The Hemp Connection [Search results for anti-oxidants] 

Most people, by the time they find this blog, have been introduced to the idea that carbs are"bad".

I propose a new way of thinking.

Carbs, when eaten to satisfy insatiable carbohydrate cravings, are being used to feed a potentially destructive biochemical imbalance.

Carbs, when eaten as part of a balanced diet, and when chosen from unrefined foods that also provide fiber, vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants, can be incredibly important in overall health and recovery from PCOS.

By now this blog has quite a bit of information on what you can do to help your carbohydrate cravings. So today I wanted to talk about a carbohydrate that can be helpful to include.

Ezekiel bread gets its name from the fact that its ingredients are all mentioned in the Bible verse Ezekiel 4:9.

"But as for you, take wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and spelt, put them in one vessel and make them into bread for yourself; you shall eat it according to the number of the days that you lie on your side, three hundred and ninety days."

The bread is supposedly nutritionally complete. I'm not so sure about that, but I do know because it contains bean flour it is much higher in protein than your average bread. And, Biblical scholar or not…it can be a great food to add to your diet so that sandwiches, a handy convenience food, don't have to be eliminated from your"things I can pack for lunch" list.

I like to call our PCOS diet an"aggressive Mediterranean" diet. And because this recipe originates from the Bible, it falls in that category.

These days, Ezekiel bread is pretty easily found in most healthy food stores. The folks at Food for Life have trademarked the name"Ezekiel 4:9", and they've ventured into other products such as pasta, that you may be interested in trying.

If you cannot find Ezekiel bread in your local store, I found the recipe online for you to make it yourself.

Turkey sandwich piled with veggies…here I come!

If cutting carbs was the only dietary strategy needed to help PCOS, this blog wouldn't exist. There are clearly thousands of women, based on the traffic statistics for this blog, who've tried that approach without success.

One of the food groups that gets cut out of the diet when we worry too much about carbohydrates, is fruit. And fruits are just loaded with antioxidants that are showing potential to help balance our biochemistry.

Resveratrol is one of those anti-oxidants. It is a compound well recognized for its benefits in reducing cancer risk, inflammation, cardiovascular disease, blood clotting, and other aging-related issues. It is actually a compound that some plants have the ability to produce to fight off pathogens that threaten their own health, that turns out to have the same ability in humans.

A recent study specifically done with PCOS suggests that it has potential for women with this syndrome.

In rats, resveratrol was shown to reduce the excess growth of ovarian tissue. It also inhibited the tendency for insulin to promote this type of excess tissue growth.

Where do you get this great stuff?

1. Red grapes, blueberries, bilberries, and cranberries. Bilberry extract is most commonly found in supplement form. The other fruits are often taken out of a low-carbohydrate diet. Don't make this mistake!

2. Red wine. For those of you who are trying to conceive, please exercise caution with this choice. It's best to pursue the nonalcoholic options provided here. But if you are not in that category, consider enjoying a glass of red wine with dinner tonight! Spanish red wines and New York pinot noirs are your best option, they've been found to have the highest resveratrol concentrations.

3. Peanuts and peanut butter. I love this one. Sometimes we think nutrition has to be complicated…but a PB and grape J sandwich is a perfect PCOS-friendly lunch!

4. Resveratrol supplements. These are primarily made from extracts of the kojo-kon root. Not that supplementation is bad, but I've been around long enough to see that when you isolate a compound from its natural source, you often miss out on other factors and compounds that either help make that compound more effective, or that may be the really important compound in the first place. So I'd encourage the other choices over supplementing. Another consideration that is important is potential conception. I just don't like to recommend supplements to anyone who might become pregnant when I don't know for sure if they have more potential to be helpful or harmful.

5. Dark chocolate and non-dutched cocoa powder. So now if anyone, anyone at all, questions why that really, really high-cacao bittersweet chocolate jumped from the shelf in the Trader Joe's checkout line into your grocery bag…just tell them "the inCYST blog made me do it".

Just a note, in addition to pure chocolate squares, think hot chocolate and mole sauce!

One important point I need to make here is that when resveratrol-containing foods are included in a balanced diet, they can have benefit. It's important to not eliminate entire categories of food. Resveratrol, however, has the ability to affect estrogen levels, in both directions. It's best not to overdose on the supplement because it's"good". Balance is always the goal in PCOS.

Wong DH, Villanueva JA, Cress AB, Duleba AJ. Effects of resveratrol on proliferation and apoptosis in rat ovarian theca-interstitial cells. Mol Hum Reprod. 2010 Jan 12. [Epub ahead of print]

I find it so interesting that we only seem to think exercise is good for losing weight and toning muscle. There are so many other benefits! Exercise helps to combat depression, it can clear your head when you've been sitting at your computer, it can help you better use anti-oxidants…and now, researchers believe it can help you have a healthier pregnancy.

Pre-eclampsia is a greater risk for women with PCOS. It is a condition characterized by high blood pressure and protein in the urine. It is the most common pregnancy complication, and it can affect both mother and baby. Doctors often deliver babies early when pre-eclampsia occurs. We're learning that, in order for the brain and nervous system to develop as much as it possibly can, it is important to keep the baby in utero as long as possible. So there would be great benefit to preventing pre-eclampsia whenever possible.

2241 pregnant women were interviewed at their 15th week of pregnancy. They were found to have a lower risk of pre-eclampsia if they participated in recreational activity in the year before becoming pregnant.

Wow! A simple choice with profound effects! A little bit of exercise can go such a long way. You'll feel better, sleep better, have a less troublesome pregnancy…and who knows, if you're feeling better, sleeping better, and participating in an activity you enjoy, there may be less temptation to eat out of emotional stress. Calories in and calories out may be more easily balanced, and you might actually lose weight, too. But the important thing is, if you practice good self care right now…today…someone else down the road…someone you've not even had the chance to meet yet…may have much to thank you for.

Rudra CB, Sorenson TK, Luthy DA, Williams MA. A Prospective Analysis of Recreational Physical Activity and Preeclampsia Risk. Med Sci Sports Exerc 2008; 40(9): 1581-1588.

If you live in Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Hawaii and Arizona, today is the day you can now buy a megadose of caffeine at Starbuck's, in the form of their new 31 ounce beverage, the Trenta. As you can see in the photo, the Trenta is just shy, volume-wise, of a Big Gulp.

Starbucks is downplaying the calories, saying that these new larger-sized beverages contain less than 230 calories. We all know these calories are not nutritionally dense, and not loaded with the many vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants our readers know they need to be pursuing when making food choices.

Most importantly, however, and what is not being discussed, is the amount of caffeine this 31 ounce drink contains.

Remember, caffeine intake is associated with insulin resistance, as is lack of adequate sleep, which is exacerbated by excessive caffeine intake.

My recommendation? Save the extra 90 cents a day this will cost and over the course of a year…you'll have just over $300, which you can invest in a few nice massages.

Excess, even if calories are not involved, are not helpful when you're working on pursuing balance.