Ten percent of women with PCOS will be type II diabetic by the time they are 40. One of the primary risks of pregnancy with PCOS is the same problem, diabetes. It is very important to understand that choices you make regarding food, activity, stress, and sleep, affect whether or not this problem…becomes YOUR problem.
Fortunately, in many cases, it is not necessary to do anything different than we already recommend in this blog. One study looked at four different ways diet could be manipulated to encourage weight loss: (1)calorie restriction without any seafood included, (2) calorie restriction with lean fish included, (3) calorie restriction including fatty fish, and (4) calorie restriction including fish oil pills. It didn't matter if it was lean fish, fatty fish, or fish oil pills…the more fish oil consumed, the better the insulin function.
I'm not one of those nutritionists who focuses entirely on salmon when advising to eat fish. First of all, it's simply not eco-expectable that there are enough salmon on the planet to feed everyone who needs omega-3's. Secondly, it's a seasonal fish and it's expensive enough to price itself out of the food budgets of many people I work with. A few years ago I looked up the omega-3 contents of many kinds of seafood, and discovered that whether it was salmon, shrimp, clams, tilapia…or bass…if it lived in the water, it had omega-3's in its flesh and it was a proactive health choice.
Don't like"fishy" flavor? Try halibut or tilapia. Or look for one of the many flavored fish oil supplements available in your local health food store. There's a way for anyone who has the will, and if you're at risk for diabetes…there's NO way you want to miss out on this wonderful dietary opportunity.
Ramel A, Martinéz A, Kiely M, Morais G, Bandarra NM, Thorsdottir I. Beneficial effects of long-chain n-3 fatty acids included in an energy-restricted diet on insulin resistance in overweight and obese European young adults. Diabetologia. 2008 Jul;51(7):1261-8.