- Women with PCOS have a low percentage of healthy gut bacteria. These gut bacteria play an important role in weight maintenance and metabolism. Therefore it is important to include foods high in probiotics like fermented foods, yoghurt, sauerkraut as they help to increase the number of good beneficial bacteria in our gut.
- Low-calorie intake over a long period of time can slow down your metabolism and negatively impact hormones that control your appetite leading to weight gain. Instead cut out unhealthy products and focus on eating whole foods. Reduce the consumption of added sugars, refined grains, processed foods and eat more whole foods to promote weight loss.
- Focus on eating whole foods as they are more satisfying and help to manage all the symptoms related to PCOS. So skip on fast food, cookies, cakes, candy, etc. as they lead to weight gain. Focus on stress management and try techniques like yoga, meditation, exercise to help lower increased cortisol levels.
- PCOS responds very positively to proactive and good lifestyle choices which include daily exercise (cardio and strength training). As it helps to improve insulin sensitivity. Low sugar intake, daily workout, low inflammation diet along healthy eating habits lead to weight loss, improved ovulation and symptoms.
- PCOS symptoms are a cause of a lot of stress therefore stress reduction techniques like meditation and yoga are beneficial to calm the mind. PCOS can improve with lifestyle modification so take proactive steps to improve and reduce your symptoms and eat healthily. Stress is linked to high cortisol levels and chronic high cortisol levels are linked to belly fat and insulin resistance.
- Women with PCOS have high insulin levels and insulin is responsible to turn glucose into energy. If one is unable to use the insulin to produce energy effectively then the person is considered to be insulin resistant. High levels of insulin cause the ovaries to produce androgens like testosterone. Having a high BMI can also cause insulin resistance. If a person is insulin resistant it becomes harder to lose weight as experienced by women with PCOS. Therefore foods that are high in fibre, high in protein and anti-inflammatory foods like turmeric, tomatoes should be added to the diet. Refined carbs, sugary and starchy foods should be avoided.
- Read nutrition labels carefully to avoid consuming extra sugar as removing sugar will help to reduce the inflammation in the body.
