PCOS Self-Care: What to Do to Avoid the Disease?

Many women do not know that they are suffering from PCOD which can lead to weight gain. So PCOS self-care routines and awareness are very much needed to prevent this disease. Because of the high secretion of hormones, it is not easy to lose weight. In the current lifestyle, women’s PCOD problems are increasing day by day. It appears that at least one in five girls suffers from this problem in the current situation. But what is PCOD? Why is it attacking women’s lives? Let’s go into detail.

Table of Contents

What are PCOS and PCOD?

PCOS stands for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. And PCOD is a polycystic ovarian disease. Both of these problems are related to the ovaries. In both cases, the hormonal balance is lost, and the balance is altered.

PCOD:

In PCOD, from the time a girl starts menstruating, the two ovaries in every girl’s body release eggs every month. In PCOD, the ovaries are usually filled with immature or partially mature eggs. As a result, the accumulation later turns into a cyst. PCOD can be caused by excessive consumption of junk food, weight gain, stress, or hormonal imbalance. This results in irregular periods every month, accumulation of belly fat and weight gain, infertility, and hair loss.

PCOS:

PCOS is again a metabolic disorder. In this case, too much male hormone is released from the ovary. Gynecologists say that when someone has PCOS, the ovary has a polycystic appearance. It looks like a lot of small blisters on its surface. A little like a pearl in a necklace. The Ovary becomes heavy. Due to the excess of male or male hormones, facial hair, and unwanted hair grows. Problems like acne and acne appear. Hair becomes thin. Weight gain also increases the risk of reproductive problems, high cholesterol, and diabetes in the future.

Symptoms of PCOS:

In PCOS there are many hormonal imbalances that can be seen and most of the women won’t have any awareness of their symptoms, and they are ignorant of treatment.

The irregular period is the most alarming symptom of PCOS-related symptoms in girls. Even after having irregular periods, pain, cramps, and the passage of blood clots during periods are not abnormal. Many people’s periods are not limited to 4–5 days. It can last longer than a week, up to 20–25 days. Many people suffer from this problem even if they are thin or underweight. Even in that case, the way of life must be changed.

Some of the symptoms of PCOS are mentioned below.

Irregular periods,
Problems conceiving,
Ovarian cysts,
Excess body hair,
Weight gain,
Decreased sex drive,
Mood swings, acne,
Insulin is not working,
Thinning hair or male pattern baldness,
Testosterone Levels increase.

Diet and exercise of PCOS:

To fight PCOD and PCOS, a proper diet and PCOS self-care routine should be followed. Foods that will not cause excess weight but will keep the body healthy. One should need to include 5 to 10 grams of fiber in the diet, need to take a total of Fats less than 30% of a day, and try to avoid saturated fats at 10% of your total calorie intake. If you are overweight, then you should reduce your current calorie intake by 500 to 1,000 calories per day to trigger your weight loss journey fast.

According to the dietitian, “Food should be selected with low carb, high fiber, and healthy proteins and fats”. Generally, instead of rice bread, brown rice, or flour bread, brown bread should be eaten which has a low glycemic rate and can be cooked with olive oil, coconut oil, and peanuts, Or with almond oil.

Green vegetables and fruits must be kept in the diet but mango, banana, sugarcane, and jack fruit, should be less. Good quality protein should be eaten. Eggs can be avoided and meat with excess oil should not be eaten. Milk should be consumed. Low-fat milk should be consumed. Also keep Lentil, broccoli, and berries on the food list. Be active as much as possible through exercise and physical exercise.

Exercise:

Exercise is very important and beneficial for PCOS health Because it starts to normalize your metabolic abnormality and repairs PCOS-related complications. You just need to take out time for workouts and maintain regular physical activities to improve your PCOS symptoms.

Androgen Excess And PCOS Society say that PCOS is associated with lots of metabolic abnormalities which can lead to serious health issues like dyslipidemia, hypertension, insulin resistance (IR), obesity, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, which can be reversed by doing regular exercise and lifestyle modification. Studies have found exercise and workout time sessions could be ranging from 30 minutes a day, and can give you good output in the management of PCOS. You can do some exercises like…

Walking
Cycling
Cardio
Skipping
Playing Badminton
Jogging
Squads
Jumping Jack
High-intensity interval training
Yoga
Strength Training
Mind-body exercise

Below are some foods that should be included in the PCOD and PCOS patient diet.

1. Foods that benefit PCOS Self-Care (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome):

If you have PCOS then you should include the following food in your diet as a PCOS Self-Care routine –

Try some healthy and unprocessed foods
Need to eat that food which is rich in high-fiber
Add protein-rich foods like fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, sardines, and mackerel
Green leafy vegetables like spinach, kale, artichokes, broccoli, and cauliflower
Try some seasonal beans, dried beans, lentils, and other legumes.
Use healthy fats to cook your food such as olive oil, as well as avocados and coconut oil
Try some nuts like almonds, pine nuts, walnuts, pistachios, etc.
Eat fruits like oranges, or dark red fruits, such as red grapes, blueberries, blackberries, and cherries
Eat Dark chocolate in moderation
Try some spices, cinnamon, and turmeric

2. Foods to avoid in PCOS Self-Care if You Have PCOS:

Foods that you should avoid in PCOS like-

Sugary drinks like Coca-Cola, surgery juices, alcohol, etc
Fried foods items like fried chicken, burgers, pizza, oily snacks, etc
Avoid processed meats such as sausages, hot dogs, burgers,
Need to cut down on refined Carbohydrates in your diet like white bread, pasta, bakery items like sweet biscuits, and pastries.
Avoid other processed surgery food items such as ice creams, sweet sauces, candy, cakes, sweetened yogurt, etc.

How to Diagnose PCOS?

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a problem that does not have a specific test to diagnose. However, your doctor can confirm whether you have polycystic ovaries by performing some tests. Tests are:

Pelvic exam Open pop-up dialog box,
Blood test
Transvaginal ultrasound test
Transvaginal Ultrasound Open pop-up dialog box etc.

Pelvic exam:

Through a pelvic exam, doctors can usually check your reproductive organs, growths or other changes.

Blood test:

Blood tests are usually recommended by doctors to measure your body’s hormonal changes. For example, the levels of estrogen, androgen, and progesterone are checked whether their levels are low or high. Also, some other blood tests may be suggested by the doctor such as fasting cholesterol level, triglyceride level measurement, glucose tolerance test, etc.

Ultrasound:

A transvaginal ultrasound is done to find out what your ovaries look like, whether you have polycystic ovaries, and how thick your uterine lining is. The doctor can find out about these things by placing a rod-like device (transducer) in your vagina.

Also, your healthcare provider will decide which test is most effective for you after knowing your symptoms. They can give you medicine and tests by knowing some symptoms like your menstrual cycle, weight change, acne symptoms, excess hair growth, insulin resistance, etc.

Solution:

The only way to get rid of such diseases is PCOS self-care and lifestyle modification. Lifestyle changes can help control the disease. Gynecologists say that this disease cannot be completely cured, but it can be controlled with proper diet and exercise. Because if only 5% of weight can be reduced by making these efforts, then the fertility rate increases. Being active as much as possible through exercise, and physical exercise will help to fight the disease. Walking, jogging, skipping, yoga, swimming, and any type of activity should be done regularly and according to the rules.

The more the weight is reduced, the more the fat in the abdominal area falls, and the healthier the body will be. If you follow a certain diet chart along with exercise, you will see a regular period every month. Besides, it has no specific medicine.
Changing your regular food habits can help to get rid of this health issue such as eating more in the morning and eating less at night, including plenty of protein and vegetables in your diet, and taking complex carbohydrates if you eat carbohydrates. Avoid sweet foods, and add fatty foods to the food list. Exercise regularly, do yoga, walk, and get enough sleep. Also, drink plenty of water.

Medication:

Maintaining a diet plan is the only solution for PCOS problems and maintaining PCOS self-care, but depending on the type of problem and the severity of the problem, in some cases, drugs are also given. A hormonal tablet oral contraceptive pill may be given. It does not mean that the disease is cured. So lifestyle change is the only solution.

Many times during pregnancy it is actually a problem then considering the patient’s problem and needs, in many cases, drugs to increase fertility are given. However, it is better to think about conceiving after managing PCOS and PCOD. In order to deal with various skin problems, gynecologists also prescribe anti-male hormone drugs along with estrogen in many cases.

The doctor may advise the patient to get treatment from a dermatologist and cosmetologist. In addition, surgery is usually not required for PCOD and PCOS, but doctors can perform laparoscopic ovarian drilling treatment after understanding the patient’s condition.

Mayo Clinic says, Doctors recommend some medicines if any woman has PCOS symptoms like-

Combination of birth control pills
Progestin therapy
Clomiphene
Letrozole (Femara)
Metformin,
Gonadotropins,
Birth control pills
Spironolactone (Aldactone)
Eflornithine (Vanika)
Hair removal and acne treatment medications, like pills, and topical creams or gels

National Health Service is recommended some medical treatments to treat PCOS-related weight gain such as-

If you’re overweight weight-loss medicine can be prescribed like- orlistat.
If you have high levels of cholesterol in your blood cholesterol then the doctor can give you cholesterol-lowering medicine like (statins)
The NHS also recommends surgery known as laparoscopic ovarian drilling (LOD) in patients whose symptoms do not respond to medication. This is a minor surgical procedure that is an alternative treatment method for solving fertility problems related to PCOS.

Medication cannot give you a permanent solution in PCOS self-care. So lifestyle modifications can be the best hope for PCOS and PCOD Syndrome. So everyone should be aware of this disease to prevent PCOS.