What is PCOS and can I improve my symptoms with diet?

What is PCOS and can I improve my symptoms with diet?

Doctors aren’t sure why some women are susceptible to Poly-cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), but they do know it’s because these women have elevated levels of the male hormone, testosterone, and one of the hormones which regulates blood sugar levels, called insulin.   Having too much testosterone can cause lots of unpleasant side effects such as having trouble losing weight, excessive facial hair, acne, and male-pattern baldness.  You might find you become irritable or depressed more easily, and have irregular periods or no periods at all, which can cause reduced fertility.  We need to try and reduce the symptoms associated with PCOS because having it can also cause insulin resistance, which may lead to type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM).  It can also cause high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease.  About 18% of women, who are in the reproductive age range, have PCOS, and managing your dietary intake is just one part of treatment. So, where do we begin?  Firstly, how about we set some goals?  You’ll have an improvement in symptoms with as little as 5-10% weight loss. 

People tend to put on weight when they eat more than their body needs.  It isn’t hard to do that in today’s busy world, but I have a few simple suggestions you can use to avoid that.  Because PCOS causes you to have high levels of insulin in your body, you need to start incorporating foods into your diet that are carbohydrate-rich, but take a long time to break down in your body.  These kinds of foods are often called complex carbohydrates; they’re typically made from whole grains and don’t go through too much processing.   Complex carbohydrates don’t cause your body to release a lot of insulin and keep your blood sugar levels more even. 

 On the other hand, carbohydrate-rich foods, which are more processed and very easy for the body to convert to energy, are called simple carbohydrates.   You see, if you don’t use all that energy in your cells before you eat again, the cells stay full and your body sends that excess, unneeded, energy, glucose, to be stored in your fat cells, for when times are tough.  But, if you eat foods that take a lot longer to break down, this gives your cells more time to use up its energy, and so less will be sent to your fat cells.  Not only that, if you are overweight, we want a little bit of a deficit so you aren’t eating enough to fuel your cells properly through your diet, and so some of that stored energy in your fat cells can be used instead.  

Your diet should include foods that are high in nutrients, but not so high in kilojoules.  Nutrient-rich foods are those that aren't too processed, like fresh meats, whole grains, dairy, fruits, and vegetables.  Processed foods are those that are often packaged and contain lots of ingredients on the labels.  They're often full fats and sugars, which can add lots of extra kilojoules, and can be high in salt too, which is associated with high blood pressure and heart disease but they don't contain much of the good stuff our bodies need like vitamins, minerals and fibre.  You should find, by eating nutrient-dense foods instead of energy-dense foods, you won't get hungry as quickly, will naturally start to eat less, and you will have that energy deficit we talked about earlier. 

This is just a brief overview.  You will find lots more information in my coming posts, such as What to eat to optimise thyroid function, and Is low-carb eating better for women with PCOS?

Cheers for now

Annie