Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome/ Disease (PCOS/ PCOD) affects women in the reproductive age group. The condition causes irregular menstrual periods, infertility, acne, excessive hair, and other masculine features in a woman.
It also increases the risk of miscarriages/abortions and predisposes a woman to increased chances of:
- Type 2 diabetes
- Metabolic syndrome
- Heart disease
- Endometrial cancer
The condition is associated with a higher risk of psychological complications – anxiety and depression.
As the name indicates, PCOD causes multiple cysts in the ovaries, which can be detected on an ultrasound scan.
In addition, it creates a hormonal imbalance and insulin resistance in the body, which causes most of the symptoms.
Insulin resistance means that insulin is present in the body but can’t metabolize blood glucose.2
Why is insulin resistance present in PCOD?
Over half the women who suffer from PCOS are obese (BMI > 25)
Women with PCOD have more fat, metabolic products of fat [free fatty acids (FFA)], and leptin in the body.
These substances interfere with the action of insulin, which instead starts acting on the ovaries to increase the production of androgens.
As a result, this causes the symptoms of PCOD like irregular menstrual cycles, infertility, and masculine features in a woman.
Therefore the symptoms of PCOD are indirectly a result of increased insulin levels in the body.
Insulin resistance is also associated with obesity and obesity worsens the symptoms of PCOD.
How is PCOD treated?
Treatment options for PCOD involve lifestyle changes and medications.
- Lifestyle changes including exercise, stress management, behavioral changes, and dietary modification for weight control and maintenance are important to manage the symptoms of PCOD.
- Dietary modification aimed at weight loss is a proven treatment for PCOD just like type 2 diabetes.
These methods can help in improving PCOD in the following ways:
- Decreasing the abdominal fat, and insulin resistance.
- In the long term, they can decrease the chances of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
- A person should be able to lose 5-10% of body weight for symptomatic improvement. Such an extent of weight loss can improve the symptoms even if a person is still classified as overweight or obese after losing weight.
If the condition isn’t controlled by modified lifestyle measures, medications must be added after a detailed discussion with your doctor.
Weight loss can be achieved primarily by including certain foods in the diet while avoiding others.
| Avoid | Prefer |
| Processed/ fast food | Low carb diet |
| Sweetened beverages | High Protein diet |
| Alcohol | Moderate fat diet |
| Binge/ stress eating |
A diet containing whole grains with a high fiber content has a low glycemic index.3
This helps in decreasing blood glucose by delaying the absorption of carbohydrates present in the diet. The glucose, therefore, takes a longer time to reach the blood. The fiber in the diet also increases the insulin sensitivity of the body.
Multiple dietary options and methods are adopted by people for weight control, which include:
- Ketogenic diet
- Paleolithic diet
- Mediterranean diet
- Intermittent fasting
No single diet has been proven to be superior to the other and the common theme underlying these dietary options is the low carbohydrate and caloric intake with lesser quantities of refined carbs in the diet.
References
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/metabolic-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20351916
- https://www.webmd.com/diabetes/insulin-resistance-syndrome
- https://glycemicindex.com/
