects obesity, infertility, genes etc) and he looked into it and wasn't convinced by the evidence.... that is not to say it doesn't help individuals though...