PCOS Diet Plan: Guidelines

Look dealing with a hormonal imbalance is incredibly difficult, and finding a diet plan to suit your needs can feel like chaos.

You'll hear people say just eat a "healthy diet". Ok, but what does that mean?

In my own journey, it's taken two and a half years to figure out how to deal with PCOS, diet and lifestyle changes. And if I'm being completely honest, it's a hugely emotional experience.

I also want to acknowledge how hard it’s been to make peace with an adult body (I was a ballet dancer for many years). Growing up has so many wonderful benefits, but I’m still challenged regularly to accept my body (I know I’m not alone here).

While there is always a psychological component (stress as well is a major issue that you’ll have to tackle), there are adaptations and ways to help with weight gain, fatigue, and hair growth (or hair loss for others).

Here is a crash course on what you need to do to get yourself on track.

I always like to preface by saying, it's so much easier if you're doing this with a nutritionist or a doctor. I used a doctor to help get my PCOS diagnosis and a nutritionist to jump-start my progress, but in the end, it has been my own trial and error that has gotten me as far as I am today.

It's hard to manage PCOS symptoms, they fluctuate and the severity of the symptoms can be an ebb and flow. PCOS symptoms can include weight gain, fatigue, hirsutism, and hair loss to name a few (brutal right?).

Don't forget that sometimes you'll feel better and other times it will be a struggle to manage your PCOS. The best things I've done for managing my PCOS symptoms have been the following: regulating my blood sugar (and insulin resistance), following an anti-inflammatory diet, taking supplements, and reducing my stress

It’s important to know that as you age, PCOS can contribute to cardiovascular disease and diabetes, so it’s worth the effort to get it under some control. According to Johns Hopkins, " PCOS risk factors, like being overweight or having insulin-resistant diabetes or higher blood pressure, are associated with cardiovascular disease".

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a syndrome meaning that women with PCOS are going to have different presentations for all women with PCOS.

My Experience with a PCOS Diet: Whole 30 (Paleo Diet for PCOS)

I started by trying out a Whole30 meal plan which was an absolute game changer for me, almost immediately.

Within just a few days, this way of eating worked to improve PCOS symptoms and I lost weight the first week after nearly a year of struggling.

A Whole 30 diet includes removing refined carbohydrates, adding lean protein and eliminating all sugary and processed foods.

I found through this diet that dairy (sadly including low-fat and full-fat dairy) is an inflammatory food for me and that I do much better when I don't eat grains (including corn). Obviously, once you get yourself on a healthy trajectory you can have moments where you change up your diet and throw in a few cheat days, but to get started it helps to maintain your PCOS diet as consistently as possible.

We all have different triggers of inflammation, which is why an elimination diet is so helpful. There are obvious foods to avoid (anything that spikes your blood sugar, processed foods, and fried foods for example), but to know what you need to do for managing PCOS symptoms unique to you, you'll have to treat this a bit like a science experiment.

Vegan Diet for PCOS

I applaud those who follow a vegan diet, but it can be hard for people with PCOS because vegan protein is so carbohydrate-heavy. Many people with PCOS have great success with intermittent fasting, and a ketogenic diet (I haven't had luck with intermittent fasting, and I've found that a low carbohydrate diet for PCOS has worked for me).

Ultimately for long-term success and weight loss, you'll need to make a lifestyle adjustment. Think, well-balanced and protein-healthy meals. Time to say goodbye to the fad diets, and a one size fits all approach. You don't even have to make massive changes to your diet to lose weight. Aim for a plant-heavy, lower-carb meal plan.

If you want to try a keto diet, great! But if not there are some easy-to-follow guidelines that will help. I promise

Insulin resistance

Insulin resistance unfortunately for many of us with PCOS is a real issue.

What is it exactly? According to the National Institute of Health, insulin resistance is " when cells in your muscles, fat, and liver don't respond well to insulin and can't easily take up glucose from your blood". This can lead to higher blood sugar.

If you follow the Glucose Goddess https://www.glucosegoddess.com/ She has some outstanding ways to help manage your blood sugar. This includes::

Eating your vegetables first,
Drinking a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar with carb-heavy foods/desserts (with a large glass of water of course)
Walking right after a meal
Eating a savory breakfast when possible

Guidelines for a PCOS Diet Plan

General rules include aiming to eat foods high in fiber, anti-inflammatory foods, and eliminating highly processed foods. Figuring out a PCOS diet that works for you may take some trial and error but there are a few tenets to follow:

Eat healthy fats:

What does that mean? Try for extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, and limited quantities of cold-pressed coconut oil. Coconut oil is under the "saturated fats" umbrella so you'll want to limit how much you eat.

Don't forget to reduce your intake of seed oils, and processed oils (like canola, corn, and safflower). Why? Because you want to keep your ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6es low. The more of these processed oils, the worse your ratio. High Omega 6s lead to inflammation in the body, and our goal is to reduce inflammation.

Limit carbohydrates (even whole grains like cooked brown rice):

Sadly, I do best without grains of any sort. You might be different, but you'll still want to keep your carbohydrates low. I started to see early success when I kept my net carbs (total carbs minus fiber) to around 50 grams a day. Nowadays I don’t need to track my carbs but they’re usually around 100-150 net grams a day.

Aim for lots of fiber and don’t be afraid of fruit

Fiber will help you stay full longer and will help with your gut health. Different doctors are giving slightly different suggestions, but the consensus seems to be 25-50 grams per day (which you will need to build up to slowly). The average American currently only gets 10-15grams per day.

The fiber that you eat is not digested by the body, and when you think about carbohydrates you actually want to focus on the net grams (again carbs minus fiber). So it’s important and also helpful from a carbohydrate regulation perspective.

Fruit gets a bad rap for being too sugary, but limited quantities of fruit is really important from a nutritional perspective. Remember berries are great because they’re low glycemic. But, don’t be afraid to enjoy even the tropical varieties (known to be more sugary). I was still able to lose weight while eating dried mango!

Try not to Snack

My weight loss had hit a plateau until I cut snacking out. And to be fair I did cheat a bit with my Whole 30 diet and didn't stick to only 3 meals a day. Giving yourself ~5 hours in between meals (trust me it gets easier with time) will help your insulin resistance and blood sugar.

Workout only 2 hours after eating

I read Steve Zim's (celebrity trainer, I know) Superhero Nutrition book which recommended only working out 2 hours after eating, or in a fasted state to burn fat instead of carbs. This was really helpful for me and I started to see a real change in my body.

Foods to Avoid with PCOS

Unfortunately, if you're a person with PCOS, you're probably dealing with some inflammation and a hormonal imbalance, which means you need to be careful about the foods you eat especially if you're trying to get yourself back to a healthy weight. Sugar is an absolute no-no, at least until you get your symptoms under control. I have found that cutting out dairy and grains worked well for me (I will now add them back in from time to time but dairy contributes blatantly to my acne). The grains I limit include, wheat, corn, rice, quinoa (even though it's technically a seed), you get the picture.

I find that my food cravings tend to be for carbs and sweets, but I have a really hard time regulating my intake and they definitely make my PCOS symptoms worse. I will treat myself on occasion, but sticking with whole foods and fruit is a better choice.

Foods to Eat

The best foods to eat include fatty fish (make sure you're getting enough Omega threes), whole foods, and unprocessed foods. You want to eat lots of veggies and some fruit too. Don't be afraid of fruit! I have found that I can have several pieces a day without any issues. Stick to a lot of whole food, and high fiber foods. Olive oil is great, as is avocado and coconut oil.

Supplements

Supplements are a really important part of the healing journey. I’m reluctant to share all that I take because they are specific to my hormonal imbalance, but as a rule I think we generally all need Vitamin D, Omega 3s and I also take a B Complex.

There are so many components to feeling better, feel free to email me if you’d like to work together and check back for my post on meal plans!

PCOS Diet Plan: Guidelines