Greek yogurt is all the rage these days. Are you missing something by not eating it?
Yes…and no.
This dairy treat is popular with consumers because it's thicker and creamier than regular yogurt. Nutrition experts like it because it is higher in protein. That, for PCOS is something to look for in foods.
Before you jump on the bandwagon, however, consider a couple of things.
Greek yogurt is made by straining out the water to make it thicker. In the process of straining, calcium leaches out into the water that is strained and discarded. This means that its calcium content tends to be lower.
Greek yogurt also doesn't contain vitamin D, a vitamin that is increasingly being found to be deficient in women with PCOS. I personally checked all major brand labels (Fage, Oikos, Chobani, and several other lesser known options) in the store to verify this, and unfortunately, not a single one is fortified with vitamin D.
So if you're using Greek yogurt as your dairy choice for the day, and you're assuming it's a good source of calcium and vitamin D, you're selling yourself short.
Fortunately, if you love Greek yogurt and you have a few minutes of time, the problem can easily be solved. It turns out, it's fairly easy to make Greek-style yogurt from regular, vitamin-D fortified yogurt! All you need to do is strain the regular yogurt with a cheesecloth. Here are the directions, with pictures.
Here is a list of yogurts that DO contain vitamin D. My recommendation is to stick with plain in order to keep the sugar content low. Also, to consider a low-fat rather than a non-fat version. Researchers have found that if only one of your dairy choices a day contains fat, you tend to increase your fertility.
If you want to, you can even save the liquid you've drained off and include it in smoothies--thus recapturing the calcium and the whey protein that's been drained off in the straining process.
Bottom line--don't assume that because yogurt is a dairy product that it is the exact nutritional equivalent of milk. And don't get caught up in the hype, and assume that Greek yogurt is automatically your superior choice.
One of the main reasons women with PCOS are encouraged to take metformin is because it is widely believed that it can help to improve fertility and reduce the incidence of miscarriage.
A 2009 study challenges this belief. It comes from the Cochrane Collaboration, a not-for-profit organization that evaluates groupings of research independent of for-profit (read"drug company") funding. I like their studies because their sample sizes are large and their findings are evidence-based. It takes them a long time to adopt new ideas, but it is because they so heavily scrutinize the available information rather than jumping on any bandwagons.
In this study, authors searched several comprehensive medical databases for studies evaluating metformin used during in-vitro fertilization (IVF) or intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). They specifically looked at randomized, controlled trials containing a"no treatment" or placebo group to compare to a group receiving metformin. They evaluated several types of outcomes that metformin may have an opportunity to influence: live birth rate, pregnancy rate, miscarriage rate, incidence of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, patient-reported side effects, and several hormone levels (estradiol, androgen, fasting insulin and glucose).
This exhaustive review, under rigorous statistical analysis…
"found no evidence that metformin treatment before or during assisted reproductive technique (ART) cycles improved live birth or clinical pregnancy rates."
The one benefit of metformin appeared to be a reduced risk of OHSS in women with PCOS and undergoing IVF or ICSI cycles.
I'm not a physician and therefore, I am not able to prescribe metformin. And I am ABSOLUTELY NOT ENCOURAGING ANYONE READING THIS TO DISCONTINUE USING MEDICATION THAT THEY HAVE BEEN PRESCRIBED. I do, however, see a tendency to hand this medication out without evaluating whether or not it is appropriate. It's important to discuss such issues with your physician and to be sure they are aware of the research supporting (or not supporting) their recommendation.
Here is the reference for anyone who wishes to share it with their personal provider.
Tso LO, Costello MF, Albuquerque LE, Andriolo RB, Freitas V. Metformin treatment before and during IVF or ICSI in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2009 Apr 15;(2):CD006105.
From inCYSTER Karen Siegel…contact information for her Houston clinic is listed below.
"Yes. Another reason to keep encouraging the fish oil supplementation."
Public release date: 16-Dec-2009
Contact: Public Affairs Office public.affairs@apa.org 202-336-5700 202-336-5700 American Psychological Association
New study links DHA type of omega-3 to better nervous-system function Deficiencies may factor into mental illnesses WASHINGTON — The omega-3 essential fatty acids commonly found in fatty fish and algae help animals avoid sensory overload, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. The finding connects low omega-3s to the information-processing problems found in people with schizophrenia; bipolar, obsessive-compulsive, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders; Huntington's disease; and other afflictions of the nervous system.
The study, reported in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience, provides more evidence that fish is brain food. The key finding was that two omega-3 fatty acids – docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) – appear to be most useful in the nervous system, maybe by maintaining nerve-cell membranes.
"It is an uphill battle now to reverse the message that 'fats are bad,' and to increase omega-3 fats in our diet," said Norman Salem Jr., PhD, who led this study at the Laboratory of Membrane Biochemistry and Biophysics at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
The body cannot make these essential nutrients from scratch. It gets them by metabolizing their precursor, α-linolenic acid (LNA), or from foods or dietary supplements with DHA and EPA in a readily usable form."Humans can convert less than one percent of the precursor into DHA, making DHA an essential nutrient in the human diet," added Irina Fedorova, PhD, one of the paper's co-authors. EPA is already known for its anti-inflammatory and cardiovascular effects, but DHA makes up more than 90 percent of the omega-3s in the brain (which has no EPA), retina and nervous system in general.
In the study, the researchers fed four different diets with no or varying types and amounts of omega-3s to four groups of pregnant mice and then their offspring. They measured how the offspring, once grown, responded to a classic test of nervous-system function in which healthy animals are exposed to a sudden loud noise. Normally, animals flinch. However, when they hear a softer tone in advance, they flinch much less. It appears that normal nervous systems use that gentle warning to prepare instinctively for future stimuli, an adaptive process called sensorimotor gating.
Only the mice raised on DHA and EPA, but not their precursor of LNA, showed normal, adaptive sensorimotor gating by responding in a significantly calmer way to the loud noises that followed soft tones. The mice in all other groups, when warned, were startled nearly as much by the loud sound. When DHA was deficient, the nervous system most obviously did not downshift. That resulted in an abnormal state that could leave animals perpetually startled and easily overwhelmed by sensory stimuli.
The authors concluded that not enough DHA in the diet may reduce the ability to handle sensory input."It only takes a small decrement in brain DHA to produce losses in brain function," said Salem.
In humans, weak sensorimotor gating is a hallmark of many nervous-system disorders such as schizophrenia or ADHD. Given mounting evidence of the role omega-3s play in the nervous system, there is intense interest in their therapeutic potential, perhaps as a supplement to medicines. For example, people with schizophrenia have lower levels of essential fatty acids, possibly from a genetic variation that results in poor metabolism of these nutrients.
More broadly, the typical American diet is much lower in all types of omega-3 than in omega-6 essential fatty acids, according to Salem. High intake of omega-6, or linoleic acid, reduces the body's ability to incorporate omega-3s. As a result,"we have the double whammy of low omega-3 intake and high omega-6 intake," he said.
### Article:"Deficit in Prepulse Inhibition in Mice Caused by Dietary n-3 Fatty Acid Deficiency"; Irina Fedorova, PhD, Laboratory of Membrane Biochemistry and Biophysics, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health; Anita R. Alvheim, PhD candidate, Laboratory of Membrane Biochemistry and Biophysics, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, and National Institute of Nutrition and Seafood Research, Bergen, Norway; and Nahed Hussein, PhD and Norman Salem Jr., PhD, Laboratory of Membrane Biochemistry and Biophysics, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health; Behavioral Neuroscience, Vol. 123, No. 6.
(Full text of the article is available from the APA Public Affairs Office)
Norman Salem Jr. can be reached at nsalem@martek.com or at (443) 542-2370 (443) 542-2370. He was with the National Institutes of Health until 2008, when he became the chief scientific officer and vice president of Martek Biosciences Corp. in Columbia, Md., an ingredient supplier of DHA. He states that he and his co-authors conducted this research while with the NIH.
The American Psychological Association, in Washington, D.C., is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association of psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 150,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. Through its divisions in 54 subfields of psychology and affiliations with 60 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession and as a means of promoting health, education and human welfare. -- Karen Siegel, MPH, MS, RD, LD, LAc Acupuncture & Nutrition Clinic 9660 Hillcroft, Suite 202 Houston, TX 77096 713/721-7755 713/721-7755 www.AcupunctureandNutritionClinic.com or www.Karensclinic.com
If you're trying to conceive, you likely know that it's important to be getting enough folate in your diet in order to prevent neural tube defects.
Even if you're NOT trying to get pregnant, folate is important for women with PCOS.
Homocysteine is a compound found in the blood, which, in elevated amounts, indicates increased cardiovascular risk and inflammation. It tends to be elevated in women with PCOS.
Fifty patients with PCOS, were divided into two groups receiving two different treatments. The first group received 1700 mg of metformin per day, along with 400 mug folate. The second group received metformin without folate.
Homocysteine levels were significantly increased in both groups, but to a lesser degree when they also supplemented with folate.
I was heartened to see this study, since so much research on PCOS focuses on the part of PCOS we can SEE (i.e., weight), and seems to ignore that biochemistry can be altered regardless of weight. In fact, another study I ran across while looking for a blog topic this morning, focused on the fact that metformin improved biochemistry even without diet or exercise modifications. Yes, you can make a study say anything you wish if you correctly design it, but it is not fair to women with PCOS to do that and falsely lead them to believe that medication is the only answer. And, you've got to understand that even if your weight is normal with PCOS, you still have to pay attention to what is happening metabolically.
You've got to care about what's under the hood, not just how pretty the paint job is.
Palomba S, Falbo A, Giallauria F, Russo T, Tolino A, Zullo F, Colao A, Orio F. Effects of metformin with or without supplementation with folate on homocysteine levels and vascular endothelium of women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Diabetes Care. 2009 Nov 23. [Epub ahead of print]
Oppelt PG, Mueller A, Janetsch K, Kronawitter D, Reissmann C, Dittrich R, Beckmann MW, Cupisti S. The Effect of Metformin Treatment for 2 Years without Caloric Restriction on Endocrine and Metabolic Parameters in Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. Exp Clin Endocrinol Diabetes. 2009 Dec 8. [Epub ahead of print]
A few weeks ago I was visiting my parents in Tucson. You could tell the holidays were coming, because the corner lots were all occupied by chili ristra vendors. These chilis, popular in the Southwest, are crafted into artistic wreaths and strands that hang on doors, gates, and walls, everywhere you look. Traditional wisdom says that a house with a ristra hanging out front is a happy household.
I thought this would make a fun food for a holiday greeting, and perhaps if we hung a ristra on this blog, we'd radiate electronic happiness and goodwill.
What is so great about chilis? Well…what isn't?
They are a great anti-inflammatory. Capsaicin, a compound in chilis, has been found to delay the onset of arthritis, and to be therapeutic for diabetic neuropathy. Both of these conditions are more likely to be issues in people prone to inflammatory disorders.
Chilis can reduce cholesterol and heart attack risk. They can reduce the risk of diabetes.
From a practical standpoint, chilis make food interesting. It's easy to eat healthfully if you like what you're eating!
Here is a recipe for Mexican Red Chile Sauce, a staple in New Mexico and excellent on pork…or leftover turkey.
Whether you like Mexican, Szechuan, Indian, or Thai food, don't forget the chilis.
The other day it was brought to my attention that amazon.com had a pretty extensive grocery section on their website.
I liked a lot of the items they were selling and it occurred to me that highlighting some of them from time to time would be a way to provide a virtual grocery store tour for those of you who do not have the ability to attend one of our live classes or counseling options.
I also wanted to create options for the many people reading this blog who live outside of the United States who do not have access to many of the shopping options we have here in our own country.
I did, in the process, become an Amazon associate, but truthfully, I have done an equally good job of providing this new service if you only click through to look at the photo and don't buy. It's about becoming more confident in your food choices, and this seemed like a fun way to promote that.
I do, as a small business, have more of a desire to promote other small businesses, so the emphasis will be on products created by companies who have put as much of themselves into what they do as I have with inCYST.
From time to time I'll post some suggestions for your consideration. There are some great options out there, and I hope you enjoy learning about them!
Bergin Nut Company Almonds Whole Raw, 16-Ounce Bags (Pack of 2) All nuts are great, and you'll get the best benefit if you vary the types that you eat.
KIND Bar Fruit & Nut Delight, 1.4-Ounce Bars (Pack of 8) Kind Bars are one kind that are as bare and natural as you'll be able to find.
Amish Country Baby White Popcorn — 2lb. Be sure to pop this in olive or canola oil.
Traverse Bay Dried Cherries, 4-Pound Box Tart cherries contain melatonin, which you'll read about a lot on this blog. Great to throw into your oatmeal or trail mix.
Traverse Bay Dried Cranberries, 4-Pound Box Another high antioxidant option for snacking!
KIND Bar Macadamia & Apricot, 1.4-Ounce Bars (Pack of 8) Of the kind bars, this is the one with our favorite nut--very high in monounsaturated fats and very high on the"healthy" scale.
Just Tomatoes Just Strawberries, 4-Ounce Tubs (Pack of 2) I love these snacks! Again, use for trail mix or keep in your desk to eat right out of the container.
Mary's Gone Crackers, Original, 6.5-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 12) Crackers are the hardest category to find PCOS-friendly options in. Here is one of my favorite brands.
Bare Fruit 100% Organic Bake-Dried Apples, Fuji, 1 Pound Bags (Pack of 2) If you like dried fruit, take advantage of it!
Seapoint Farms Dry Roasted Edamame, Lightly Salted, 4-Ounce Units (Pack of 12) Edamame is one of four kinds of soy that is best for PCOS. It's a great, high protein snack or salad topping.
Awhile back, I wrote about shirataki noodles as a food of the week. I learned from that, that there are quite a few people looking for these noodles!
I just learned they are available through Amazon.com. To make it easy for those of you looking for these low-carb noodles, I've set up a link where you can directly order them from Amazon. Click here to order shirataki noodles online
Disclosure: inCYST does have an associate agreement with amazon.com.
I recently wrote about my experience with a personal trainer at a local gym, and the interaction we had about my doubt about the body fat number he measure for me.
Yesterday I was at another location of the same gym, waiting for yoga class to start. Another personal trainer walked by with the same apparatus, and asked if anyone wanted to have their measurement taken.
I volunteered, and I got the same inflated measurement they gave me before. Again…I told him I had two degrees in nutrition and fitness-related fields, that I'd managed an exercise testing laboratory during graduate school, and the numbers simply were not consistent with what I knew about my exercise level and my body type.
Again, he backed off and gave me a lower estimate that was almost exactly what the other trainer had given when I put pressure on him.
It's not about vanity. I actually went shopping for jeans right after yoga class and discovered that with all of my exercise over the past year I've DROPPED a size.
It's about what looks to be a scam on the part of gyms--to give you an inflated body fat measurement in an attempt to sell you personal training sessions.
Don't fall for it.
If you MUST have your body fat measurement taken, have it done by someone who has no financial gain to derive from overestimating your actual number. And/or…have it performed by two different people employed by two different organizations.
Last month I had the opportunity to spend a week with 5 women with PCOS at Green Mountain at Fox Run's first ever PCOS week. I learned a tremendous amount from them, maybe even more than I went to teach to them, about the syndrome.
One of the most important insights I gained, was why it can be so difficult to lose weight once you've decided to change your eating and exercise habits.
Insulin has a lot to do with it.
Your body is constantly taking in data, recording the temperature, the light level, energy levels, etc., and adjusting itself to be able to meet the demands of the situations it's recording. When it comes to hormones, it often records and hangs on to information from weeks before. It's as if it wants to be sure it's ready to handle the worst case scenario it's going to have to be asked to deal with. So…if you've been binge eating, and you've changed your habits, information it's taken in about that binge, if it occurred in your recent past, is still in the database. Your body is likely to want to make more insulin than it currently needs, just in case it's asked to have to handle a binge session like one it remembers you engaged in.
If you continue your new eating habits, consistently, that will register positively, your body will trust that it needs to make less insulin, and your lab values will improve.
The challenging part is being patient with your body while the new data has a chance to be recorded and acted on.
If you've got high insulin levels and all of a sudden you decide to go on a diet, or exercise at high levels, the insulin levels won't automatically adjust. It can be very easy to create a hypoglycemic state if you take on too much too soon. And, as your blood sugar levels drop, your hunger and carbohydrate cravings are likely going to be triggered to correct the situation.
Hypoglycemia is a stressful situation for the body, so when this scenario kicks in, it also triggers the release of stress hormones. Cortisol, one of the major stress hormones, is made with cholesterol. As are estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone. If choices you are making are demanding of the body that it makes more cortisol, it's going to be hard for it to make the other three hormones in the proper proportions.
The other thing that is common with PCOS is an intelligent, driven, all-or-nothing tending personality. When you decide to take on diet and exercise, it can be in an extreme fashion. When weight doesn't come off as planned, you can be very hard on yourself, raising your stress levels, possibly bingeing out of frustration.
And thus the cycle starts, all over again.
Hence the title of this post. How do you back yourself out of such a situation?
Ohhhh…you all are going to hate this, but the key word is"moderation". Be gentle with yourself. Rather than taking on an extreme exercise plan and a rigid diet, focus on small simple changes and working to turn them into habits. Be patient. Understand that the changes you're implementing on the outside take time to be registered by your internal hormone control systems.
Probably key? Remember this: THE DAYS YOU FEEL THE LEAST LIKE STICKING WITH YOUR NEW HABITS ARE THE DAYS IT IS MOST IMPORTANT TO DO JUST THAT. It's tempting to blame a bad day on something you've done, to take it personally, rather than let your body do what it does best when it's not interfered with. By bingeing and not exercising on a day you feel badly, you prolong the time it's going to take to get things back into balance.
I am on a mission to encourage my colleagues to stop recommending so much salmon! Why? Because (1) salmon is not the only omega-3 containing seafood,(2) there is not enough salmon in the world to meet everyone's omega-3 needs,(3)salmon tends to be a seasonal fish, (4) salmon is not affordable to many, and (5) for some cultures, there are other seafoods that can provide DHA that just fit better.
It's not that salmon is BAD…it's just not the best choice for everyone, every time.
Today I wanted to talk about calamari. It's not a scaled fish, it's not even a cold water resident. But…it still contains omega-3's. It's ok to eat if you are trying to eat more of those. Nutritionally, it's a great source of selenium, vitamin B12, and riboflavin. For anyone who likes Greek, Italian, Spanish, or Mexican food, it's a natural!
If you eat calamari in a restaurant, be sure it's not breaded, and if it is fried, that olive oil is the agent.
If you cook it at home, here are some healthy ideas:
Grilled Calamari with Parsley
If breaded is the only way you like calamari, try this recipe at home: Healthy Breaded Calamari (the breading contains flax!)
The way my Mexican clients and neighbors like to eat it, in a seafood stew called Sopa/Zarzuela de Mariscos. A side note: I received a call from a Mexican client one night, she was at a restaurant, and craving this soup, but was afraid to have it because her friends had told her it could cause her to miscarry. I told her to enjoy it. She didn't miscarry, and she and her husband have a healthy baby to enjoy Christmas with this year. She, of all my clients, was the most diligent about omega-3 intake during her pregnancy, and I believe it was important to her overall success story.
So if you're not sold on salmon…but like other seafood, take heart…you're still on the right track. Enjoy!
I engaged in a Facebook discussion about grapefruit recently. Ruby Reds are currently cheap at Trader Joe's, a fact which made one friend very happy. One of HER friends cautioned that grapefruits have been associated with breast cancer.
I promised to look into it and blog, which is what you're reading now!
In a survey of 50,000 women, researchers found that grapefruit may increase estrogen levels, a known breast cancer risk. It is thought that this relationship may be related to the fact that grapefruits alter a metabolic pathway involved in estrogen metabolism, called"cytochrome p450".
The cytochrome P450 pathway is also important for the metabolism of many medications commonly used with PCOS. Grapefruit and grapefruit juice may alter the metabolism of this pathway in the following ways: --may induce excessive sedation with benzodiazepenes --may induce rhabdomyolysis with statins --may cause hypotension with calcium antagonists --may alter electrocardiograms with astemizole, cisapride, pimozide, and terfenadine --may induce overdose with SSRI medications such as Paxil
Wow…sounds like grapefruit could be the kiss of death, doesn't it? Well, those studies certainly sell newspapers and drive up advertising rates on websites who post them, but that's not the whole story.
First of all…when it comes to your medications, if you eat grapefruit regularly, tell your physician. She can calibrate the dose of the medication to reduce the risk of these side effects. Since grapefruits are a winter fruit, you may need to communicate with your physician to account for seasonal changes in your diet.
With regard to breast cancer, even though a couple of years ago the grapefruit/breast cancer link got lots of press time…a recent study reported no association between the two. None of the studies looked specifically at this issue with PCOS, but I suspect with the already present tendency toward high estrogen, there may be an altered metabolic system that could be grapefruit sensitive…and could be problematic…IF YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GRAPEFRUIT IS NOT ONE OF MODERATION.
Where women with PCOS might go wrong is if they cycle in and out of diets with limited variety and which focus on grapefruit…um…THE GRAPEFRUIT DIET. If you have PCOS, you may already have a tendency to be hyperestrogenemic. You may be on at least one of the medications mentioned above. And your relationship with food may be more one of feast/famine than one of moderation and variety.
Also, if you have a family history of breast cancer, eating too much grapefruit, all the time, may not be a good idea. Enjoying a seasonal box of Ruby Reds once a year…probably isn't going to be the worst thing you could do to yourself. Even if you have PCOS.
If you moderate the diet, so that grapefruit is one of many fruits you enjoy, and you practice moderation instead of yo-yo dieting, you should be ok with grapefruit.
And you might even get yourself off of some of the medications that were of concern in the first place.: )
http://www.globalrph.com/gfruit.htm
Monroe KR, Murphy SP, Kolonel LN, Pike MC. Prospective study of grapefruit intake and risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women: the Multiethnic Cohort Study. Br J Cancer. 2007 Aug 6;97(3):440-5. Epub 2007 Jul 10.
Spencer EA, Key TJ, Appleby PN, van Gils CH, Olsen A, Tjønneland A, Clavel-Chapelon F, Boutron-Ruault MC, Touillaud M, Sánchez MJ, Bingham S, Khaw KT, Slimani N, Kaaks R, Riboli E. Prospective study of the association between grapefruit intake and risk of breast cancer in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Cancer Causes Control. 2009 Aug;20(6):803-9. Epub 2009 Feb 18.
I wanted to be sure you had the dates for these events in case you are interested. We had so much fun the first time around we decided to schedule some encores!
I have been told that during the March event there's still plenty of opportunity for outdoor activity…in fact, I've been promised I will be learning snowshoeing!
I am willing to bet you wrinkled your nose when you saw this week's choice. Most people will. That's unfortunate, since this kissin' cabbage cousin is a nutritional powerhouse. It's especially high in vitamin C and vitamin K, it's got folate (which all of you ladies need as much as you can get of), and it contains that anti-Alzheimer's compound I've been writing about a lot lately…choline. It's one of those vegetables like cabbage and broccoli that has some powerful anticancer properties as well. They're low glycemic, and each one only contains 10 calories!
Most people have never eaten a properly cooked Brussels sprout, which is why they think they don't like them. They can taste sulfurous if cooked too long. It's best to cook them until they just turn a bright green. Here's a video on cooking them that may be helpful.
If you're really adventurous, and willing to reconsider, here are some interesting ways to cook them:
Roasted brussels sprouts
Caramelized brussels sprouts (You will need some sugar to do the caramelizing, but you can experiment with how little you really need.)
Brussels sprout stir fry
Browned Brussels sprouts with orange and walnuts
Brussels sprouts with grapes
Grilled Brussels sprouts
And my personal favorite, pictured above, Brussels sprout salad
If you allow it to happen, holiday festivities can leave you feeling left out of the fun. It doesn't have to be that way if you think creatively. Here are some fun, PCOS-friendly ways to include food in your holidays.
Now go make Martha proud!!!
1. A high percentage of my clients love to decorate cakes. If it's the decorating part you love…why not make salt dough Christmas ornaments?
2. Make cranberry/popcorn garlands for your tree.
3. Make orange clove pomander balls for gifts and ornaments.
4. Donate food to or volunteer your time at a food bank or homeless shelter. It is a powerful way to gain perspective on food and your own relationship with it.
5. Decorate your home with rosemary garlands for a fresh, clean holiday aroma.
6. Make olive-oil based vinaigrette dressings placed in pretty bottles for holiday gifts.
7. Decorate your holiday table with cranberry ice candles.
8. Hang a nut/seed wreath in your backyard for the birds you enjoy watching.
9. Decorate your front door with chili pepper wreath.
10. Invest in a decorative nutcracker and set it near a pretty bowl of mixed nuts.
"Eat food that rots" has become a mantra of nutrition experts. It means you're eating things that have not been processed or filled with additives and preservatives.
"But it rots before I can eat it" is a popular excuse I hear for why my clients don't eat more fruits and vegetables!
I challenge you to consider that there is a more simple solution to this conundrum than you may realize.
I have a refrigerator in which the freezer is on the bottom. That means that my fruit and vegetable bin are practically at eye level. I am reminded to eat fruits and vegetables every time I open the door. I used to have a model with the freezer on the top. Food used to rot all the time.
The freezer-on-the-bottom model seems to better market fruits and vegetables to me.
Don't have that model? Don't have a new one in your budget? Simply consider changing how you organize food in your refrigerator. You can put lots of things in the bins…breads, deli meats, cheese, etc…and leave room for the produce on the shelves.
If you see it more often, you'll be more likely to eat it.
It's not uncommon to read blog posts, tweets, and chat room conversations in which women with PCOS describe their depression, and attribute it to the weight gain and appearance that their PCOS has promoted. It can be easy to blame the discomfort, fatigue, restless, and anxiety that depression provokes, on tangible and unwanted physical changes
A recent study helps to verify what I've believed all along…that depression, like hirsutism, weight gain, and infertility, is another condition that PCOS has potential to create. It is not the result of other symptoms associated with PCOS.
Here's the study.
Thirty women with PCOS and thirty women without PCOS participated in this study. All subjects had similar BMI's/weights. Only women who were not on any psychotropic medication were included. Women with PCOS scored higher on an anxiety scale than women without PCOS. They also slept less, worried more, and experienced more phobias than women without PCOS. Weight was not associated with any of the symptoms, except for sleep.
In other words, regardless of your weight, you can be depressed if you have PCOS.
If you attach or blame your depression on your weight, your appearance, or your infertility:
--you can set yourself up for an eating disorder…if you actually lose weight and discover it didn't change how you feel. --you can feel even worse if you spend time and money on cosmetic surgery, only to realize you don't feel as good as you hoped you would. --you can put yourself through the tremendous stress of infertility treatment, and get the baby, only to discover that you still feel depressed, and now you've got a baby who isn't sleeping through the night who is dependent on you.
That's the bad news. The good news is that the inCYST program is very helpful at reducing anxiety and depression. So in addition to helping you normalize your weight, reducing the progression of testosterone-related programs, and increasing your fertility, it helps you to feel better. It literally rebuilds your nervous system so it can reduce the influence depression can have. And in rebuilding the nervous system, it helps to balance hormones so that symptoms can lessen.
We like to focus on feeling better, since we know that in women who do, the other problems tend to fall into place. That's not to say that being anxious about your PCOS doesn't worsen when you focus on your symptoms, and that when you learn better coping skills you won't feel even better. Gretchen Kubacky has done a great job of discussing that here, on her blog, and on PCOS Challenge.
It's just that you want to be sure you're tackling the core cause of the problem, and not simply putting band-aids on the symptoms. Nothing can be more frustrating than investing all your time, resources, and money into diets and medical procedures, only to feel the same or even worse once you've done so.
Anxiety and depression symptoms in women with polycystic ovary syndrome compared with controls matched for body mass index
REFERENCE E. Jedel1, M. Waern2, D. Gustafson2,3, M. Landén4, E. Eriksson5, G. Holm6, L. Nilsson7, A.-K. Lind7, P.O. Janson7 and E. Stener-Victorin8,9 Anxiety and depression symptoms in women with polycystic ovary syndrome compared with controls matched for body mass index
1 Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden 2 Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden 3 Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA 4 Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Section of Psychiatry, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden 5 Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden 6 Department of Metabolism and Cardiovascular Disease, Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden 7 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Institute of Clinical Science, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden 8 Department of Physiology, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Box 434, 40530 Gothenburg, Sweden
Hazelnuts have always been around my house. When I was a little girl we even had a dog who knew how to crack them open and enjoy the kernel inside! They're a common ingredient in holiday cooking, which has me thinking of hazelnuts a lot right now.
Hazelnuts are not as commonly known in the United States as other nuts, but they are a great PCOS-friendly food to become acquainted with. Hazelnuts are very high in monounsaturated fatty acids, putting them in a category similar to macadamia nuts, olives, and avocadoes.
In addition, they are a good source of iron, calcium, zinc, and potassium.
You can enjoy them the way Coco used to, simply cracking them open and eating them, or you can grind them into powder to use in baked goods, breading for fish and poultry, and salad dressings…anywhere you might use ground flaxseeds. (I like the way my coffee tastes after I've ground hazelnuts then coffee in my coffee grinder!)
Here's a great recipe for hazelnut pad thai from the Hazelnut Council. To make it even more PCOS friendly, try it with Shirataki Noodles and use either hazelnut oil or canola oil for cooking.
PCOS affects 1 in 10 women and is the leading cause of infertility. Despite its strong ties to nutrition, much of the nutrition information available to women who have the syndrome is counterproductive. Invest in this hour of basic PCOS nutrition concepts and gain an understanding of how you can be more successful with women who need your expertise.
The focus of this webinar will be a summary of ten commonly prescribed nutrition practices that may actually work against your client's metabolism.
Participants in this webinar will be able to apply the registration fee to the 2010 inCYST Professional Training and Marketing Network.
Date: Wednesday, December 2, 2009 12:00 noon Pacific Time
I am thankful for every single person who finds inCYST. It means we are connecting with people our information has potential to help.
I am thankful for all the professionals of inCYST who help to make it the amazing PCOS resource that it is.
And I am thankful for the support of family, friends, and colleagues as I navigate this project on its course.
I hope all of you also have much to be thankful for!
I thought you might enjoy this recipe, perhaps you can use it to toast your thanks with. It's beautiful, and tasty. Oh, and by the way…it is also healthy!
Cranberry Raspberry Green Tea Spritzer (adapted from recipezaar.com) SERVES 8
Ingredients 3 cups boiling water 6 tea bags (preferably green tea) 1 cup cranberry-raspberry juice, chilled 1 cup club soda, chilled
Directions 1. Pour boiling water over tea bags, then cover & brew for 5 minutes. Remove & squeeze the tea bags over the brewed tea, then pour into a large pitcher, & set aside to cool. If it needs to be sweetened, add the sweetener of your choice, to taste. 2. When cooled, add fruit juice to the tea, & stir to combine. Chill at least 2 hours before serving. 3. When ready to serve, add club soda & pour into ice-filled glasses.
This is an excerpt from Christine Marquette's blog. I love the juxtaposition of vegetarian eating and NASCAR, as we tend to compartmentalize people into stereotypes, which this post serves to challenge us about. You can live in NASCAR country and be a kindler, gentler, eater…as Chris expertly details! She's changing her part of the world, one road race at a time.
If you live in Austin, and would like to work personally with Christine, please visit her website.
For those of you who have been following my blog, you may remember that back in April this year I wrote about my experience eating vegetarian at NASCAR for the first time. Well, this past weekend was the second race weekend we attended at Texas Motor Speedway this year.
I have to say, I learned so much back in April that this time it was a breeze! I made some of the same things (homemade hummus for sandwiches, black bean burger patties), but I also pre-made some other things that we would be able to just heat up via microwave or crock-pot. For example, for Friday night I made “Lima Bake,” which is a super tasty recipe I found on the back of HEB’s dried lima bean bag. Once you have cooked the limas, you just sauté some onions and garlic, then add canned diced tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, and the beans. Top it off with a little cheddar cheese and your done. It is super yummy!
I also pre-made my “famous chili.” This is actually a newer “made up” recipe for me. I used to make tofu chili, but apparently I have over-eaten soy and can no longer tolerate it (I know, tough for a vegetarian!), so I’ve had to be creative in using other vegetarian high-protein foods. Recently I’ve really gotten into “Quorn” products (a “mycoprotein” very similar to mushrooms). I try not to use them too often, but for those occasions when you really need something other than beans or nuts, it is great! I now make my chili using Quorn’s “beef” crumbles, pinto beans, kidney beans, diced tomatoes, TONS of chili powder, cumin, onions, jalapeños or serranos, and garlic.
For all our vegetable “side dishes,” I pre-washed EVERYTHING (that way I also would not have to worry about any cross-contamination issues). So we had various colored peppers, potatoes, and “salad” vegetables (mixed greens, red onions, tomatoes, etc.) that were all basically ready to go when we got there and would go with just about anything we decided to eat.
I think I’m starting a new trend too; I actually saw a guy at the truck race (the first race of the weekend on Friday night) wearing a Vegetarian hoodie! Granted, I think it was the one that says “Vegetarian. Ancient tribal slang for the village idiot who can’t hunt, fish, or ride.” It was a little hard to read because he was carrying stuff that obscured part of it, but I think that was the one he was wearing. Not exactly sure how I feel about that, but it’s a start!
Another “start” was at our campsite. We formed a giant “U-shape” with 3 other RV’s, and each night we all had dinner together. Saturday night I shared my famous vegetarian chili and it got rave reviews. Sunday night it was my black bean burgers. It was pretty funny, one guy that I had not met at the spring race but was there for the fall race was very excited to have the opportunity to try some vegetarian food! He had never had meatless chili or “bean” burgers before! He also informed me that he is always looking for ways to increase his vegetable intake, so he was quite happy to find some ways of actually having vegetable based entrees.
I guess my next big vegetarian “project” will be the football crowd, although there I have a head start, as I can always point to Tony Gonzalez as an actual “player” example!
