Your PCOS Diet -- How Can Grains Be So Bad?

Grains have become a problem because we eat too much of them, and we eat them too far altered from their natural state.

The inevitable health consequences of a diet high in refined and chemically tainted grains are all around us. The consequences of 50 plus years of eating this way in America are skyrocketing numbers of people who are overweight and suffering diabetes and heart disease.

A case can be made for increased rates of certain cancers being related to overweight and to over-exposure to the kind of environmental pollution we swallow when we eat the commercial food industry's products.

PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) affects the fertility, the cardiovascular and endocrine health and the mental and emotional well being of at least 10% of all women, and it is firmly related to a high carbohydrate diet.

A vegetarian diet that means you eat less toxic chemistry by avoiding the toxins in commercial meat has that point in its favor.

However, without the protein that meat provides, you become less and less able to muster the body chemistry to protect and restore your system with appropriate, basic nutritional elements.

Carbohydrates from any source, and especially from simple sugars and refined grains, will increase your insulin levels. High insulin levels are a big problem for women with PCOS.

The carbohydrates and the insulin will affect certain enzymes. These enzymes are control points for the production of inflammatory chemicals that increase swelling and pain in your soft tissues and joints; they also instruct your liver to produce more cholesterol, your blood cells to form clots and your blood vessels to constrict -- all of which are the logical steps to high blood pressure, heart attacks and stroke.

These interactions also suppress immune response while allowing cell proliferation (out of control cell proliferation is cancer). Increased insulin over time leads to Type 2 diabetes and hormone derangements that impact your menstrual cycle.

Organic whole grain products are better than those full of chemical residue -- but your organic oat, nuts and maple syrup granola bar is still going to push up insulin.

If you have enough animal protein, you balance insulin production and all those enzymatic instructions actually move in the opposite direction.

Eating enough animal protein will reduce hunger and cravings for sugar and starchy foods. Your insulin levels will normalize; you will have less cholesterol production and thinner, clot-free blood.

Your immune system will be responsive and cell proliferation will be controlled. You will have much less achy pain and edema from inflammation.

You will use up stored fat. Your hormones will balance out.

A grain-based diet can be a very poor choice for women with PCOS. We explain in our PCOS diet book in detail why grains are not a good idea and why we don't include grains in our recommended diet.

In the next article, we'll discuss the spiritual aspects of a vegetarian diet.

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