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Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is the name given to a very complex metabolic condition in which a woman will have recurring polycystic ovaries, along with a pattern of other symptoms that reflect imbalances in reproductive and other hormones. Symptoms of PCOS will vary but commonly include some combination of :
As this list suggests, PCOS is not simply a disorder of your ovaries alone. It is a body-wide disorder. It affects you physically and emotionally. Left untreated, PCOS becomes a multi-organ systemic disorder that leads to the development of the chronic degenerative diseases Americans are most likely to die from- heart disease, diabetes and cancers. PCOS can be thought of as a point along a journey from health to disease. Because it is a point on a developing continuum, a long slow change from health to a diseased state, medical specialists find it hard to agree on what PCOS is. We have yet to pin down and describe a single effective approach to treatment. Research repeatedly shows that diet and exercise together are more effective at restoring regular menses to women with PCOS than any drug therapy so far developed. Medical specialists acknowledge that diet and exercise are the fundamental defense against diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Food and Exercise Is Your Best Medicine. Your diet will play a huge role in the outcome of PCOS. How you move your body, develop and use your muscle is how you will recover from and prevent the chemical consequences of PCOS. Improving the quality of the carbohydrates in your diet is more important and ultimately more effective than any drug you could possibly take. Eat only fresh, whole, organically raise fruits, vegetable and grains. Improving the quality of the protein and fat in your diet is essential to provide your system the raw material to restore hormone and blood sugar balance, and to arrive at and maintain a healthy weight. Eat only fresh, organically raised or wild lean animal proteins: eggs, poultry, beef, bison, lamb, and (very occasional) pork. Game meat is great as is wild caught fish. You must eat animal protein, very day, at each meal. It is essentially impossible to correct the metabolic imbalances that express as PCOS on a vegetarian diet. Sources of Healthy Fats: fresh wild cold water fish; olive oil; fresh raw nuts and seeds; avocado; coconut; organic fermented dairy foods; organic eggs and meat Essential fatty acids (EFAs) -- Crucial for Dealing with PCOS EFAs are transformed by the body into hormone-like messengers called eicosanoids, which regulate many functions in all tissues. Eicosanoids regulate the powerful impact insulin has on your reproductive hormones; they determine your level of cardiovascular risk and how susceptible you are to the tissue damage of diabetes. Minimize or Remove Convenience Junk Food from your Diet. Junk foods are loaded with calories and no real nutrition. Refined foods make us overfed and undernourished. Fabricated foods are the problem, not protein or fat.Exercise must be daily. Lifelong. It’s what we were designed for, to be muscularly strong and active on a daily basis for our survival. A restorative exercise prescription might means as much as 60 minutes of intense, aerobic exercise daily; a maintenance routine will mean something less than that— but a sedentary or irregularly active lifestyle will inevitably mean declining health. © Nancy Dunne 2008 |
