Sunday, July 29, 2018

What is PCOS and what food did I take to cure it?

Click here for Part - 1

Did you ever come across girls on social media or in your real life flaunting their hairy body (like on legs, hands, upper lip, chin, and other body parts where they have unwanted hair) and calling it as "feminism" or "taking pride in being a girl without hiding true self?"

Although I really really appreciate their guts to overcome the embarrassment of having hair on their body unlike other "pretty" girls, I really DO NOT support the tags which they use to flaunt themselves in this way. The main reason for girls to have such dense unwanted hair on their body is due to hormonal imbalance and they're trying to flaunt themselves with it by tagging it as "feminism" ? How stupid one can be to do that? Instead of educating girls about the cause of their unwanted hair issues, you're trying to make them be some false feminists? Our bodies were not meant to have this unwanted hair at all! We're women not men, so I urge you to be someone who takes care of their body instead of using it to fool young girls talking about false feminism which doesn't concentrate on real issues but flaunting a hormonal imbalanced body!

The biggest disease people (my stress is especially on girls and Indian girls) are suffering from is ignorance. Whenever you TRY to share some knowledge with people, they give looks as if they know everything or they don't wanna know because they think they know it already or they think the information they are going to get is useless.

That is why, we never wanna know the root cause of some diseases like for example PCOS until it attacks you and makes your life a living hell.
I was ignorant too. I'm not saying I'm the most perfect girl who had a perfect lifestyle since childhood. No. I had all the facilities to be healthy but I was ignorant towards it and stuffed myself with food which I thought was "healthy". Sometimes, I go "one piece of this or that wouldn't harm me at all" and I have given the same reason for more than 100 times and thats what has made me a victim of PCOS today.

Now, when I came to know about my PCOS condition, I also came to know that it is a VERY common Syndrome that's attacking girls all over the world and you can easily find the statistics on Google. 1 in 5 girls is suffering from PCOS. So when I had this information with me, instead of finding the root cause of this, I was falsely "assured" by few doctors and few friends saying that it is OKAY because almost EVERY girl is suffering from it and all I need to do was change my "diet" and eat "healthy food". One cannot be more vague than this cuz I eat nothing but healthy when am at home!

I mean, are you people crazy to take any kind of disease which you're attacked with so lightly? Why aren't you doing something about that which is threatening your regular lifestyle and infertility??? Do you ask this question to yourself? If you don't, you're as ignorant as any uneducated person.
So, let's jump in to get some information about PCOS.

Let's go with the basics of PCOS.

PCOS is caused in women when they develop more male hormones (Androgens) than female hormones (Estrogens) in their bodies.
So, every woman has ovaries in their body and those ovaries produce "eggs" every month.

1) There is a part in our brain called Pituitary gland which releases a hormone called Leutinizing Hormone (LH) to induce the formation of eggs. So, every month when this Pituitary gland releases LH, there is a sudden spike in LH levels. This is what causes the eggs to be formed. Only and only when there is a "SPIKE" in LH levels, the ovaries produce eggs. Not when there is no spike in LH levels. This is a very important point to remember.

What actually happens at this stage is that when a sperm comes and fertilizes the egg, this egg will develop into a fetus.

But, if the egg is left unfertilized, these eggs will be excreted from the body in the form of periods along with the lining of the uterus.

THIS is what usually happens when a woman is not suffering from PCOS.

So, what happens when someone is suffering from PCOS? What makes them not produce any eggs and thus leads to no periods?

Well, the answer is very simple.

LH levels in someone who is suffering from PCOS is constantly high and hence there is NO SPIKE which should occur monthly. Hence, as I mentioned earlier, eggs are produced only and only when there is a spike in one's LH levels.

2) Why do we get unwanted hair then?

When women have too many eggs in their system, there is a little sac around those eggs which produces Androgens in your body and these Androgens are converted into Estrogens (female hormones) by an enzyme called Aromatase Cytochrome P450 (that's not really important but I'm a trivia slut!). BUT, what happens is that if this enzyme is blocked by something (for example, Glyphosate which is found in GMO foods) then there is no way that these Androgens (male hormones) are going to get converted into Estrogens.

That's the reason why you have unwanted facial hair on your upper lip, chin, etc.

3) Not just those little sacs but also our Adrenal glands produce Androgens. So, if you have an over active Adrenal, means, if you're stressed all the time then you are going to get these symptoms.
Sometimes, high levels of LH are accompanied by high levels of Insulin and this is why your hormones are all over the place and you suffer from "hormonal imbalance".

This is what causes PCOS Symptoms like: unwanted hair on face and body, irregular periods (skipping periods for more than a month or two months or in some cases more than 3 months), low metabolism which means you easily put on weight, acne, depression, etc. These are all short term symptoms and the major symptom which is caused when PCOS is left unattended and untreated for long term is that it causes INFERTILITY which is the main concern for every female out there.

PCOS - PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome
Poly - many
Cyst - little fluid filled bags in the ovaries due to hormonal imbalance.

Now, we know the science part of PCOS. Let's talk about how it is caused and is spreading like a wildfire among girls.

The main reason for ANY health disease is SUGAR in all kinds of food we take. Yes, that's the only evil thing which is worse and making you addicted to all kinds of unhealthy food and diet and thus leading you to be prone to illnesses like PCOS.

As Indians, especially girls, we can't just avoid Sugar all the time. It's nearly impossible. People THINK they have sweet tooth and thats why they crave for sweets all the time. NO. It's all in your head and although I don't have a sweet tooth, I'm a foodie and I love to eat desserts every now and then and used to get dessert and chocolate cravings as a part of my PMS (which I don't suffer from anymore). When I tell you that you can easily stop your sugar/sweet cravings, please believe me cuz you can! If I can do it, anyone can do it.
Now, since we as humans have evolved so much that we have ALL different foods that involve sugar and hidden sugars in them which is making our health go worse. All you have to do is educate yourself about these foods which you think is healthy but actually NOT at all healthy if taken in huge amounts every. single. day.

Another main reason to be prone to not just PCOS but many ailments is being in our own COMFORT ZONE and LACK OF EXERCISE. Lack of physical movement, and no, by that I don't mean just walking here and there and calling it as an exercise at the end of the day. If you look at our ancestors and the women especially, they used to have big families and there is work always for them to be engaged in. Now we have all kinds of comforts and don't bother ourselves with helping mom in the kitchen, not bothering about yoga, early morning jogging, etc., cuz we are addicted to being in our own comfort zone.

So, two causes:
1) SUGAR.
2) LACK OF PHYSICAL MOVEMENT.

Now, lets talk about how one can cure PCOS problem naturally.

Now, I have already talked (link) about how Carbohydrates (includes sugars too) are the main cause of many problems in every body's life. Please keep your carb intake as LOW as possible. Consume only and ONLY healthy carbs in your diet. I know its very difficult to cut out all carbs from your daily food intake but make it gradual and you'll eventually end up having your own perfect diet if you're consistent about it.

Unhealthy Carbohydrates:

Refined flours like maida, store bought refined attas to make rotis/chapattis, all kinds of white and brown bread since they're refined, white or basmati long grain rice, pasta, noodles, etc.

Healthy Carbohydrates:

Millets like raagi, jowar, sorghum, rolled oats (NOT steel cut oats), brown rice, black rice, etc.

So, unhealthy carbohydrates are the ones which you should absolutely and ruthlessly cut out from your diet. Don't expect results when you've cheat days to eat Burgers and Pizzas from fast food centres. Btw, did I tell you that you can make your own burger and pizza if you are just a lil bit creative and that you can replace those unhealthy carbs with healthy ones? Follow few Keto recipes on YouTube to get some ideas about how to make your own pizza and you can absolutely have as many pizzas as you want without worrying about the carbs anymore!

The second thing is that you've to include some kind of exercise in your routine even if its just for half an hour. Run, jog, yoga, zumba, weight lifting, whatever it is, just include it and you'll have wonderful results and you'll feel more positive than before!

Here's my short diet plan which I am following since two months:

Since I'm doing Intermittent Fasting, I have only Brunch and Dinner in huge quantities with 5-6 hours gap between each meal and rest of the time, I fast.

Brunch:

Almonds + Walnuts +
Veg dry curry/rolled oats or leafy veg curry (spinach mostly) + 1 boiled egg + paneer + keera + sometimes carrot (once or twice in a week) + berries (indian blackberry, strawberry, etc) or any kind of fruit (except banana) but not in huge quantities. (Include flaxseed rotis or raagi rotis along with veg curry if you prefer so).

Dinner:

Flaxseed rotis (2)/Raagi, Jowar rotis + veg/non veg curry (keep a check on your protein intake if you're eating non veg) + 1 cheese omelette.
On weekends, I have brown/black rice with lentils. I also include pan pizzas or burgers whenever I can. I also have dark chocolates like once in a month or two months. Desserts whenever I'm at home.

See, I don't miss out on tasty food while being on this diet!

I cook everything with healthy fats like ghee, butter, cold pressed coconut oil, extra virgin olive oil. NO REFINED OILS.

So, this is my short diet plan. You too can make changes according to your own body needs and come up with a diet plan which suits you. Please listen to your body, DO NOT starve your body. Healthy eating is called healthy only when you don't feel starvation and only when you meet your daily doses of minerals and vitamins.

P.S.: I've suffered from PCOS since almost 8 years now and I have recently come across Keto diet (low carbs, medium protein, high fats) which really helped me with my PCOS problem. This is my second month being on Keto. Let's talk more about this personally if you're interested.

Disclaimer: I'm not a dietitian. I'm not a Doctor. Do not start any kind of diet if you're suffering from serious health conditions. Please talk with your Doctor before taking any kind of decisions about your diet.

Please share this information with someone you know who is suffering from PCOS.

Sources: A shout out to my friend on Instagram: @sahityamadabhushi (A Doctor) for educating me about healthy carbs.

Links:

1. Dr. Eric Berg (Do watch all his videos on PCOS and Keto Diet).
2. Beer Biceps (Do watch his Keto recipes and PCOS meal plans).

Comments are welcome. Doctors, if you're reading this post, please leave your feedback.

1 comment:

  1. I am Shelley from Los Angeles,California, I want to testify on how i got cured from pcos, I have suffered from pcos since the year 2011 with so mush pain,that i have to spend so mush money getting pain relief in the hospital, and I have visited several doctor ,but all to no avail, my world was gradually coming to an end because of the pain during my menstrual period  until i saw a post in a health forum about a herbal Dr Williams  who use herbal portion in curing people from different kind of diseases including pcos, at first i doubted if it we be able to cure me, but i decided to give it a try, when i contacted this herbal doctor  via his email, he prepared a herbal portion and sent it to me via courier service, when i received this herbal medicine, he gave me step by step instructions on how to apply it, when i applied it as instructed, i was completely free from pcos just for 1 months of usage,i we recommend this to all my friend family in the world today who still suffering from fibroid you can contact him through his  email on drwilliams098675@gmail.com for help.   

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