The Hemp Connection:
healthy way

Continuing on with yesterday's theme, I wanted to summarize options for anyone who, for whatever reason, chooses to drink milk alternatives instead of cow's milk.

The primary problems with these alternatives are:

1. They almost, without question, do not provide equivalent amounts of protein and raise your diet's carbohydrate to protein ratio.

2. They are often sweetened, increasing your simple carbohydrate to complex carbohydrate ratio.

3. Most of the alternatives, except for coconut milk, do contain vitamin D. However, check your label just to be sure.

If you choose to use these, in general, you are not substituting milk alternatives for milk. You are drinking a beverage that creates a need for you to increase your protein, vitamin D, and complex carbohydrates in the foods you also choose, in order to make up the deficiencies this switch inevitably creates. If you do not know how to do that, a consultation with one of our inCYSTers might be helpful. Many of them offer Skype consultations if you do not see on our list below and to the right who lives near you.

Here's the rundown. For comparison, per 8 ounces, 1% milk contains:
110 calories
8 grams protein
5 grams fat
12 grams carbohydrate
0% added sugar

One bias I do have which is reflected below, is toward soy milk. Too many women with PCOS have thyroid problems, for me to feel responsible presenting it as an option. So I have omitted it.

All information is for an 8 ounce serving.

ALMOND MILK
This one appears to be the most popular. One benefit to almond milk is that since almonds are naturally sweet, there is not as much of a need to add sugar in order to make them palatable. The disadvantage to almond milk is that, consumed in large enough quantities, it may increase your omega-6 intake enough that you promote, rather than reduce, inflammation (almonds, while beneficial in moderation, are the only nut that contain absolutely no omega-3's and for that reason should not be the only nut you exclusively eat).

Almond Breeze Brand
45 calories
2 grams protein
3.5 grams fat
3 grams carbohydrate
0% of carbohydrate is added sugar
Pacific Foods Vanilla Almond

45 calories
1 gram protein
2.5 grams fat
3 grams carbohydrate
0% of carbohydrate is added sugar

FLAX MILK

I do like flax milk's omega-3 fatty acid content. It's sweetened, but not to the same degree as many of the other milks. I could see using this in cooking, in any recipe that called for cream, or as coffee creamer, as a way to enhance your diet's overall omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. It still comes up short in the protein department.

Flax USA Flax Milk

50 calories
0 grams protein
2.5 grams fat
7 grams carbohydrate
100% of carbohydrate is added sugar

HEMP MILK
One benefit to hemp milk is its omega-3 content. However, it is sweetened pretty significantly so consumers will drink it.

Living Harvest Hemp Milk

130 calories
4 grams protein
3 grams fat
240 grams carbohydrate
75% of carbohydrate is added sugar
Manitoba Harvest Hemp Bliss

110 calories
5 grams protein
7 grams fat
7 grams carbohydrate
86% of carbohydrate is added sugar

OATMEAL MILK

Highest in calories, partially because it's sweetened. Eating the real oatmeal will give you better benefits.

Pacific Foods Oatmeal
130 calories
4 grams protein
2.5 grams fat
24 grams carbohydrate
79% of carbohydrate is added sugar

HAZELNUT MILK

The fat in hazelnuts is primarily monounsaturated, making the fat here healthy, but again, low protein and high added sugar are problematic

Pacific Foods Hazelnut Milk

110 calories
2 grams protein
3.5 grams fat
18 grams carbohydrate
78% of carbohydrate is added sugar

COCONUT MILK

I love this milk, but consumed in place of milk, the saturated calories will add up. Yes, the fat in coconut milk is different than the fat in meat, but even so, your overall intake of saturated fat, regardless of the source, should be no more than 10% of total calories. So I say save this one for cooking (as in Thai curries) or used sparingly on breakfast oatmeal or quinoa. It's not really the best choice for drinking by the glass.

Regular Canned Coconut Milk

445 calories
5 grams protein
48 grams fat
6 grams carbohydrate
0% of carbohydrate is added sugar
Trader Joe's Light Coconut Milk

150 calories
0 grams protein
12 grams fat
12 grams carbohydrate
0% of carbohydrate is added sugar

So Delicious Coconut Milk (carton)
50 calories
1 gram protein
5 grams fat
6 grams carbohydrate
86% of carbohydrate is added sugar

Silk Coconut Milk (carton)
90 calories
1 gram protein
5 grams fat
10 grams carbohydrate
90% of carbohydrate is added sugar

RICE MILK

Until recently, rice milk was also an option that fell short in protein and in which sugar was added to sweeten and flavor. The first example here illustrates that point. The second option, which has recently come on the market, is a great advancement as far as milk alternative options go.

Both brands are made with brown rice, and both contain vitamins D and B12. However, safflower oil, one of the pro-inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids we encourage you to limit, is also listed as a Rice Dream ingredient. Just wanted to cover that base.

For women with PCOS, the addition of stevia by Growing Naturals is an added plus, as research is suggesting that regular consumption of stevia may help to improve pancreatic function, reduce cravings for sweets, and improve memory. All of those are chronic issues which make it hard to make the choices promoting hormone balance. In addition, Growing Naturals DOES contain vitamin D (in the vegan D2 form), and vitamin B12, often deficient in vegans.

Rice Dream Rice Milk

120 calories
1 gram protein
2.5 grams fat
23 grams carbohydrate
43% of carbohydrate is added sugar
Growing Naturals Brown Rice Milk

110 calories
8 grams protein
1 grams fat
17 grams carbohydrate
0% of carbohydrate is added sugar
So by now you know my bias, but now you also know why it exists. I use all of these milks in my kitchen. But I do so in different ways. Some as condiments and even coffee creamers, as I do enjoy their flavors, but not as a beverage choice I drink by the glass. The two I drink by the glass are cow's milk and Growing Naturals. Hopefully I've provided you with enough information to de what combinations are most hormone-friendly for you.

If you're interested in trying/using Growing Naturals yourself, and it hasn't arrived at your local store, here is information for ordering.

Something I love, love, love about my work is that there is always something new to learn. Recently my work with Chow Locally has taught me a lot about why people don't have a user-friendly relationship with vegetables. It's probably because most of the vegetables they have been exposed to are bland and boring.

We are so lucky to be able to work with farmers who bring us great things like Romanesco, purple carrots, watermelon radishes…things that are just so attractive and interesting you can't help but want to taste them! Plus, even when what we have is more recognizable and traditional, it's so fresh, pulled out of the ground just a day or two before we get it, that it's bursting with flavor. I have found myself, several times, in the traditional grocery store getting ingredients to cook with my vegetables, walking through the produce section, thinking to myself…"That's all they have?"

Recently, without even being asked, one of our customers' daughters told us just how much she loves her veggies.

Yes, she loves carrots more than chocolate! And I promise we didn't somehow sneak chocolate into those carrots…it's just that they are that good when they're fresh out of the ground.

Over the weekend, one of our co-founders, Derek Slife, was invited to showcase our vegetables on the local edition of the Today Show. I watch lots of food demos, but it's not often that you see the hosts of the show hover over the chef like Joe and Rob did with Derek! They were so fascinated with the watermelon radishes they couldn't wait to try them. What the spot doesn't show is that Joe so eagerly dug into one of the carrots he bit into it on air without thinking to wash the dirt off…and you know how that ended.

These experiences, and the many notes we are receiving from happy parents telling us their kids are eating foods they never, ever ate before have completely convinced me, the problem with vegetables is not that they don't taste good, but the way we manage them from farm to table often strips them of their flavor.

If you have a farmer's market or CSA near you, I encourage you to try eating THOSE vegetables. It is a whole different experience than you've ever had. You just might find a new addiction!

6:30 a.m., Miami International Airport, feeling jet-lagged and just about destroyed from over 24 hours of travel, I looked through my stupor at the people who have come to reside in my head as “The Airport Couple,” a poignant lesson in what happens when you don’t take care of yourself. I love to people-watch at the airport, but this was not my usual people-watching.

They both have canes, are morbidly obese, and have extra-large sodas and pound bags of candy – plain M&Ms for her, peanut for him. The breakfast of champions, especially if it’s Diet Coke. They are struggling to breathe, to move, to walk, and even to eat the candy, yet they persevere. They both have an unhealthy pallor that comes more from poor health than bad airport lighting. Neither one makes eye contact with anyone else, not even their spouse. Their isolation, even in the midst of dozens of people, is profound.

Their misery and shame is palpable, and I feel like I should avert my eyes from their pain, and the practice of their addiction to food/sugar. It hurts to watch them, but I am unable to stop glancing sideways at them, in the way that children do when they notice a grotesquely fat or deformed person and simply cannot keep themselves from staring. I am wondering how they are going to make it onto the plane, and if they’ll even survive the flight, let alone whatever comes next. Selfishly, I hope I won’t have to spend the next six hours stuck sitting next to one or both of them. I feel intense sadness for the way that they’re trapped in their bodies, in their diseases, and their disconnection. I wonder which diseases they have, and how many. I make assumptions about diabetes, thyroid disorders, cholesterol problems, and heart disease. As time passes, and my flight is delayed, I add gout, emphysema, and of course depression to the list.

She is probably 52, but looks closer to 70. Walking is laborious, studied, and painful. Her thighs are so fat that her ability to walk a straight line is distorted. Yet she proceeds to the nearest shop to purchase more snacks for him; clearly, this is a form of care-giving. I think he is older, although it is hard to tell. He is almost immobilized, stuck in the confines of the narrow, hard-railed bench/chairs that are uncomfortable even for people of average size. I look for an oxygen tank, certain that must be part of their apparatus. He is wearing extra thickly cushioned diabetic shoes. I wonder about toe amputations. I think long and hard about this human catastrophe, and how preventable almost all of it is.

We struggle, day in and day out, to manage our PCOS, and whatever other diagnoses come with it. We get tired of eating right, limiting sugar and other carbs, avoiding alcohol and grain-fed meat, getting up at 5:30 a.m. to make it to the gym, taking supplements, and going to the doctor quarterly for check-ups. We complain that it isn’t fair that we’re stuck with this condition. We deal with, or don’t deal with, our depression, our anxiety, our obsessions and compulsions, or the thoughts that we might be bipolar. We adhere to diets and violate the diets. We struggle, and wonder why. I’ll tell you why – you don’t want to be The Airport Couple.

Gretchen Kubacky, Psy.D. is a Health Psychologist in private practice in West Los Angeles, California. She has completed the inCYST training. She specializes in counseling women and couples who are coping with infertility, PCOS, and related endocrine disorders and chronic illnesses.

If you would like to learn more about Dr. HOUSE or her practice, or obtain referrals in the Los Angeles area, please visit her website at www.drhousemd.com, or e-mail her at AskDrHouseMD@gmail.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @askdrhousemd.

I spent Friday and Saturday in the popular sports medicine workshop hosted by Nancy Clark, MS, RD, and William Evers, PhD. Both are well respected in their fields, and their even has been attended for years by hundreds of sports professionals.

Dr. Evers brought up chromium and I asked him what he thought of its use to curb carbohydrate cravings. Turns out, he has actually studied it firsthand in his lab…and has far as he could actually measure, the vast majority of it is not even absorbed by the body. Like 99.99 percent!

So what explains the commonly reported effect that it helps to reduce cravings? Placebo. Meaning if you believe something can happen, you can often give it the mental power to do so.

Food…or should I say…supplement…for thought?

The Mediterranean Diet is healthy, it’s true, but it’s not the only healthy way to eat. It just happens to be one that is heavily researched… and therefore marketed by the commodity boards representing foods that grow well in the Mediterranean. It so happens that California, the world’s eighth largest economy, and Chile, a country with a large agricultural tradition, have climates similar to the Mediterranean. Both economies depend on our love of the Mediterranean diet to thrive, and they therefore are a big part of the reason why so much research money has been invested into this way of eating.
I love the Mediterranean diet myself, but I sure don’t want anyone out there from other cultures abandoning their way of eating because it’s Northern European… or African… or Tasmanian. Mother Nature doesn’t play favorites—she makes sure she takes care of her Eskimos just as she nurtures her Italians. I thought it would be fun to survey varieties of cuisines around the world so that no matter what your origin, there’s something out there that is good for you.

I’ll start with German food, which is part of my personal heritage and what I was enjoying for lunch today. I made a salad with vegetables that likely would show up on a German summer salad, including two different types of radishes.

We got rutabagas and potatoes in our box this week, and I made the rutabaga-potato salad recipe our chef created. I had some lowfat chicken-apple bratwurst in the freezer, so thawed and cooked them up to have ready for the rest of the week’s lunches.

And… for dessert, I had some plain yogurt that I ground some Trader Joe’s coffee/chocolate/sugar mix on top of.
Let’s break that down for closer inspection.
Salad My salad had two different kinds of radishes, carrots, onions, celery, and a variety of lettuces. I sprinkled some German dill salad mix on top, then added apple cider vinegar and canola oil before tossing. Radishes: Great for cancer prevention. See my colleague Dr. Chris Wharton’s article on why radishes are so nutritious for more information. That beautiful red color? Comes from antioxidants similar to the ones blueberries get all the credit for. Onions: Very important to German cooking. And they are part of the __________family of vegetables, famous for __________________________-- Lettuce: I mixed several varieties to get more red color, again, to get more antioxidants.
Bratwurst The traditional version is a little bit fatty, but these days there are so many varieties chicken, turkey, and low-fat sausage, it’s easy to make a high-protein, low fat choice. This lunch, I had the green apple/cinnamon chicken variety from Fresh and Easy. Each link only had 110 calories.
Potatoes Potatoes? Yes, potatoes! How many of you stay away from them because you’ve been told they are high glycemic? Well, they are, if you don’t eat them wisely, such as eating them, super-sized, as French fries dripping in pro-inflammatory omega-6 oil.
The poor potato in this situation is not the culprit here, it’s the messenger. If you eat a small baked potato in a balanced meal, you’re doing ok. The potato salad I made has two benefits. Baked and then cooled potatoes contain resistant starch, a form of carbohydrate that is not immediately absorbed into your bloodstream. It passes into your large intestine where it ferments and becomes food for healthy bacteria (food that feeds those bacteria is also called prebiotic). Secondly, the dressing for this salad was vinegar. And as you’ve heard here many times before, vinegar helps to keep your blood sugar stable after meals, potentially as well as metformin. So a little bit of potato salad, without the mayo, holds potential to be PCOS-friendly.
Vinegar One of the strong points of the German diet is the vinegar. In addition to the salad, it’s used in pickled vegetables, sauerkraut, and sauerbraten. If it's sour, it's likely ok to eat!
Cheese Though I didn’t have any with this meal, cheese is something Germans love! A common breakfast is a piece of thinly sliced cheese on a slice of whole kernel rye bread, topped with a tomato. Cheese, remember, in moderation, has been found to be associated with increased fertility. The reason it works in the German diet is because, unlike Americans, Germans don’t shred, smother, and melt it on anything and everything they eat. It’s eaten in small portions and used to accent the rest of the food on the plate.
Berries Germany is pretty far north, meaning in the summer it is a fruit basket of flavor. Currants, strawberries, cherries, apples, peaches, grapes… you name it, someone is growing it. Mit sahne (with cream) is a popular way to serve fruit, and if it’s real cream and it’s minimally sweetened, it’s wonderful treat!
I have to tell you, the German meal I described above left me feeling so full and satisfied I wasn’t hungry until long after sundown. It really reinforced for me the power of eating balanced. Talk to people of German heritage, and they’ll often tell you about a grandparent or great-grandparent who lived, relatively disease-free, into their 90’s. They certainly didn’t get there on 800 calorie diets… perhaps we should be taking this diet a little more seriously instead of discounting it because of its potatoes.

Yup, you heard it here.
Nope, I’m not telling you to ditch the exercise.
I’m encouraging you to be sure you’re balancing exercise with rest, and not overtraining.
If you’re trying to lose weight, your focus is likely on losing fat. That’s a nice goal, and I’m guessing you’ll feel better about what you see when you look in the mirror if that results from your exercise, but it’s not really the main reason you’re exercising for PCOS.
You need to gain muscle. The more muscle mass you have, the harder it is to be insulin resistant. The act of exercise actually breaks muscle down. It rebuilds during periods of rest. It’s the balance of exercise and rest that matters, way more, than how many hours of exercise you’re actually doing.
It can be a vicious cycle to break out of, because insulin resistance itself actually breaks down muscle. So if it’s been awhile since you’ve actively exercised, and you’re not losing weight the way you’d hoped you would when you committed to the gym, consider that your ratio of muscle to fat is not high enough. Your priority, first and foremost, is to build and maintain that muscle.
Focusing too much on losing fat and overtraining in the process… will undermine your progress.
Exercising too late in the evening, getting up too early in the morning to get to the gym (it’s not uncommon to hear women say they’re up at 3 am to fit in the workout), or simply working out so much and so hard that you’re not sleeping well… are all easy ways to sabotage your success.
Things you need to keep in mind:
You need to eat enough protein so that your body builds muscle mass while you're not active.
2. You need to sleep enough so that you don’t promote insulin resistance.
3. You need to not push yourself so hard that you’ve stopped burning fat—monitor your heart rate!
4. You need to vary the workouts so all muscle groups are involved and have a chance to build up. Also, you need to develop the confidence to trust that PROACTIVE exercising, as opposed to REACTIVE exercising, is your path to success. Too often women with PCOS weigh themselves in the morning and if the weight is not what they want to see, react by doubling, even tripling their scheduled workout time in order to “get control” of the situation.
When you’re exercising with the goal of building muscles to reduce insulin resistance, you understand that overtraining is your enemy. You create an exercise plan that perhaps you even map out on your calendar, that you commit to regardless of how you’re feeling or what the scales says. For example, I just mapped out my spring training schedule. One of my friends and I have decided we’re going to take tennis lessons. We both own businesses, and committing to this ensure that we actually get out and move. I also love to swim, and it’s one way I can stay active as the weather in Arizona gets warm. And, I’ve been wanting to bump up my elliptical workouts and try spin classes. So, for the next three months, on my calendar, every fourth day, I’ve written “tennis”, every fourth day “spin”, every fourth day “swim”… and then I schedule a day off. It’s right there in my planner so when I start scheduling meetings and accepting social invitations, I only schedule in a way that does not take away from that commitment to myself. I varied the exercise to give my different muscle groups a rest, and to give me enough variety to not get bored.
And don’t get me wrong… I do relish the day off! We all need a little bit of laziness, sleeping in, and getting caught up. I find, personally, if I don’t have the day off, I have trouble sleeping and I have trouble keeping up with the appetite. I have designed this program to fit with the way I’ve learned my body works. If I like spin, I’ll keep it, or I may prioritize swimming during the heat of the summer. We’ll see. I kind of need to mix it up over time to stay interested.
The point of this post is, the reactive and self-punitive approach many of you have toward exercise, because of your focus on reducing body fat, is your absolute biggest enemy. Focus on building muscle, even though it may mean seeing your weight increase on occasion. It’s reflecting muscle, not fat, and it’s a good sign.
Muscle, muscle, muscle!

Lent is a good time to remind all of you, Lenten-practicers or not, that even though salmon is a nice source of those omega-3’s, it’s not the ONLY source. Don’t bore yourself out of one of the most important nutrients your PCOS needs by focusing on only one fish!
Omega-3’s gain entrance into the food chain at the very bottom, with algae. The smaller fish eat a lot of algae. Bigger fish eat the smaller fish, which is how they get THEIR omega-3’s, and so on and so forth, up the food chain. (Whales defy that, they get their omega-3’s from krill, but they’re technically mammals and unless we live in the Arctic circle we don’t eat them so they don’t count in this blog post.)
Anyway, my point is, ANYTHING that comes from the water has omega-3’s in it. You don’t just have to eat salmon. In fact, it would be better if that wasn’t all you ate in the seafood department, because if we all did that… we’d wipe out the salmon population. There just aren’t enough for all of us to do that.
Any seafood has omega-3’s, and when you’re eating seafood, provided it isn’t fried in an omega-6 fat, your dinner plate overall is likely more anti-inflammatory than it would be if you ate poultry or meat.
Here’s a list of the omega-3 contents of a variety of seafoods for you. Remember, it’s about the balance of omega-6 to omega-3 fats, so total omega-3 is not all that matters. Salmon is nice, but for many of you it’s expensive. It’s also summer-seasonal, which means eating it in the winter is not really a sustainable practice. It’s better for everyone involved, including the fish, and the planet, if you vary your choices.
Barramundi… prawns… catfish… they’re all beneficial to your health.
Gumbo, sushi, calamari anyone?
http://www.heartfoundation.org.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/FishOils-table.pdf

Last week I posted this graphic describing the grief process on our Facebook page. It got enough comments that I thought it might be worthwhile to expand on it in a blog post.
If you haven’t miscarried, or lost a family member, or been through a tough breakup, perhaps you don’t think this pertains to you. But there are many, many things you can grieve. --Being told you can’t have children. --Not getting into grad school and having to change your career plans as a result. --Foreclosing on a home. --Getting older. --Being diagnosed with a chronic, non-lifethreatening illness, like PCOS or infertility. --Accepting that your body likely is never going to be sculpted or dieted into that of Gwyneth Paltrow.
Diets? Something to grieve?
Absolutely.
In most cases I listed, it’s easy to understand how grieving is the result. Let’s talk for a minute about why dieting and self-medicating are often signs you’re in a grief process.
Grieving, you see, is about change. Any time you have to move out of your comfort zone and adjust to life in a different world, your potential for entering a grief process is high. If the change involves a promotion and a substantial increase in income, it’s a whole lot easier to adjust and accept than one that involves having to accept news you’d rather not hear.
In the case of PCOS, the news, in general, is that choices you have been making in your lifestyle have been counterproductive to your health. And that if you want to regain your health, you’ll need to make different choices.
You’ll need to go to bed earlier.
You’ll need to delegate more.
You’ll need to get to the gym.
You’ll need to eat more vegetables and fewer corn chips.
Looking at the long list of things your husband, your caregiver, your health coach, and your dietitian are asking… and expecting you to do… can seem insurmountable.
I receive, on average, about 5 emails a week from women with PCOS, asking if some supplement (Dr. Oz’ recent show on supplements raised that average), or diet (think HCG), is going to work. I have come to think of those emails as indicators that the person who wrote them is cycling through grief. They just want the PCOS to go away. It won’t go away on its own, the necessary changes that are not user-friendly, and anything that seems like the easy answer seems like it’s worth a try.
It’s when your grief process and my expertise collide that we often butt heads. It is my job, as unpleasant as it may feel on the receiving end, to not allow you to succumb to magical thinking and detours that ultimately keep you grieving. It doesn’t feel good when I give you honest answers to your questions. I’m making you aware of something you’ve been working really hard to avoid, that you’re really needing to move out of your established behavioral comfort zone.
Am I a sadist? Not at all! I just know that the shortest way out of grief is to walk right through it. It is only when you confront the pain, maybe even get really, really angry about it… that you’ll consider a path that may actually work.
I spent an hour on the phone a couple of months ago, with a client who finally “blew” over the fact that her body doesn’t respond to diets, and that when she pushes the diet/exercise/binge/purge thing a bit too far, her body fights back and responds by giving her a weight she doesn’t like. All of the “maybe if I exercise an extra hour today… ” she’s been doing has no logic or science to support it. She’s been bargaining with her body, hoping it will finally give her the answer she wants, that you can use unhealthy means to force your body into being healthy.
The reason the conversation lasted so long is because I sensed she really, really wanted me to just tell her that her way of doing things would eventually be right, and she could avoid the reality of living with PCOS if she could get me to say that. Of course, I couldn’t do that. And she became angry. Really, really angry. And we stayed on the phone as long as she needed to vent.
Dr. Gretchen has written about anger before, and the importance of not ignoring it in order to move into health. If you don’t allow yourself to get angry… you are highly likely to stay stuck in your grief, bouncing back and forth between overdoing the healthy behaviors and overdoing the unhealthy ones and even worse, exhausting yourself into doing absolutely nothing at all.
And because the health-related behaviors you’ve tried have let you down, when you do reach out for help, you’re skeptical of what we at inCYST have to offer you that might be helpful. In addition to the questions I get about supplements, diets, etc., each week, I have at any given time, two or three email threads with women who kind of sort of reach out, but who have already decided that if I don’t give them promises of what they want to hear, that they’re not going to give us a try.
If you’re one of those women, and you’ve felt frustrated, perhaps that my response was curt or not compassionate, I hope this blog post helps you to understand. It’s not that at all. I just know, from over 30 years of doing this work, that if someone comes and they’re still doing a lot of bargaining with themselves, their health, and their bodies, that what they’re asking for is not what I can provide. If I become involved too early in the grief process, I stand to become part of the problem, not the guide to the solution.
I could actually prolong your grief by keeping you stuck thinking there is an easy way out.
I haven’t had PCOS or infertility. But I had a serious athletic injury that took my active life from me for almost two years. My business has hit some really hard times over the years. I’ve lost more than one person in my life, who meant the world to me. I’ve been through all of the emotions and stages in this cycle, more than once, sometimes managing several grief processes and their different stages, simultaneously! Every single time I felt like I couldn’t get up to face the day, or that what I was needing to do to get through that day, was inconceivable and insurmountable, and I challenged myself to get out of bed anyway and do exactly what I didn’t feel like doing… I felt myself move a little further along in the grief. In each case, it’s made me a better person for accepting the challenge.
I wouldn’t be the person I am with the experience, perspective, tolerance, compassion, and motivation that I have, if I had not been challenged to face some really horrible situations. If anyone had come along who tried to remove any of the life events I encountered while dealing with my own grief, I don’t think I would have gotten over it. They would have kept me stuck, as well-intended as they might have been.
My job, the job of all of us here at inCYST, is to understand what it is that you are grieving, to be aware of where you are in the process of grieving it, and to respect that process. Sometimes we have concrete solutions, and sometimes it’s best to step back while you do some things on your own.
It’s called respecting the dignity of the struggle.
I do promise you, there is a light at the end of the tunnel if you accept the challenge. But you’ll probably need to struggle.
One of my friends who knew the most detail of how much I had on my plate and how hard I was fighting to keep that plate from tipping over and crashing to the ground, used to always tell me the best way to eat an elephant was one bit at a time.
I have a special love for elephants now that I have conquered most of the circumstances that had me overwhelmed. Sometimes I think we should include one in our logo design!
I guess the point I want to make here, is that really, a very small part of what we can do for you is prescribe a diet or exercise plan. The biggest part of it, is actually more in Dr. Gretchen’s domain. I think most of you know what you need to do. Understanding why you aren’t doing it, may have a lot to do with grieving.
If you look at that graphic and feel like you’re going around in circles, perhaps spending sometime with Dr. Gretchen, or someone else who can help you step outside of yourself and understand the process without self-judgment, is the next most important investment you can make in your PCOS care and your overall health.

Lent is a time we tend to think of sacrifice. Typically we jump into thinking of vices we need to give up. On the theme of grief, perhaps this year Lent can be the time you work to adopt a healthy habit. Any change in behavior involves sacrifice, but real behavior change is hard if you’re only focusing on what you’re NOT going to do. If you haven’t decided what you ARE going to do when you don’t do what it is you DON’T want to do, you’re not very likely to succeed at changing the behavior.
Most women who diet make the mistake of focusing on what they aren’t going to eat. If a large majority of their diet is junk, and all they do is remove it, that leaves big voids of food that aren’t being filled. I’ve heard over and over through the years, how surprised clients are to find how much they genuinely can eat and still lose weight. They’d never thought of it as a journey of what TO eat. It’s always been about what NOT to eat. I like to keep them so busy eating everything they need to eat that they are too full to think of what they’re missing out on.
Adding exercise is going to mean giving up TV time. Going to bed a little earlier is going to mean giving up your nightly date with Jay Leno. Delegating more to someone else is going to mean giving up control of something.
Practicing better self-care truly does mean giving something up. It’s not an either/or thing. All of those are sacrifices, but instead of denying them to yourself, which often means setting yourself up for an indulgent binge come Easter, think of Lent as an opportunity to adopt a new behavior!
If you’re having a hard time giving up the chocolate, think of what you can add to your diet when you crave it. A packet of Justin’s Nut Butter? A handful of nuts? Greek yogurt? Some string cheese?
Not doing it for you to hear these suggestions? Then maybe it’s not the chocolate that’s the problem. Maybe it’s the dependence on binge eating to deal with stress. Try sacrificing an hour of Facebook time for an hour of yoga class.
Anytime you ADD a new behavior, it requires sacrifice of something else in order for you to make room for it. If you’re only focusing on the sacrifice, it’s going to suck.
Lent is a great time to change a behavior, provided your focus is on the newer, nurturing choice, rather than on viewing what you’re trying NOT to do as a punishment.
How can you succeed with what you’ve given up for Lent? What healthy choice can you use to fill in the void?

We’re all subject to variables – our moods, our family’s moods, the weather, the price of oil, and natural disasters, or the way people in Iowa vote. Some we control, some we don’t, and some we just think we control. It’s important to figure out which ones are which, and treat them accordingly, or the cumulative stress and pressure of trying to bring them back under (that elusive and imaginary sense of) control is going to result in stress. And we all know, stress doesn’t help PCOS.

Let’s assume that, if you take a moment and breathe, you know which ones fall into the category of things we can’t possibly control – earthquakes, toddler’s temper tantrums, the fact that the bananas you put in the refrigerator have rotted, and so on. Since you can’t control, LET GO OF THEM. Gripe and groan if you must, but impose a time limit on it (I suggest five minutes per day of hearty whining – laugh, but try it and see how far you get with the practice).

Now for the things you are CERTAIN you can control – being on time (really? In that traffic?), your weight (and how’s that working with PCOS?), whether or not you get pregnant on schedule (assisted reproductive technology is amazing, but it’s not entirely predictable), the shade you dye your hair (ever tried doing it yourself, only to discover that whatever’s in the box doesn’t look quite the same as the picture on the box?), or how many people you have for your perfectly balanced dinner party (darn that man for getting a stomach flu at the last minute and throwing it all off). Hmmm… I’m still struggling to identify something you can absolutely control.

So is it all hopeless, and you should give up trying to have any sense of order or control in your life? No, but you’ve got be real about it, allow for the vagaries of other people’s desires and behaviors, understand that time waits for no man (or woman), and, most importantly, get that the only thing you can control is THIS MOMENT. You can choose what you put in your mouth, whether you do two more flights on the stair-stepper, kind words or nasty words, whether you act from love or something less, and whether you’ll focus your attention on yourself or trying to control others. That’s really about it. Not much, in the end. Not your spouse, your boss, your child, your mother, the environment, or anything else that is larger than this moment, or larger than you.

Somehow, the idea of that is actually really calming. It feels overwhelming to hold on to a belief that we can, if we’re just good enough, smart enough, fast enough, or coordinated enough, control everything, or almost everything. If you believe that, you’re pulling a con on yourself, and I encourage you to look at it more closely, and start releasing some of that false belief.

Gretchen Kubacky, Psy.D. is a Health Psychologist in private practice in West Los Angeles, California. She has completed the inCYST training. She specializes in counseling women and couples who are coping with infertility, PCOS, and related endocrine disorders and chronic illnesses.

If you would like to learn more about Dr. HOUSE or her practice, or obtain referrals in the Los Angeles area, please visit her website at www.drhousemd.com, or e-mail her at AskDrHouseMD@gmail.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @askdrhousemd.

I don't think I've ever talked about this, but inCYST has, over the years, developed an interesting niche within its niche — we do a lot of work with dietittians who themselves have PCOS.

I imagine it must be tough to have a diagnosis that defies much of what we learned in our formal training. When I've done onsite trainings, I've invited dietitians in attendance to share their experience. And the fortitude it takes to pursue our specialty when a big part of the world has an expectation that you should have a certain body type if you have a degree in nutrition…well, let's just say that colleagues with PCOS have become some of my very favorite clients.

We actually have quite a few in our network. And I love that! It hopefully speaks volumes about what we believe at inCYST. Degrees hung on the wall do not constitute immunity from inflammation. Putting yourself out there on Twitter or Facebook or any public forum for that matter, does not insulate you from the realities of PCOS.

We do believe we have some things going on here that would be helpful to you. If you'd like a private consultation (something that I imagine is extremely difficult to ask for when you may be feeling like you should have a handle on this), please know you are welcome, that you will be treated with professionalism and confidentiality, and without judgment. You haven't done anything wrong. You've just lived in a world that can be hard on certain body types.: )

We just want to be sure you are getting the best information and guidance possible!

So many of you are artistic, and appreciative of color…it occurred to me while working on another project the other day, that perhaps thinking about food in a different way would work better with your creative brains.

We had a challenge recently at Chow Locally, we got a beautiful head of peacock kale. Many people who received it had questions about what to do with it, and when I looked online for recipes to share, I didn't find many. And that meant my weekend was going to be devoted to coming up with ways to use it that were easy to make and not too avant garde.

I went with my backup for greens, pesto, and came up with this really pretty final product! The recipe can be found here.

Another one of our customers, Barefeet in the Kitchen's Mary Younkin, also a food blogger, came up with this beautiful purple smoothie made from the same kale. She went with more of a fruity theme, which you can read about on her blog.

In recent weeks, I've also enjoyed some other colorful creations!

Here are some egg salad wraps. I used a simple egg salad recipe and added chopped spinach for color. And I saved a few leaves of a gorgeous head of Merlot lettuce for the wraps. Simple recipe, made exotic simply by switching out the colors!

We had a bunch of bright lights chard, so I made risotto, another one of my favorite ways to use greens. The stems are a beautiful array of reds and yellows, so instead of throwing them out, as many risotto recipes will tell you to do, I minced them, sauteed them, and added them in for a confetti effect.

This head of romanesco surprised me by turning fluorescent green while it slow roasted! I really didn't do much to this, it decorated itself in the oven. But I loved the surprise that came out of the oven!

And here is a Daikon radish slaw! I was really doubtful about this one since radishes are not my favorite veggie, but it was so colorful it enticed me to taste it, and I ended up loving it!

We're no different from Mother Nature's other creatures. We are attracted to foods for a variety of reasons. One of the most important ones is color. Fortunately, the foods that add color are usually the ones loaded with nutrition.

When you are in the kitchen, take off that healthy cooking hat and put on your creative"PCOS brain" hat. Ask yourself where the color is! If it's not inherently there, don't be afraid to deviate from the recipe. Create your work of art, and trust that if it's naturally colorful, something in that food is going to benefit your health.

I have had a handful of inquiries in the last week about an inCYST fertility consultation. I thought I would lay out, honestly, what it is we do and what we do not do, in order that you know exactly what it is you are contacting us for when you do, and to prevent disappointment by hoping we might be something we are not.

1. We do not make babies. We are not fertility clinics. If what you are looking for, is someone to give you a baby, a fertility clinic is where you should be asking for help.

2. We DO, if there is anything about your lifestyle that has the potential to interfere with fertility…be it sleep, nutrition, activity, stress management…have a strong ability to identify what it is and to help you replace the behavior in question with a more fertility-friendly option.

3. We DO assume that you are willing to make changes in your behavior and that this is an active partnership. We cannot live those lifestyle changes for you. We cannot become pregnant for you.

4. We DO NOT consider ourselves to be an"either — or" issue, in competition with the fertility industry. In fact, I am quite surprised at how few of our fans do not invest in a proactive inCYST consultation on deciding to go with IVF. If anything, we can help to be sure you are in the absolute best physical and mental condition to be in upon engaging in a physically and mentally challenging procedure. Just as an Olympic athlete would want to be nutritionally and physically ready for the big event, we believe partnering with us is good insurance that all of the money and stress you are about to encounter is worth the investment.

5. We DO NOT believe that there is a high success rate among women who do have lifestyle issues interfering with their fertility, who believe they can bypass the effort and inconvenience of changing that lifestyle with a medical procedure. You cannot fool Mother Nature.

6. We DO NOT provide false hope. That would be cruel.

7. We DO NOT pressure potential clients. Women with infertility are stressed enough as it is.

8. We DO NOT hang our celebrity clients out on a shingle as marketing tools. Celebrities need their privacy too.

9. We DO believe enough in what we do to be willing to work to create a research foundation to pursue our findings in a scientific fashion.

10. We have seen miracles, but we do not promise them.

We'd like to think we have a whole lot to offer you, but we won't chase it down. That is because the clients most likely to succeed with our program are not the ones we have to chase down and convince of our value. It's the ones who already believe in us.

We hope that this describes you, but if it is not, we respect the differences and truly wish you the best.

Most people don’t love going to the doctor. It’s right up there with changing the cat litter, and dinner with your mother-in-law. Yet, we all have to do it, and for those of us with PCOS, we have to do it more than usual.

The first thing to do when you’re in major dread mode about visiting your physician is to ask yourself WHY? Is s/he always running late? Is the staff rude? Parking expensive? There’s always some issue with your insurance? The office is kind of funky? You aren’t treated with respect? You just know you’re in for bad news? You’re afraid of pain? You didn’t drink enough water, so there’s no way you can generate a urine sample, and someone’s going to make you feel like a failure because of it? The phlebotomist should be sent to remedial phlebotomy class?

What’s going on? Is it something you can do something about? If so, fix it. Change your appointment time to one where the doctor’s less likely to be late. Tell the doctor her receptionist treats you like dirt. Call in advance and speak to someone about your insurance. Drink the water. Wear the right clothes, so you don’t have to get undressed just to get a blood pressure reading.

Or is the problem so minor that, if you’re honest, you know it’s just an excuse? If all the medical offices are in one plaza, you’re going to be stuck with the extortion (oops, I mean, standard parking fees). So you hate modern, plastic offices and prefer antiques. Does this really affect the quality of medical care? Yes, paper gowns are ill-fitting and awkward. Are you going to change doctors so you can find one who uses cloth? Sometimes the things we focus on are just not the real problem.

Or perhaps there’s something more serious. If you want an hour with your doctor, and they only schedule 20 minute appointments for your type of problem, are you setting yourself up for irritation? Or you’ve had some medical trauma, and anything in a medical setting just makes you anxious and irritable. Quite often, it’s bad news we fear, being chastised for failure to lose weight, improve our blood pressure levels, or getting our fasting glucose numbers under control. If this is more along the lines of the real issue, it’s time to give it some attention, and see what else is going on that prevents you from taking the best possible care of yourself. Remember that doctors aren’t magicians – they can only work with the material you give them.

Gretchen Kubacky, Psy.D. is a Health Psychologist in private practice in West Los Angeles, California. She has completed the inCYST training. She specializes in counseling women and couples who are coping with infertility, PCOS, and related endocrine disorders and chronic illnesses.

If you would like to learn more about Dr. HOUSE or her practice, or obtain referrals in the Los Angeles area, please visit her website at www.drhousemd.com, or e-mail her at AskDrHouseMD@gmail.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @askdrhousemd.

I'm sharing with you a link to an FAQ about brown rice and arsenic, located on the Growing Naturals website.

To clarify our relationship with Growing Naturals, they have sponsored one of our events, and I am a Growing Naturals Guru, meaning from time to time I am asked to respond to nutrition issues that may come up at corporate headquarters.

In this case, it was ME who actually contacted THEM, as I wanted to know what to tell the many people we have encouraged to try their product. This statement was prepared independently of inCYST. I simply wanted reassurance myself, and to be able to provide reassurance to our fans, that we did not steer them toward a dangerous product.

I was not compensated in any way for posting this link.

Please ask any questions you have to feel confident about using Growing Naturals products.

Ignite Food is an event being held in Phoenix in March. It is a spinoff of the popular Ignite Phoenix event, an evening of presentations by creative Phoenicians. In the words of its organizers, "Ignite is a geek event in over 100 cities worldwide. At the events, Ignite presenters present their personal and professional passions, Using 20 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds for a total of just 5 minutes." It is a popular and most competitive event.

When the Ignite Phoenix folks decided to create Ignite Food, a sister event revolving entirely around the topic to which I have devoted my career, the easy part was knowing what I wanted to pitch, the mantra you have heard here before,"Farms, Not Pharmacies." We were advised to pitch our passion, and you all know this is mine!

I've been accepted…which, given the stiff competition for a limited number of slots, was a difficult achievement. Seeing the submissions validates that we have a lot of people around these parts qualified to talk food!

Now the challenge is to create a slide show and presentation that fits the format rules. I am already working on my scheme.er.Power Point.

If you are in Phoenix, and you would like to attend, grab your ticket now, because Ignite events do sell out! Here is more information about the speakers and ticket purchase.

I have been told that we are all videotaped, which means I will also be able to, and will, share my final project here online.

Check out the Ignite home page to learn how you can become involved in your own city!

So honored and excited to have been chosen by the Ignite committee! Thanks so much!

Source: picasaweb.google.com via Katie on Pinterest

I am not a celebrity chaser, and I am definitely not a Kardashian fan. It just so happened that when I was getting ready to leave yesterday morning, I had the television on to catch the news.

I actually almost turned off the television when I heard from back in the bedroom that Khloe K was promoting another reality show. But by the tome I came out to shut it off, she was talking about some wildly inappropriate and insensitive behavior on the part of not one, not two, but THREE separate infertility clinics…in Dallas…on Valentine's Day no less. and she has not even said she is dealing with infertility!

http://video.ca.msn.com/watch/video/khloe-kardashian-definitely-still-wants-kids/17ygvpw0l

This comes straight from her, which, since I don't gossip, is the only reason I am even sharing it. Kudos to Khloe for calling these clinics on their greed. If I were in her shoes and I ever DID need these services, I would definitely intentionally seek them far, far from Dallas just to make a point.

I shared this on my Facebook page yesterday, and a woman shared that in her own journey, she had pursued three unsuccessful IVFs and never once received flowers from anyone who treated her.

Yup the industry creates DNA but seems to forget that inhabiting those cells, DNA, etc., are hearts and souls.

It is an industry that in many cases has lost ITS soul.

'Nuff said.

They are not what you think, but even nutrition experts get caught away from home when hunger strikes! Here they are, in no particular order.

Source: google.com via Peter on Pinterest

1. Sushi boxes. I am partial to the brown rice California rolls at Trader Joe's. Go for sashimi if you don't want the rice. I love the portion control and feeling just full enough.

Source: google.com via j jump Janenifer on Pinterest

2. String cheese sticks and an apple. Just walk into the grocery store, grab, hit the"10 items or less" lane, and you are in and out in 1/10 the time the drive through would have taken.

Source: google.com via Rhonda on Pinterest

3. Justin's Nut Butter pack with whole grain crackers and a sliced banana.

Source: shop.wholefoodsmarket.com via Salina on Pinterest

4. Any protein-containing option at the Whole Foods Deli. They only use olive and canola oil so no label reading is required.

Source: ohsheglows.com via Alina on Pinterest

5. Hummus and vegetables.

And there you have it. As soon as you stop obliging marketers who need you to say"restaurant" after every time you say"fast food" in order to keep your job…the possibilities are endless.: )

Source: Uploaded by user via Monika on Pinterest

I was asked by one of our readers (who happens to also be my dear cousin Susan), if there was anywhere on the Internet, a checklist for vegetarians to follow to be sure their diet is complete. Her pretty exhaustive research found nothing really practical for meal planning.

So in response to that, and knowing that a very high percentage of our own readers are vegetarian, I put something together. Please let us know if it needs refining or detail, so that we can make this as practical as it can possibly be.

There are five main things to attend to. All of them are important, but I ordered them in the way I look at them when planning a vegetarian meal for myself.

1. What is my protein source and how much of it do I need to truly give me enough protein?

Here are your goals based on the number of calories you eat. This will make 30% of your calories protein, which will help to fight insulin resistance.

1200 calories 90 grams
1300 calories 93 grams
1400 calories 95 grams
1500 calories 98 grams
1600 calories 100 grams
1700 calories 103 grams
1800 calories 105 grams
1900 calories 108 grams
2000 calories 110 grams

2. Where is my vitamin D coming from, and have I had enough? You will have to make a very conscious effort to get enough of this vitamin. With regard to whole foods, mushrooms are pretty much the only vitamin D-containing food. With regard to vegan milk alternatives, beware. Most are so low in protein, they are more accurately thought of as juices rather than milks. If you choose to drink them you will need to find other ways to meet criteria nu,ber one above. I blogged about
this in detail not too long ago.

3. Are my fats healthy? If your definition of vegan is primarily not eating meat, and you are eating a lot of packaged, processed, prepared, or baked food…be extra sure you are not inadvertently letting the pro-inflammatory fats sneak in. Remember, they tend to begin with the letters"s" and" c" — soybean, safflower, sunflower, sesame, corn, cottonseed. (Canola is the exception.). Vegans are often blindsided here with salad dressings, baked goods, cookies, and chops. Read your labels--as much as I love Whole Foods, their entire snack food aisle only has a handful of choices you can bring home if you follow this rule! Good fats include olive and organic canola.

4. Am I getting DHA and EPA (marine omega-3)? Yes, flax, green veggies, and other foods contain omega-3, but the conversion rate is not high. You will need to find a marine algae supplement to be sure your intake of these two essential fatty acids is adequate. InCYSTer Chris Marquette found one that is not genetically modified; look for it next time you shop.

5. Am I getting enough fruits and vegetables? Ideally, these should be the vast majority of what you eat. I am surprised at how many vegans I know who do not like vegetables! You should be aiming for 2-3 1/2 cup servings PER MEAL. Beware of juicing; it is a great way to get in large volumes of fruits and vegetables…BUT…the carbohydrate to protein ratio is not going to help reduce insulin resistance. Make a smoothie out of your juice with your favorite protein powder.

Of course, you can take supplements to make up many of these deficiencies…but if your solution in more than one of these categories is a supplement, I challenge you to consider why you do what you do. The true definition of a vegan is someone WHO MEETS THEIR DAILY NUTRITIONAL NEEDS without using animal-based food to make it happen. If all you have done is remove animals from your diet, you are simply a picky or misinformed eater.

Source: Uploaded by user via Monika on Pinterest

“Dysmorphia” may not be part of your everyday vocabulary, but if I tell you that lots of people thought the late Michael Jackson suffered from it, you’ll probably know what I’m talking about. Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD, for short), is a complex psychological problem that results in obsessions with imagined defects in your personal appearance.

It drives people to exercise excessively, engage in extreme dieting, reshape their bodies through weight-lifting, get cosmetic procedures including plastic surgery, change their clothes often, engage in approval-seeking behaviors, and dress oddly in order to disguise imagined defects. It may also result in avoidance of mirrors, failure to seek medical help when necessary, refusal to participate in sports, sex, or other social activities, excessive beauty practices such as permanent make-up, dangerous chemical hair straightening, and the like. Many if not most of us have engaged in some of these behaviors at some point in our PCOS journeys.

In a group of people who have anxiety or depression, you’ll find BDD as an additional diagnosis in about 5 – 40%. This is quite a range, to be sure, but I think we’d find an even higher rate of BDD among women with PCOS. BDD is more common among women, actually, since we’ve already got a culture that is fixated on our likes as a central factor in our value. And, we’ve already got a much higher incidence of depressive and anxiety disorders, and our symptoms, while both internal and external, have particularly disturbing external manifestations. It can definitely reach an obsessive level of preoccupation when a woman is losing her hair, covered with excess hair in all the wrong places, erupting in acne, or dealing with stubborn, unbudgeable abdominal fat. The desire to be rid of THE PROBLEM can take an astonishing amount of time and energy.

I have clients who do all of the above, and more. If they’re not tackling the problem head-on (all discretionary funds go towards laser or electrolysis, they will not have sex unless and until they lose 50 pounds, they consider themselves complete failures at managing their bodies and tell themselves so regularly), they’re in avoidance mode. The avoidance usually affects social relationships, and further exacerbates depression – or being forced into a social situation will bring up anxiety.

It’s a complex condition that merits more than passing, gossipy attention from the media. It ruins lives. If you think you may suffer from BDD, please seek professional consultation to see how you can be helped. PCOS is complicated enough, without the extra layer of problems caused by BDD.

Gretchen Kubacky, Psy.D. is a Health Psychologist in private practice in West Los Angeles, California. She has completed the inCYST training. She specializes in counseling women and couples who are coping with infertility, PCOS, and related endocrine disorders and chronic illnesses.

If you would like to learn more about Dr. HOUSE or her practice, or obtain referrals in the Los Angeles area, please visit her website at www.drhousemd.com, or e-mail her at AskDrHouseMD@gmail.com. You can also follow her on Twitter @askdrhousemd.