Losing Weight With PCOS – Low Carb May Help Insulin - PDF eBook Free Download

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LOSING WEIGHT WITH
PCOS LOW CARB MAY HELP INSULIN
Shanika Wickramarachchi
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PCOS
PCOS is a condition that has a strong impact on a
womans fertility, and affects between 5 to 10
of women of child bearing age. Because a womans
body doesnt produce enough eggs when she suffers
from PCOS, it can cause infertility and
contribute to diiculties in falling
pregnant. Most cases of PCOS are not genetic,
but they are all related to hormonal
abnormalities. The reason not enough eggs are
produced is because of an excess of the androgen,
or male hormones. Both men and women have
androgen hormones, but men have them in much
greater quantities. This hormonal imbalance means
that the cysts that are a normal part of
producing eggs, do not grow. So a woman with PCOS
has a lot of small cysts on her ovaries that do
not mature to release their eggs. Normally, once
this process happened, the cysts would
go. Another consequence of the higher levels of
androgen hormones is the increased risk of
obesity, heart disease, diabetes, as well as a
likelihood of having more facial
hair. Interestingly, low carb diets such as the
zone diet may help overweight women with PCOS. A
recent study of 11 non diabetic, overweight women
with PCOS who had an average age of 33 was
conducted. The study compared a standard diet
with 56 carbohydrates and 16 protein, with a
lower carb diet of 43 carbohydrate and 15
protein. The fat component of the lower carb diet
was a lot higher than the standard diet, by 14.
This is higher than it would be in the Zone diet.
The fat content of the low carb diet was almost
evenly split between polyunsaturated fatty acids
and monounsaturated fatty acids. The fat content
of the standard diet was almost evenly split
between the two types of fatty acids, but was
slightly higher (by 3) in the monounsaturated
variety.
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Insulin
A third diet, one high in both carbohydrates and
monounsaturated fatty acids, was also compared.
The study participants only followed each diet
for 16 days. They had a 3 week break between each
diet, and tried all 3. Because production of the
androgen hormones are influenced by the presence
of insulin, the researchers were interested in
finding out whether a low carb diet could reduce
the amount of insulin circulating in the body.
They believed this would have an indirectly
positive effect on PCOS. The results of this
study found that whilst hormones that were
circulating werent significantly affected by the
lower carb diet, the womens cholesterol, fasting
insulin levels, free fatty acids, and their
response to insulin were positively affected. The
fact that their response to insulin improved is
an indicator of the possible benefit of a low
carb diet to PCOS sufferers. And because the
women only followed the diet for 16 days, this
may be why their levels of circulating insulin
were not more prominently affected. The authors
of the study state that Because elevated insulin
is thought to contribute to the endocrine
abnormalities in PCOS, a reduction in insulin
would be expected to ultimately result in an
improved endocrine profile. They go on to say
that these improvements indicate that using a low
carb type diet, with a lower calorie intake,
would probably benefit overweight women who
suffer from PCOS.
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Not all low carb diets are created equal however.
The Atkins diet has been associated with an
increased risk of heart problems for some, as
well as being implicated in the hospitalization
of others. A 40 year old woman was hospitalized
with very high levels of acids in her blood as a
result of following the Atkins diet strictly for
about a month. The release of acids in the blood,
called ketosis, is an indicator of the success
of the Atkins diet, and is actually a result of
the process of starving the body of certain
nutrients beyond a threshold level. The nutrient
being, of course, carbohydrates. Carbohydrates
are a source of energy for the body, the only
source used by the brain. But when the body is
deprived of carbohydrates after the threshold
level, it will use alternate methods of
metabolizing energy. It uses stored fats and
protein, but this is not a very biologically
eicient way of producing energy for the body. So,
there are a lot of acidic metabolic by products,
called ketones. These are released into the
bloodstream, to be excreted by the body. In the
case of this woman, these metabolic by products
werent excreted fast enough and built up in her
bloodstream. She was vomiting 4 to 6 times a day.
This build up of blood acids represented a
dangerous situation and she was admitted to
intensive care. The Atkins Foundation responded
that this woman must have had abnormal metabolic
or clinical issues. But given that this woman,
who was obese, is in a category at which the
Atkins diet is marketed, there is a real cause
for concern here. With obesity, there is a
greater likelihood for both general medical
problems, and metabolic problems. If an obese
person did not have metabolic problems of one
form or another, they would not be obese. Perhaps
there were circumstances that were particular to
this woman here, but until those potential
dangers are understood more fully, this is a
significant issue. Its ironic that a diet should
be implied as not being suitable for anyone with
metabolic issues, particularly if this diet is
marketed as a way of life that is,
recommended for long term use.
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