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Re: Low Carb DietsFrom: Celeste (anonymous@obgyn.net)Tue, 6 Feb 2001 13:48:02 -0600 (CST)
At Mon, 5 Feb 2001, Luci wrote: > At http://www.ptyza.com, Pam shares her story of how lowcarbing alone reversed her condition. I do know that she was able to conceive a much-wanted child because her cycle became very regular after she lost a lot of weight on low carb. It's understandable to want to control it without medication, as the drugs often have side effects and sometimes you need more medication to deal with the side effects, or your quality of life is a little bit less when just dealing with the side effects. Low carb is something you can do on your own without a doctor, as is exercise. Many PCOS ladies find that they have to use carb levels as low as 20 grams a day (Atkins book) or 30 grams a day (Protein Power book)in order to lose weight. Others find that decreasing their carb counts from the typical American's level of 300 grams a day, down to less than 200, helps them. The American Diabetes Association recommends about 160 grams of carb per day. I don't know if Weight Watchers has a typical carb count; I do know they use calorie counts and fat gram counting. You might begin by keeping a food diary WITH carb counts from labels or a carb counting book. Corinne T. Netzer has a good one, and it's in paperback for only about $7. It will quickly become apparent that the packaged foods and treats we rely on are loaded with carbs. All of the low carb diets emphasize meat, eggs, hard cheese, some nuts, and vegetables except for corn, peas, carrots, and beets. You minimize soft milk products and liquid milk, and cut out potatoes, rice, sugared items, and things made with flour, like pasta, cereal, beans, bread, and starches/thickeners. The cookbooks center on spices and sauces for meats, and simple veggie and egg dishes. Once you get used to it, it really is not that hard because of the volume of things you know you stay away from, and you just eat from the pile of remaining things. You have enough periods per year to cut your endometrial cancer risk, so I can see why you might not want to bother with birth control pills. I have not heard a lot of people say that supplements really help, though some say it makes them feel better. I tried Inositol (which is made from brown rice powder, not low carb at all) and Soy Lecithin (a good source of inositol) since these had B vitamin variants that are said to be lacking in PCOS patients. The newest research focuses on d-chiro-inositol as the precursor to a B-vitamin made in our body, which, when added back in, restores the natural hormonal balance. I have a lot of hope in this medication, but it won't be out for several years. Apparently PCOS womens' bodies dump out d-chiro-inositol in urine 5 times faster than other women. The form of we can take in vitamin supplements isn't the same as what is in the drug, which stimulates production of what we need. Too bad, because how wonderful it would be if vitamins could fix us! I find that lowcarb has helped me lose weight. I have yet to go off of my bcps and Spiro to see if lowcarb is enough to regulate my cycle and keep down the swelling in my ovaries and undo my facial hair problems, but then I am pushing 40 and have a fairly bad case, as this began when I was 15, and I don't get even one period in a year without medication. I feel I need to lose more than the 30 lbs I have already lost in order to experiment with going off of the meds. Some people try herbal things like wild yam cream which is supposed to help us supplement our low progesterone, or chasteberry or even acupuncture, but I have no experience with this. Also a lot of ladies also have problems with their levels of thyroid hormones, so it worth having them evaluated; the medication for that has no side effects, and a thyroid problem can affect a lot of things in the body. I'm glad your cholesterol level is good; that, and the fact that you can cycle sometimes, makes me think that lowcarb and exercise might be enough to help you get things repaired. Good luck, and let us know how it goes! I've found tons of lowcarb support at http://www.atkinsfriends.com C.
>Hello,
-- Celeste
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