As I wrote in a previous post, I have started to chart my menstrual cycles with the help of Katie Singer’s book Honoring Our Cycles (she is responsible for me discovering NT!). I have very irregular cycles and hoped that by charting them I might find out what exactly is going on inside this body of mine.
I have now charted two months and they are very weird. I seem to ovulate, my temperature goes down, then up, then down again, then it seems like I ovulate again - this is what Katie calls Split Peaks and is a condition commonly associated with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS).
I went to see my doctor about 6 months ago describing my symptoms which are:
- irregular and painful periods
- acne on my chin and jawline for the last 2 weeks of my cycle
- bad PMS (irritability, bloating, tiredness)
- thinning hair
- easily upset stomach - very sensitive to sugar and cannot tolerate alcohol even in minute quantities (I can’t even take a few drops of Back Flower Remedies!)
She said I was depressed and prescribed me some antidepressants. I was like - what? But I was a good little patient and took my tablets for about two months then thought to myself “this is ridiculous I am NOT depressed and these tablets aren’t helping my symptoms” so I stopped taking them immediately.
My husband and I were recently watching a programme about PCOS and he turned to me and said “That sounds just like you!”. We talked about when I had my first scan when I was pregnant with my youngest son, the doctor told me I had cysts on my ovaries but that it was “nothing to worry about”. One of the other factors of PCOS is if a woman’s father was bald before the age of 30 - mine was bald at 21! My husband urged me to go back to the doctor but I am very reluctant to do so - I have rarely found doctors useful unless you have an acute case of something easily identifiable (such as when my boys have an ear infection or something like that). Also, I know there is no medical “cure” for PCOS and they would likely want to put me on birth-control pills to control my hormones - something I definitely do not want and is dangerous for me to do as I have a blood condition called Factor V Leiden which puts me at higher risk of blood clots.
I recently bought a copy of Eat Fat, Lose Fat by Mary Enig and Sally Fallon. It is a great read - yet another wealth of information from these great women! In it they discuss PCOS, and hormonal imbalances and claim that their diet high in saturated fat and medium-chain fatty acids can cure these conditions. I think I am going to give it a try - if nothing else I should feel better in general from following this. I have already made huge changes in my diet since reading NT but I know I can go further, do better. I still seem to have a weak will when it comes to sugar and bread but every time I eat them I feel so ill and I get cross with myself for not being able to control myself. Bread, in particular, is a very hard habit to break - even eating my own home-made wholemeal or spelt bread makes me feel ill (racing heartbeat, jittery, then tired, then stomach ache).
So, this is a promise to myself. I am incredibly sensitive to sugar and refined grains. It is also likely that I have some kind of hormonal imbalance which is only aggravated by these foods. These foods have no place in my day-to-day diet and from this moment on will be treated with great caution. I am now putting into practice everything I have learned from Eat Fat, Lose Fat and Nourishing Traditions with no more excuses (I am too busy, I forgot to soak something bla bla bla).
I have everything to gain from doing this and life can only get better!
Jan 16th, 2008 at 7:50 am
Breaking habits are one of the hardest things to do .
I only eat spelt flour and only in very modest amounts so I had forgotten how I feel when I eat wheat
This Saturday I went to my nephews b-day and there were just so much wheat everywhere !!! I ate modest amounts and still I felt so horrible the next day…
So I eat brown rice, millet, quinoa - small amounts of oats all soaked - not more than 1 serving a day from Monday to Friday in the weekend I eat homemade spelt cake or a white spelt bread
and I feel fine as long as I eat enough butter with it :-) and don´t overdo it these days.
I don´t think I would go back to that doctor … my friend has PCOS and they have not been able to help her- just made her more upset - they put her on a low fat /low carb diet which made her even more cranky and tired.
Now she eats low grain no sugar - but a relatively high fat amount and she feels better already after 3 months.
Jan 16th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Thanks Henriette - I like your idea of eating only one serving of grains a day - that is what I did today (porridge for breakfast soaked of course) and for the first time in weeks I actually do not feel sick or bloated tonight! Surely that is not a coincidence. That’s interesting about your friend with PCOS - I have heard many reports about disgruntled patients with PCOS receiving little or no help from the medical institution.
Jan 16th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Karina, I too am senstive to sugar and I have a wheat and dairy intolerance. Last year I cut sugar out of my diet for about 6 months. I did not eat anything that was a sugar or could be converted to sugar by my body. Therefore I did not eat one single carbohydrate, and I could not even eat carrots or peas or fruit. I followed Bee Wilder’s diet and was part of her forum. She is very helpful and has amazing recipes. Her group is also very supportive. It was really hard and I had moments of sobbing but I knew I had to do it. My husband gained so much more respect for me sticking with it and realised how bad sugar is that he has converted himself of his own free will and has cut his sugar and wheat intake by 90% and he feels so much better. I used to get the acne on the chin every month and I have Endometriosis with a history of ovarian cysts. One major difference when I stopped eating wheat and sugar was… the pain had cut in half and I do not get acne every month. Yahoo! I only eat Spelt now and when I have the occassional porridge for breakfast I soak them overnight. I was told wise words by someone I worked for in London and I will never forget them…we were discussing the ability of people being able to do things and she said…’Its just what you are used to.’ In other words…if you can start doing something that is tough at first…eventually it becomes easy. I remember in 2003 I read a book called ‘Endometriosis, healing through Nutrition.’ The main point that stood out to me was I had to stop eating wheat. It can cause alot of inflammation. It was hard at first but now…eating wheat never occurs to me. I go about my daily eating without it bothering me and I do not crave it. I associated eating wheat with illness and pain and so after I established that, I did not want to eat it. Also, once you get over the cravings you will be on the home stretch, as soon as you give in, the cravings will be more intense next time. You have the right attitude, you can do it. x
Jan 16th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
QUOTE: In it they discuss PCOS, and hormonal imbalances and claim that their diet high in saturated fat and medium-chain fatty acids can cure these conditions. END QUOTE
A) No plan ‘high’ in anything is good for you. Moderation is key.
B) Also by increasing fat intake you further increase your risk for heart disease and liver problems….something women with PCOS are already at risk for due to the dysfunction of our endocrine system
C) There is no cure, period. Not yet anyway. If that were the case it would have made headlines a long time ago and would be implemented for all diabetics/prediabetics and then there would be no disease.
NOTE: My disputes are not aimed at the writer of this blog but rather at the writer of the book where this information is atributed.
http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=532#satfat
Angi Ingalls
PCOS in ConnecTion
http://angiingalls.com
pcosinct@yahoo.com
Over 18 years of education on prediabetes/diabetes
Jan 16th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
P.S. I got click happy.
I suggest looking into “In The Raw” by Carol Alt. It contains a wealth of wonderful information you can apply to your life. I am not saying live 100% raw but to use it as a tool. My biggest concern with foods is actually our environment. I have been saying for years that it’s no wonder we have all of these problems - and when I say “we” I mean all man kind.
There are so many chemicals and additives in our foods and processing of foods. Should it surprise anyone that those have an impact on our bodies and how they function? Look at our ancestors. They had less issues then we and their world was more natural and not altered by man.
If we can reduce the consumption of processed foods, reduce the use of chemicals in our world (such as cleaning supplies, sprays, beauty products, etc.), we would be better off all around. Undisputable. This is why I suggested Raw, it’s less evasive on our systems.
Angi Ingalls
PCOS in ConnecTion
http://angiingalls.com
pcosinct@yahoo.com
Over 18 years of education on prediabetes/diabetes
Jan 17th, 2008 at 12:15 am
Hi Karina,
You may like to do some research into Bee Wilder’s Candida protocol which is very successful for treating hormonal imbalances. There is often a weakened immune system and candida behind many of our hormonal imbalances. Bee’s program is a high protein, high fat and low carbs eating plan combined with very specific supplements. I have had great success with this protocol - healing my immune system and gut dysbiosis and reversing a malfunctioning thyroid.
Bee Wilder’s website http://www.healingnaturallybybee.com/sitemap.php
and specifically for Women’s Health Issues http://www.healingnaturallybybee.com/articles/menu4_10.php
Jan 17th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Even if you can get the gyn to say you have PCOS, the standard professional response is to put you on birth control pills, which only mask the problem. The best thing you can do for yourself is stop eating refined carbohydrates ASAP (this includes fruit juices), and really watch the amount of grains you eat, even if they’re whole and properly soaked. I have so far felt the best, and had the least trouble with acne, when I was eating butter or coconut oil or cheese with every meal– typically, eggs, mushrooms, and spinach fried in butter and topped with feta for breakfast, Cheese on rye crackers +tomato slices and olive oil for lunch, shrimp (dipped in butter) with asparagus followed by (plain, whole milk) yogurt with blueberries, for dinner. Probably I could have done better, aesthetically, but it was all delicious, I lost thirty pounds, my acne disappeared (and did not reappear until I cheated and ate sweets), and as long as I was concentrating on eating enough of the *right* things (instead of concentrating on all the things I was *not allowed* to eat), it was much, much easier to avoid bread and sugar (and that’s an accomplishment– I have a wicked horrible sweet tooth).
Best of luck to you. Don’t give up– it’s a long fight, but it’s SO worth it to feel right again!
Jan 18th, 2008 at 5:08 am
Wow - thank you so much Rebecca, Maree and Ethyl - that is SO encouraging for me. It is one thing to read books that tell you this works or that works but to actually hear it from people who have gone through it - just amazing! I will totally go and find Bee Wilder’s book and website. I am sure I will come back to you for support during the hard times but I will focus on the positive and think of all the lovely, nourishing, tasty, healthy things I CAN eat. Heck - I was totally vegan for a few months and ate no sugar and very little refined flour and I did that so I can do this too!
Thank you Angi for your comments, but I personally do not subscribe to the raw diet. And I disagree with your comment B about fat - try reading Nourishing Traditions and then see what you think. In my understanding, the people here at Nourished Magazine mainly believe in the discoveries of Weston A. Price so you might not get much agreement here (but I could be wrong). Although I agree that SOME raw food can be beneficial to the body I do not believe a diet based on it is good for humans (even though there is a huge movement of raw foodists who would argue otherwise) - each to their own I say!
Jan 19th, 2008 at 8:22 am
OK - so I checked out Bee Wilder’s website and I am scared! I don’t know if I can really go that far - no grain is one thing but no beans or lentils either? I eat legumes about 2-3 times per week and they seem to agree with me quite well. There is also the matter of cost - we are on quite a tight budget and I don’t know that I could afford to eat so much meat - supplementing with legumes really helps our budget. I am even more impressed now after fully realising what you have all been through - that is some commitment. You know what the weird thing is - for the past few days I had been doing great with very little grain and no sugar and as soon as I read Bee Wilder’s recommendations I panicked and have since eaten bread, chocolate and cookies - this is my usual “Oh no I’m going a diet” reaction. I think I need to calm down and take one step at a time or I’m going to stay in panic mode!
Jan 19th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Karina,
Your body cells are saying you have been putting the incorrect fuel into your cells and this has been contributing to your imbalances. When we correct our eating habits by lowering our carbs and replacing them with wholesome unprocessed traditional proteins and fats + supplements our cells will heal and you will feel better. According to the ratios for proteins, fats and carbs used for this protocol, the proteins are not that high. You can use this nutritional calculator to calculate your ratios:
http://www.thecompletedetox.com/intake_ratio.htm
I can understand how you are feeling about making a change, but life is full of choices, and for me ill health was no longer a choice.
i - herb is a great online source for affordible supplements that ship around the world. I buy NOW and NATURAL FACTORS brands, but check carefully for no nasty additives like soy.
http://www.iherb.com/
We also buy our chemical free grass fed meats (incl bones and the animal’s fat) in bulk direct from the farmers. This is a cheaper way to buy, and the way it is all moving. These meats, fats and bone broths are so delicious and healing. When I replaced the sugars and grains with good proteins and high fats I am never looking for carbs to snack on.
Karina, I encourage you to have a serious talk with yourself calmly and make your choice. You can also join Bee’s Yahoo Candida Support group. It is a wonderful group of like minded souls and a great place for support.
Be well and happy learning,
Maree
Jan 20th, 2008 at 11:52 am
Maree - I appreciate so much that you wrote this to me. You are just the kind of friend I need right now - one who won’t let me get away with keeping myself ill and making excuses. I have been trying to figure out why I am so scared of doing this and I’m just not sure. I was so happy when I started to eat meat again after being a vegan/veggie for so many years that for once I could just sit down with my family or go to friends’ houses without having to make a fuss about what I can eat - now I will have to be that annoying girl again and to be honest I find it a bit embarassing. But I know I need to believe that I am worth it and I deserve to be well and it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks - right? I had a look at the ratios and you are right it really isn’t that much protein at all is it.
I am going to bed soon and I will sleep on it. I want to make sure I make an informed, well thought out decision so that I stick with whatever I choose to do.
Thanks again Maree - I really appreciate your time and effort.
K xx
Jan 21st, 2008 at 6:09 am
I remember looking at Bee’s diet protocols, at the beginning. They terrified me, and if I’d tried to follow them, I’d have been doomed to abject failure– I have nothing but admiration for the people who manage it, but I’m not one of them. IIRC, those rules are geared more toward people with serious gut problems, anyway, not so much PCOS. So read it with a grain of (hand-harvested, unrefined sea) salt. Take small steps. Figure out what you CAN do (don’t focus on what you can’t, or what’s overwhelming right now). Even the small changes will make a difference, and will help build up your strength and determination to do more.
You don’t really have to be that picky person– when you’re away from home just concentrate on meat and veggies, and learn to leave the bread and potatoes on your plate without commenting. Most people are forgiving if you skip dessert (”ooh, that looks delicious, but I don’t think my stomach can handle it right now”).
One thing to note is that PCOS and diabetes are related conditions, and respond well to the same diet. Sometimes the whole-foods sources don’t have a whole lot to say about PCOS, but they almost always have something to say about diabetes, and you can find a lot of helpful advice there.
You’re strong. You can do it.
Jan 21st, 2008 at 11:45 am
Thanks so much Ethyl. I had another look at Bee’s website and whilst I think it would definitely be the way to go if I were really ill, I just don’t think it is right for me right now. The list of foods you can eat is just too small - I feel that I would grow to resent that way of eating very quickly and rebel like a maniac. I put a lot of pressure on myself as it is with being a mother and ‘nourisher’ - I just think this would be the straw that broke the camel’s back, if you know what I mean.
I definitely like your advice and I believe that is something I can and will do - in fact I did it today and I feel quite well this evening (usually by this time of night I am feeling a bit nauseous). I didn’t have a cup of tea or a biscuit with my playgroup mothers - I just kept myself busy with the children and I hardly noticed! May I ask you - did you feel a bit gross at first eating so much fat? I think it’s the coconut oil - I feel a bit blaaagh a little while after eating it. I had some hot water with lemon and that seemed to help.
I will have a look at the diabetes advice - that’s really interesting.
Thank you for your advice and encouragement!
K xx
Jan 21st, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Karina
Use a small dose of Swedish Bitters if fat is making you feel sick. It will help while your liver and gallbladder get used to your new Nourishing diet.
I agree the Candida diet is very restrictive. It may explain why 70% of people who come to that page on flick away within minutes. Too Hard. We’re thinking of creating a step by step, day by day email service to help encourage candida sufferers to get well. Do you think that would help you?
I was on a Candida diet for 6 months. It was hell. Talk about emotional upheaval. My eldest son’s father left me within a month. He must have been too addicted to wheat and sugar…LOL. Taking more responsibility…I think the case was more that I turned into a raving lunatic while I ‘detoxed’ and he couldn’t stand me or his own withdrawal any longer.
I’d like to say that was the end of my Candida story but as soon as I got of the diet, I started eating wheat again and within a month I had a raging case of Candida again. It took me a few more months of on, off, on, off to realise I just can’t eat gluten. 6 years later I can have sourdough Kamut or Spelt about one a week without trouble. Sugar, you couldn’t pay me to eat it. It tastes bad to me. I love Rapadura, honey and maple syrup but refined sugar just tastes empty and bitter.
Chin up, you’ll get free of these addictive empty foods soon and you won’t know what kept you eating them. Just keep Nourishing.
Jan 21st, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Thank you Joanne - your experience sounds so awful! You’re not advertising it very well LOL! But seriously, I am so sorry you had to go through that - how awful for you. I am sure myself and many others would greatly benefit from a more step-by-step approach. As I mentioned, when I looked at the list of food I can eat I was like - oh my goodness. Very overwhelming. It’s not that I am averse to hard work - I was a vegan and that was extremely restrictive. There was only 1 place in the whole of Edinburgh I could eat at. But somehow I didn’t find it very difficult - maybe because it was like an ethical thing. Funny, I can easily restrict myself for the sake of animals but not for my own sake!
I am a bit confused about Swedish Bitters. It has alcohol in it doesn’t it? I can’t have even an eye-dropper full without getting swollen glands/sore throat/drunk feeling/sneezing so I am not sure if I could handle Swedish Bitters.
With the Candida thing - when I do the questionnaires I score very low - I have never had thrush and there are many symptoms I am totally free of. However, a friend of mine said that my extreme reactions to alcohol and sugar are definite symptoms of candida. On the other hand, I recently read here (http://www.foodreactions.org/intolerance/alcohol/index.html) that it can be caused by a deficiency of the enzyme Aldehyde Dehydrogenase - I also get a similar reaction to any dried fruit which has sulfur dioxide in it.
Sorry to be such a pain on this subject! I am totally fine on not eating wheat and sugar but I just don’t know if I can (or need to) go as far as Bee Wilder suggests.
Thank you! K xx
Jan 21st, 2008 at 7:07 pm
I did feel weird about the butter and oil at first. Especially when I’d try to eat coconut oil by itself. I finally figured out that there’s a huge difference between refined and unrefined coconut oil (unrefined is better), and that probably even our ancestors weren’t eating oil all by itself : \ (I learn everything the hard way)… so it was more just a process of figuring out what other food I should put the oil in. It’s great for sauteeing vegetables and cooking eggs. I also had to stop drinking water with meals (bad habit anyway as it dilutes stomach acid, and it makes digesting fatty meals unpleasant– I swear that two eggs and tablespoon of butter just float there at the top!). But don’t get too fixated on it. Listen to your body. If too much oil makes you feel bad, eat less of it. Eventually, you’ll sort out what’s right for you. You’ll find lots of very specific recommendations — eg “eat less than 40g of carbohydrates per day” or “make sure you get at least x quantity of x food or x supplement” etc. But ultimately every body is different and has slightly different requirements. So read all you can and soak up the general principles, but don’t follow them so strictly that you ignore what your body’s telling you, and don’t let the diet become your own personal Stalin that takes over your life (way too easy, that).
One of the perks of staying away from refined carbs is that after a while I really started to *notice* how wonderful a fresh peach tastes. Or raspberries, asparagus, spinach, beet greens, tomatoes, and the whole host of other fruits and vegetables I never paid much attention to before. Be mindful and don’t forget to enjoy what you eat. There’s so much there to enjoy, and you have never really *tasted* a raspberry, until you’ve been off sugar for a couple of months. Those things don’t grow on bushes, they fall straight from heaven ; )
Jan 22nd, 2008 at 7:26 pm
I can concur on the post about raw foods. I am now symptom free on raw foods and it has changed my life. I no longer suffer from the affects of pcos.
Jan 22nd, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Angi, I also disagree with your comments.
A) High fat is good for you if its the right fat. Moderation is not always the key. This is what we get told all the time - everything in moderation!
B) If you increase fat you increase risk of heart disease - this has never been proven - increasing good fat while limiting carbohydrates benefits the heart.
C) No cure for PCOS - a diet high in fat and protein and low in carbs is the cure. In regards to the daibetes association - they will hopefully come around soon and start implementing a low-carb diet for diabetes. Pharmaceutical companies don’t want a cure as it will affect profits.
As humans we need meat and fat predominantly and a few low-starch vegies thrown in!
Jan 22nd, 2008 at 11:20 pm
I’m going to start this candida diet. The food looks okay. It will be hard at first. The menu suggestions from Suz and other members are very helpful.
I have an under-active thyroid with auto-immune antibodies. Hopefully, my thyroid will start working properly again. I don’t know if the auto-immune antibodies can be banished. I’ve heard that a gluten free diet can be beneficial. I am no longer on thyroxine - I ran out and then haven’t bothered getting a script. Not good I know but I want to stop taking thyroxine. Haven’t taken it for almost 2 months. I’ve had some weight gain and feel a bit out of sorts. Would like to lose about 15kgs. I’m thinking of staying on the candida diet for 3-6 months. Probably 6 months and then get my thyroid levels checked again.
Jan 23rd, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Dear Sue, Would you mind explaining to me why you are going on the Candida Diet. I am studying Nutrition and would be interested to here how this diet will benefit an under-active Thyroid. I did Bee Wilder’s diet for about 6 months. It is intense but it can be done. It helps you learn so much about food and her forum is wonderfully supportive and informative. I am currently sitting here with a version of her raw egg drink. It is so beneficial.
kind regards
Bec
Jan 24th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Rebecca, I just thought eating completely clean with no sugar, preservatives etc. will heal my body quicker and I’m hoping for better weight loss results. My under-active thyroid is some kind of imbalance and eating clean may sort it out. Also, eating all that coconut oil is beneficial for the thyroid.
What does the raw egg drink taste like? Hopefully better than what I was forced to drink as a child - 1 egg with a spoonful of sugar - mix and drink. I could never get it down without gagging!
Feb 6th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Wow all of you are really strong to be able to stay with Bee’s diet, I admire you!
I’ve been playing with the idea having put up with candida for too long but I can’t imagine not having my raw milk. I love the feeling it gives me I find it totally refreshing and uplifting sounds crazy I know I can’t explain it? and I love nothing better than a raw egg yoke, raw milk and a touch of honey after a session at the gym. I have about 1 serving of carbs a day and I definately feel better for it.
Apr 5th, 2008 at 1:19 am
Hi Karina
I just wanted to introduce myself. I have a healing PCOS blog. I wasn’t sure if you noticed my blog or knew I was here, but I thought it would be nice to say hello. My husband is Scottish and we moved from Melbourne to Ballarat, which as legend has it is a very cold place. I didn’t believe it at first, but as you approach Ballarat, the temperature drops! The winters here are really cold and our house isn’t well insulated, so I might have some fermenting issues myself. I will have to check out your other blog about living in a cold climate. My husbands family are all here and Ballarat has a high proportion of Scottish residents.
I was diagnosed with PCOS at 21 and I am now 34 so I’ve had time to reflect. Basically I have charted my cycles on different ratios of carb, fat, protein ratios and can achieve a 28 day cycle on a low carb, high fat and moderate protein diet. The more carbs I introduce the longer my cycle. You can chart your cycle and introduce carbs into your diet in 5 gram increments to see if your cycle lengthens and then if it does then you know what your carb threshold is. I began at 20 g of carbs which I worked out by measuring the carb foods and working out its carb value. The point of PCOS as I understand it is that it is an evolutionary adaptation to periods of starvation. So a percentage of females are sensitive to carbs and do better on a high fat mod protein diet. When food is scarce, women with PCOS become more fertile as their weight drops and they go into ketosis. PCOS balances out other women’s diminished fertility due to low body weight in the times of famine, which safeguards a populations fertility. I do well when I am in ketosis, which I achieve at about 20g of carbs . Ketosis is an artificial simulation of famine as your body is forced to use its fat reserves for fuel. So it’s kind of what PCOS is designed to not only tolerate but thrive on. Women with PCOS will vary in how much carbs they can tolerate, or what suits them and this amount changes with weight changes and age. So as your weight drops, you might be able to tolerate more carbs. Your insulin sensitivity changes, but with PCOS a woman’s body will always be sensitive to foods that stimulate its secretion. I think your menstrual cycle will tell you what diet suits you, it can guide you through PCOS. My menstrual flow and its length is absolutely beautiful on a NT type diet. I’m sharp, energetic and I feel well. I have a seretonin sensitivity which flares up if I go to low with carbs, so I need to balance it with my PCOS. I haven’t worked out how many carbs I need to avoid seretonin depletion, but i suspect it is about being in ketosis for too long. I think that people with type 1 and 2 diabetes I think are biologically different in terms of their reproductive health concerns, that is their menstrual cycles are not so sensitive to carb intake? I’m not sure that the argument that high fat diets are not beneficial for PCOS and the 2 types of diabetes in the same way? as I understand it women with PCOS are prone to diabetes and heart disease because of the increased amount of insulin and glucose circulating in their blood. I haven’t seen any documented studies which link high saturated fat intake to PCOS increased heart attack risk. Insulin and sugar damage human cells and organs as with diabetes. If you have low insulin circulating in the system and high fat, you aren’t going to be damaging you body. The abdominal fat that often comes with PCOS makes women prone to heart disease, so getting this adipose tissue off is really important. From personal experience the NT diet philosophy is suited to treating PCOS in terms of the biological profile these women have. Why isn’t the medical community publishing the advantage of high fat, mod protein and lower carbs for PCOS when so many women report that it is beneficial to regulating their PCOS? Where are the studies that have studied women with PCOS and different types of ratios of protein, fat and carbs? I would be interested in seeing them as I haven’t specifically come across any. The research would be important to me as I would hate to get to 40 and die of a heart attack because I ate too much animal fat. Women with PCOS represent a very high proportion of heart attack cases in the 40 year old age group. I keep striving to lose the abdominal fat by 40 so I don’t cark it! However, as it stands my PCOS is in a dormant stage, that is to say it is not active as my cycles are regular and have been regular for many months and I my insulin resistance is under control as is my blood sugar. I can medically document this as can I scientifically document my cycles on a chart. I find though that people aren’t really interested in this information as it contradicts the dominant food and nutrition discourses which health authorities distribute. In order to stay healthy I have had to create my own tools for analysing my health and working out what nutritional system is beneficial for my specific body type. So I guess I am using experience, bodily feelings and scientific testing through pathology lab results to make my claims about managing my PCOS. I don’t usually talk about this with people as it makes me sound like a nutter or some mad scientist!!!! I guess I just get a little defensive as most people don’t really understand PCOS, but NT semms to be on the right track. Anyway, I’ll be interested in how things go for you Karina.
Regards
Suzanne