PCOS Diet plan / meal ideas?

amylg05
amylg05 Posts: 89 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hey all, so I have just been recently diagnosed with this joy....its hard as hell for me to lose weight and all I know is that those with PCOS should eat a low GI diet. Firstly, is this true? Secondly - any ideas for what sort of things I could eat?

Thanks :>

Replies

  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    PCOS usually comes with insulin resistance and many report doing well on a low carb diet. Low GI is better than High GI but low carb is better still.

    A mushroom or cheese omelette is practically zero carb, you can add spinach or broccoli or peppers too.

    Baked potato, bagel and diet skes / drinks are high GI high carb so probably something to move away from.

    Think meat, cheese, egg, green veg and nothing cereal or potato based.
  • deethebee83
    deethebee83 Posts: 75
    Low GI is important as blood sugar control can be a problem with PCOS, but of more importance is actually keeping overall carbohydrates low. They don't need to be super low like with Atkins, but below 100g if you're trying to lose weight and aren't very active and the majority should come from fruits and veg. A paleo style diet is perfect for someone with PCOS. It doesn't need to be extremely strict, but it just gives you a very good idea of the best things to eat. It's focused on high quality animal products which means less toxic substances that can affect hormones and put stress on the digestive system, as well as healthy fats and nutrient dense sources of carbohydrate. It doesn't advocate eating grains which suits people with PCOS well because grains aren't as high in nutrients as other forms of carbohydrate and this also then makes it much easier to lower carbohydrate intake. Carbohydrates also tend to be a lot less satiating for women with PCOS, so a higher protein intake is very helpful for keeping hunger at bay and protein also helps to keep blood sugar stable. Just beware that even diets like Atkins which are low in carbs can still be problematic for people with a tendency to gain weight as a higher fat diet makes it harder to keep calories low and it's usually not necessary for carbs to be very low to lose weight.

    Exercise is very important for PCOS too as it helps to increase insulin sensitivity, so you should try incorporating both cardio and weights. You might also find a supplement that contains chromium and cinnamon as these help to keep blood sugar stable. Try to manage stress and get enough sleep.

    Have a look into the paleo diet, but please remember it can't be used as a quick fix for weight loss. Calories still matter and if you lose weight and go back to your old eating habits the weight will come back on fast. You've got to make healthy changes that you can stick with for life. You don't have to do it 100% of the time, but you will have to accept that you can't eat junk and processed food every day and expect to keep the weight off. Make small changes if you need to and over time they will become new better habits that will become second nature.

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