PCOD or Polycystic ovarian syndrome is a condition that has tremendously prevailed among women since the past few years. The statistic rates in which the number of women suffering from this condition has increased in India is almost alarming and in all its honesty shocking. Many things affect your health when you have PCOD. There is certain food to avoid when you have PCOD.
In medical terms, when ovaries contain a lot of immature or partially mature eggs. Since these eggs cannot be passed during menstruation, they eventually turn into a cyst that pertains in the ovaries.
PCOD condition does not have a single reason for the occurrence. It can be caused due to obesity, hormonal disturbance, genetics, excessive junk food, insulin diet unhealthy lifestyle, stress, anxiety and more. Women’s fertility is highly affected due to disorder as the ovaries tend to become enlarged and secrete an excessive amount of androgens. It can cause troubles with fertility and other hormonal imbalances.
Some common symptoms of PCOD are abdominal weight gain, excessive pain during periods, acne, infertility, weight loss, male pattern hair loss, and more. If you are experiencing hair loss more than usual, try to consider microneedling for healthy regrowth as Hair Guard advises” and our link being on Hair Guard.
There is as such no permanent cure to PCOD, but the symptoms can be circumscribed and restricted to an extent with medication, a certain change in lifestyle and most importantly with the correct diet. There is a certain kind of food that women suffering from PCOD should avoid to keep the intensity of these symptoms low.
1. CARBS
Carbs are generally an enemy for a healthy body and for women suffering from PCOD it acts as a catalyst of destruction for their body. Refined carbs do not process correctly because of the heavy insulin components. Preventing the nutrient-void carbohydrates can accelerate weight loss which will turn to decrease the androgen levels. These androgen levels are mostly responsible for irregular menstrual cycles, acne and abnormal hair growth. One can avoid the major symptoms of PCOD by saying no to bread, pizza, pasta and white rice.
2. SUGARY BEVERAGES
Sugary beverages especially the pre-bottled or pre-packaged options have way more concentrated sugar than the natural sweeteners and sugars. If you already have a high insulin level or PCOD, it will hamper the amount of sugar in your blood causing further health problems. It is best to avoid all kinds of artificial sugary beverages, soda, canned juices, bottled smoothies, cold-pressed juices and more. Instead, approach a healthier shift to sugar with fruits.
3. SUGARY AND PROCESSED FOODS
Just like sweetened beverages, sugary and processed fruits also act like slow poison for the body. The packaged sugary foods like cakes, cookies, candies, sweets, cereals, yoghurts and ice cream can all add up to the harmful chemicals that enter your body. These chemicals induce weight gain and also destroys the gut microbiome. If you are suffering from PCOD, try filling your sweet tooth cravings by moving towards whole foods or homemade sweets using hone and jaggery.
4. SATURATED AND TRANS FATS
Saturated foods and Trans fats like extensively processed meats and other high fat frozen foods are also not beneficial towards maintaining a healthy body. For PCOD patients, it is advised to stay away from high fats and consume more good and healthy fats. You can have cheese, ghee, avocado and other healthy fat that give the required energy to the body and not be pro-inflammatory to the body. Even though doughnuts, pizzas and French fries right out of packets can be really tempting but it harms the body in unexplainable ways.
5. DAIRY
Consuming dairy is usually good for health but for some women suffering from PCOD, reduction in the dairy intake can potentially help them in losing weight and maintain the hormonal levels. Women who are lactose intolerant or have gut issues must cut back on their dairy since PCOD increases the sensitivity and intolerance towards dairy. You can have the natural unprocessed milk though, products like artificially processed cheese, yoghurt with added sugar, ice-cream with added sugar etc. should be avoided.
6. ALCOHOL
Women suffering from PCOD have high rates of fatty liver and since alcohol adds direct toxins to the liver and gut microbiome, it goes without saying that PCOD patients must stay miles away from alcohol. Not all kinds of alcohol are proven to do bodily harm. If you take red wine in controlled quantity every day, it will actually be beneficial for the body. When you mix your alcohol with sugary beverages or canned cocktails, it affects in a worse manner.
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7. ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS
Mostly, women who suffer from hormonal imbalance more often than not also suffer from roller coaster blood sugar levels. A lot of women cannot live without sweets and desserts also adhering to their sweet tooth, this is where artificial sweeteners like sugar-free or stevia come in.
Now the myth of these artificial sweeteners being beneficial to the body needs to be broke immediately. These sugar alternatives have problems of their own considering their synthetic components. The main problem is once the person gets used to the complex flavours of these artificial sweeteners, their taste buds tend to lose real flavours of fruits, vegetable and wholesome foods. Since these alternatives hijack our real taste, our liver is also automatically deprived of the phytonutrients that follow. The proper process of the liver is very important to keep the hormones in check.
8. RED MEAT
Red meat goes heavy on your digestion and if your body hormone levels are already taking a swing, you might want to go easy on the red meat. Even though women with PCOD are advised to eat a lot of protein-packed meat in order to maintain their weight and balance it out with the sugar impact, red meat does not count in the healthiest of meat categories out there.
9. RAW KALE
To be clear, kale is not bad for your body but raw kale contains a substance called goitrogen which causes hypothyroidism and suppresses the thyroid function. This condition naturally leads to PCOD. You can, however, consume cooked kale as the substance calms down once the kale is cooked. Same is the case with Brussels sprout, broccoli, collard greens, cabbage and bok choy. If you don’t want to cook them to the fullest, simply toss some olive oil into the pan and saute them to your liking.
10. Soy
Soy is heavy when it comes plant estrogen which ultimately confuses the women’s body with real estrogen causing further hormonal imbalances. Most women shift to soy milk when they are either lactose intolerant or trying to cue the dairy, but if you are suffering from PCOD, this might not be the most sensible shift. Too much soy intake sends a signal to the endocrine system to take it eas on the estrogen production which slows down the production of luteinizing hormones and ultimately shuts down the ovulation.
11. Cooking oils
If you already don’t know, unhealthy fats are not good news for your hormonal peace. Keeping peace with your hormones majorly requires the consumption of healthy fats in order to keep the cholesterol in check. Since the cholesterol adds up to keeping the hormones in place, a PCOD patient must keep her vegetable or cooking oil in check. The consumption of these synthetic oil impacts more omega 6 fatty acids and less omega 3 fatty acids. To keep the body healthy, both omega fatty acid is essential.
12. Gluten foods
For PCOD patients, gluten is as good as inviting troubles for your body. Try and switch to a wholesome gluten-free diet if you can. Any wheat-based bread, cereals or pasta increases the inflammation in women suffering from PCOD. Since their glycemic index is extremely high, they can really spike your blood glucose level and accelerate weight gain.
Now, these were some of the foods one must avoid if they are undergoing PCOD. Even though a good diet helps to suppress symptoms of this condition, a lot of other things contribute to helping in reducing the effects of this condition. A combination of a healthy lifestyle, proper medication, balanced diet and a bit less stress can relatively help much better in helping this condition.
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