Benefits of Spearmint tea for Pcos

Benefits of Spearmint tea for Pcos

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome is a condition of cyst formation in ovaries in women because of higher than normal level of testosterone in the body. This hormonal imbalance causes excessive growth of coarse hair on women body which is known as hirsutism.

There are many causes of PCOS some of which are stress ,general inflammation in the body or insulin resistance.

Cure of this demands lifestyle changes and changes in your diet, key factor of which is not to exclude everything from your diet but to eat a healthy substitute of it to gain long term benefits.

If we talk about diet changes then you should add one more thing to your list which is SPEARMINT TEA. This tea provides tons of benefits to PCOS women not only in treating hormonal imbalance but also in reducing hirsutism that comes with it and so much more...

How SPEARMINT TEA works?

1-For Hormonal Imbalances

Studies have shown that including spearmint tea in diet not only reduces male hormones like testosterone in women, but also increases female hormone like LH (luteinizing hormone) and FSH (follicle stimulating hormone).

Thus by decreasing testosterone in body it reduces the risks of PCOS and increases fertility by increasing female hormones in women.

2-Reduces Hirsutism

Thick coarse hair is a characteristic of male body caused by testosterone hormone. In women with PCOS this hormone is abnormally high in the body thus leading to the growth of thick, coarse hair on the body especially around nippular area, chest and face.

You can get rid of these hair by just adding this simple natural ingredient in your diet, that by reducing testosterone level in the body reduces the coarse and thick hair on the body of women.

3-Reduces Stress

As you know by now that stress also contributes to PCOS. In some countries spearmint tea is also used to reduce stress and anxiety and to promote healthy sleep. Spearmint contains menthol that has been shown to promote relaxation.

GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter in your brain. It inhibits certain nerve signals in brain thus decreases nervous system activity. It is believed that menthol in spearmint interacts with this neurotransmitter receptors and promotes sedation and reduces stress.

4-Contains Antioxidants

Oxidative stress plays an important role in the pathophysiology of PCOS. Oxidative stress occurs due increase in the number of reactive oxygen species(ROS) in the body and impaired ability of the body to produce antioxidants to prevent their harmful effects. ROS damages cell membranes that can lead to cell death. Somehow in PCOS natural ability of our body to produce antioxidants reduces thus leading to oxidative stress.

Studies have shown that certain oxidative stress markers( MDA, AGEs and XO etc )are present in higher levels in women with PCOS than other women. These markers are a sign that shows more than normal amount of ROS formation in the body and their adverse effects.

So it is extremely necessary to detoxify the body to get rid of these ROS by adding antioxidants in your diet such as vit C, vit E, beta-carotene, flavones, catechins. Spearmint leaves are rich in antioxidant compounds such as menthol, limonene, flavones, flavanones and rosmarinic acid that help to get rid of ROS in body thus detoxifies the body.

How much spearmint tea is recommended per day...

It is recommended to have 2-3 cups of spearmint tea per day to gain its beneficial effects.

Caution

Make sure to not exceed this quantity as it my reduce the sex drive(low libido), reduced  strength and muscle tone, depressed mood, weight gain and sleep disturbances.




Bitter gourd effect for diabetes in PCOS

Bitter gourd effect for diabetes in PCOS

 Vegetables are a key factor for a healthy and a sound body.I can not emphasize enough the importance of green vegetables for women with PCOS.Green vegetables are rich in minerals,vitamins and antioxidants.

Today i am going to talk about a vegetable that not only offers above mentioned benefits but also helps in insulin resistance that is a cause of type 2 diabetes in patients with PCOS.

Thus indirectly it increases insulin sensitivity and normalize the blood sugar levels in PCOS.

If we talk about how bitter gourd works on our body systems and controls the body sugar levels we will see that bitter gourd contains few active compounds that help reduce the blood glucose levels.These are
1-Charanti
2-Vicine
3-Polypeptide-p
4-Lectin

     


Main mechanism:

Bittergourd can regulate blood glucose levels by two major mechanisms:

1- It controls the absorption by the gut of the glucose that we intake via food.

2- Also it stimulates the uptake of glucose from blood to the skeletal muscles.


Active Substances


Charanti

Charanti has a blood glucose lowering effect.All the active compounds present in bittergourd work either by stimulating the function of pancreatic beta cells to increase the amount of insulin in the body or have insulin like action in the body thus increasing the uptake of glucose from peripheral tissues and as a result reduces the blood glucose concentration.In this way they also improve insulin resistance.

Vicine

Vicine like other active compounds alters the hepatic glucose metabolism and stimulates insulin sectretion.

Polypeptide-p

Polypeptide-p reduces blood sugar levels as it acts as the insulin-like hypoglycemic protein.It performs the same function as that of insulin in the body thus used in type 1 diabetes to reduce blood glucose level.

Lectin

Lectin on other hand helps reducing the glucose concentrations by acting on the peripheral tissues.Lectins are a form of protein that bind to the cell membranes.It causes the sugar molecules to bind to the membrane of other cells as it is sugar binding.It also suppresses appetite thus by eating less frequently the blood glucose levels remains low.

After effect of the eating bitter guard is usually hypoglycemia and the main factor that causes this after effect is also lectin.


Precaution

You all should know that excess of everything is bad so if you are going to add bitter gourd in your diet plan make sure to not over consume it as it can cause abdominal discomfort like abdominal pain and diarrhea.

Make sure to consume not more than two bitter gourd in your diet per day and make sure to remove the seeds in it before consuming it.

Also make sure that you are not consuming it with any antidiabetic medicine or insulin as they have hypoglycemic effect just like bitter gourd and thus using them along with bitter gourd can cause severe hypoglycemia and will cause more harm than good to the body.


How to consume

You can either make juice of bitter guard(you can add some stevia or any other sugar alternative to improve the taste) or you can fry it in some healthy fat and make your own healthy snack.


Best Healthy and Natural Sugar substitues

Best Healthy and Natural Sugar substitues

 White sugar is a big no when it comes to eat healthy and nutritious food.

White sugar just contains empty calories and no nutrition or vitamins which can only harm your body.Also white sugar promotes inflammation in the body that is extremely bad for women with pcos.

So its time to switch to healthy and natural sugar substitues that are full of nutrition and provide your body with essential vitamins and minerals.

1-Jaggery

2-Dates

3-Raw Honey

4-Coconut sugar

I will discuss each of these briefly to show you the amazing benefits that you can have while enjoying your desserts or drinks.

Jaggery

1-Jaggery is full of potassium,iron,magnesium,sodium and calcium.
2-It acts as a cleansing agent for your body.
3-It aids in digestion.
4-It boosts energy.

But be careful as not to consume too much of it.The calories provided by 1tsp of jaggery is 18 calories same as white sugar but full of nutrition.

Dates

Dates are extremely very healthy for your body.You can consume a good quantity of them as they are full of fibre.
Being rich in fibre they balance out the carbs and sugar present in it thus not harming the body especially for diabetics as it does not spike your insulin levels.
Moreover it offers tons of benefits to the body.
1-It promotes bone health
2-Improves haemoglobin
3-Can help to gain weight or lose weight depending on the usage
4-Balance insulin levels

1 pitted date contains around 20-30 calories and 90-95% carbs and remaining mostly proteins.

Raw Honey

Raw honey is simply considered as a whole food bcz of the impact it has on our body.
1- It has a lower glycemic index thus it does not spike the insulin levels and that is a plus point for pcos and diabetic patients.
2- It has a great amount of powerful antioxidants thus clears the body off of the harmful toxins in the body.
3-It prevents allergic reactions thus by consuming a small amount in luke warm water you can get away from your seasonal allergies.

1 tbsp of honey (21g) contains 64 calories with 17g sugar.

Coconut Sugar

The unique benefit that only coconut sugar provides among all other sugar substitues is that it is rich in Inulin which is aprebiotic fibre.

Being rich in prebiotics it helps to grow and flourish our gut bacteria thus improving digestion and aids in better absorption of the minerals and vitamins from the food that we consume.

1 tbsp coconut sugar contains 45-50 calories with 12-15 g sugar

Conclusion

Make sure to enjoy all the blessings that you have but in a healthy way that suits your body and is nutritious for you in a long run.
Omega 3s benefits for PCOS

Omega 3s benefits for PCOS

 There are lots of supplements that can help in the treatment of pcos.I am going to tell you about one of these supplements that is "Omega-3s".Best source of having omega 3 is Fish Oil.

Omega 3 offers tons of benefits to our health in different aspects but today i will tell you how it will help in pcos.

Benefits of Omega 3s

1- Decreases Insulin Resistance
2- Reduces Inflammation
3- Can reverse fatty liver
4- Lowers testosterone levels
5- Improves ovulation
6- Other benefits



Decreases Insulin Resistance

As you know that insulin resistance means inability to take sugars in the cell.Hence omega 3s improves insulin resistance it helps to lower blood sugar levels.

Reduces Inflammation

Some people have inflammatory type of pcos in which there are high levels of CRP C reactive protein in their body.You can check what type of pcos you have by having a look herehttps://pcostreatment323.blogspot.com/2020/07/types-of-pcos.html
You can even test it if you have more than normal number of CRP in your body.
Studies have shown that omega 3s reduces the level of CRP in your body hence reduces inflammation.

Lowers testosterone levels

High insulin level in the body is a positive sign for the ovaries to make more testosterone thus increasing the level of androgens in the body which is extremely bad for pcos.As omega 3s reduces insulin resistance it helps lowering the level of androgens in the body.

Can reverse fatty liver

Omega 3s lowers the risk of fatty liver by reducng bad cholesterol in the body.It reduces triglycerides in the body thus improves health and aids in weight loss.

Improves Ovulation

A study was done on 78 participants having pcos and irregular menstrual cycle.They were given 5 grams of omega 3s per day and their menstrual cycle improved alot.
Thus it shows that omega 3s helps in improving ovulation.

Other benefits

As we know due to increases in the level of testosterone in the body there is male pattern baldness in women which can be reduced by using omega 3s.

It also improves acne which is also a major concern of women with pcos.

Moreover it also improves mood and anxiety that occurs due to hormonal imbalance in pcos.









What to eat and avoid If you have Pcos

What to eat and avoid If you have Pcos

Its a really big concern as what to eat and what should you avoid if you have pcos.Well,we all know if you have pcos it all comes to a healthy diet and to some extent exercise but exercise is also a must.let me share with you something that i have learned and its something that i have tried personally and it works...

What to eat if you have pcos...

   When it comes to pcos you really have to make sure to eat such food that will not drastically effect your blood sugar levels and in turn your insulin levels as it all comes to insulin for abnormal hormonal levels in pcos.

    • High fiber food.

        High fiber foods take a lot of time to digest as compared to other food items and the thus slowly spikes your blood sugar levels and thus in turn insulin levels.As insulin rises slowly it will not increase the hormones i.e testosterone (that as we all know is bad for women with pcos).
High fiber food includes...
   • FRUITS such as apples(2.4-2.5%),strawberries(2%),pears(3.1%),raspberries(6.5%),bananas(2.6%),blackberries(5.3%)etc
  • LEAFY GREEN VEGETABLES such as broccoli(2.6%),spinach etc
  • LEGUMES such as black beans(8.7%),lima beans(5.3%),baked beans(5.5%),kidney beans(6.4%),chick peas(7.6%),split peas(8.3%) etc
  •OTHERS such as oats(10.6%),quinoa(2.8%),popcorn(14.5%) etc
  • OTHER VEGETABLES such as carrots,beets,brussel sprouts etc

     • Low GI Food

     Foods having low glycemic index means that they do not rise blood sugar levels thus are extremely beneficial for women with pcos.
These include vegetables,fruits,lentils,whole grains,multi grains etc.

    • Less Inflammatory food

   These include
     • fatty fish like salmon,tuna,sardines etc
     • nuts like almonds,walnuts etc
     • olives,olive oil
     • fruits like blueberries,oranges
     • green leafy vegetables etc

 What not to eat on Pcos...

  

    • Food high in refined carbohydrates.

   Refined carbohydrates are a big no when it comes to pcos as they cause inflammation.They also raise blood sugar levels so drastically which in turn increases insulin.Continuous intake of such food items causes insulin resistance i.e..our body cells stop reacting to insulin thus causing insulin resistance that leads to high blood insulin levels thus worsening the situation.
Such foods are..
   • white breads,bakery items,cookies,cupcakes,muffins or anything made from white flour.
   • white rice,pasta,pastries etc

    • Sugary drinks

   Colas,energy drinks and other beverages are now in so much trend that rarely someone can see the harm they cause to our body.They contain so much sugar that is extremely bad even for a healthy person.You can imagine it by the fact that a 16 oz of cola bottle contains 44g sugar.Yeah thats too much.

   • Inflammatory food

   Excess alcohol,processed meat,artificial trans fat,sugar,high fructose corn syrup HFCS etc..

   Now let me explain you different kinds of sugars they put in our food items and we are completely unaware of that.HFCS is one of them.Make sure you check out the ingredients and be aware of these added sugars...
       • dextrose
       • fructose
       • maltose
       • high fructose corn syrup HFCS
       • sucrose
       • confectioner's sugar
       • malt syrup
       • molasses etc

    Conclusion

    •Be aware of what you eat and make sure what are the ingredients of what you are eating.
    •Be aware of the sugar they put in different food items using different names.
    •Try to eat homemade healthy food.
    •Don't forget to eat healthy and live healthy.