Load Up on Fiber

High-fiber foods can help with weight loss; increased dietary fiber has been shown to predict weight loss in women with PCOS.

Avoid High-Glycemic-Index Foods

Avoiding high-glycemic-index foods—such as refined grains, sweetened beverages, fruit juices, and added sugars—is helpful for PCOS.

Minimize Saturated and Trans Fats

Saturated and trans fats (which are highest in meat, dairy, and commercial snack foods) cause insulin resistance, which worsens PCOS.

Focus on Foods Low in AGEs (Advanced Glycation Endproducts)

These are highly reactive molecules present in certain foods (especially when cooked at high temperatures) that can induce inflammation, insulin resistance, and cellular damage. Women with PCOS tend to have higher levels of AGEs and AGE receptors. Diets low in AGEs reduce inflammation and insulin resistance in women with PCOS. High-AGE foods include beef, pork, poultry, cheese, butter, cream cheese, and processed snack foods. Low-AGE foods include whole grains, legumes, vegetables, and fruits.

Opt for Soy

Soy has been shown to improve PCOS. A 2018 randomized trial compared a soy-containing diet with a higher-animal-protein control diet in women with PCOS. Both groups ate the same total calories, protein, carbs, and fat. Compared with the control diet, the soy diet led to significant decreases in body weight, waist circumference, insulin, insulin resistance, blood sugar, and triglycerides; it also helped counteract hormone disruption. A 2016 study found similar results.

Avoid Animal Protein

Protein from animal sources tends to promote insulin resistance and inflammation, key issues in PCOS.

BOTTOM LINE

A 2017 review study published in Diabetes & Metabolic Syndrome: Clinical Research & Reviews noted that “a favorable dietary plan in women with PCOS should contain low amounts of saturated fatty acids. … Additionally, sufficient intake of fiber-rich diet from whole grains, legumes, vegetables, and fruits with an emphasis on carbohydrate sources with low glycemic index is highly recommended.” Hmmm … sounds a lot like a plant-based diet to me!

The post I Have PCOS. What Should I Eat? appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

“It was the first time that I really saw that my family had a lot of diet-related problems,” says Garvey, noting that her father and a number of other relatives had diabetes and other serious medical conditions. “I think before my father got sick, I was kind of in denial about it.”

Dr. Padma Garvey

After watching the film, Garvey immediately committed to a WFPB diet in an effort to fend off the same diseases that plagued her father. “I was startled at how fast I felt better,” she says.

The doctor was so impressed with her own results that she began promoting a WFPB as part of part her everyday conversations with patients. “Up until that point, there was a lot of stuff that I found very dissatisfying about medicine. I didn’t feel like I really could help people,” she says. Now she regularly tells patients to watch the Forks Over Knives movie. “I tell all my patients that it saved my life.”

As a gynecologist, Garvey draws the connection between diet and the health issues her patients regularly face. A number of gynecological conditions are directly impacted by food choices, she says, and may be helped by following a WFPB diet.

Garvey points to the relationship between polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and diet: “Polycystic ovarian syndrome is on the same disease spectrum as type 2 diabetes. In fact, a fair number of women with polycystic ovarian syndrome either have type 2 diabetes or they’ll get type 2 diabetes. I spend a lot of time with my patients who have polycystic ovarian syndrome [talking] about adopting a plant-based diet.”

Many of the women Garvey sees are concerned about cancer. She explains to those patients that breast cancer, uterine cancer, and ovarian cancer are all influenced by diet, and encourages them to follow a WFPB diet in order to reduce their risk.

Many pregnant women experience gestational diabetes, and having worked as an obstetrician for 23 years, Garvey has seen a number who suffered from it. She explains that, again, these conditions can be controlled by eating a diet of whole plant foods and avoiding processed ingredients such as oil and sugar.

In addition to encouraging her patients to eat a WFPB diet, Garvey also shares the benefits of the lifestyle in a regular podcast, and in her blog for the Hudson Valley Parent website, “The Plant-Based Doctor Mom.”

“I find it gratifying,” Garvey says about promoting a WFPB diet in her Hudson Valley community. “I feel like I have some information to share with them that is going to make them feel better. The bonus is, it’s not going to involve a pill, it’s not going to involve a procedure, and I’m not making an extra buck on the side because of it.”

The post This Gynecologist Is Making the WFPB Connection for Women appeared first on Forks Over Knives.