PCOS Archives - Your Nutrition Partner, LLC

New Year’s Resolution Idea: Stop Dieting

January 21, 2020 January 21, 2020 / Intuitive Eating / Leave a Comment

We are almost through January and are you tired of New Year’s resolutions yet? How do you feel when you hear people talk about the latest diet they are on? I’m overhearing a lot of conversations about people saying they are “starving” on their new diet. How can we as a culture think that “starving” yourself is the key to health?

I know that so many people (including those with PCOS) are trying to lose weight to improve their health and fertility. And I know that your doctor may be telling you to lose weight. So what is the problem with dieting?

1. Weight loss doesn’t equal health

I know that many people think it does, including many health care providers. You can lose weight in a lot of ways that harm your health. By restricting your intake of certain foods you can miss out on essential nutrients. For simplistic examples, if you only eat green vegetables, you will be deficient in protein and fat. If you only eat meat, you are missing out on fiber and a lot of vitamins. If you don’t eat carbs, you will crave carbs.

Some people lose weight by purging, using illicit drugs, smoking cigarettes, overexercising, and/or “starving” themselves. I think we all know these actions cause a lot more harm than carrying extra weight does.

Also, medications to promote weight loss may harm your health. Remember fen-Phen? People experienced damage to their hearts and lunch from this prescription drug before it was pulled from the market. See this link to a new study on the weight loss drug Beliq and possible link to cancer.

Even if you add more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains to your diet and cut out sweet drinks, fried foods, and refined grains and you lose weight, it’s hard to tell if the benefit to your health is the weight loss itself or the changes to your diet. Plenty of people can make positive changes to how they eat, improve their health, and still not see weight loss. I know this can be frustrating, but it’s an important point that is often overlooked.

2. Dieting is stressful, and extra stress is unhealthy

Following strict plans, cooking separate meals for you and your family, tracking numbers, reading labels, cutting out favorite foods, and feeling HUNGRY is stressful! You don’t want to mess up. You don’t want to “ruin” a day or week by eating the wrong thing. When you are following a strict diet, you are walking through a minefield of ways you can “mess up”. And if you don’t follow the plan exactly, it’s YOUR fault that you didn’t lose weight. Harsh.

Most people have plenty of things to be stressed about before making their lives so much harder by following a diet. Stress can cause headaches, hypertension, sleep problems, weaken your immune system, and upset your stomach. If you have PCOS, excess stress can affect your hormones by making cycles more irregular and increasing androgren levels.

Health is more than what you eat or what you weigh. Managing stress is an important part of staying healthy!

3. Dieting can isolate you from social situations

When you are following a strict diet, you may end up avoiding parties, restaurants, and other social situations where food is involved. This may be because you don’t want to be tempted by food that is not allowed on your plan or you may not want to hear people commenting on what you eat.

Being social with people is important for your health. When you feel like you can’t hang out with people in eating situations, you miss out on a major way that we as humans connect with each other.

4. Diets don’t work

You know this. I know this. Unfortunately, the diet industry also knows this and uses this knowledge to rope people into purchasing another diet plan. The diet failure rate is somewhere between 80-95%, yet people talk about all of the diets that “worked” for them before. If it worked, why did the weight come back?

Most people feel like the weight came back because they weren’t disciplined enough. When in reality, your body was protecting itself from starvation. Biology kicks in when you aren’t taking in enough calories. Hunger increases and metabolism slows down in order for your body to protect itself.

So if diets don’t work, should I just give up on trying to be healthy?

Of course you shouldn’t give up on being healthy, but you may need to be honest about what being healthy means to you. Healthy can mean normal blood cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar, but it can also mean having energy, feeling good, and enjoying life.

Goals you might want to consider instead of dieting include:

Eat a variety of all kinds of foods
Learn to listen to your body’s hunger and fullness feelings
Eat most meals and snacks without electronic distractions
Plan to prepare most meals at home
Plan to eat three meals a day
Plan for and have snacks with you (so you don’t get too hungry)
Do some movement that you enjoy
Get at least 7 hours of sleep
Eat food that you like and try to enjoy it when you eat it

If you would like some help learning how to make peace with food and ending the diet cycle, contact me for nutrition counseling!

Artificial Sweeteners and PCOS

November 12, 2019 November 12, 2019 / PCOS Nutrition / Leave a Comment

Sugar or artificial sweeteners for PCOS? — Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

A lot of people ask which is worse PCOS – sugar or artificial sweeteners? Like a lot of topics in nutrition, it can complicated. Since insulin resistance is thought to be the root cause of PCOS, using artificial sweeteners sounds like a good idea for managing PCOS. These sweeteners don’t have any (or many) calories. This should keep insulin levels lower. But do artificial sweeteners improve our health? Let’s first take a look at sugar.

What we know about sugar

Sugar or sweeteners with calories such as honey, high fructose corn syrup, agave, maple syrup, brown sugar, or cane sugar will cause blood sugar to go up quickly. This causes the pancreas to produce insulin so that the sugar can get into the cells. Excess insulin drives a lot of PCOS symptoms. Having sugar as part of a meals with protein and fiber can help prevent blood sugar and insulin from spiking. Check out this blog on Nutrition Basics: Macronutrients for more information.

We know that a lot of people consume a lot of sugar, especially in drinks such as soda, juices, iced tea, lemonade, and prepared coffees. There’s also a lot of added sugar in cereal, yogurt, and bars.

Sugar is found in so many products because it makes food taste good and we humans like it. It is a cheap food additive, especially as high fructose corn syrup. Sometimes people may be taking in more sugar than they realize.

Eating too much sugar can contribute to higher weight, higher cholesterol, fatty liver, and cardiovascular disease. Most people know that having too much sugar is not good for our health. This is why people are interested in trying an alternative like artificial sweeteners.

What are artificial sweeteners?

The artificial or non-nutritive sweeteners which are “generally regarded as safe” (GRAS) according to the FDA include saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame potassium (Ace-K), sucralose, neotame, and advatame. Steviol glycosides (Stevia) and Luo hun guo fruit extract (monk fruit) are approved as food “additives”, but not as “sweeteners”. The products are sweeter than sugar without calories. Some people like that Stevia is marketed as a more “natural” product. It is still processed and more research needs to be done on it to see if it is a better choice than the other products. Here is a link for more information about the history and safety of these non-nutritive sweeteners from the FDA.

What we don’t know about non-nutritive (artificial) sweeteners

While the artificial sweeteners are regarded as safe for people to consume, there are still a lot of questions about how these products affect us long term.

How do they affect the gut microbiota? Gut microbiome research is very new and is thought to have a large effect on our health including how we metabolize foods. Some research indicates that some artificial sweeteners can negatively impact the gut microbiome. This may affect weight and insulin resistance. If we have a more “unhealthy” make up of bacteria in our intestines, we may gain more weight or have blood sugar go up quicker than if we had more “good” bacteria in our gut.

Do they increase our cravings for sweets? When are used to everything we eat or drink tasting sweet, it may cause us to want more sweets. There is also a theory that since artificial sweeteners are sweeter than sugar but have no calories, we are more likely to seek out extra calories to compensate later in the day.

Do artificial sweeteners affect blood sugar, insulin or metabolism? Research is not conclusive about how artificial sweeteners impact weight or insulin resistance, but it’s possible that these products are contributing to some of the very conditions that people are trying to avoid by using them. This could be due to how these sweeteners are affecting insulin receptors or hormones that affect fullness.

If something is labeled “sugar free”, will you eat more of it? In my experience, people tend to eat a larger quantity of foods (or drinks) if they are labeled “sugar free”. It could be that foods sweetened with artificial sweeteners aren’t as satisfying as the “real” version so people need more of the sweet food to satisfy a craving. Or it could be that psychologically people feel like can overeat these products and they won’t impact their health. The problem is that these cookies, cakes, ice creams, and candies made with artificial sweeteners (usually) still do have carbohydrates in them and will raise blood sugar and insulin, especially if eaten in large quantities.

So which is better, sugar or artificial sweeteners? Overall, I think it’s best to have small amounts of “real” sweeteners, preferably as part of a meal.

My Recommendations

Try to get used to less sweet drinks. If you are used to sweet beverages (artificial or regular sugar), start by diluting them with water or seltzer. Or try water with lemon, berries, cucumbers. There are a lot of flavor seltzers out now you may like.

If you want to sweeten coffee, plain yogurt, or oatmeal, try using a little of the “real” sugar (could be honey, maple syrup, or brown sugar too). 1 teaspoon of sugar is only 5 grams of carbohydrates which is not enough to impact blood sugar.

If you want something sweet, go for what you really want. Enjoy it. If you allow yourself to eat what you really want without guilt, you will probably find you need less of it. Avoiding sugar completely is not necessary and trying to completely avoid it may cause you to binge on it.

Bottom line: I don’t recommend that people with PCOS frequently use artificial sweeteners. More research needs to be done on artificial sweeteners and their effects on metabolism. I suggest reserving the sweet tastes for foods you really enjoy and try to cut back on some of the incidental sweets (sugar or artificial) you may be taking in. Check out this review article from December of 2018 in the Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism for a review of recent research on how non-nutritive sweeteners affect metabolism.

Are you interested in learning more about nutrition and how it affects PCOS? Click PCOS Nutrition to contact me about nutrition counseling!

Clean Eating and PCOS

September 19, 2019 September 19, 2019 / PCOS Nutrition / Leave a Comment

"Clean Eating" foods and PCOS — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

The terms “clean eating” or “eating clean” have gotten very popular in recent years, even though these words might mean different things to different people. You may be interested in clean eating if you have PCOS and are looking to improve your symptoms with nutrition. But what does clean eating mean?

While there is no clear definition, it usually means avoiding or limiting processed foods, eating mostly organic foods, and avoiding GMOs. Let’s take a closer look at these topics.

Processed food

Most foods you eat are processed to some degree. Any kind of washing, chopping, freezing, fortifying, preserving or drying is a type of processing. Foods that are considered minimally processed are: fruits, vegetables, eggs, nuts, beans, milk, and meat.

Foods may be further processed by milling, grinding, extracting, combining ingredients, heating, canning, pickling, and fermenting. A lot of these foods can be very healthy choices for everyone, including those with PCOS. Some options include: whole grains such as brown rice, oatmeal, or quinoa, whole grain flours, whole grain products such as bread or pasta, oils, yogurt, canned tomatoes or beans, soy milk, edamame, peanut or other nut butters, tofu, or tempeh.

Highly processed foods often have a lot of added sugar, salt, and fat and these tend to be the ones that give processed food a bad name. Here are a few: sweetened drinks like soda, iced tea, juices, or energy drinks, chips, shelf stable cookies or cakes, sausages, hot dogs, candy, ramen noodles, and some frozen prepared meals.

Bottom line: Processing foods doesn’t automatically make them unhealthy. However, eating foods with a lot of sugar, salt, and saturated or trans fat (whether you add them or someone else does) can negatively affect your health and make your PCOS symptoms worse if you eat them often.

Organic food

In order for foods to be labeled as organic, they must meet the standards that the USDA have set in place. This standard can be expensive and difficult for farmers to achieve, but ultimately the foods are produced without banned chemicals including synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, hormones, or antibiotics.

While there are definite environmental benefits to organic farm practices, there is limited evidence that organic foods make people healthier. The nutritional benefit of organic foods depends on the food itself. Eating foods with skins or peels that are exposed to pesticides can increase the levels of these chemicals in our bodies, but more evidence is needed to see how this affects us. Organic dairy and meats may have higher levels of omega 3s and some organic produce may have higher antioxidant levels than conventional produce.

Bottom line: Eating foods made with organic practices can be beneficial for the environment and may help you to avoid some exposure to excess chemicals. However, don’t avoid eating foods like fruits and vegetables if you feel like you can’t afford the organic version. There is plenty of evidence that eating a lot of fruits and vegetables is one of the best things you can do to reduce your risk for heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Click here to learn more about the organic label from the USDA site.

GMOs

Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are foods where the genes have been manipulated with bioengineering so that they have some traits that are considered beneficial. Usually it is done so that foods can hold up better when shipped, have a higher yield, and increased resistance to disease. There are environmental concerns about how these new plants affect other organisms and the amount and type of fertilizer these plants need.

We don’t have evidence that suggests that nutrition quality is worse with GMOs compared to non-GMO foods or that people who eat GMOs have worse health than those who don’t. The technology is still pretty new so this could change in time.

Bottom line: Just like organic foods, you may want to limit your exposure to GMOs for environmental reasons, but there isn’t any reason to avoid GMOs for health reasons at this time. Click here to learn more about GMOs from the Genetic Literacy Project site.

Final thoughts about the word “clean”

The labeling of foods as “good”, “bad”, or “clean” can have some consequences for you. If you eat something “good” or “clean”, then you may feel like you are being good or are a good person. And on the other side if eat something “bad” or processed, you may feel like you are a bad person and your self esteem and health may suffer.

Your thoughts are powerful and will drive your behavior. Having a healthy relationship with food includes making room for all foods without judgement. Ultimately I don’t like the term “clean eating” because in addition to being vague, it may cause you to judge how you eat which is more likely to make you feel badly about yourself than improve your health.

If you want to make changes to your diet to improve your PCOS symptoms, cooking more at home and adding in more fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, and whole grains can make a big difference. But let’s not call it “clean”. Check out my post on the best diet for PCOS in this link.

Interested in learning about nutrition counseling for PCOS? Contact me for a discovery call!

Diets, Weight Loss, and PCOS

August 20, 2019 August 20, 2019 / Intuitive Eating / Leave a Comment

finding peace and freedom from dieting — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Most people I talk to who have PCOS are interested in losing weight. That is why they are looking to talk to a dietitian. They may have been told by a doctor to lose weight. They probably have tried many different diets to lose weight.

I understand the desire to lose weight. We live in a culture where dieting and being a certain size or weight is seen as the answer to all of our mental and physical problems. People with PCOS are particularly vulnerable to these messages since weight is blamed as a root cause for PCOS and losing weight is seen as a solution. Many women in larger bodies who have trouble with fertility, even beyond PCOS, are told to lose weight.

What’s the problem with dieting to lose weight? It doesn’t work 80-95% of the time. The biggest predictor of weight gain over time is dieting. You may say that a certain diet “worked” for you, but if you ended up gaining the weight back and more, how did this diet work for you?

We also know that weight cycling or “yo-yo dieting” puts you at greater risk for heart disease and diabetes than if you had never lost the initial weight. Stress from body dissatisfaction, food restriction, overexercise, and weight stigma can also increase your risk for these metabolic conditions.

So if dieting is not the answer to improving PCOS symptoms, what is the answer?

The answer is learning how to be an intuitive eater. The 10 principles of Intuitive Eating, by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, have been around since 1995 and can help improve your health by learning how to listen to your body’s messages about what to eat and how much to eat. It is the answer to ending the diet cycle and making peace with food. Over 60 research studies have shown that Intuitive Eating helps people have lower rates of disordered eating including binge eating, increased well-being, improved blood sugar and cholesterol, reduced stress, and higher self esteem. Click here for a link to Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch’s website devoted to Intuitive eating.

With PCOS, you can learn how to eat intuitively, give yourself permission to eat all foods, and still work in some food strategies (gentle nutrition) to improve the metabolic and physical symptoms of PCOS.

Learning to become an intuitive eater can take some time, especially if you have been dieting for a long time. Getting support can be crucial as you take this journey since you will still be bombarded by diet culture in your everyday life. However, the rewards to making peace with food are immense. You will learn to truly enjoy food, notice how your body adjusts your intake based on what it needs, and feel like you don’t have to spend so much time being worried about what to eat. And this huge reduction in stress alone can help your symptoms of PCOS.

What are the Intuitive Eating Principles?

Reject the Diet Mentality
Honor Your Hunger
Make Peace with Food
Challenge the Food Police
Feel Your Fullness
Discover the Satisfaction Factor
Cope with Your Feelings Without Using Food
Respect Your Body
Exercise: Feel the Difference
Honor Your Health: Gentle Nutrition

Will I lose weight if I eat intuitively?

When you start to eat intuitively, you will either lose weight, have no weight change, or you may even gain weight. You have to fully nourish your body on a consistent basis before seeing if and how weight is impacted. Your body has a set point that it likes to be at and it is hard to know what your natural weight is before you let your body adjust with intuitive eating. The goal for learning to eat intuitively is not weight loss. The goal is to learn to trust your body to make food decisions without judgement. When you let your body be your guide, you will likely enjoy a large variety of foods and eat enough to satisfy your hunger without letting yourself get too uncomfortably hungry or full.

That sounds great, but what if I still want to lose weight?

It’s okay that you still want to lose weight. Most people can not undo a lifetime of negative thoughts about weight with the “flip of a switch”.

You can still start working on becoming an intuitive eater, even if you haven’t fully embraced it. This is a process, and for many people it’s a long process. Starting to work through the principles will likely benefit you. It’s not another diet where you have follow a set a rules. You can and probably should take baby steps.

As you know, PCOS can impact your whole body including mental health. It affects you throughout your entire life, not just when you are trying to get pregnant. It’s best to think about improving your physical and mental health for the long term. Quick fixes (diets for weight loss) will not serve you in the long run if they are leaving you hungry, tired, bored, and stressed.

If you would like some help with learning how intuitive eating can improve your PCOS symptoms, contact me to set up a time to talk and see if nutrition counseling is right for you!

What is Nutrition Counseling?

August 1, 2019 August 1, 2019 / Uncategorized / Leave a Comment

Photo by Christina Morillo on Pexels.com

As you search online about what you can do to improve your diet and manage your PCOS symptoms, you are likely to encounter the term “nutrition counseling”. Since this is a term that dietitians use to describe our services, I thought I would explain a little more about what nutrition counseling and why you may want to consider it.

A lot of people are understandably nervous to make an appointment with a dietitian. You may think that you will be judged or “yelled at” for what you are doing or not doing. This could be because you’ve had another health professional judge or scold you in the past. You may also think that a dietitian will tell you to give up all of your favorite foods, eat a really low calorie diet, cook all of your foods from scratch, and work out 5 times a week. You also may think that dietitians eat a “perfect diet” with no chips or sugar, that we work out all the time, and/or we’ve never had any health problems before. (This is not true.)

So what does happen in an appointment with a dietitian?

In the first visit we ask a lot of questions and really try to get to know you. We want to know what you eat, but also how you sleep, what your schedule is like, who cooks and shops at home, what is your medical history, what medicines and supplements do you take, and what “diets” have you been on before. We ask about emotions and food, any symptoms or intolerances you feel with food, cravings, how hungry and satisfied you are with food, and what health goals you have. We need to find out a lot about you before we can begin to work on goals to change things. A lot of people say that it feels like they are going to a therapist when they talk to a dietitian, since we really do dive into a lot of aspects of your life when we talk about food.

Follow up appointments for PCOS

After gathering information about you, we can map out a plan for feeling better depending on where are at. I like to do some education about what PCOS is and why you have the symptoms that you do, depending on what your knowledge is. We will talk about strategies that may include modifying what you eat, modifying how you eat, adding in more movement, taking supplements, stopping to take some supplements, improving your sleep, and reducing your stress. We may talk about adding in more food since you are not eating enough. Which strategies we do depends on what your goals are and where you are starting from. We typically will meet every week or every other week for around 5-6 sessions depending on how things are going. It works best to make a few small changes each visit instead of a lot of unsustainable changes from the beginning.

My goal for all clients

No matter what other goals you have for your health, my goal is for you to enjoy eating and eat the foods you love. You may not think this is something you need to work on, but if you are someone who has been on a lot of restrictive diets in the past you may not find much joy from food. Eating and thinking of what to eat may make you feel stressed or guilty. You can have a positive relationship with food again, and making peace with food will make your health improve.

Dietitians are people

Finding the right fit with the right person for you will help you to get the best care. This also goes for therapists and maybe even doctors. Nutrition counseling works when both the client and dietitian are fully engaged and communicate well with each other. We all have different personalities so sometimes you need to find the right person who works best with your personality and is aligned with your health goals.

So if you are a woman with PCOS who wants to decrease your symptoms, end diet cycling, improve fertility, increase your energy levels, and learn to trust your body with food, I may be the dietitian you are looking for. Click on nutrition counseling to contact me to set up a discovery call.

Should you take Vitamin D for PCOS?

July 23, 2019 July 23, 2019 / Uncategorized / Leave a Comment

Vitamin D deficiency is relatively common in this country, and some studies suggest that over 60% of people with PCOS could be Vitamin D deficient. Vitamin D is best known for helping your body absorb calcium from food, which is important for keeping bones strong. Vitamin D could also benefit your immune system, keep muscles working well, and may possibly help prevent certain types of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.

Sunshine Vitamin

We make vitamin D when our skin is exposed to sunlight during certain times of the year and hours of the day. The problem is that we don’t have much exposure if we live in a northern climate in the winter, if we spend a lot of time indoors, if we have darker skin, and if we use sunscreen. And of course too much exposure to UV light can cause skin cancer. So some of the reasons are vitamin D levels are low could be because we don’t have as much sun exposure as previous generations did.

Vitamin D in Food

Food sources of vitamin D include egg yolks, fatty fish, and fortified milk/dairy, and fortified cereal. The RDA for most people is between 400-800 IU per day, which is hard for most people to get from foods.

Symptoms of Vitamin D Deficiency

Symptoms of deficiency include fatigue, hair loss, bone or muscle pain, depression, and/or frequently getting sick.

What role does vitamin D have in PCOS?

Supplementing with vitamin D may improve insulin resistance. This is important since insulin resistance and high levels of insulin make PCOS symptoms worse.
Supplementing with vitamin D may decrease inflammation. Inflammation can increase insulin resistance and increase your risk for heart disease.
Several studies suggest that supplementing with vitamin D can help improve fertility for women with PCOS.
Supplementing with vitamin D may help mood, which is important since people with PCOS have a greater risk of depression than the general population.

*** Since people with PCOS are at greater risk for vitamin D deficiency, symptoms for deficiency can be vague, we don’t have a lot of good sources of vitamin D, and there are a lot of potential benefits to getting your vitamin D levels up if you PCOS, you may want to consider supplementing.

Supplements

If you suspect you have vitamin D deficiency, ask you doctor to test your levels since you may need a prescription strength supplement.

Most people can safely supplement with 1000-2000 IUs per day, though you can talk with your doctor about supplementing in even higher doses if they suspect deficiency. Some multivitamins have 1000 IUs of vitamin D you may want to consider taking (though the pill is big!). Here is the multivitamin I take.

Let me know if you have any other questions about vitamin D and click PCOS nutrition to contact me to talk about nutrition counseling for PCOS.

The Best Diet for PCOS

July 12, 2019 July 12, 2019 / Uncategorized / 1 Comment

Photo by Maarten van den Heuvel on Pexels.com

Because everyone’s situation with PCOS is different, there is not one perfect way of eating that is right for everyone. However, your PCOS symptoms can and will improve with changes to your lifestyle, including how you eat.

As I’ve mentioned before, the majority of people with PCOS have insulin resistance. It is this insulin resistance that causes ovaries to make more androgens and can lead to weight gain. Doing what you can to reduce insulin resistance can help improve your PCOS symptoms, which is why I’m saying that eating a diet to lower insulin resistance is the best diet for PCOS. Here are some strategies:

Eat carbohydrates with protein. It’s even better to add fiber and healthy fat! Simple carbs on their own raise blood sugar really quickly. Protein, fiber, and healthy fat don’t raise blood sugar as much and will slow down how quickly the sugar from the carbs hits your bloodstream. When blood sugar spikes, your body makes more insulin which can lead to weight gain and cause your ovaries to make more androgens. Check out this blog post for a review of carbs, protein, and fat: Nutrition Basics: Macronutrients.
Add more non-starchy veggies to each meal. Non-starchy veggies are low in calories and carbohydrates so your blood sugar will not be affected much by them. They are also high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Some tips – buy convenience vegetables. Frozen veggies are just as good as fresh and just need to be microwaved, which is the best way to preserve vitamins since it’s a fast cooking method. Also consider buying pre-washed and chopped veggies or salads that you can throw on your plate, in a salad, on a sandwich, or in a wrap.
This may sound redundant, but add foods that are high in fiber to your meals and snacks. This includes veggies, but also fruit, beans, and whole grains. High fiber foods digest slower and are more filling, which is helpful if you find that you are hungry a lot.
Choose unsaturated fats instead of saturated fats most of the time. Eating foods high in saturated fat can cause an increase in insulin resistance, even shortly after eating a fatty meal. Unsaturated fats can actually help improve insulin resistance.
Limit sugary drinks. This includes juice, drinks with honey, and sugary coffee drinks. Liquid sugar makes our blood sugar spike the fastest since our body does not have to break down the food to be absorbed. The sugar hits your blood quickly. My suggestion is to save your sugar for desserts instead of drinks.
And the final tip of the day – work in those treat foods. That’s right. Don’t aim to eat a perfect diet all of the time because you are very likely going to feel deprived if you never eat sweets or chips again. You are much better off allowing yourself to eat these foods when you really want them so that you won’t feel the need to eat a lot of them all at once when you “fall off” your diet plan.

Changing what you eat is not the only way to improve insulin resistance. Stay tuned for more ways to improve insulin resistance with other lifestyle changes.

Click on PCOS nutrition counseling to learn more about working with me for individual nutrition counseling!

Nutrition Basics: Macronutrients

July 7, 2019 April 6, 2021 / Uncategorized / 1 Comment

While I’ve already mentioned carbs, protein, and fats in previous blog posts, I feel like it might be helpful to take a step back and explain what each of these nutrients is and why they are important.

Macronutrients are the major nutrients that our bodies need to properly function. Most foods contain a combination of carbohydrates, protein, and fat but tend to have one dominant macronutrient.

Carbohydrates:

Provide us with energy. Breaks down to blood sugar which is the fuel that all of our cells run on for energy.
Sources of carbs include grains, foods made from flour, starchy vegetables (corn, peas, beans, sweet potatoes, and potatoes), cereal, oatmeal, fruits, juice, milk, and anything made from sugar (honey, brown sugar, corn syrup, or maple syrup).
Non-starchy vegetables (greens, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, peppers, broccoli, green beans, cauliflower, cabbage, etc.) are made up of carbohydrates, but have a lot of water and fiber, and therefore are not a large source of carbohydrates or calories. (They are a great source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals!)
Carbs are not “bad”. When people avoid them to lose weight, they are very likely to “binge” on them later since our body craves the energy that carbohydrates provide.
Carbohydrates digest quickly, especially if they don’t have much fiber, protein, or fat. Having a lot of carbs at one time can make blood sugar and insulin spike.
45-65% of calories should come from carbohydrates.

Protein:

All of our body is made up of protein. Our body uses protein to build and repair itself, keep fluids and pH balanced, and can act as chemical messengers (hormones). Enzymes are a type of protein which helps with digestion, moving muscles, and clotting blood.
Concentrated sources of protein include meat, fish, chicken, beans, tofu, tempeh, soy, milk, cheese, yogurt, and “veggie meat”.
Protein digests slower than carbs and doesn’t make blood sugar rise as quickly.
10-35% of calories should come from protein.

Fat:

We use fat to help store energy, regulate body temperature, protect our organs, and send hormones throughout our body.
Unsaturated fats are considered “heart healthy” and are more commonly found in plant sources and fish. These fats are liquid at room temperature and can be found in olive and canola oil, avocado, nuts, nut butter, and seeds. Omega 3 fatty acids are most commonly found in fish, flax, chia, and some algae.
Saturated fats are solid at room temperature and are associated with increasing risk of heart disease. This type of fat should be limited and examples include high fat dairy (butter, whole milk, high fat cheese), processed meat, fat you see on meat, and coconut or palm oil.
Trans fats are created when unsaturated fats are chemically processed (hydrogenated) and turned into a solid fat. These fats cause the most damage to our hearts and have been taken out of a lot of foods in recent years. Sources can still be found in shortening, non-dairy coffee creamers, shelf stable cookies, pies, and pastries, fried foods, and some margarines and oils. Look for the words “partially hydrogenated” on ingredient lists and avoid these foods as much as possible.
20-35% of calories should come from fat, with the majority coming from unsaturated fat.

Are you interested in learning more about nutrition and how it affects PCOS? Click PCOS Nutrition to contact me about nutrition counseling!

Can I Blame PCOS on My Lack of Energy?

June 25, 2019 June 25, 2019 / Uncategorized / Leave a Comment

Yes! Assigning blame can be satisfying, right? Now before you hit the couch for the foreseeable future, let’s dive into how PCOS affects energy and more importantly, what can you do about it.

Not enough quality sleep

When people say they are tired all the time, the first thing I ask about is their sleep habits. Quality sleep not only makes you feel better, but also helps your metabolism function better, improves your blood sugar, prevents weight gain and food cravings, and makes your immune system stronger. So basically it helps with a lot of common PCOS problems. You may not be getting enough sleep or your sleep may be interrupted by obstructive sleep apnea or anxiety. If you suspect that you have sleep apnea (which is more common in people with PCOS), talk to your doctor about getting a sleep study. You can also talk to a doctor or therapist about managing anxiety which is also more common in those with PCOS.

A lot of people need to work on making sleep a priority. We need 7-9 hours per night. And sleep quality will improve if you turn your phone on silent and turn off the TV.

Insulin resistance

When insulin is not sticking to cells like it should and blood sugar has trouble getting into your cells, a few things happen that can make you tired. You body makes more insulin and your cells aren’t getting the energy they need to function well. If your body makes extra insulin, that can lead to a low blood sugar or “sugar crash” which can cause you to feel exhausted.

Eating meals and snacks with a balance of protein, carbohydrates, and fiber can help keep blood sugar even throughout the day. This can help prevent ups and downs and also will slow down your body’s insulin production. Even blood sugar and less insulin can make you feel less tired.

Not enough movement

Moving your body each day can help insulin work better (improve insulin resistance), and blood sugar can get into the cells during exercise even without insulin. Adding more movement can help keep blood sugar even throughout the day. Exercise gets the heart pumping and this can “wake you up” and also help channel some anxiety to help your relax better later. A lot of people report sleeping better on days when they exercise. (Sleep better=more energy)

Any movement is good movement. If you are able to sneak in a few 10 minutes walks per day, that is awesome. Lunch time is a great time to walk since it can help prevent the afternoon slump. Do exercise that you like so that you will actually keep doing it!

Low levels of Vitamin D, Iron, or Vitamin B12

If you are deficient in any of these nutrients, your energy level is likely to suffer. You can always ask your doctor to check lab values if you suspect you have a deficiency.

Vitamin D deficiency is very common with people with PCOS. You can safely add a supplement of 1000 iu or look for a multivitamin with 1000 iu.

Iron deficiency is most common in pre-menopausal women especially those that are pregnant or have heavy menstrual cycles. It is also common in people who drink a lot of milk, eat a vegetarian diet, have celiac disease, or a history of bariatric surgery. If you are deficient and having trouble tolerating the supplement, talk to your doctor or dietitian to help you find a supplement that works for you.

Vitamin B12 deficiency is more common in people who take the drug Metformin or acid reducing medications or in people who follow a vegan diet or who have had bariatric surgery. You can safely add a 1000 mcg supplement of Vitamin B12.

Depression

People with PCOS are more likely to suffer from depression than most people, and depression causes a serious lack of energy. Talk to your doctor or mental health professional for help managing depression.

Hypothyroid

People with PCOS may suffer from an underactive thyroid, which can cause low energy levels. Talk to your doctor about having a full thyroid panel done if you suspect you have an underactive thyroid.

Bottom line – Yes PCOS can zap your energy! But, there are things that you can do to help improve your energy and feel better. I strongly recommend talking to your doctor about energy levels since you may need to have some blood work done.

Interested in getting some individual nutrition counseling to manage your PCOS symptoms? Click here to contact me for a discovery call.

Start with Eating Three Times a Day

June 18, 2019 June 18, 2019 / Uncategorized / 1 Comment

Many people that I talk to miss or skip meals for various reasons. Common reasons that I hear about usually have to do with being too busy, not leaving yourself enough time, or not being hungry at a particular time of day. Other people miss meals as an attempt to lose weight.

So what’s the problem with this?

When we miss meals or go a really long time in between eating, it can lead to binge eating or eating large quantities of food later in the day. People who don’t eat much breakfast or lunch will often say they eat from the moment they get in from work or school until they go to bed. Also when we train our body to ignore natural hunger feelings, we can slow down our metabolism. This is also true for people who undereat all day long and don’t end up eating a lot later in the day. If you don’t take in enough total energy throughout the day, your metabolism can slow down to protect your body from starving.

If you have PCOS, you also have to take into account insulin resistance, which most people with PCOS have to some degree. This means that the insulin our body produces to help shuttle sugar into all of our cells isn’t working properly. Our body makes plenty of insulin when we eat, but if the insulin isn’t sticking to our cells and letting that blood sugar into the cells, then our blood sugar levels can rise. If we eat a large meal, especially one that is high in carbohydrates, our body will make a lot of insulin. High insulin levels make PCOS symptoms worse. High insulin can cause the ovaries to produce more male hormones which will make skin and hair issues worse. High insulin can also make you feel hungry and crave carbs. It can make you gain weight since insulin tells your body to “store” energy instead of “burn” it.

We humans (and all other living beings) have natural body cycles called circadian rhythms, which help determine when we eat and sleep. These circadian rhythms impact how our body grows and repairs itself, regulates metabolism, and produces hormones.

Our body functions best when we eat (and sleep) around the same time each day. Ideally we are sleeping when it’s dark out and eat during the daylight, but this is not possible for everyone’s schedule. By functioning “best”, I mean that we feel most rested, have energy, feel hungry before meals, feel satisfied after meals, and our immune system is doing a pretty good job of keeping us well.

If you are someone who eats one or two times a day or who doesn’t eat much during the day but eats a lot at night or who never feels hungry, my suggestion is to start by committing to eating three times a day around the same time each day. Most parents are pretty good at putting their kids on a sleeping and eating schedule. We can see that our kids function best with consistent bedtimes and regular meals and snacks. As adults we are better at hiding when we feel lousy, but we might have that cranky kid inside us craving the structure we provide for others or used to have for ourselves.

Where to start?

Eat something within an hour of waking up in the morning.
Try to eat lunch and dinner around the same time each day.
It’s ok to eat just a small amount if you are not hungry. But don’t skip a meal time!
Don’t worry so much about what you are eating at this point, but instead focus on eating consistently.
Notice how you feel after eating.
- If you are hungry soon after a meal, the meal was not large enough or might have lacked a macronutrient (carbs, protein, or fat).
- If you are not hungry for the next meal, the earlier meal may have been too large.
- If you are hungry 3 hours after you ate, then add a snack and this is okay!
Give your body several weeks to adjust to this new eating pattern. Things to notice:
- When are you feeling hungry? Is it different than before?
- How is your energy level?
- Any changes in what you are craving?
- How is your mood?

Working on how you eat can be just as important as what you eat. And changing how we do things is hard! I know that eating consistently often takes more planning and can be more time consuming, but the payoff can mean having more energy and feeling better. And isn’t that what this is all about?