👉 affects 1 in 10 women of childbearing age.
👉 reduced sensitivity to insulin is the big factor that causes hormonal imbalance and PCOS symptoms.
👉 supporting your body with the diet and lifestyle changes below can make a big difference.
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🐟 Eating protein in each meal helps you stay full and encourages your body to keep hold of vital muscle.
🥦 Packing your meals with veg aids digestion and helps and keep blood sugar levels more stable.
🥑 1-3 servings of healthy fats daily provides the building blocks for healthy hormones. Particularly helpful are monounsatured fats – avocado, olive oil, nuts and seeds – plus oily fish.
Minimising processed carbs and added sugar can help a lot too.
If weight loss is your goal, calorie intake is still most important, so be aware of portion sizes.
🌞 Vitamin D and omega 3 are generally helpful supplements for everyone, and have been shown to improve insulin sensitivity in PCOS. They can also improve energy, brain function, heart health, and potentially help weight loss.
🙏 Reduce stress. Meditation, yoga, walking in nature, treating yourself to beautiful nutrition-packed meals, taking time to breathe…all helps the body focus it’s energy on producing healthy hormones rather than stress hormones.
🚶♀️Daily walks for heart health, mental health, and weight loss.
Keep active daily, use a step tracker, take the stairs, walk wherever you can. Head out in nature whenever possible.
🏋️♀️ Lifting weights encourages your body to send glucose into muscle cells, rather than store it as fat. More muscle means better insulin sensitivity (as well as improved health, strength, toning and weight loss).
🏃♀️ HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity and body composition.
Various forms of exercise can be turned into HIIT – the key is working hard and getting your heart rate up for short periods of time. Try 20–30 seconds of fast rowing, cycling or running, followed by 30-60 seconds rest, for 10-20 total minutes.
💛 I hope these points help.