PCOS Review Newsletter #132

A free health newsletter for women with polycystic ovary syndrome or polycystic ovaries.   Issue #132      May 16, 2011

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1) Featured Supplement: Saw Palmetto

2) Four Simple Ways to Lose Belly Fat

3) Here's a Self-Confidence Booster

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1) Featured Supplement: Saw Palmetto

Are you familiar with saw palmetto extract? And how it might benefit you?

It comes from a reddish brown-to-black berry growing on a small palm tree. The fruit of this palm has been part of the diet of natives of the southeastern U.S. for hundreds of years.

Men have used it for decades to reduce prostate gland problems, which are caused in part by an excess of a male hormone called dihydrotestosterone or DHT.

You may have heard that an excess of male hormones is a cause of PCOS symptoms, such as infertility, hirsutism, hair loss, acne and other troubles. That's why your doctor prescribed "anti-androgen" birth control pills. "Androgen" is the medical term for male hormones such as testosterone and DHT.

So where does DHT come from? DHT is created from testosterone by the action of certain enzymes in your body called "5-alpha reductase".

Since you have PCOS, it's very likely you have more testosterone than other women. But that's not all.

According to recent research from the University of Birmingham in the UK, women with PCOS also have a higher level of 5-alpha reductase enzyme activity than other women do. The more active your 5-alpha reductase enzymes are, the more DHT you will produce.

It's a double whammy. First, you have too much testosterone to begin with. But you also are more likely to have excessive 5-alpha reductase activity, which coverts too much of that testosterone into DHT.

And thus you produce a lot more DHT than other women do. All this DHT gives you symptoms that others don't have.

By the way, DHT is a more powerful hormone than is testosterone. Because it is so powerful, it can cause problems. For example, it causes your hair follicles to shrink. As they shrink, the hair shafts on your scalp get thinner and thinner. Eventually, the hair falls out. This is a very common problem with PCOS women.

This is where saw palmetto extract enters the picture. It inhibits the action of the 5-alpha reductase enzymes and thus reduces the rate of DHT production. It also appears to make DHT less available to cells and promote the breakdown of DHT.

That's what you want to do. You want to keep your DHT production under control.

Another benefit of saw palmetto is that is has anti-inflammatory properties. (Subtle chronic inflammation is a problem with most women who have PCOS).

Saw palmetto is considered safe and has virtually no side effects except for rare headache or stomach upset if taken on an empty stomach. It is not recommended for women who are pregnant or breast-feeding.

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2) Four Simple Ways to Lose Belly Fat

An expanded midsection is a hallmark of typical PCOS.

It appears to be caused primarily by eating the wrong things, a sedentary lifestyle, and hormonal imbalances. The two most important hormonal imbalance contributing to belly fat are excessively high insulin and the stress hormones such as cortisol.

To the extent you can remove these causes, your waist will shrink.

Here's what to do.

1) Add more fiber to your diet.

The University of Southern California studied 85 overweight teenagers for two years. They found a link between fiber consumption and weight.

Those who consumed less dietary fiber increased their belly fat by an amazing 24%. Those who increased their dietary fiber reduced their belly size by 4%.

Sources of fiber include: vegetables, fresh fruit, raw nuts and seeds, and whole grains.

A good goal would be to consume at least five servings of freshly prepared whole vegetables per day, as recommended by the new federal government dietary guidelines. Try this for 3 months. You will be pleasantly surprised!

To learn more, there's a complete discussion of fiber in the PCOS diet solution e-book.

2) Avoid all foods and beverages that contain added fructose and other sweeteners.

3) Reduce your exposure to chronic stress.

Reduction of stress is important because research from the University Hospital of Essen in Germany has shown that women with PCOS are more sensitive to stress than other women are. This means you're more likely to produce stress hormones like cortisol and thus encourage abdominal fat production.

The Natural Solution for PCOS and Infertility e-book has an extensive chapter on how to manage stress. Take a look at that chapter for some stress reduction ideas.

4) Exercise!

Diet is great for weight loss. But if you want to make your waist smaller, you will also need to exercise, according to a study at Syracuse University.

In this study, 33 diabetic women were divided into "diet only" and "diet plus exercise" groups. Since diabetic women typically have belly fat problems similar to PCOS women, this study is of interest.

Both groups -- diet only, or diet plus exercise -- had an average weight loss of 9.9 lbs over a 3 month span.

However, only the "diet plus exercise" group had a loss of visceral fat, which is the belly fat that surrounds internal organs.

In other words, you can lose weight with diet alone. But if you're also intending to lose abdominal fat, you'll need to add regular exercise and physical activity to your healthy diet program.

Any exercise is good, but you'll want to devote some of your exercise to strengthening and toning your abdominal muscles. This will give your midsection more definition.

A good way to improve abdominal muscle tone is with simple pushups.

Sourcs:
Davis JN et al, Inverse relation between dietary fiber intake and visceral adiposity in overweight Latino youth, Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Nov;90(5):1160-6
Giannopoulou I, et al, Exercise is required for visceral fat loss in postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes, J Clin Endocrinol Metab, Dec 14, 2004

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3) Here's a Self-Confidence Booster

It's really easy for us to focus on the negative and all the things that are not going right in our lives. We tend to downplay or discount the positive things that have happened and what we have accomplished so far in our lives.

When we focus our attention on what is not working in our lives and don't have a problem-solving attitude, we can become de-motivated and even feel like we are a victim of circumstances.

Some time ago, TV personality Danny Deutsch hosted a series called "American Dream", where he interviewed successful people who had experienced both significant success and failure.

One guest on Danny's show, a businessman who made millions only to lose it all before creating success again, shared his secret for getting him through his toughest times.

He wrote an "accomplishments list" which he kept with him at all times. He explained, "Most of us spend a great deal of time thinking about how we've failed or what we don't have and not enough time on what we've done right or on the success we've created. I use this list to remind myself of what I've done well - especially during the difficult times."

Have you ever taken the time to look at your life through the lens of success? If someone asked you to share 10 things you've accomplished, could you do it?

If that question draws a blank, now is a great time to give yourself a boost in your self-confidence and write down what you have accomplished so far.

Here are some examples:

I graduated from high school
I enjoy a successful marriage or relationship
I completed my college degree
I landed a job in a field that I love
I found an "exercise buddy" and we take a brisk walk every day
I created my first garden
I learned to speak Spanish
I started my own business
I reduced my PCOS symptoms by eating a healthier diet
I wrote a book, a poem, or a song
I bought my first car or home
I made a difference in someone's life
I read an interesting biography
I lost 5 pounds and kept it off.

Take a few minutes to create your own list. Challenge yourself to come up with at least 15 accomplishments, large or small.

Once you have your list, read through it once a day this week and smile as you do.

Whatever challenge, failure, disappointment, or hardship you may be facing right now, deep inside is a smart, wise, committed, and hard-working soul who has a track record of success. That's you! In spite of PCOS!

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"The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another's, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises." -- Leo F. Buscaglia

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