When I first discovered PCOS and it’s link to diet, I began looking into various dietary strategies to be used for weight loss and generally controlling the symptoms of PCOS. This next statement should come as no surprise to any of us cysters who have searched in vain for dietary advice:
Nobody can agree on what we can and can’t eat !!!
You would think for a condition that is affected so strongly by diet there should be a simple list of do’s and don’t as far as diet is concerned. Sadly for us, it appears that what works for one woman won’t work as well for another. I’ve seen in many other blog posts and websites that many people advocate certain dietary plans as THE plan that will work to treat PCOS. Low Carb seems to be the most popular from what I’ve seen. Then again from many of the books I’ve read, Low GI seems the way to go. These seem to be the two most popular dietary plans used for women with PCOS. For what it’s worth, here’s my two cents:
I’ve heard great things about Low Carb diets especially from the scientific perspective. Keeping your carbs low in theory should lower your body’s insulin response hence reduce many of the undesirable effects of high insulin levels. It also appears to be a great way to lose weight fast. When I tried it (twice) I found my blood sugar issues I’ve had for most of my life get WORSE on Low Carb diets. Even though I don’t crave sugar per say, it’s more that I get those lovely hypoglycemic attacks a few times a week when cutting out most carbs. And that’s looking at 120g carbs a day, forget the ultra low levels such as 40g per day some women get away with.
When I was first tested for PCOS, I purchased a book called “The Low GI Diet for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome” by Prof Jennie Brand-Miller. She’s been a long time advocate for Low GI dieting and as written a series of books for Low GI dieters as well as co-authoring a few Low GI cookbooks. Firstly there’s a heap of helpful information for women with PCOS in easy to read language and covers most of the basics on the disorder. She also lays out some basic tenants on eating Low GI for treaing PCOS.
For a year I followed her tips on switching high GI carbs to low GI carbs and, even though I lost no more than a kilo within a year, my measurements at the gym showed I’d lost about 9cm off my stomach and 12cm off my bust. And I hardly noticed.
Unfortnately I went back to study and switched to Lite n Easy meals since I had no cooking time. And that weight has gone straight back on. That’s not a dig at Lite n Easy at all, just that meals with mostly potato and pasta just aren’t good for my body.
So, for me Low GI is the way to go. For some of you, this might work too. For some Low Carb might be your silver bullet. Best (non-medical) advice I can give you, try it and see how your body reacts. And give it time, these are lifestyle changes and not going to make you a supermodel overnight.
For those who are tempted into a low GI diet, here are my basic guidelines:
- Choose low GI carbs, especially lots of fruit and veggies (avoid potato though)
- Use Basmati rice or grains such as pearl barley or quinoa.
- Eat lean meat, fish, legumes, nuts (as snacks) and low-fat dairy (more on this in a later post)
- Keep processed food to a minimum (my doc advised me to avoid pasta even though it’s technically Low GI)
- Sugar is okay in small amounts, but suggestions involve switching to floral honey, Low GI cane sugar or natural alternative sweeteners such as Steevia (can’t stand this stuff myself)
One more suggestion from my doc is to limit my carbs from grains to earlier in the day and keep my evening meal to a meat/fish and veggie/salad mixture. Again these are just guidelines for myself. If you’re interested in reading more on Low GI I again recommended Jennie Brand-Miller’s books (Available on Fishpond or Amazon). There’s also a lot of web information if you want to try it.
For those on the Low Carb bandwagon, I’m a frequent visitor to Anne Seccombe’s blog My PCOS Info http://www.mypcos.info/1/ . She has a huge variety of PCOS infomation and does advocate a Low Carb diet as treatment.
Happy Eating all 🙂
Do my ovaries look fat? 