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

 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.

Is dairy good for pcos?

 This is the question that comes in the mind of almost every woman who suffers from PCOS

Are dairy products good for health of women with pcos?what harm does it cause?what are the better substitutes? 

I am gonna talk about dairy effecting women with PCOS.

How dairy effects women with PCOS

Dairy products such as milk do raise IGF that is insulin growth factor and androgens such as testosterone that are not good for women with pcos as their androgens level are already extremely high.

Substitues

Best substitute for women with pcos is Almond Milk.

Some others are 

Coconut milk

Oats milk

Cashew milk

Soy milk

How to make Almond milk at home

1-Simply soak a cup or two of organic almonds overnight.

2-The next morning throw away the water in which they were soaked and do not peel them off

3-Now add 3-4 glasses of water in a blender,add in the soaked almonds and blend it well till it comes to a milky consistency.

4- You can always add some salt,vanilla extract in it for some flavour.

5-And thats it your very own organic homemade almond milk is ready

6- You can follow tha same steps for making cashew,coconut,soy milk etc..

Conclusion

Dairy effects differently in different cases of pcos so make sure to know that what exactly happens to your body on consuming a specific kind of food.

But we all want to be on a safe side right?So try to add a little dairy in your diet and substitute for what is more beneficial for you.

Weight loss diet plan for pcos

Losing weight if you have pcos is difficult than normal situation and if you have pcos you will probably be aware of this fact but its not impossible.

Keep that in mind that the diet of women with pcos is different from regular diet plans.Now when it comes to diet it really does not mean starving.

 Especially for women with pcos do not starve yourself.Eat right food not less food.

 There are many meal plans out there but you will have to make sure to ask your doctor before starting any particular diet plan because it could be possible that the type of pcos you have is different and need something different to work on your body.If you want to know which type of pcos you have you can check this linkhttps://pcostreatment323.blogspot.com/2020/07/types-of-pcos.html

Important steps to follow before following the diet...

One most important thing for women with pcos is that you have to be close to the nature as it helps a lot.Trust me i have tried it and i have seen drastic results.You just simply have to follow these simple rules
• Sleep around 10 pm and wake up early in the morning around 6-7 am
• Sleep for 7-8 hours.Its very very important.Do not even think of following this diet as it won't work if you will not improve your routine.
• Eat whole foods
• Reduce stress.You can not even imagine that how much stress effects pcos.Its extremely bad for almost every person out there.Try to meditate or keep yourself busy in something that you love doing.
• Cut out refined carbs especially sugars and flour,rice,pasta and bakery items as they are extremely bad for you because they cause inflammation that makes pcos worse.
• Exercise 4-5days a week.Its very important for pcos weight loss.
• Do not do crash diets as they not only give unhealthy and temporary weight loss but also disrupts hormonal balance which is what we are trying to correct here,right.
• Eat as much cruciferous vegetables as you can.Spinach,broccoli,kale,cabbage etc.Vegetables are your best friends if you have pcos and are trying to lose weight.
• Eat high fibre,high protein food in your diet.
• Eat carbs that mostly come from whole grains such as besan flour(gram flour),millet,barley,buckwheat etc and from high fibre vegetables such as orange carrot,capsicum,onions,tomato etc.
• Drink plenty of water throughout the day.I Know I know you must have heard it million times but believe me its worth it.

Ok now lets move to the diet plan

Diet plan

Morning drink

As you wake up have a glass of warm water with half a lemon and a tbsp of apple cider vinegar and have it with straw(if you have any acidity issues first consult your physician before incorporating this drink in your diet) along with 6-4 overnight soaked almonds.Peel these almonds and have them.And do not add any sweetener because we do not want any artificial sweetener.

Breakfast

Now make sure to have your breakfast within an hour after you wake up not late than that.

Now your breakfast must be filling.I will tell you what i personally do and it has worked for me.

1-Take 1/2 cup of gram flour and 1/4 cup of barley flour mix them up.

2- Add some cumin seeds,flax seeds in it.

3- Add some water and make dough of it.

4- You can adjust the quantity according to your calorie intake.

Make 2 flat breads with this dough and have them with a tbsp of ghee and cooked vegetables bowl.And thats your breakfast.

Snack

Now after 2-3 hours of breakfast you can have a fruit such as a orange,pineapple etc but do not fill yourself at this moment as it will disturb your lunch.

Lunch

Time for lunch.Try to have your lunch around 1-2 pm.

Now in lunch you will have a vegetable smoothie or vegetable salad.

You can add spinach,a small piece of ginger,half apple,coriander,some mint,and some capsicum and have this smoothie.

Or you can make a vegetable salad 

Take some onion,tomato,okra(bhindi).Cook them in some olive oil or coconut oil add some pepper / salt in it and have it.

Make sure not to overcook these veggies.

Instead of okra you can have any veggies like bittergourd,bottlegourd,orange carrot broccoli,cabbage etc but make sure it has more fibre.

Note:

If you are not used to having a heavy breakfast you can always swap lunch with breakfast.

Evening tea

Have black coffee without any added sweetner or you can have green tea but make sure its a good quality green tea along with 1-2 whole wheat biscuits.

Dinner

• Make sure to have dinner at least 3 hours before sleep.

• Do not have salt in dinner.If you have BP issues then you definitely add some salt.

In dinner you will again have vegetable bowl.A big bowl of vegetables.You can have any vegetables that are high in fibre e.g...orange carrot,spinach,capsicum,okra,tomato,onions .

You can simply have orange carrots as they themselves are extremely delicious or you can have it with any of the other vegetable cooked in some coconut oil or olive oil.Just remember to not overcook them and just add pepper in it.

One more important thing is that if you have a major case of pcos and have lots of weight to lose then do not have fruits in dinner.But if you have a few pounds and your case is not that serious then you can always have papaya or kiwi in dinner.Small amounts of both in a bowl or one bowl of one of them.

Bedtime drink

Two drinks that worked for me are aloevera juice with hot water or cumin seeds tea.Now you can have any one of these.

• Add half a cup of aloevera juice in a cup and fill the remaining cuo with hot water and have it.Make sure you use fresh aloevera juice and if you do not have it always use organic good quality aloevera juice with no preservatives.

• For cumin seeds tea simple boil a cup of water with 1 tsp of cumin let it simmer for 2-3 min and have it while it is still warm.

Conclusion

Now i want to make clear here that this is what i have tried and it worked for me but it all depends upon the condition of your body.

Everyone has different issues and different tyoe of pcos so please always consult your doctor before following any particular diet or before making any changes in your diet.