The Hemp Connection [Search results for blogfest] 

This post is part of the Women's Health Blogfest. Please click on the links below to read more from other contributors! And thanks to everyone who took the time to participate!

In the almost 10 years I have been studying PCOS, I've learned much about what drives a woman's motivation to seek out information. The top reasons women find this blog are:

1. to improve their fertility,
2. to more effectively manage their weight, and
3. to feel and look better

As I've read and met women with the syndrome, I've learned that PCOS is about a whole lot more.

1. A woman's breastfeeding practices seem to significantly influence her child's hormonal health. Many women I've worked with were formula fed at a time when baby formula did not contain essential nutrients.
2. Whether or not you as a woman with PCOS were born to term, and potentially whether or not you were part of a multiple birth, seem to be red flags for PCOS risk later in life.
3. Just because you're a teenager, too young to want to conceive, or a woman who has already had her children, doesn't mean PCOS isn't something to be concerned about. It can mess with your mood, and in turn your energy level and relationships. It can provoke eating disorders. It can elevate your cholesterol. And…through its link to diabetes, it may increase your risk for Alzheimer's disease.

A blog attempting to tackle a syndrome with such widespread effects is not easy to manage. I've been working since we've started to find experts in areas outside of nutrition to complement what I as a dietitian can discuss and promote. I'm really excited to be partnering with lactation consultants to address breastfeeding issues specific to PCOS, and to have Gretchen Kubacky, PsyD, on board, to help us understand what PCOS can do to thinking, mood, and energy. We have one dietitian, Karen Siegel, who is also an acupuncturist, and another acupuncturist will soon be contributing her insight as well.

For the very first time, we are collaborating with Green Mountain at Fox Run in Ludlow, Vermont, to offer PCOS Program weeks this coming September! It's been a dream of mine to see this kind of program and there is no better place where it could be launched. Green Mountain is also participating in this blogfest, if you'd like to learn even more, be sure to read their contribution.

We don't just care about your ovaries. We care about all of you, from birth through retirement, and we hope that as we grow and diversify, the expert opinions you will see expressed here on this blog will address the many important ways we can keep our hormones working positively for us.

Thanks for stopping by our contribution to the Women's Health blogfest. If you enjoyed us, you can follow us with the signups you see here on the blog, through our Facebook inCYST group, or through Twitter, via @incyst.

For more information on women's health:

Angela White at Blisstree’s Breastfeeding 1-2-3 – Helpful Skills of Breastfeeding Counselors
Angie Tillman, RD, LDN, CDE – You Are Beautiful Today
Anthony J. Sepe – Women's Health and Migraines
Ashley Colpaart – Women's health through women
Charisse McElwaine – Spending too much time on the"throne?
Danielle Omar – Yoga, Mindful Eating and Food Confidence
Diane Preves M.S.,R.D – Balance for Health
Joan Sather A Woman's Healthy Choices Affect More Than Herself
Laura Wittke – Fibro Study Recruits Participants
Liz Marr, MS, RD – Reflecting on Family Food Ways and Women's Work
Marjorie Geiser, MBA, RD, NSCA-CPT – Healthy Women, Healthy Business: How Your Health Impacts a Powerful Business
Marsha Hudnall – Breakfast Protein Helps Light Eaters Feel Full
Michelle Loy, MPH, MS, RD – A Nutritionista’s Super Foods for Super Skin
Motherwear Breastfeeding Blog – How breastfeeding helps you, too
Rebecca Scritchfield, MA, RD, LD – Four Keys to Wellness, Just for Women
Renata Mangrum, MPH, RD – The busy busy woman
Robin Plotkin, RD, LD – Feeding the Appetites of the Culinary, Epicurious and Nutrition Worlds-One Bite at a Time
Sharon Salomon, MS, RD – Calories, longevity and do I care
Terri L Mozingo, RD, CDN & D. Milton Stokes, MPH, RD, CDN of One Source Nutrition, LLC – Crossing the Line: From Health to Hurt
Wendy Jo Peterson, RD – Watch Your Garden Grow

Today, my post is devoted to a special project promoting registered dietitians. I am cohosting, with dietitian Renata Mangrum, the first-ever Registered Dietitian blogfest, aimed at showcasing to the Internet-surfing public the many things dietitians do and can do to help you with your quest for help. Listed below my entry is a list of links to other blogs written by other dietitians that you can visit to see the many things my friends and colleagues do within this profession.

inCYST was created precisely because I realized there was so much misinformation about polycystic ovary syndrome. Not only was it not HELPING women with PCOS to get better, some of the information seemed to have potential to actually HURT those women.

So I started this network as a means of putting together a team of professionals whose mission and knowledge was evidence-based and cohesive.

What has developed out of that has been far more than I ever could have envisioned when I sat down to do this. Several of our network members have PCOS themselves. Several others have gone through their own issues with infertility. Others have family members with mental health diagnoses, whose treatments for those diagnoses have affected their hormone function.

So as we grow, we are becoming a network of practitioners who happen to be people first, and practitioners second. I love that, because it means we've been there, we know how it can feel to have PCOS and its many associated problems, and we're committed to helping provide accurate information wrapped in a compassionate package.

I can't think of anything better I could be devoting my work and my career to. I hope you enjoy our blog…and I hope you enjoy getting to know some of the many colleagues participating in our blogfest today!

Warmest regards,

Monika M. Woolsey, MS, RD
Founder, inCYST Network for Women with PCOS

Beyond Prenatals — Food vs. Supplements and Real Advice vs. Fake Advice
Annette Colby — No More Diets! A Registered Dietitian Shares 9 Secrets to Real and Lasting Weight Loss
Ashley Colpaart — Dietitians working in food policy, a new frontier
Diana Dyer — There and Back Again: Celebration of National Dietitian Day 2009
Marjorie Geiser — RD Showcase for National Registered Dietitian Day — What we do
Cheryl Harris — Me, a Gluten Free RD!
Marilyn Jess — National Registered Dietitian Day--RD Blogfest
Julie Lanford — Antioxidants for Cancer Prevention
Renata Mangrum — What I'm doing as I grow up…
Liz Marr — Fruits and Veggies for Registered Dietian Day: Two Poems
Meal Makeover Moms' Kitchen — Family Nutrition … It's our"Beat"
Jill Nussinow — The Registered Dietitian Lens I Look Through
Wendy Jo Petersen — March 11 is our day to shine!
Diane Preves — Registered Dietitians and the White House Forum on Health Reform
Andy Sarjahani — Dr. Seuss Tribute continued: Green Eggs and Ham and a Sustainable Food System
Rebecca Scritchfield — Big Tips from a"Big Loser"
Anthony Sepe — RD Showcase: Registered Dietitian Day, March 11, 2009
Kathy Shattler — RD Showcase for Nutri-Care Consultation
UNL-Extension, Douglas/Sarpy County — Nutrition Know How — Making Your Life Easier
Jane Zingaro — My life as a Registered Dietitian
http://workinggreenmom.blogspot.com/2009/03/my-life-as-registered-dietitian.html

We know you all love recipes and inspiration, so we are excited to be joining a group of bloggers that will provide you even more of what you're looking for!

Recipe Redux is a monthly blogfest showcasing the creativity of registered dietitians who love to cook. At the beginning of the month we are each given a theme to work with, and on the 21st of each month, our creation relating to that challenge is posted, along with links to all of the other recipes our colleagues have provided.

Dietitians participating in this club agree to focus on at least one of the following in their recipes.

• reduction in overall calories and/or sugar
• increase in fiber
• lowering of saturated fat and/or increase in mono- or poly-unsaturated fats
• reduction in sodium/salt from processed foods
• showcases at least one food group mentioned by the Dietary Guidelines as the basis of a healthy diet: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fat-free and low-fat dairy products, seafood and beans

Our challenge this month was to create something using either maple syrup or honey. I decided to use one of my favorite treats on a cold night, champurrado, as the basis for which to create Mexican Oatmeal. Champurrado is a hot drink traditionally made with masa (the cornmeal you use to make tortillas), flavored with all of the spices native to Mexico (chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla, fennel seed, and some type of sweetener). All of these are beneficial for inflammation and insulin resistance, so adding them to oatmeal makes a perfect hormone-friendly breakfast!
I simply took those spices, switched out the masa for oatmeal and created the following breakfast you can make in your microwave. Think Mexican Hot Chocolate and oatmeal all mixed together…yummy, healthy, and full of energy to get you through to lunch!

Buen apetito!

Mexican Hot Chocolate Oatmeal

1/2 cup oatmeal
3/4 cup 1% milk
1 wedge Abuelita Mexican chocolate*
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, and microwave on high for 2 minutes. Remove, stir until chocolate is completely dissoved, and microwave for one minute more.

Serves 1

Nutrition information 330 calories, 6 grams of fat, 3 grams saturated fat, 55 grams carbohydrate, 5 grams fiber, 13 grams protein, 7 mg cholesterol, 111 mg sodium

*You can use any dark chocolate, really, I just chose this one because it's what I keep around to make Mexican hot chocolate. The darker the chocolate the better…vegan chocolates will give you more antioxidant power as milk tends to bind the beneficial compounds and render them metabolically unavailable.