Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome or PCOS, is a real
epidemic these days, affecting women of
the reproductive age.
And with each being different from another in terms of
signs and symptoms, it does not only affect fertility,
but overall appearance as well.
If a woman fulfils all 3 or any 2 of these criteria,
then we term them as PCOS.
Number one: Polycystic ovaries on ultrasound.
Number two: Excess androgens or male hormones
with symptoms like acne and excessive hair growth,
and number three,
is delayed ovulation or menstrual cycles.
Unfortunately, PCOS cannot be cured but can
be reversed to reduce the intensity of the
symptoms improving fertility and menstrualcycle.
The conventional treatment for PCOS is having
insulin lowering drugs and oral contraceptive pills
all of which come with a lot of side effects.
The only way to deal with PCOS, is finding out
which part of your lifestyle is wrong
and correcting that to see a great change in yourself.
So here are a few good lifestyle habits
to bring your mojo back!
Food is what feeds our cells, that either gives
or takes away your energy.
The idea is to focus on whole foods in their natural,
unaltered form. Like grains, pulses, nuts, seeds,
fruits and veggies,
because these foods balance our insulin levels
improving our PCOS symptoms and also give fiber,
which helps to lower the male hormones.
Avoid unnatural foods like refined pasta, breads,
ready to eat foods like chips,
refined oils like Safflower, Sunflower oils, as they spike
insulin levels and are zero in their nutrient value.
This one will upset all our tea/coffee lovers!
Tea and coffee are stimulants which have drug like
effect on our body and that reason alone,
is why the world is addicted to it.
But these stimulants cause an increase in insulin
production which have proven to have
a negative impact on women with PCOS.
So the best thing is to switch to healthier drinks
like green tea, matcha tea or ginger lemon water.
If you want to improve your insulin sensitivity and get
your hormones back on track, exercise is one of the key
ingredients to work on.
Remember to not go all out as it also puts stress on the
body which can add to your stress hormones.
The best exercise for PCOS is HIIT like Tabata or
Crossfit for 20 minutes, 4 -5 times a week. Or an hour of
low intensity workouts like yoga, pilates,
power yoga or dance.
Women with PCOS are more prone towards
experiencing depression, mood swings and
get emotionally frustrated with their own bodies
when it seems to be working against them which
impacts the hormones in a big way.
The best way to deal with this is to relax
and indulge in activities like listening to
music, going for a jog, bubble bath,
meeting friends, watching a romcom
which makes one happy and reduces
the cortisol levels in the body.
Just simply sitting and breathing can also
help to shut the stress ignition.
This will surprise you.
Plastics contain BPA which are chemicals that
disrupt the endocrine levels in the body that
mimic the hormones in the body
and bind to hormone receptor sites,
thereby disturbing our body’s hormonal balance.
Women with PCOS already have ultra-sensitive
hormones and don’t need extra help from
the plastics to get them out of whack!
The best way to go about this is to replace
all your plastic bottles and containers with
stainless steel or glass.
So ladies, reduce the severity and prevalence
of PCOS symptoms with these lifestyle changes
and emerge a winner!
Until next time stay tuned and stay GLAMRS.