Apologies for the long post. I was diagnosed at 16 with insulin resistant PCOS (now 36) and thought I was pretty well read on the condition but the older I get the more confusing the diet advice seems to be.... I switched to ‘healthier’ alternatives such as whole grains, wholemeal pasta, porridge, lower GI cereals etc years ago (had them mostly anyway) and aim to eat a pretty balanced, healthy diet with plenty of fresh fruit and veg, lean meat, fish etc about 80% of the time I would say, allowing for treats, meals out, special occasions etc. I also aim to limit refined sugar and foods with added refined sugar. I include healthy fats in my diet as much as possible. My weight has Broadly remained stable for the last few years but I am still at least a stone to 1.5 stones over where I should be and not surprisingly the weight is very stubborn to shift even with light to moderate exercise thrown in too. I take metformin which seems to stop me piling on weight like before. I remain confused in particular about the General stance on a few things? Re dairy, I saw a nutritionist recently who advocated some dairy in the diet, particularly as some dairy alternatives are not as low on the GI and also do not contain as much protein or calcium.... another book I have says to avoid dairy altogether..... same confusion with wheat. I try to avoid highly refined white flour as much as possible (it bloats me anyway) but have not given up other wheat products. I do try not to have too much but am reluctant to cut out completely. Are lower GI wheat based products still okay for PCOS (or wheat free alternatives such as brown rice pasta) or should I be avoiding wheat altogether too? The advice I have found seems to suggest that gluten is generally inflammatory so cutting down or avoiding is generally preferable but I wondered what thoughts were? Im not in favour of cutting anything out completely unless there are guaranteed benefits or I am definitely allergic/intolerant to be honest. As for soya, I don’t eat much anyway, but have read things that say it should be avoided and others that say it’s fine. It feels like it’s such a minefield out there..... The nutritionist I saw most recently also reminded me of the benefits of a low GI diet which I knew mostly anyway but it was useful to be reacquainted with it. I was surprised to learn though that some of the ‘healthier’ alternatives I’ve been having for years like honey, agave, brown rice, wholemeal bread actually have a higher GI value than the things I tried to cut out?! It’s really hard to know which advice to follow and it seems like the more books I read the more confused I become,
I wondered what those of you with PCOS have had the most success with in terms of diet. What has helped with alleviation of symptoms such as acne, weight gain, excess hair, low progesterone in particular? Has anything helped with improving fertility too? TIA.
