PCOS Review Newsletter #94

A free health newsletter for women with polycystic ovary syndrome or polycystic ovaries.   Issue #094      November 30, 2009

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1) Vitamin D, Your Genes and PCOS

2) Food Is an Antidepressant

3) What Is Gratitude?

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1) Vitamin D, Your Genes and PCOS

Your genetic inheritance is one of the main reasons why you have PCOS.

The good news is that you are not a prisoner of your genes.

In other words, you are not destined to have full-blown symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome. You are not destined to be forever infertile. You are not destined to have copious amounts of belly fat or hair loss. You are not destined to develop heart disease and diabetes just because you have PCOS.

There are things that you personally can do to make your genes behave themselves and not cause so much trouble.

For example, we've spoken numerous times about the need you may have for increased intake of the B-vitamin inositol. The reason is that many women with PCOS do not metabolize inositol very well, which then causes reproductive and other problems. This appears to be a genetic predisposition.

We've also reported that vitamin D plays an important role in the reduction of PCOS-related problems and insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is thought to be a primary cause of PCOS.

We recently discovered a medical journal article that indicates the genes of women with PCOS interact differently with vitamin D as compared to non-PCOS women. It's possible that women with polycystic ovary syndrome don't optimally metabolize and utilize vitamin D.

In addition, a number of studies have shown that PCOS women tend to have lower vitamin D levels. Women who take supplemental vitamin D experience reduced insulin resistance. If you can reduce your insulin resistance, you reduce your problems with infertility, overweight, acne, hair loss, hirsutism, etc.

Whether your genes are responsible or not, there is increasing evidence that you would benefit by taking both inositol and vitamin D.

A more effective form of inositol is d-pinitol. Its chemical name is "3-O-methyl-D-chiro-inositol".

You can get both d-pinitol and vitamin D in the d-pinitol formula.

Sources:
Mahmoudi T, Genetic variation in the vitamin D receptor and polycystic ovary syndrome risk, Fertil Steril. 2009 Oct;92(4):1381-3
Selimoglu H et al, The EFFECT of VITAMIN D REPLACEMENT THERAPY on INSULIN RESISTANCE and ANDROGEN LEVELS in WOMEN with POLYCYSTIC OVARY SYNDROME, J Endocrinol Invest. 2009 Oct 9. [Epub ahead of print]
von Hurst PR et al, Vitamin D supplementation reduces insulin resistance in South Asian women living in New Zealand who are insulin resistant and vitamin D deficient - a randomised, placebo-controlled trial, Br J Nutr. 2009 Sep 28:1-7

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2) Food Is an Antidepressant

No, we're not talking about "comfort foods" that lift you up and then let you down! We're talking about whole, healthier foods.

If you feel depressed, read on…

A very interesting study from the University College London in the UK following 3,486 people for five years. At the end of five years, they matched their depression to their diet.

They found that the most depressed individuals consumed "processed food" (heavily loaded by sweetened desserts, fried food, processed meat, refined grains and high-fat dairy products).

In contrast, the least depressed people consumed a diet of "whole foods" (heavily loaded by vegetables, fruits and fish).

Depression is a surprisingly common symptom of polycystic ovarian syndrome. Before you turn to pharmaceutical antidepressants, take a good look at what you're eating. If you eat a healthy diet as described in this PCOS diet book, your depression may subside.

"Convenience" foods are your enemy. They worsen PCOS problems in all kinds of ways, including depression.

Source:
Akbaraly TN et al, Dietary pattern and depressive symptoms in middle age, Br J Psychiatry. 2009 Nov;195(5):408-13

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3) What Is Gratitude?

We all know that PCOS is a stubborn disorder that can create a great deal of emotional turmoil. The emotional turmoil in turn produces hormones that make your symptoms worse, which creates even more turmoil.

Is there a way out of this vicious cycle?

Part of the solution is to focus your thoughts on the good things in your life. So long as you're thinking about the good things, you're not thinking about the bad things. Positive thoughts build health. Negative thoughts damage health.

One way to develop good thoughts is to think about everything you're grateful for.

Here are what three prominent writers have to say about gratitude.

"You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink." --G.K. Chesterson (1874-1936), writer

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity...It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow." --Melody Beattie, author

"I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new." --Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), poet

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Thought for Today: "To live is to choose. But to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go and why you want to get there." -- Kofi Annan