What To Eat With PCOS

This is Part 2 of our series: What Your Doctor Didn’t Tell You About PCOS.

Let me guess… when you were diagnosed with PCOS, your doctor told you to eat less (to the tune of 500 calories per day) and workout more? Yeah, we hate that. We also hate that you’re not alone - so many of our clients were given this advice! Not only is it flat out not backed up by science, it also fuels restrictive dieting, disordered eating, eating disorders, and weight cycling (which itself has a major impact on your future health).

Most our clients were never told about a healthy, non-restrictive way to approach nutrition with PCOS. Most didn’t even get a referral to see a Registered Dietitian, which is a rant for another day😅. Either way, we got you! Read on for some simple ways to start managing your PCOS with nutrition, and stay tuned for Part 3 of this series to learn about our most asked about supplements for PCOS. If you want some more background, head back to Part 1 to learn the ins and outs of PCOS.

I Have PCOS… What Should I Eat?

Research suggests a Mediterranean way of eating has a lot of benefit for PCOS and heart health, including improved glucose, insulin, and cholesterol levels as well as reducing inflammation. This way of eating focuses on good fiber intake from whole grains, veggies, fruits, and beans, as well as healthy anti-inflammatory fats from fish, nuts, seeds, olive oil, etc. It’s also been associated with less food cravings, tiredness, lethargy, and acne in those with PCOS! It’s important to mention that this way of eating isn’t only specific to foods found in the Mediterranean. For instance, many wonderful grains like quinoa aren’t actually found in the Mediterranean at all and would still fit the parameters that researchers define under this way of eating. So please know that your cultural foods can fit in this model, and you are not limited to only Mediterranean foods!

With that, here are the basic details to keep in mind:

Carbs & Fiber

Increased fiber in your diet with whole grains, legumes, veggies, fruit, nuts, and seeds

Focus on whole grains most of the time (100% whole grain products will always have these listed as the first ingredient). Here are some ideas to try:

• Include a hot cereal, such as quinoa, oats, or buckwheat with breakfast

• Use whole grains such as quinoa or wheat berries as side dishes

• Use barley, farro, or freekeh in vegetable soup and stews

• Try whole wheat waffles, pancakes, or muffins or baked goods, or add  oats to the mix

• Make sandwiches with sprouted whole-grain or spelt bread

• Try a cold soba noodle bowl (or hot dish)

• Try quick-cooking versions of brown rice, barley, and quinoa as side dishes to meals

• Use rolled oats to coat chicken, fish or veal

• Snack on popcorn or air-popped amaranth

Focus on complex carbs like whole grains, fruit, veggies, and beans more often than simple carbs like refined grains, added sugar, desserts, etc.

• The goal isn’t to totally get rid of those foods! Rather, try avoid having simple carbs (aka low fiber carbs) alone as much as you can, as there isn’t anything to slow the absorption of those carbs and resulting more of a blood sugar spike and insulin increase. So if you’re going to have a carb-only snack, my suggestion is to pair it with protein, fiber, and fat. A good example is having some peanut butter with an apple vs. an apple alone, or having hummus alongside crackers. It’s all about lowering the glycemic response (or blood sugar increase) of whatever you’re eating. Remember, all foods really can fit!

Protein & Fats

Focus on lean proteins most often (i.e. chicken breast, lower fat dairy, soy, fish, eggs, turkey)

Try incorporating plant-based protein (i.e. beans or soy [tofu, edamame, tempeh], whole grains, nuts, seeds)

Increased intake of heart-healthy unsaturated fatty acids (i.e. omega 3’s from fish ideally or supplements if necessary, also avocado, walnuts, almonds, chia seeds, flaxseed, olive oil, etc.)

• Fatty fish are especially helpful because they contain the omega-3s EPA and DHA, which are effective at improving triglycerides, mood, inflammation, and fertility for those with PCOS.

• Shoot for cold-water or fatty fish 2x/week: salmon, halibut, tuna, rainbow trout, sardines, etc

Decreased saturated fats (found in red meat, fatty meat, poultry skin, full-fat dairy, coconut oil, lard, butter, processed foods, high-fat foods and meats, and fried foods), trans fats (fried foods), and cholesterol (high-fat animal sources)

Beverages & Hydration

Reduce alcohol and sweetened beverage intake

Increase water intake (A simple way to roughly estimate fluid needs is dividing your body weight in half, and that’s your target ounces for the day)

How Should I Structure My Meals?

In addition to the types of foods you eat, creating meals based on a “balanced plate model” is our recommendation for structuring most meals (both at home and when dining out). This helps to create meals that are nutritionally-complete, blood sugar-balancing, and more likely to keep you full and satisfied. The name is silly, but we love this as a way to have some gentle structure to meals without counting or measuring anything. We’re very much against restrictive dieting, which definitely includes calorie or macro counting, measuring every little thing you eat, hyperfixation on portion size, etc. These things juts don’t set you up to have a long-term healthy and happy relationship with food!

We also think keeping this plate model in mind is really helpful with meal planning because you’re thinking of individual meal components vs. entire recipes. This can feel less daunting, especially when you’re super hungry and trying to find something quick to make and eat.

Here’s what it looks like:

• 1/2 of plate (or meal) as high fiber vegetables (like greens, broccoli, peppers, green beans, etc.)

• 1/4 plate as carbs/starch (i.e. grains/whole grains, beans, fruit, starchy vegetables like squash/potatoes)

• 1/4 plate as protein

• Fat as a cooking oil, condiment (i.e. avocados, olives, etc), or part of the protein (such as with fish)

Remember: The goal is *most of the time* with all of this! It’s not “all or nothing.” No one food or one meal is going to make or break your health!

Which Foods Should I Eat More Of?

We love this question! It’s all about focusing on what you can add to your diet instead of eliminate.

Here is a list of antioxidant-containing anti-inflammatory foods you may want to include regularly in your diet. I don’t want you to feel like you can only eat these foods, or that foods not on this list are bad—neither of those are true. These are just foods that have particularly high levels of antioxidants, phytonutrients, etc. and are therefore helpful for managing conditions that involve inflammation like PCOS.

Side note: Phytonutrients are compounds in plants specifically known for their health promoting properties (think of resveratrol in grapes!). These are well-researched for supporting many aspects of metabolic health, including lipids, blood sugar, gut heath, and beyond… all of which play big roles in PCOS!

Green leafy vegetables: kale, spinach, collard greens, mustard greens, broccoli rabe, dandelion greens, Bok choy...

Orange vegetables and fruit: sweet potatoes with skin, carrots, peaches, bell peppers, persimmons...

Red and pink vegetables and fruit: radicchio, tomatoes, grapefruit, bell peppers, raspberries, strawberries...

Blue and purple vegetables and fruit: eggplant, blueberries, acai, blackberries, purple cauliflower...

Cruciferous vegetables: cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower (very high in glucosinolates, which are a class of phytochemicals that influence your body's natural detoxification systems and are also metabolized into a pow-erful antioxidant called glutathione)

Herbs, spices, & others: dark chocolate, tea, ginger, rosemary, cinnamon, oregano, cumin, turmeric, green tea...

Unsaturated fats: seeds (flax/chia/hemp, etc.), avocados (helps increase absorption of other antioxidants!) and avocado oil, nuts (walnuts, almonds, Brazil nuts, pistachios are great), olives/olive oil, chia seeds, fatty/cold-water fish, cold or expeller-pressed canola oil...

Whole grains: brown rice, brown rice pasta, whole wheat anything, quinoa, oats, farro, wheat berries, sorghum, buckwheat, millet, wild rice, sorghum, bran...

Beans/legumes: Soy products, black beans, kidney beans, chickpeas, lentils, etc……

Wondering which supplements to take for PCOS?

read on for part 3 of this series!

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