The Hemp Connection:
glucose

Many of the women I work with are vegan vegetarians. Which means when it comes to increasing omega-3 intake, they tend to want to go heavy on flax, hoping it will make up for not eating fish. It simply doesn't work this way…in ways that are very important to PCOS.

When different groups of rats are given ALA (the primary omega-3 in flax), EPA and DHA (the primary omega-3's in fish oil), EPA and DHA lowered glucose and insulin levels about 35-38% greater than did ALA. Insulin sensitivy improved by 60% in the fish oil groups compared to the ALA groups.

Bottom line, if you really, really want to get better, and you're not currently eating fish, or using a fish or marine algae supplement, you may want to seriously consider adding one of those to what you're doing. It's pretty non-negotiable, we need DHA and EPA to properly function as human beings.

Andersen G, Harnack K, Erbersdobler HF, Somoza V. Dietary eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid are more effective than alpha-linolenic acid in improving insulin sensitivity in rats. Ann Nutr Metab. 2008;52(3):250-6. Epub 2008 Jun 19.

This is a common complaint I hear. Let's work backwards to understand what is happening…and what can be done about it.

Your hunger and satiety (fullness) is regulated by a number of factors. Only one of those is how physically full your stomach is. Another very important mechanism is your blood chemistry…primarily, your blood glucose.

Your blood glucose is strongly linked to your insulin levels. Insulin is a storage hormone, and its job is to pull glucose and fat out of the bloodstream and store it. One of the first things that happens with PCOS, before you develop full blown insulin resistance, is hyperinsulinemia (elevated insulin levels). This extra insulin is always in the blood, which means you may have more of a tendency than average to experience drops in blood glucose.

It takes awhile for food you've eaten to be digested, absorbed, and to get into your blood. So if your blood glucose dropped precipitously before dinner, it may take awhile to bring it back up to a place where you're not feeling hungry. Even though your stomach might be feeling physically full, you may not have enough energy in your system for your biochemical radars to trust that you're ok.

And so they tell you that you are hungry.

The very best solution to this, is to eat a diet higher in protein. About half of the protein that we eat is converted into glucose, and that process tends to kick in just about the time the carbohydrates we're eating have been used up. So if you're having trouble feeling hungry just as you're finishing up dinner, try having a snack with about 10 grams of protein mid-afternoon.

This is one reason why it can be challenging (and not appropriate) to use a 100% intuitive eating approach when you first start to change your diet. If you acted on that post dinner hunger, you would likely binge. Intuitive eating is what you're aiming for, but you may need to be a little bit more conscious about structuring your diet in the early phases of a nutrition plan so that your hormones aren't interfering with your ability to detect true hunger and satiety.

Something that struck me very early on working with PCOS was how often I heard,"Just tell me what to do." It was clear that a big part of the problem women asking for help was having was feeling out of control. In every other part of their lives, it seemed, they'd been rewarded for hard work and diligence.

PCOS just doesn't work that way.

And when the solution isn't always about DOING something to fix the problem, you can feel completely out of control…tied down…trapped…

For a problem solving personality, a doer, this can leave you feeling completely stressed.

Research has actually studied this phenomenon, it's called"restraint stress."

Restraint stress is any kind of condition that leaves you feeling as if nothing you do can alleviate your discomfort, as if you are destined to live with your situation without any relief. It is the most damaging kind of stress, as it is the kind of stress that best elevates blood pressure, blood glucose, and cholesterol, interferes with sleep…

…can you see where this is going? Not only are you living with a seemingly unsolvable problem, but how you perceive that problem has the power to worsen that problem completely.

Sometimes what I see, is that a person focuses so completely on the problem that they perceive, that they lose perspective with regard to just what they CAN control.

They CAN make healthy food choices.
They CAN be more physically active.
They CAN set boundaries with people and limit their stress.
They CAN surround themselves with positive, supportive people.
They CAN turn the computer off and engage in activities other than surfing and reading about the problem.
They CAN be kind to themselves.

I find that those clients who are most creative at finding ways to repaint their picture, are the ones with the best chance of succeeding in the long run.

It's ironic, but then PCOS is ironic.

Stop focusing on the problem, stop thinking of yourself as an unfixable pathology, start believing you are a whole person with many talents and ideas to contribute to making our planet a great home…and all of a sudden things that felt so elusive start showing up when you least expect it.