Inflammatory Foods to Avoid for Women With PCOS

When you have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), there is a strict form of diet that you need to follow. Certain kinds of food trigger symptoms of PCOS, mostly inflammatory, sugary beverages, processed and high carbohydrate-based items. In this article, you will get to know about the inflammatory foods to avoid when you have PCOS.

What happens when you have PCOS? How does your diet have an impact on PCOS? What kind of lifestyle changes should you do to limit the strains of PCOS? There are various complexities that you need to understand about PCOS to know your ‘DOs’ and ‘DONTs’. Unless you understand the disorder completely, it is hard on your part to judge your regular diet and lifestyle choices.

Polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS is a kind of hormonal disorder, highly common in women around the reproductive age. A disruption occurs in the menstrual cycle, wherein you may either have prolonged or irregular menstruation. Sometimes, PCOS can also occur due to excess secretion of the male hormone “androgen”. Your ovaries produce large follicles (tiny pool of fluids) but fail to discharge eggs regularly.

Many studies conclude the exact cause behind PCOS as cloudy and vague. If you come across PCOS on early diagnosis, the treatment with time reduces possible risks and associated health complications. Some of the long-term biological disorders that can result from PCOS include cardiac disorders and Type 2 diabetes.

You need to follow treatment procedures along with weight loss activity. Therefore, your diet should support a healthy combination of foods with high fiber, protein and less saturated fats and carbs. Remember to know which inflammatory foods to avoid to keep away from aggravated symptoms of PCOS.

What are the common signs of PCOS?

Signs of PCOS are mostly likely to develop during menstruation for the first time at the hit of puberty. On some instances, PCOS may also develop in the later stages of the menstrual cycle. When you come across PCOS at a late adult stage, it is possibly because of sudden gain in body weight.

On early diagnosis of PCOS, you commonly come across any two of the following signs:

• Infrequency in the menstrual cycle: When signs of prolonged or irregular menstruation show up, be careful of polycystic ovary syndrome. It is the most initial symptom of PCOS. In such a condition, you might have just around nine menstrual cycles in a whole year. Other irregularities may include a huge gap of 35 days between two menstrual cycles, and peculiarly heavy menstruation. Therefore, if you have one, get a quick check-up done by your gynecologists.
• Overproduction of androgen hormone: When your body starts producing high levels of androgen (male hormone), it is highly suggestive of PCOS. It is one of the physical indications that include growth of facial and overall body hair or hirsutism. Other signs include severe but occasional acne, and androgenic alopecia (male pattern baldness).
• Polycystic ovaries: In this case, your ovaries become larger than usual with numerous follicles surrounding the unfertilized eggs. PCOS makes your ovaries fail in their function regularly. The condition worsens if you are an obese person.

Why do you have PCOS?

Although the exact reason behind the onset of PCOS is not clear, some relevant factors do play a key role. Your genetics has a lot to decide on your physiological and biological wellbeing. There are a few specific genes are closely linked to the stimulation of polycystic ovaries. You will mostly come across a hereditary connection when you have PCOS. If the genes responsible for triggering PCOS is active in your body due to heredity, you cannot avoid it altogether.

Excess levels of insulin within your system can also trigger PCOS conditions. The pancreas produces a hormone called insulin from the beta cells of Islets of Langerhans. Insulin allows your body cells to uptake glucose as your system’s primary source of energy to carry out work.

When your cells become tolerant to the insulin hormone, the sugar level in your blood takes a spike. Your body keeps producing insulin without the cells taking it up, indirectly triggering androgen levels. High level of insulin and androgen makes your ovulation process more complicated.

Chronic inflammation is a severe disorder where your body keeps undergoing persistent reduced levels of inflammation, also called low-grade inflammation. The term inflammation describes the ability of WBCs (white blood cells) in producing active substances to fight any infectious agent.

Research studies reveal the high possibility of women with polycystic ovary having chronic inflammation, which triggers added levels of androgen. Chronic inflammation, coupled with excess androgen, can give rise to multiple cardiac diseases and complication related to blood vessel functioning. Therefore, you need to strictly focus on inflammatory foods to avoid to combat issues of polycystic ovary syndrome.

Inflammatory foods to avoid

When you have to fight serious health complications like PCOS, your diet plays a huge role in rescuing you. Foods high in dietary fibre content works as excellent solutions in combating PCOS. Adequate levels of fiber can help in overcoming the resistance of body cells against insulin. Therefore, there will be no accumulation of glucose and excess androgen in your blood. You keep safe from both Type-2 diabetes and PCOS with a diet high in fiber.

Excellent options that you can avail from a high fiber diet are as follows:

• Cruciferous vegetables that include cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, and broccoli
• Leafy greens such as arugula and lettuce
• Red and green bell peppers
• Legumes including lentils and beans.
• Potatoes, pumpkins, and winter squash
• Berries and almonds.

Inflammatory foods to avoid for fighting PCOS include beverages with high sugar content, processed meat and red meat. Sometimes foods high in carbs and saturated fats may also contribute to PCOS, such as muffins and white bread. Avoid any forms of breakfast pastries, anything made of white flour, and sugary desserts.

Coping with the signs of PCOS is frustrating at times. Take little steps towards a healthy lifestyle, with a good proportion of fibre and greens in your daily diet.