Newdawnfad...im GLAD to read ur diet...it is something i can LIVE WITH!!! I have a question though..a few...dont you have to balance your apple in the morning w a protein? I would rather not...but im just asking bc most lowcarb diet say to balance fruit w protein?? I know apple and berries r pretty low carb...so do you not have to balance these? Also you said something about raised cortisol? Does raised cortisol raise your testosterone levels??? And how long for your symptoms to improve? I dont need to lose weight...im quite thin...i just have some excess hair...its not too obvious...but im afraid it could get worse...as it slowly has over the years!!!! Plus my hair is thinning slowly on top...it seems to not want to grow that much and is oily! plus problem skin...but my skin greatly improves when i dont eat dairy or too many meats..when im good...which doesnt usually last i eat mainly fish, beans, tons of veggies, fruit, and brown rice..

heya qwert. I'm no expert i just know what worked for me. My digestion seriously was like a peppy mercedes vs my usual junk yard jallopy. I go by whether I get hungry. If I get hungry a few hours after I 've eaten then I know my stomach has emptied and my metabolism has picked up and I need to feed it.

Eating like this can be time consuming and expensive. I can't eat a lot of protein alone bcse it stops me up, so I can't do what my boyfriend does and eat cheese and kibasa (spelling?).
I find that apple digests really easily alone with other fruits. Sometimes I add fresh organic cream (ie no hormones) to the fruit, and that slows the digestion down a little so there's not such a low after it digests, for me anyway. Or you can heat up some plain whole rolled oats (cooked or raw, it's up to you) and top with the fruit and some splenda to balance it. The oats will slow down the insulin response bcse it is bulky/fiber. However you should be okay with apple since there's so much fiber in the skin, but if not try the oats with it.

If you still have a problem with this method, try taking 800mcg of Chromium / day for about 3 weeks and then try it again. Many people are defficient due to our poor diets (chromium we get from grains btw.. ironic that PCOSers are told to avoid grain). Chromium makes you more insulin sensitive, it is a necessary mineral needed for this. There are some other minerals but people usually aren't deficient in them.

I don' t have that great of a reaction to beans, it makes me tired and sluggish. For some reason garbonzo beans on salad seems to be okay for me, but kidney, etc just wear me out. Not sure why. If you made a stir fry you could add some garbonzo in for bulk and see how it goes for you. To me, cabbage almost feels like a carb though it's not. So when I eat cabbage I feel full in a good way.

Yeah cortisol raises testosterone levels. THe reason for this is:
Constant stress depletes your cortisol reserves needed for fight or flight. Your body still needs cortisol but if you're under a lot of mental, physical or emotional strain, your body can't tell the difference, it's still stress and you need more cortisol. So it sees your Progesterone, it converts it to Cortisol. Then you don't have enough to make regular periods or balance blood sugar, bcse incidentally, progesterone keeps you insulin sensitive. We all have testosterone anyway, so if you increase it by drinking caffeine (which stresses you also) & have depleted progesterone stores, you are now prime candidate for PCOS.... You have hightened testosterone, without progesterone to balance it. It's all about ratios, balance between hormones, not so much the lab values.

wow i didnt know stress could raise testosterone levels...geez that would explain the start of my pcos symptoms a little after i turned 18...my pimples...i was under stress every day and worrying about stupid things (im a natural worrier) AND eating a ton of junk which made things worse bc i would stress about that too...thank you so much for answering my questions...any more info you have or want to say please do...i enjoy reading ur posts..esp the one about what u eat...bc that i can live w...some people on here seem to have WAY TOO high prortein diets for me....

I have to disagree. I have PCOS, and my endocrinologist tested everything that can be possibly tested including my estradiol, thyriod, and insulin function. Everything was completely normal for the exception of my insulin, which was about 100 points higher on the scale of that particular lab then it should have been. My doctor, who he himself has diabetes (Type II, controlled by diet) recommened the low carb way of life to me as a way to relieve my syptoms of PCOS. After lc for a month, he tested it again, and it had dropped 87 points to now my blood chemistry is almost completely normal, because of the lc. Not everyone has issues with their ovaries, just because it is polycystic OVARIAN syndrome does not mean that your ovaries are the cause. My ovaries were not working properly because my insulin levels were to high. And as soon as I corrected the insulin issues, my ovaries work like clockwork now. So, for me it has everything to do with diet. And for as well, lc makes my hair loss stop, no more acne, and my the hair growth everywhere else has slowed down drastically. Instead of having to wax once a week or more, now I do it once every two months maybe.

I aggree with the above post, it was my Doctor that suggested that I low carbed, he didn't suggest a plan, but told me to look at them and let him know what I picked, he also stated that if I did something like body for Life, (roughly the same carb/fat/protien ratio as the zone), that I would have to drop the carb more and increase the protien. My ovaries where not so much the problem and current research is showing that PCOS is much more than an ovary problem it is an entire endocrine problem effecting everything from adrenal glands, pituitary, thyroid, etc. You don't have to have positive results to have the syndrome. The INSULIN is the problem and you have to control that because it effects everythingelse, and you have to be careful with the adrenal's because most women with PCOS have stressed adrenal glands as well. Because of Doing TSP I have been able to conceive two more children when 10 years ago my infertility was horrible and the complications of PCOS compounded. I know different programs work for different people, but PCOS often is caused by Insulin Resistance, and in my Case, The PCOS probably caused my Insulin resistance.
Tanya

Excuse me are you trying to tell me that I have not read on PCOS. I have had this since I was 13 years old, and now I'm 39. I have read and studied. That is why I do TSP. She talks heavily about being sure not to eat a carb without a protien and visa/versa because of the stress on the adrenal glands. Now I don't think food combining is bad, but I don't think it is as good for someone with PCOS because this is more than just an ovary problem.
I am not some stupid idot, that doesn't understand things. I happen to be a nurse, and I have done LC now for 3years or so. I have read many programs, and I don't have a problem with people doing what works for them, but if someone has a problem with healing this disease it can be something as simple as not eating a carb alone with out a protien and visa/versa.
We don't need fruit and we don't always need grains although I love my berries and grapefruit, (the lowest glycemic fruits, I have to stay away from pretty much anything else because my BS can't take it), and I do like a bit of whole grain cereal from time to time. Add extra magnesium to your supplements to help with constipation, and adjust the calcium and mag to a good balance. Increase the vegetable intake particularily raw veggies as they have a great deal of fiber and can help there too.
Sorry about the rant but it has been a very rough week, and my nerves are just on edge and I can tell I'm getting into 3rd trimester, so I'm just a bit touchy at the moment.
Tanya

You can't totally eliminate food groups.... have you heard of Rickets Scurvy and Beriberi? Those are diseases of certain vitamin defficiencies primarily found in fruit....

2ndly I call it food combining but it's modified. You quote the SBP and I'm quoting my own diet that's always worked when I could afford to be on it. I do use *some* carbs with protein... the carbs are in the vegetable....

There's a new book out about eating like the French. Anyway I'm not suggesting eliminate food groups... Some you need less than others but still need and the way to avoid it's negative impact is to eat properly combined (imho).

On the food combining, you have to limit grains until you start noticing your weight coming off, or your skin clears up some. Right now I don't eat oatmeal every day but if I want to eat it once in a week I"m not going to freak out. And if I eat it I'll have whole rolled oats, organic, not precooked/chewed.

I agree with the person who said that there's something wrong if you have to eliminate foods.. I agree. One of the factors, i'm sure, are liver & gall stones. Check out http://curezone.com and look for Liver Flush.

PS If you are SUPER DUPER Sensitive to sugar, I would have a dose of plain / unsweetened psyllium husk (ie not metamucil, i use Konysyl) with unsweetened cranberry juice -1/4 cup of the juice (knudsen brand 'just cranberry' - has no sugar at all) before the apple. Follow by cup of water andwait 15 minutesand eat apple. DO NOT eat the apple without skin.... that stabilizes blood sugar too.

I personally can't handle really high protein shakes bcse after repetitive use, I get increased muscle cramping/spasms (ie charlie horses) all over my body and more muscle twitching (despite drinking tons of water daily). Even though I've been to the doctor for it over and over and still have no answers, you know how the medical community is, if you're not frothing and twitching in front of them, it didn't happen. And if they do the standard 2 or 3 tests, and don't find anything from their minimal repitoire, they've done it all & they'll attribute their lack of education & ability to do research (this is a science, isn't it) by saying you have anxiety or sit around eating bonbons & self indulging yourself. The other day I tried to show the doctor a rash on my arms... he loooked at it from across the room & dismissed it. WOW good eye doc! What I want to know is... do other countries have the same rate of PCOS that we do??

I am part of a few groups of women with PCOS support groups, and the most prevelant countries that the women range from in my experience is America, Australia, and the UK.

A ton of research about PCOS has come from Australia....

Today show had a think on how the french eat. Unfortunately they didn't talk about food combining, which I think is a huge key to how they eat, but only focused on portion size.
As to eliminating foods, some people absolutely have to, have you heard of, gluten allergies? As for the problem with scurvey that can be taken care of by eating vegetables, peppers are high in vitamin C, so are tomatoes and many raw veggetables. Most dietary problems do not need fruit but a general well balanced diet. TSP does not restrict food to elimination, no true lc diet does, what is does is help you control insulin levels the true problem and fruit can increase BS too fast for good insulin control in people that are obese. I'm not diabetic, as I said I do get gestational diabetes usually so I have to be careful. PCOS is a problem with Insulin and that really needs to be paid attention to. I don't think food combining is good for someone that is even remotely close to having diabetes, fruit alone because they can't handle the sharp rise in diabetes.
Tanya

Newdawnfad, please tell me how u season ur veggies when u stir fry...also how much brown rice do you have w ur veggies for ur snack..for example golf ball size? tennis ball size? Also can u give me another example of a main meal? Your diet is one that I would like to follow. I am tring at the moment...the main thing i lack is self control!!! But I did mangage to give up the cigs again...its been like 10 days...and giving up cigs is pretty hard...considering ive been smoking for 3 years...used to be a pack a day!! Then in the last year...been TRYING to quit..so cut down a lot...and now im cig free for 10 days...not its the refined sugar im giving up...two days i have been good...BUT ITS HARD I AM SO CRANKY AND HEADACHES!!!!!!

Learn about food and open your mind to understanding that PCOS is a modern illness brought about by FAKE FOOD, hurried, stressed lives and the pyramid scheme diet.


I just had to come here after talking with Tanya on the phone.
My goodness!!
Do you have ANY idea of the woman you are talking to?? This is my sister. I know her VERY well and was the first to probably pick up that this could be an issue for her.
She studies and she has learned.
Did you have ANY idea that she suffered from not being able to become pregnant on her own for even her first two babies?? Do you know that she suffered from strange periods and again infertility for YEARS after that??
Do you know there were all sorts of "brilliant" people that would tell her she just needed to get on a diet like the zone or some other higher than should be for PCOS, carbohydrate plan?
I don't think its Tanya that needs a class in food, understanding or sensivitify.
I think perhaps you should have a clue who your talking to before you spout off.
Her advice was good. TOO many carbs for PCOS is not good.. You can dance around it , you can play with it, but there it is.
And perhaps the person she was responding to is as bad as Tanya's case, because frankly unless YOU have walked in her shoes you have no idea of the pain and suffering SHE did and she still DOES go through, but because of her strength, williness to learn that you just put down, she has a lovely little baby girl and one on the way.
I don't know anyone with better grasp of these food plans OR PCOS and what you need to do to minimize symptoms.
So my suggestion. open your mind..get humble. .and ask a TRUE master of the issue.

I usually use fresh olive oil or butter and some low sodium organic soy sauce.
Brown rice, not much, but you are different since you are losing, maybe 1/2 cup, rest veggies, but i wouldn't really do carrots + brown rice, just non carb-ey veggies + brown rice or veggies + carrot. So you don't get too much, just a little. That'd be a main meal.
Yay you gave up cigs! Sugar is hard but I try to reward myself with something so that I have something to look forward to. Like a bowl of diced apple, berries, etc (no grapes, too sweet for me) and some cream. But i eat the fruit away from other food. I also use splenda though i know it's synthetic.
I'd avoid diet soda since the sweetener affect insulin levels, as does caffeine, as does stress, as does lack of sleep.
Hmm another main meal, really any meat like turkey, chicken, steak and add tons of veggies, I tend to do more veggie than meat bcse i get super acidic and get reflux every time I eat that way, and the tiny amount of carbs help balance it out for me, not a lot, mind you, just some.
BTW cigarrettes are full of sugar!! No wonder folks are addicted.
Magnesium is good for headache. Or try juicing dark leavy greens.
Take care.
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OMG I forgot about that fact...about sugar being in the cigs....geez...well at least i got off of those...and no wonder u crave sugar even more once off the cigs...bc there is sugar in the cigs!!!! Thanks for your help Newdawnfad

hi i'm 21 and have been diagnosed with pcos for about five years...however i had extreme denial and am only recently beginning to deal with this diagnosis full force

i was on 500 mg ER of metformin for about a year, and like you sweetT i found the immediate results comforting, but after awhile it seemed to stop working...i then saw a specialist (not an ordinary endocrinologist or gynocologist) and she said that sometimes the ER (extended release) does not work

i have now been on a much larder dosage...4 weeks of working myself up to 2000 mg a day...and i am much happier with the results...i am also using spironolactone for the excessive hair growth...you may want to consult your doctor on your dosage?

hope that helps

I think you're on to something Ksrt. Thanks for the info.