It is found that women who have PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) often become obese and there is a need to follow PCOS diet.
Around 50- 60% of all women with PCOS are classified as obese.
PCOS stands for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, is a hormonal disorder affecting thousands of women today worldwide. It is sometimes asymptomatic and hard to detect.
One of the main reasons behind the obesity problem in PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) sufferers is the inability of your body to process insulin, a type of powerful hormone that is released by the body’s pancreas in response to eating food, especially carbohydrates.
This hormone helps transport sugar out of the blood and into muscle, fat and liver cells, where it is converted to energy that is required for the functioning of the body or into fat for the body to store.
Women with PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) process too much insulin and feel difficulty in losing weight because of fat storage with high insulin levels. Therefore, a PCOS diet plan must be followed to prevent the weight gain.
It is found from studies that losing just five percent of your (healthy women) body weight can make an improvement in your skin clarity, regularity of menstrual periods, and some decline in your insulin levels.
Therefore, for you as a woman with PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome), losing a small amount of weight can have huge benefits.
Remember that the most common diet with low fat and high carbohydrate that most of the healthy people follows to lose weight may not be the best approach for women with PCOS symptoms.
High intake of extra carbohydrates, also known as refined carbs, is very ineffective in losing weight because carbohydrate in the diet particularly in the form of sweets, bread and rice will rapidly turns into sugar and increases the levels of insulin in your body.
However, extra carbohydrates in your diet not only increase the levels of insulin in the body but also cause a myriad of health problems for PCOS sufferers.
Therefore it is better to approach PCOS diet plan, a diet planned especially for women with PCOS symptoms. It is a low Glycemic Index diet (Low G.I). This is basically a diet that includes foods that limits the cause of rapid rise in blood sugar.
Once if you reduce the refined carbs quantity in your PCOS diet, it may take some estimation to find the optimal balance for your body. Even there are dietary suggestions available regarding refined carbs. For example, the food pyramid states that you should receive only 55% of your calories from carbs.
Recent studies have shown that the PCOS diet for women suffering from PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) should include approximately 50% of calories from carbs, but only if you are not obese and follow a regular exercise.
If you’re obese and shown to be insulin resistant, the intake of carbohydrates should not exceed more than 40%, or even less depending upon your level of carbs resistance.
However, these are only guidelines but the most important thing before starting a PCOS diet regimen is to consult a doctor to make your PCOS diet results better for you!
Great article. I’d like to add that it is wise to pay attention to carbohydrates in your diet to fight the effects of insulin resistance. Start with five servings of fruits and vegetables. To keep your blood glucose levels stable, so that you feel fuller for longer, stick to whole grain carbohydrates and have less of simple carbs. Low fat and high protein foods such as fish and lean meat may also help along with carbohydrates, to also reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease later on in life.