PCOS Ladies

Dragonwolf

I've been fighting with it (and doctors) for about 5 years, now. Here's what has worked for me:

1. Low carb. Focus on non-starchy vegetables for carb intake. Fruits are okay, but favor low-sugar fruits like berries. Avoid processed sources of carbs, as they tend to be quickly/easily turned to sugar in the body (even the so-called "whole grain" items are still pretty quick to turn to sugar).

2. High fat. Need energy from somewhere, and protein is not intended to be an energy source (besides, it's converted to sugar when used for energy, which defeats the purpose of low carb). Fat is also essential for nutrient absorption, proper hormone function, and more. Given that we're often deficient in vitamins D and K, as well as magnesium, this makes fat crucial. The LC/HF combo is also well known for improving insulin sensitivity and serum cholesterol levels, and works with Metformin, instead of against it.

3. High intensity cardio and strength training. Interval training has proven to be the best for me, and there's something about lifting heavy weights that has had a noticeably positive effect on my hormones. Additionally, both help promote muscle retention, which helps keep metabolism up.

4. Eat whole foods. This goes hand in hand with 1 and 2, but getting the bulk of my food from whole food sources has helped tremendously in just about everything.

5. Avoid/limit soy (and other phytoestrogen sources), dairy, and gluten. Soy is notorious for the level of phytoestrogens in it, which can screw with our already screwed up hormones. Even worse is that it's in just about everything (chronic, low-level exposure). Dairy has two big aspects working against it -- lactose (sugar) and casein. Casein is a type of protein, but it is different from most, in that it prompts a larger insulin spike than other proteins (insulin is a growth hormone, so all protein prompts it, but casein prompts a larger insulin release). Low-casein and low-lactose sources of dairy, such as those based on the cream (heavy cream, sour cream, butter, etc) are still okay, generally. Items low in one or the other, such as yogurt and cheeses, fall in the middle, of course. You may be able to handle them, but consider cutting back on them when breaking through a stall. As for gluten, from what I've seen, there's quite a bit of correlation between gluten intolerance and PCOS. It's worth trying to go gluten-free for 4-6 weeks to see how you handle it, and consider keeping intake of it to a minimum.


Also, if you haven't already, I recommend joining http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/3070-p-c-o-sis there's a ton of great information and people there.

texasfj

Husband of a PCOS Lady here: I'm no expert but my wife speaks so much about the changes she had regarding PCOS after choosing a wheat free diet that I felt the need to login and reply (I think my first post ever here).

Google: "wheat and PCOS" and there is a wealth of information. We have adopted a wheat free house and after about 6 months it was pretty standard, and after 18 months now, life seems as normal as it was before we just don't eat wheat.

Trishkit

The only thing that ever seemed to help me was going vegan. When I stick to that, I seem to lose weight AND feel good (i.e., have energy, don't feel so depressed, etc.) at the same time. But when I go back to a more omnivorous diet I seem to have a harder time with everything. (It also saved me money, which was nice!!)

I DO definitely recommend that if you would like to try that, be sure to do some homework so that you have a balanced diet that is not overwhelmed by processed food. There are lots of yummy vegan products out there, but as with anything packaged, they do tend to have lots of salt and are expensive. Cooking homemade meals is your best bet. Do it one day a week (like on a weekend) and you'll have healthy food ready-made for the week instead of needing to buy packaged stuff.

Sorry for the rambling! Hope some of that helps at least a little! Just my own personal experience. Good luck!

Same here!

rebeccaplatt21

awesome info everyone!! thanks!

rebeccaplatt21

found this in my inbox today, from Dr. Mercola....I like a lot of his articles...he says intermittent fasting helps with insulin/leptin sensitivity, which is PCOS in a nutshell!

http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2014/06/20/eating-breakfast-intermittent-fasting.aspx?e_cid=20140620Z1_DNL_art_1&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20140620Z1&et_cid=DM46806&et_rid=559442957

I've been intermittent fasting this week and it's not really as hard as it sounds....basically stop eating after dinner and don't eat for like 12 hrs...just in time for breakfast!

so say i eat dinner at 6, i don't eat again until 6 am or later if i can, and bam, there's 12 hrs, most of which i was sleeping!

StephVa22

That's what I basically do already: I eat dinner around 7 and breakfast around 630-7. Didn't realize that was intermittent fasting! Thanks!