|  | Family Health | Womens Health

The Best Diet for PCOS

PCOS, or polycystic ovarian syndrome, affects approximately 5 to 7 percent of all women. PCOS is one of the primary causes of female infertility. In addition, PCOS is a risk factor for several other health problems, including diabetes, heart disease and endometrial cancer. In addition to prescription medications and other expert medical treatment, women with PCOS benefit from dietary changes. The best diet for PCOS is one that helps reduce insulin resistance.

  1. Understanding Insulin and PCOS

    • The hormone insulin is a major factor in PCOS. The pancreas creates insulin as a response to carbohydrates entering the body. Insulin converts those carbohydrates to energy or, if that energy isn't used quickly, into fat.

      Many women who suffer from PCOS are insulin resistant. Their insulin doesn't do its job correctly, which means the pancreas produces more insulin than the body needs. This contributes to PCOS, as well as other health issues such as increased LDL cholesterol and weight gain.

      One way to track the amount of insulin your body will produce in response to food intake is to use the glycemic index.The glycemic index indicates how quickly food turns into sugar in your blood. Foods with a low glycemic index take longer to process, and don't release sugar into the blood as quickly or in as great a quantity as foods with a high glycemic index. Foods rich in fiber tend to have a lower glycemic index, as do foods that are unprocessed.

    Meeting Your Dietary Needs

    • Many weight-loss diets are aimed at reducing fat. These diets are low in fats and high in carbohydrates. As you can imagine, this can be problematic for the woman who is insulin resistant. The best diet for PCOS, then, is one which has a low glycemic index. This means, essentially, that the diet should be rich in foods that don't usually cause a rise in blood sugar. A PCOS diet will be, naturally, low in carbohydrates.

      Just because the best diet for PCOS is low in carbohydrates doesn't mean it is rich in saturated fats. Saturated fats have been linked to heart disease. Trading one problem food for another isn't the solution. Instead, a good PCOS diet will be one that's high in protein and low in both carbohydrates and saturated fats.

      The best diet for PCOS will also include some vitamin and nutrient supplements. It should include 1000 mg of calcium and a standard multivitamin with minerals.

Womens Health - Related Articles