17 Important Tips On How To Live With PCOS

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common hormonal disorder that can cause a variety of symptoms, including irregular periods, excess hair growth, and weight gain. While there is no cure for PCOS, there are treatments that can help manage the symptoms. Here are some tips for women living with PCOS. This article focuses on 17 important tips on how to live with PCOS

1. Be Sure To See Your Doctor Regularly.

 PCOS can be a lifelong condition, so it’s important to stay on top of your health. This means seeing your doctor for regular check-ups and being sure to keep them updated on any changes in your symptoms.

2. Take Protein-Focused Foods For Breakfast.

Consuming foods like whole eggs and egg whites, chicken breasts, salmon, Greek yogurt, and lean beef. You should also include nuts e.g. walnuts as a snack

A sample breakfast could be something like Boiled eggs with wheat toast, poached eggs with avocado and chicken, etc

3. Focus On Eating Low Glycemic Index Foods.

What Is The Glycemic Index: This is a number assigned to a carbohydrate food representing how fast the food increases the level of glucose in the blood, 2 hours after consuming the food. The lower the score, the longer that food takes to raise a person’s blood sugar levels.

• Low-GI foods score under 55
• Medium-GI foods score 55–70
• High-GI foods score above 70

The glycemic score of white bread is 100

This is a chart of glycemic foods. This chart was gotten from medicalnewstoday

4. Quit Smoking

Smoking increases androgen levels, which are the hormones in charge of various PCOS symptoms. Quitting smoking can help you feel better by lowering your testosterone levels. Numerous more health advantages come with quitting smoking. It reduces your risk of developing lung cancer, heart disease, oral cancer, and other dangerous disorders.

5. Eliminate Or Minimize Processed Foods.

Processed food contains a lot of saturated fats that cause inflammation. Chronic inflammation is one of the symptoms of PCOS. Canned foods, Pastries, Processed fruit juice, high sugar cereal breakfast, etc. If you can eliminate them, then do just that. If you cannot eliminate them completely, then minimize their consumption.

6. Eliminate Or Minimize Processed Dairy Products:

When you consume dairy products like milk or ice cream. There is a hormone present called Insulin-like growth factor, this hormone enhances androgen production in women with PCOS. Increased androgen production worsens PCOS symptoms Some dairy options for PCOS patients are

• Unsweetened almond milk
• Unsweetened coconut milk
• Flax milk
• Cashew milk

Dairy is linked to inflammation because of the high content of saturated fats.

7. Start Resistance Training.

 Why You ask., well, PCOS symptoms include

• Insulin resistance
• Chronic inflammation,
•  abdominal obesity.

Guess what, lifting weights helps in reducing all three symptoms of PCOS. So grab some dumbbells, kettlebells or medicine balls and include resistance training in your workout routine

8. Mental Health Awareness

Stay on top of your mental health. PCOS can be a very stressful condition to live with. Be sure to find healthy coping mechanisms for dealing with stress, and don’t hesitate to seek professional help if needed.

9. Take Your Supplements Regularly

Also, take them at the same time daily. You can set an alarm on your phone to alert you when you are supposed to take them. You have to be intentional when it comes to adhering to your PCOS supplementation schedule.

10. Invest In a CBD Lubricant

Hormonal fluctuations can lead to bad moods and can affect the sex life of Couples. The low self-esteem and loss of libido that comes with PCOS can be frustrating.

Using a CBD lubricant can help you experience new sensations during intercourse. The CBD lubricant is applied at least 20 mins before sex. Because the clitoris has over 8000 nerve endings, and the vagina is made of mucosa. Absorption would be fast and hopefully grant a new sexual experience

11. Take Probiotics

Probiotics are live bacteria that are introduced into the body to provide health advantages.

Probiotics, often known as helpful bacteria, have numerous potent advantages for your body and mind. They might

• Improves gut health
• Lower depression
• Encourages heart health

12. Take Daily 30 Min Walks

Walking is a very underrated exercise. Walking lets you ease into any form of exercise. Benefits include

• Improves cardiovascular health
• Lowers LDL
• Raises HDL
• Helps with depression and anxiety
• No gym or equipment needed
• Accessible to everyone
• Reduces stress
• Lowers blood pressure
• Helps with weight loss and weight management
• So just start walking.

13. Consume Fiber-Rich Foods

The portion of plant-based meals (such as cereals, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes) that the body is unable to digest is known as fiber or roughage. It keeps your digestive system healthy and clean, facilitates bowel motions, and flushes toxic carcinogens and cholesterol from the body as it goes through the body undigested.

Most Fiber-rich foods help in

• Improving insulin sensitivity,
• Keeps you feeling full,
• Improves bowel movement,
• Reduces muscle soreness and aches after exercise,
• Help to reduce inflammation

Some of these Fiber-rich foods include

• Apples
• Apricots
• Bananas
• Pears
• Strawberries
• Avocado
• Blueberries and blackberries,
• Carrots
• Beetroot,
• Broccoli, kale, spinach
• Chickpeas
• Quinoa

14. Legumes

Vegetables include legumes. If you enjoy eating beans or peas, you’ve probably had them before. However, there are around 16,000 different varieties growing all over the world in a variety of forms, sizes, colors, and textures.

They offer phosphorus, iron, copper, magnesium, manganese, fiber, protein, carbohydrate, and B vitamins. Legumes inherently contain little fat, almost no saturated fat, and no cholesterol because they are plants.

Half a cup of beans has roughly 115 calories, 20 grams of carbohydrate, 7-9 grams of fiber, 8 grams of protein, and 1 gram of fat per serving. Additionally, the glycemic index of legumes is low, typically falling between 10 to 40.

Some good examples are

• Chickpeas
• Black beans
• Green peas
• Lima beans
• Kidney beans
• Black-eyed peas
• Lentils

 15. Sweet Potatoes.

They are highly nutritious. Also rich in fiber, and vitamins and promotes gut health. It is also a macronutrient. This tuber is a low glycemic index food. It fills you up. Rich in beta carotene. This supports the vision and is also the antioxidant that gives carrots their bright orange color.

Sweet potato may not only reduce fasting blood glucose and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels but also increase insulin sensitivity 

16. Don’t Do Too Much All At Once

Women with PCOS should treat themselves well and avoid putting too many limits on themselves because everything should be done in moderation. Women should not starve themselves to lose weight, despite the fact that this is often encouraged, as the body may experience a sugar crash (hypoglycemia), which is more harmful than diabetes. Similar to this, exercise must be done sparingly and without wearing out the body.

17. Join a PCOS Support Group Or Forum:

Going through PCOS is a lonely journey. Joining forums, and seeking out women going through the same condition can be beneficial. This is very good especially when you have no one to talk to, or the people around just do not understand. You can find support groups on Facebook, Quora and Reddit.

Conclusion

PCOS is a very common condition that affects many women, Researchers are still finding new ways to treat PCOS. I encourage you to share this blog with anyone who you think would benefit from the information on it.

The more people learn about PCOS, the better able they will be to understand what those who are dealing with this condition are going through, enabling them to provide any necessary help or support.

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