THE PCOS FRUITS

As a PCOS sufferer myself, it was hard to digest the fact that fruits could actually help you reduce your weight! Difficult as it is, with PCOS. Perhaps, you too think that fruits have a reasonable carbohydrate content that would spike your insulin levels like nothing else. Not true, though! If you consume low GL fruits along with nuts and seeds, the spike in the insulin levels won’t be as effective as to harm you. Now…what do I even mean by low GL fruits? GL, or glycemic load measures the rate at which food is turned into glucose for energy via insulin.

PCOS and Insulin:

PCOS stands for poly cystic ovarian syndrome. Also known as Stein Leventhal syndrome, it is a condition that affects women of childbearing age, affecting their fertility. The ovaries produce eggs, but do not release them, i.e. they do not ovulate. Instead, the eggs stay in ovaries, forming clusters of fluid-filled sacs or cysts around them. The main cause of PCOS is unknown, but its effects seem to be pretty scary. The patients are at a higher risk of pre-diabetes and type-2 diabetes, and heart diseases, because of the inability of the body to control blood sugar effectively. 40% of PCOS sufferers are insulin resistant, i.e. their cells do not respond to the hormone insulin, which helps stablize the blood sugar effectively. (Similar to type-2 diabetes, eh?) Needless to say, obesity comes into the picture, and nearly 75% of the overweight PCOS sufferers are insulin resistant- making the matters even worse. High insulin also stimulates the ovaries to produce testosterone- the ‘male’ hormone that accounts for some of the main symptoms of PCOS- excess hair, acne, and more muscular physique.

CURE:

The disease has no permanent cure…just balancing and management is required. One of the primary things being, weight reduction, which is ‘not-that-easy-thing-to-attain’ with PCOS. But even 5% reduction in your weight can reduce the symptoms up to 25%. Nothing better than exercises and healthy, low carb diet. But, in here, I’d like to focus on two excellent low GL fruits, that’ll keep your problems at bay.

APPLE– A super-food, this, it contains dietary fibres, complex carbohydrates, vitamin A and C, calcium, folic acid- elements necessary for weight loss and cholesterol control and providing the body with necessary nutrients for healthy living. It is also rich in potassium, cellulose and organic acids which stimulate the motility of stomach and intestines, aiding in better digestion. So, now you get the picture…”An apple a day, keeps the doctor away”.

GUAVA– It is quite helpful for those who want to lose weight without compromising their intake of proteins, vitamins and dietary fibers. The level of dietary fiber in guava helps to regulate the absorption of sugar in the body, which decreases the chances of major spikes and drops in insulin and glucose in body. It can even help prevent the appearance of type-2 diabetes. It has five times more vitamin C than any other citrus fruit, which also makes it the best winter fruit. Thus it provides your immune system a huge boost in antioxidants which are major lines of defense against the proliferation of free radicals in body, which are main causes of serious conditions like cancer and heart diseases. So, yeah, “a guava a day, keeps all diseases at bay!”

SIMILAR FRUITS AND EATABLES:

And then, there are some other excellent fruits like pear, oranges, grapes, kiwi, pomegranate… but nothing like green vegetables, whole grains and pulses (they have good and easy-to-break-carbs), eggs and meat(higher protein content), and above all exercises to keep you healthy! Good luck!