Meal Planning for PCOS: The Diet Do’s and Don’ts
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a condition where the ovary’s functionality is altered. This alteration can result in irregular periods, excessive facial and body hair growth, hormonal imbalances, the growth of ovarian cysts and more.
Managing the telltale signs and symptoms of PCOS can be a challenging balance to figure out. One of the easiest ways to alleviate the effects of this hormonal condition is by simply making changes to your daily diet.
A diet with a low glycemic index unit, an anti-inflammatory diet or a DASH diet are all praised for managing the symptoms associated with PCOS.
The DASH diet is a dietary approach to stopping hypertension, an effect of PCOS. This diet encompasses fresh fruits and vegetables, low-fat dairy products, whole grains and legumes.
Unprocessed foods, including vegetables, fruits, meat, and quality Australian poultry, will provide you with the right immunity to fight against the pathogenesis of PCOS.
This article will delve into the dietary habits that are good for your health.
But first, how does diet affect PCOS?
People living with PCOS often have higher insulin levels. Insulin is a hormone that converts the sugar in the blood into energy.
When your diet is high in carbohydrates, your body produces higher levels of insulin to process the carbohydrates into energy. This leads to a condition known as insulin resistance.
Insulin resistance invariably causes your ovaries to produce more androgens, like testosterone, which is a common facet of PCOS.
On another note, insulin resistance is also commonly linked to obesity.
So, what should my diet include?
Add high-fibre vegetables, lean protein, anti-inflammatory foods, and spices when planning meals.
High-fibre vegetables
These vegetables include carrots, broccoli, beetroot, cauliflower, bitter gourd, eggplant, collard greens and Swiss chards.
A diet high in fibre slows down digestion and reduces the effect of sugar on the blood. This reduces the side effects of insulin resistance.
Not only do high-fibre vegetables improve the PCOS condition, but they also help you live longer, maintain bowel health and ultimately achieve a healthy weight.
If you ever wonder how to have fibre in your daily diet, you could follow the following daily meal plan:
Fibre at breakfast
Two thick slices of wholemeal toasted bread topped with one sliced banana and a small glass of fruit juice will give you around 9.2 grams (g) of fibre.
Fibre at lunch
A baked jacket potato with the skin on it and half a can of baked beans in tomato sauce, followed by an apple, will give you around 15.7g of fibre.
Fibre at dinner
A mixed vegetable tomato-based curry cooked with onion and spices with boiled wholegrain rice followed by a lower-fat fruit yoghurt will give you around 9.7g of fibre.
Fibre as a snack
A small handful of unsalted almonds or walnuts without sugar is equivalent to 3.8g of fibre.
Lean protein
Lean protein includes cottage cheese, yogurt, milk, beans, tofu, powdered peanut butter, white-fleshed fish, skinless poultry and cuts of red meat such as loin and round.
A meal with a good proportion of lean protein is instrumental in lowering blood pressure and increasing the good cholesterol in the body.
The good cholesterol is known as high-density lipoprotein (HDL). HDL absorbs cholesterol in the blood and carries it back to the liver. The liver is responsible for flushing cholesterol from the body.
Anti-inflammatory foods
Inflammation is the redness, swelling, pain, and heat that occur when you bruise your toe, or finger or develop a throat infection.
Chronic or systemic inflammation contributes to PCOS; however, a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin C, polyphenols, tomatoes, kale, spinach, almonds and walnuts, olive oil, blueberries, and strawberries alleviates inflammation.
Research has shown that an anti-inflammatory diet contributes to a long and fulfilling life.
What foods must I avoid?
It is important to limit foods high in refined carbohydrates, sugary snacks and drinks, and inflammatory foods.
Refined carbohydrates
Refined carbohydrates cause inflammation, increase insulin resistance, and should be avoided or limited significantly.
These include foods such as white bread, muffins, breakfast pastries, sugary desserts, or anything made with white flour.
In the same vein, instead of consuming pasta noodles made from semolina, durum flour, or durum wheat flour, consume pasta made from bean or lentil flour, as it contains more nutrients.
Sugary snacks and drinks
PCOS creates a vicious cycle in women: it makes you crave carbohydrates. For women with PCOS, it is imperative to be considerate of the sugary snacks and drinks you consume.
While it might be hard to identify added sugars in snacks and drinks, an easy way to identify such sugars is by reading the ingredient list.
If the ingredient list contains either brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, sugar (dextrose, fructose, glucose, sucrose), high-fructose corn syrup, honey, inverted sugar, malt sugar, molasses, or any syrup (brown rice syrup, malt syrup), you have to avoid it.
Conclusion
Many experts agree that, in addition to changes in your diet, it is important to incorporate frequent exercise to combat PCOS.
Physical activity is of equal importance to diet. Exercise for at least 150 minutes per week is recommended.
With the stigma, decline in mental health, and quality of life associated with PCOS, living with it can be quite frustrating at times. However, when you consciously switch to diets rich in high-fibre, lean protein, and anti-inflammatory you do yourself more good than harm.
Moreover, making your diet more PCOS-friendly is superb as it protects you against many chronic, noncommunicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases (heart attacks and hypertension), chronic respiratory disease, diabetes mellitus, and cancer.
On a final note, if the symptoms of PCOS persist even after switching your diet, speak with a doctor. The doctor always knows what to do in such situations.
