Low-GI Diet Helps With Insulin Resistance in PCOS and Type 2 Diabetes!
Millions of women around the world are unable to conceive due to Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, or PCOS, a complex reproductive disease or infertility problem. PCOS may or may not involve cysts in the ovaries, but always involves insulin resistance that causes the ovaries to absorb too much sugar and produce testosterone.
In the case of PCOS the body secretes far too much androgen, the male hormone, which counteracts the ovaries’ ability to make enough progesterone necessary for a normal cycle. The estrogen level is OK; but the level of the luteinizing hormone (LH) is actually higher than usual. The luteinizing hormone is actually working overtime in an attempt to kick-start the cycle. Due to the high androgen levels interfering with the follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), progesterone is not triggered. In other words your follicles don’t develop… instead they turn into pea-sized cysts on your ovaries. The ovaries can then enlarge.
Because the male hormone levels are out of whack you may develop:
- facial hair
- hair on other parts of your body
- a balding issue
- acne
- obesity
- irregular periods
Researchers at the Royal Alfred Hospital, Macquarie University, and the University of Sydney in Australia recently ran a clinical trial to see whether a low glycemic index (low-GI) diet might help women with PCOS achieve pregnancy more quickly.
The Australian researchers gave the women in their study two very simple options:
1. Follow a diet of ‘ordinary foods’ eaten in carefully prescribed quantities, or
2. Eat any foods they liked, as long as they were low on the glycemic index. Low glycemic index (low-GI) foods release sugars slowly into the bloodstream.
The purpose of both diets was to treat insulin resistance, not full-fledged Type 2 diabetes. Many women who have untreated PCOS, however, eventually develop Type 2 diabetes.
At the end of a year, half of the women who started their diets had managed to stay on plan or to ‘graduate’ from their diets after losing 7 per cent of their total body weight. Among the women who followed a strict, calorie-restricted plan, 63% had resumed having normal menstrual periods, a strong indication their fertility had returned. Among women who ate whatever foods they liked from a low-GI list, however, 95% had resumed having normal menstrual periods.
In PCOS, fertility returns when insulin resistance is reversed. The results of this study suggest that Type 2 diabetics, as well, may do better when they resolve to eat:
- low-fat meats
- fish
- fruits and
- vegetables
…rather than counting carbs and calories in highly processed foods.
Insulin resistance and PCOS go hand in hand. Women with insulin resistance are either at risk for, or have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.
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Beverleigh Piepers RN… the Diabetes Detective.
http://drugfreetype2diabetes.com/blog
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