To include dairy or not to include dairy... That is the question many women with PCOS
ask themselves. The link between dairy and PCOS symptoms is controversial,
leaving many women feeling unsure of what to do. I'm Melanie McGrice and I'm an Advanced
Accredited Practicing Dietitian who specialises in reproductive conditions. In this episode of
Nourish, I'm going to provide you with the latest evidence on this hotly debated topic. Stay tuned!
Welcome to Nourish! Before we get started, I just wanted to mention that because PCOS is the leading
cause of anovulatory infertility and it is so closely linked with diet I've created quite a few
videos and resources to address it. Please feel free to browse through the videos on my channel
or check out our website for more. You'll find the details in the description below.
So, the question that I want to address today is 'should I avoid dairy if I have PCOS?'.
I get asked this by so many of my clients!
Well, first let me start by pointing out that dietary guidelines recommend that you include
dairy products like milk, yoghurt or cheese (or their alternatives) in your diet regularly.
And this makes sense, not only are these foods very versatile but they also contain a powerhouse
of nutrients. But, you may be asking yourself, well if dairy is so jam packed with nutrients,
why is there controversy with regards to the recommendations in PCOS?
Let's have a look at why there is some confusion.
You may know that eating carbohydrate-containing foods causes the body to produce insulin. What
you may not know is that protein containing foods can do the same.
The predominant proteins found in milk include casein and whey and it
is the whey protein that stimulates insulin production. This may sound like a bad thing,
but insulin is an important hormone that allows the body to use blood glucose effectively.
Because milk increases insulin levels, it helps to lower post meal blood sugar levels more quickly.
The problem comes in when you have a person predisposed to insulin resistance (as many women
with PCOS have) in combination with too much milk in the diet. This combination can result in too
much insulin secretion (known as hyperinsulinemia) which may contribute to (or worsen PCOS symptoms).
But it is not all doom and gloom! In the long term, even though the protein portion of milk
may increase insulin levels, in general dairy products are considered to be low GI (meaning
they provide a stablising impact on blood glucose levels). Additionally, they contain a variety of
minerals which help to control blood sugar spikes which helps to buffer high insulin secretion. In
fact, research has found that consuming more dairy can help reduce your risk for type 2 diabetes.
Isn't that incredible!
So including some dairy in your diet is good for long term metabolic health. At this point you may
be asking, full fat or low fat? Well, quite a big cohort study found that low fat milk was
linked to an increase in the risk of ovulatory infertility while adding whole milk to the diet
(while controlling energy intake), reduced this risk significantly. The reason for this may be
that whole milk may not increase a hormone called IGF-1 as much as low fat milk does.
IGF-1 isn't great for fertility because it has a negative effect on ovarian function and antral
follicle count. In addition to its effect on fertility, lower fat milk, particularly
skimmed milk, was associated with more acne, which is one of the clinical signs of PCOS.
Once again this may be linked to the fact that lower fat milk increases
IGF-1 more and IGF-1 increases sebum production and contributes to the development of acne.
Furthermore, there has even been some speculation that high intakes of IGF 1 may contribute to the
development of PCOS. However, more recent studies have found that the higher estrogen
concentrations in full fat dairy products actually decrease circulating IGF1 levels.
All in all, there are more pros than cons when it comes to including dairy in your diet,
especially when it comes to long-termlong term health, like preventing type 2 diabetes and optimising fertility.
This being said, more studies are needed, specifically in women who have PCOS before we can finally
conclude exactly how much you should be having and whether it should be full cream or low fat.
For now, unless you've received personally expert advice otherwise, it is wise to follow the dietary
guidelines and include two and a half serves of dairy in your diet every day. Or, if you
choose not to, make sure that you are replacing this with a calcium-fortified plant substitute.
For some truly delicious ways to incorporate dairy and other PCOS friendly ingredients in your diet,
head on over to melaniemcgrice.com/shop to grab your copy of our PCOS recipe e-book
which has over 25 amazing recipes for you to try. Until next time, bye for now!