How to lower blood sugar quickly emergency
In today's topic, we will discuss
polycystic ovarian syndrome, also known as PCOS, what causes it, and how to
reverse it.
PCOS is the most common cause of
infertility in western countries; one out of every ten women of childbearing
age has PCOS symptoms including missed periods, weight gain, excessive hair
growth, and acne.
Women with PCOS have difficulty getting
pregnant and often seek out infertility treatment, but here's the thing it is
possible to reverse PCOS with lifestyle changes.
One study followed 11 women with PCOS
for six months, and the study involved a change in diet.
And by the end, all the women who
completed the study lost weight, lowered their free testosterone and their
fasting insulin; two women even got pregnant during the study despite having
struggled with infertility.
PCOS can be reversed in weeks if not
months with a few simple but significant tweaks to your lifestyle.
Discussion about Lower Blood sugar
In today's topic, we will talk about
what PCOS is, what causes it, and five steps that you can take to reverse it.
The polycystic ovarian syndrome was once a
rare condition, but it is becoming more and more common, and women of all ages
may suffer from it, even those who have gone through menopause and unfortunately
most of these women were told it is just something they will have to live with
for the rest of their lives and manage only with drugs, but the truth is PCOS
is not a life sentence; when you address the root cause, it can be reversed.
We're going to start today talking about the symptoms of PCOS
and how it is diagnosed, then we will
get into its cause, and we'll finish off talking about five steps you can take
to reverse it. And make sure to read until the end because tip number four
might surprise you.
What is PCOS?
PCOS stands for polycystic ovarian
syndrome. To be formally diagnosed with PCOS, you have to have two out of the
three following main symptoms:
If you think you might have PCOS but
haven't been formally diagnosed, here are some of the symptoms: irregular or
missed periods, as we already discussed, heavy periods, acne skin tags,
darkening of the skin, male pattern baldness, excess hair growth on the face
and stomach precisely, and difficulty losing weight.
some people with PCOS might have all of
these symptoms, and other people have only a few, and PCOS is not only an issue
if you're trying to get pregnant; it can have other side effects as well,
including
sleep apnea, weight gain, depression,
and even cancer, specifically endometrial cancer.
and for women with pcs who can get
pregnant, they are at a greater risk
of miscarriages and twice as likely to
deliver their baby prematurely, so it is safe to say the PCOS does not only
affect your health; it affects the health of your baby as well.
What causes PCOS?
As I mentioned earlier, a lot of women
who were diagnosed told that they will only be able to manage the symptoms, and
they are stuck with it for life.
A lot of times, they have prescribed
medication such as metformin, and drugs like this can help to improve symptoms,
but they do not address the root cause.
But do we even know what causes PCOS?
There must be some reason that the rate
at which we see it is increasing, and we do have an answer at the root of PCOS,
and it is insulin resistance.
The key to reverse PCOS is to keep your
insulin low or as low as possible so let's talk about five easy steps you can
take to do that.
1: reduce carbohydrates
low carb diets have become extremely
popular in recent years, especially for weight loss and PCOS, and I think a
large part of this is because so many people have undiagnosed insulin
resistance.
Reducing your carb intake helps improve
insulin resistance because carbohydrates are the macronutrient that stimulates
insulin.
Most eating carbohydrates spike insulin
drastically, while protein spikes it moderately and fat not at all. So if
you're trying to keep insulin low, it makes sense to reduce the foods that
cause it to rise the most.
2: eat carbs last
Now, if you are still a bit wary about
reducing carbohydrates in your diet
there's another strategy that works as
well, eating carbohydrate-rich foods at the end of your meal, after your
protein and non-starchy vegetables, makes the insulin response a lot less
drastic.
So if you cannot bear the thought of
giving up potatoes and bread, consider at least eating them last.
3: build muscle
Now I do think that diet and what you
do eat and don't eat is the most important factor when it comes to insulin
resistance, but exercise can help as well.
This is beneficial for two reasons; the
first is that when you are exercising, your muscle cells can absorb glucose
without insulin, and the second reason is that more muscle mass means your body
can store more glucose.
This is because our muscles are where
most glucose is stored in the body, so if you have more muscle, you have more
space for excess glucose to be stored, which can help reverse the resistance.
4: eat more salt
Okay, so I did tell you earlier that you wouldn't expect tip number four, but the relationship between salt and insulin resistance and PCOS is fascinating.
Salt is made up of things which are
sodium and chloride, both of which are essential electrolytes that our bodies
need, but for some reason, salt has been linked to negative health outcomes
such as high blood pressure, although there is little evidence supporting
this.
Most people do not see a change in
their blood pressure when they eat more or less salt. When they do see a
change, however, is when they reduce their sugar consumption and lose weight,
even if there is no change to their salt intake.
5: stop snacking
There is a misconception that eating more often throughout the day is somehow a good idea. The truth is this strategy is doing more harm than good, especially when it comes to PCOS.
As we mentioned earlier, when we're
trying to address PCOS, we're addressing insulin resistance, and to reverse
insulin resistance, we need to keep insulin low.
Every time we eat, insulin raises so if
we are eating at short intervals throughout the day, insulin is constantly
being bumped up, and it does not have a chance to come back down, and this
constant eating throughout the day that so many of us think is normal is part
of the reason why we become insulin-resistant. Skipping snacks throughout the
day can make a big difference as well.
