Friday 15 March 2013

PCOS, Pregnancy and Diet


First of all - THE FACTS
  • Women with PCOS are at an increased of getting Gestational Diabetes whilst Pregnant
  • No-one official has actually suggested I make any changes to my diet as a result of being pregnant and having PCOS
  • No-one official has actually suggested I test by blood sugar on a regular basis
  • I am not a health professional and can only speak about my own experiences
These points aside, it is reasonably well documented that PCOS (and to the same extent Gestational Diabetes) can be managed through diet.
I have therefore adopted a low carb/low GI diet throughout the pregnancy in an attempt to keep Gestational Diabetes at bay, and have bought myself a blood sugar monitor to help me monitor my progress.
However things are more complex than they first appeared.  Often it is the combination of foods within your meal that affect how much your blood sugar increases.
e.g. A plain jacket potato is bad, a jacket potato smothered in cheese and salad cream is bizarrely actually much better (although higher in fat).
This whole concept has taken me a good 3 months to get my head round, and I am still learning.
The more I learn the braver I am with what I will eat. At first I stuck to salads and high protein foods, and basically avoided any carbs at all. Now I will have the odd McDonalds or Indian takeaway as I know what to pick off the menu.
The Indian takeaway example is an interesting one.....
I went for an Indian a couple of months ago and had a chicken curry dish, avoided rice and just had naan bread instead.  I tested my blood sugar 2 hours later and it was HIGH, bordering on too high.
I thought this ruled Indian food out for me but I had another go last weekend and ordered vegetable curry, saag paneer (a spinach and cheese curry dish) and a small amount of biriani rice. 2 hours later my blood sugar was really low. Amazing... although reassuringly supported the conclusions I was coming to!
  1. Cheese is good! - I have read on many websites that foods high in fat can offset the carbs in a meal. This definately seems to be the case for me. Obviously you need to be careful though as too much fat can lead to weight gain.
  2. Portion size is important - This might be an obvious one but the bigger the meal I eat (whatever I eat) then more my blood sugar is affected. Eating little and often definately seems to be the way forward.
I will continue to update this post as my knowledge increases.
In the meantime I have found the following link really helpful:
http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Guide-to-diabetes/Food_and_recipes/The-Glycaemic-Index/

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