PCOS – POLYCYSTIC OVARY SYNDROME – WHAT’S GOING ON?

The first step in understanding an ailment is isolating its triggers, and ask ourselves why did this happen to me in the first place? Polycystic ovary syndrome or commonly referred to as PCOS or PCOD usually happens to women leading erratic lifestyles viz-a-viz their relationship to food and how they consume them.

A couple of triggers (food and lifestyle) to this ailment are:

1. Consuming pro-inflammatory foods such as sugars, dairy, white refined flour, too much of animal protein which is not being balanced out by alkaline foods (since animal protein is acid-forming)
2. Eating processed foods with high fructose corn syrup or other such sweeteners
3. Use of artificial sweeteners
4. Excessive alcohol consumption
5. Late night eating
6. Skipping breakfast
7. Stress/emotional eating
8. Failure to balance protein, carbohydrates and fat
9. Cooking on high-heat
10. Insufficient calories – so most women who are on diets all the time fall in this category
11. Consuming stimulants in excess – coffee, tea, etc

One must keep in mind a few things that go awry in PCOS :

1. Insulin sensitivity begins i.e., blood sugar imbalances start
2. Your estrogen and progesterone get out of balance; causing more free estrogen to float around in the body (not good estrogen, but toxic estrogen)
3. The release of male hormones (androgens) testosterone and prolactin
4. The cortisol levels in the body also get pushed into an overdrive

Your only way out is to restore balance by bringing in foods that can keep you grounded, steady and release the right sugars to start with so you get your insulin response under control.