PCOS and diet: I need some help.

There are many sites out there if you google pcos diet. Yes, stay away from sugary foods, white flours, sodium-rich foods and fatty foods. Which leaves what??? lol. It is really challenging. I have been more strict in the past and need to get back on the wagon since I just had my second child. Of course you can have the "forbidden foods" occasionally but I recommend pairing them with healthier food that won't spike your glucose. Also, many PCOS sufferers tend to have a gluten intolerance so maybe you might want to get tested for that or try an elimination diet. Good luck!

Thanks, Cupcake for directing me here!

OP, PCOS is so frustrating & an awful thing to experience. I have PCOS (w/cysts), and in turn, insulin resistance (I am on metformin for this part of the PCOS). Insulin Resistance is something commonly associated with PCOS ~ perhaps that is why your doctor placed you on metformin, without informing you as to specifically why.

I have met with a nutritionist, and I'll provide you with the materials and advice she's given me. With PCOS, sugars are your worst enemy. Your body (especially if you've been placed on metformin - this is a definite 'sign') has absolutely no idea what to do when sugar enters your bloodstream. That sugar is instantly turned into 'energy' (AKA: fat) and stored on your body ~ now, that is sugar that spikes your insulin (foods high in sugar, without being paired with a type of protein). I would say if you have to have your chocolate, pair it with a source of protein. Eat some almonds with your chocolate bar. It will help balance out the sugar spike.

Processed foods are your other enemy. 'White' anything, cakes, cookies, non-organic products, gluten can even hinder your progress. Aim for the whole grains, organic breads, steel cut oats (yes, you can still have oats!) ~ Anything that takes LESS than 10 minutes to make STAY AWAY. It only takes a little bit of time to make these items because they have been processed and processed and pro... You get my point.

Here are a couple websites I was directed to by my nutritionist. They help you to educate yourself a bit more on what is really happening in your body.

http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/polycystic-ovary-syndrome.pdf
http://www.pcosupport.org/

One more thing: If you eat 3 meals a day, you want to keep your carbs to 40gm per meal (so, 120 gm per day) ~ not necessarily "low carb", but definitely a restricted amount per food 'sitting'. Also, exercise is your friend. Cardio, weight lifting (specifically the most rewarding with PCOS), anything to keep you moving. Exercise is like a natural medicine for those with PCOS ~ it helps with the symptoms, helps with the cramping and pain you may experience, and helps get your body back on the 'right track'.

I hope I've helped & not confused you, darling! If you have any other questions, feel free to shoot me a line, or add me. I struggle with this everyday & I love to help anyway that I can.

~Meag

First off, the poster above, SirenSong, has excellent advice and is quite knowledgable about the subject.

There's another post about a person with PCOS, so I'm going to say pretty much the same thing I said to her about my experiences so far.

I have PCOS and follow a low carb diet (20g net carbs per day, that means total carbs minus fiber, as fiber does not get processed in the same way by the body). I've had incredible relief of symptoms and it's worked out for me. High energy, faster weight loss, easier periods, fewer and less intense cramps. And on a side note, my heart health has improved. I started the low carb diet because I read a study that showed women with PCOS had an easier time losing weight and showed relief of symptoms with a diet lower in carbohydrates and higher in protein. I shifted to moderate protein, high fat, low carb when I realized high protein was not keeping me satisfied. It's said that anything under 100g is technically low carb, but I find that I do not get the relief of symptoms until I'm under 50g, but it's at an entirely different level when I'm at 20g.

Now that I've said that... low carb diets do not mean that you have to deprive yourself of vegetables. It's not meat, meat, meat, cheese, meat. It's broccoli and spinach omelette with a side of breakfast sausage or avocado. It's a nice chicken ceasar salad without croutons. It's almonds and flaxseed buns for a treat, followed by steak with mushrooms and cauliflower. You tailor your own diet to your needs. The way I do it, all of my carbs are spent on delicious veggies. I never feel deprived.

Sure, I've seen people low carb it by eating chicken wrapped in bacon, asparagus wrapped in bacon, and bacon wrapped in bacon, but that's not how everyone does it, and certainly not how you have to do it.

This is by no means supposed to be a post pushing you towards the diet. Let me know if you ever want any help if you decide to start a low carb diet.

I have just been diagnosed with PCOS I need help, this has helped. If any of you have more advice and support please please add me

Every PCOS woman should read the PCOS Workbook. I have read/worked through it a couple times and it is the best support out there. It has a slightly mindfulness approach while also using basics to educate on types of carbs and types of fats and such.
http://www.pcosnutrition.com/index.php?fuseAction=catalogs.viewItem&catalogID=1&catalogLevelID=1&catalogItemID=1

I have started taking vitamins that are recommended in the PCOS Workbook (with my doctors approval) and it really has helped balance out my eating/cravings.

Everyone has covered a lot of what I was going to say.

Obviously you're not alone in having PCOS, all of us replying to you have it too. I just found out that on top of the PCOS & the insulin resistance, I have a gluten sensitivity. As more than one person has said, each of us have to figure out what works for us as we're all different. Varying symptoms of PCOS & it's effects so we each respond differently to food.

I picked up A Patient's Guide to PCOS & it helped explain some things my doctors didn't cover.

http://www.amazon.com/Patients-Guide-PCOS-Understanding---Reversing--Polycystic/dp/0805078282/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1392133251&sr=1-1&keywords=a+patient's+guide+to+pcos

For me, having PCOS & not knowing about it for so long has been frustrating. I didn't know about the things I should be avoiding, so of course I wasn't making progress. I'm glad you were able to find out about it now & you're getting the information you need to come up with a game plan for dealing with it.