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.
WHAT I HAVE PCOS?
If a woman fulfills all 3 or any 2 of these criteria, then we term them as PCOS.
- Polycystic ovaries on ultrasound.
- Excess androgens or male hormones with symptoms like acne and excessive hair growth,
- Delayed ovulation or menstrual cycles.
WHAT CAN DO ABOUT IT?
Unfortunately, PCOS cannot be cured but can be reversed to reduce the intensity of the symptoms improving fertility and menstrual cycle. 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 to find out which part of your lifestyle is wrong and correcting that to see a great change in yourself.
Few Good Lifestyle Habits to Bring Your Mojo Back!
EAT WHOLE UNPROCESSED FOODS
Food is what feeds our cells, which 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, bread, ready-to-eat foods like chips, refined oils like Safflower, Sunflower oils, as they spike insulin levels and are zero in their nutrient value.
AVOID STIMULANTS
This one will upset all our tea/coffee lovers! Tea and coffee are stimulants that have a drug-like effect on our body and that reason alone is why the world is addicted to them. But these stimulants cause an increase in insulin production which has 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.
ENJOY SOME EXERCISE
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.
LEARN TO RELAX
Women with PCOS are more prone to 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 rom-com 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.
DUMP PLASTICS
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 Shaanvi.