Some questions

[Daisy_girl]

I began the PCOS system in October 2009 and was on it for about 6 weeks. I was feeling a lot better. I stopped taking the supplements due to some medical tests and a recent surgery. I am happy to report that I am back on the supplements this week.

I am 32 years old and have been struggling with PCOS for about 5 years. I am on birth control pills and 1000mg Metformin daily. The Metformin upsets my stomache so I am not very religious with taking them. I struggle with depression and anxiety, sleep apnea, high blood pressure and weight. I worry that I PCOS will eventually cause heart disease or diabetes and I am very eager to get this under control.

I consider myself to be quite healthy. My downfall is that I lead quite a sedentary lifestyle; however, my food is good. I love the good carbs and all veggies so eating those good foods is no problem for me. I started back at the gym last week and this is going well.

The couple questions that I have are:

1. Since I have PCOS and insulin resistence, do I need to monitor my blood sugar levels? My doctor has never said that I need to but I am confused between the difference between what insulin resistence is compared to what diabetis is. I know that are different but they seem to also be quite similar. I just wonder if monitoring sugar levels will help me while on the program?

2. How many grams of carbs do I need to target in a day to see success on the program?

3. When I read nutrition labels, are carbs and sugars the same things? Do I need to avoid sugar all together or is some sugar ok since I am not diabetic?

4. How many calories should I target? I am 5'3, 260lbs who has a sedentary lifestyle (I have an office job). I typically do 2.5 miles a day on the elliptical.

I really appreciate your assistance.

[drheather]

I began the PCOS system in October 2009 and was on it for about 6 weeks. I was feeling a lot better. I stopped taking the supplements due to some medical tests and a recent surgery. I am happy to report that I am back on the supplements this week.

I am 32 years old and have been struggling with PCOS for about 5 years. I am on birth control pills and 1000mg Metformin daily. The Metformin upsets my stomache so I am not very religious with taking them. I struggle with depression and anxiety, sleep apnea, high blood pressure and weight. I worry that I PCOS will eventually cause heart disease or diabetes and I am very eager to get this under control.

I consider myself to be quite healthy. My downfall is that I lead quite a sedentary lifestyle; however, my food is good. I love the good carbs and all veggies so eating those good foods is no problem for me. I started back at the gym last week and this is going well.

The couple questions that I have are:

1. Since I have PCOS and insulin resistence, do I need to monitor my blood sugar levels? My doctor has never said that I need to but I am confused between the difference between what insulin resistence is compared to what diabetis is. I know that are different but they seem to also be quite similar. I just wonder if monitoring sugar levels will help me while on the program?

2. How many grams of carbs do I need to target in a day to see success on the program?

3. When I read nutrition labels, are carbs and sugars the same things? Do I need to avoid sugar all together or is some sugar ok since I am not diabetic?

4. How many calories should I target? I am 5'3, 260lbs who has a sedentary lifestyle (I have an office job). I typically do 2.5 miles a day on the elliptical.

I really appreciate your assistance.

Hello and thanks for writing in!

I am glad to hear that you have gotten back on the System. I hope you are better since your surgery.

Exercise is going to be crucial along with the nutrition changes.WE do recommend that you limit carbs, however, even the "good" ones since these can also stimulate increases in glucose and insulin. OVerall, we want your diet to focus on healthy veggies (greens, beans, broccoli, etc), lean protein and healthy fats.

Regarding your questions...

1. You do not need to monitor your glucose levels, this is often only needed when fasting glucose and/or other tests start to come back elevated. Insulin resistance is often found by looking at fasting insulin or an insulin level after eating. But we may not yet see glucose elevated.

Insulin resistance vastly reduces the insulin sensitivity of cells, which impairs the processing of glucose through the cell wall for
conversion to energy. As a result, glucose remains in the blood stream, causing elevated levels of blood sugar, some of which is sent to the liver. Once there, the sugar may be converted into fat and stored via the blood stream throughout the body. This process can lead to weight gain and obesity, key factors in creating PCOS.

Sometimes insulin resistance results in high blood sugar, sometimes in low blood sugar, and sometimes there is no change whatsoever in blood sugar levels. I think this probably depends on how long the person has been insulin resistant, among other things. Like many things, developing insulin resistance was probably a combination of environmental and genetic factors.

Diabetes develops at a later stage, where the pancreas does not produce insulin as much or not at all. This then results in increased glucose levels.

2. The goal is 60-80 grams a day.

3. All carbohydrates are made up of glucose. Some however have fiber which will decrease how quickly the glucose is absorbed into the body.

So, sugar amounts should be listed under carbs and the amount of sugar should be included in the total carb content.

4. I would not worry about the amount of calories at this point. As long as you are focusing on vegetables, lean protein and healthy fats, you should be getting adequate calories. However, you do not want to be too low with calories. Anything lower than 1000-1200 is too low for most people and can negatively impact their metabolism.

Keep up with the exercise as well. This will be a great way to address the insulin resistance, build muscle (which will increase your metabolism) and reduce risks associated with PCOS.

Let me know how you are doing and if there is anything I can do to support you.