Originally Posted by ReginaW

DH makes two different recommendations to PCO women - those who are the classic apple are guided toward strict low-carb (20-40g) with weight loss targets, whereas the lean PCO is moderate carb (60-90g) with no weight loss objectives - both whole food options, very limited to no processed foods (ie. commercial salad dressing okay, low-carb bake mix not okay).

The two approaches work toward resolving homonal imbalance - estrogen, testosterone, progresterone, etc. are all on the wrong ends of the normal range....but slightly different in the apple versus the lean PCO, with each type also having different personality types (generally) and body composition.

The apple has more body fat, distributed differently than the apple, so it drives hormones differently, thus the recommendation for lower carb and weight loss; the apple also tends to have a higher level of inflammation which also needs to be resolved as much as possible. The lean PCO tends (generally) not to be a specific "weight watcher" but more naturally active and can tolerate more carbohydrate....with a normal body fat level, weight loss is undesirable and modifying the chemistry via dietary influence is the goal.

While diet alone doesn't always work, and alone will likely not work for the majority, it works a lot more than previously thought (there are still docs out there who, when giving a dx of PCO tell their patients they won't have kids)....DH has been tracking his PCO ladies for years now and has a stack of charts where diet alone led to pregnancy, some within a few months of initiating the dietary changes (after years of trying to no avail). He's also noted that in those that do not become pregnant with diet alone, the level of intervention needed to achieve and sustain pregnancy is less than if no dietary change is made.....basically medical intervention can still assist in attaining pregnancy if no change is made, but it's more intensive intervention.

Originally Posted by maile1

...most of our Vitamin C is produced in the adrenals...

Originally Posted by BigBenny

We lack an enzyme (the last step in the process) to synthesize vitamin C, I believe I've read

Originally Posted by melibsmile

Thanks for the reply Regina. What if the patient is not an apple nor lean--what if she's a very large pear?

--Melissa

Originally Posted by Valtor

Exactly. So I'm curious about the previous comment.

Patrick

Originally Posted by maile1

sorry I mistyped and wasn't clear, I should have typed that we secrete most of our vitamin C from the adrenal glands and adrenals have the greatest concentration of vitamin C in the bodyHuman adrenal glands secrete vitamin C in response to adrenocorticotrophic hormone

Originally Posted by Valtor

So I would say that the adrenals are a storage depot for vitamin C, but cannot manufacture it.

Patrick

Originally Posted by Angeline

I'm not sure just how much vitamin C a cooked potato would retain.

One thing a potato is a good source of is potassium. And being tired is a symptom of low potassium.

Originally Posted by Ron_Mocci

How did we ever make it to 2010 ?