With Sunday September 30th being the offical last day of PCOS Awareness Month, I wanted to ring out the month with a mini-celebration. Let's have a drink!
If you like to imbibe from time to time and you poly-cystic ovaries, there's a good chance you've wondered if alcohol is PCOS friendly or not? I mean should be cutting out massive amounts of sugar, should we also give up alcohol too?
Better By Dr. Brook, is one of my favorite places to get any information in regards to PCOS. She's informative, looks at the whole picture, not just your PCOS. She specializes in helping women take care of themselves as well as balance hormones. I'm not sure I can do her article justice as there is so much information that needs to be unpacked. Dr. Brook first takes us on a science lesson about how alcohol is made, then how our body breaks it down. Turns out, alcohol takes more calories to burn than it does for energy to burn glucose. Basically when drinking alcohol, fat and sugar burning comes to a grinding halt. Alcohol primes you for storing fat and then makes a mess of your blood sugar & energy levels which can easily make us eat more and set "fat-storing" further into motion.
On any given weight loss plan, alcohol is going to be the first thing on the no-no list. Dr. Brook has some especially bad news for me. Red wine contains histamine. "If you're already dealing with heavy allergy burden or under stress (histamine raises cortisol and bogs down your liver) red wine is gonna be tougher on you." Dang. Red wine is my favorite!
Dr. Brook's bottom line "With any indulgence that may not work the best for your hormones and health, such as a sugary treat or a glass of wine, be sure if you do it that it’s totally worth it! Choose something you really love, not just drink any ol’ wine that’s there.
When choosing alcohol Tarryn from PCOS Diva takes a bit of a different approach. She doesn't focus on weight loss, but rather if red wine is a good choice for PCOS. Red wine has naturally occurring resveratrol (Resveratrol is a powerful antioxidant that neutralizes free radicals, which are believed to be the cause of aging. Another benefit of resveratrol is that it is an insulin sensitizer, meaning it may help "reduce insulin secretion from the pancreas. In women with PCOS "insulin impacts on our ovaries and adrenal glands causing them to produce too much testosterone. So, the more insulin you need, the more insulin your pancreas is releasing, the more your testosterone levels are likely to rise, the worse your PCOS with get."
If you like to imbibe from time to time and you poly-cystic ovaries, there's a good chance you've wondered if alcohol is PCOS friendly or not? I mean should be cutting out massive amounts of sugar, should we also give up alcohol too?
Better By Dr. Brook, is one of my favorite places to get any information in regards to PCOS. She's informative, looks at the whole picture, not just your PCOS. She specializes in helping women take care of themselves as well as balance hormones. I'm not sure I can do her article justice as there is so much information that needs to be unpacked. Dr. Brook first takes us on a science lesson about how alcohol is made, then how our body breaks it down. Turns out, alcohol takes more calories to burn than it does for energy to burn glucose. Basically when drinking alcohol, fat and sugar burning comes to a grinding halt. Alcohol primes you for storing fat and then makes a mess of your blood sugar & energy levels which can easily make us eat more and set "fat-storing" further into motion.
On any given weight loss plan, alcohol is going to be the first thing on the no-no list. Dr. Brook has some especially bad news for me. Red wine contains histamine. "If you're already dealing with heavy allergy burden or under stress (histamine raises cortisol and bogs down your liver) red wine is gonna be tougher on you." Dang. Red wine is my favorite!
Dr. Brook's bottom line "With any indulgence that may not work the best for your hormones and health, such as a sugary treat or a glass of wine, be sure if you do it that it’s totally worth it! Choose something you really love, not just drink any ol’ wine that’s there.
Check in: do I really even want this? And if you’re going to have it that you really enjoy it. We’re not going to be saint 100% of the time when it comes to food and drink so when you do indulge be sure there’s a big (joy factor). So often we choose out of habit or (cause) it’s there rather than what really brings us some joy.
When choosing alcohol Tarryn from PCOS Diva takes a bit of a different approach. She doesn't focus on weight loss, but rather if red wine is a good choice for PCOS. Red wine has naturally occurring resveratrol (Resveratrol is a powerful antioxidant that neutralizes free radicals, which are believed to be the cause of aging. Another benefit of resveratrol is that it is an insulin sensitizer, meaning it may help "reduce insulin secretion from the pancreas. In women with PCOS "insulin impacts on our ovaries and adrenal glands causing them to produce too much testosterone. So, the more insulin you need, the more insulin your pancreas is releasing, the more your testosterone levels are likely to rise, the worse your PCOS with get."
So while red wine contains resveratrol, you would need to drink 100 bottles of red wine PER DAY! Tarryn does caution us to drink responsibly though, which is well-advised not only in any diet but especially in a PCOS friendly diet.
I have been pretty bad about monitoring my drinking lately. All last week I had 1 glass a night, except for Tuesday when I got crazy and had two glasses. My gastritis immediately kicked up and I've been kind of moody too. Therefore, since I'm attempting to lose weight whilst not counting carbs, I think I'll put my nightcap back in the bag until after my next race.
Lastly, I wanted to share with you something cool that happened to me a few weeks ago. I won some essential oils from Logan over at With Great Expectation. I've been following her blog for several years. Logan is a wonderful woman of God who has turned her pain into a purpose and continually seeks Jesus when things get rough. I love reading her blog, but more recently I learned she had an Instagram page. Logan and Jessi (from the Life Abundant Blog) where they were doing a giveaway of 3 of their favorite essential oils.
I entered the contest and won! The 3 oils I got were Progessence Plus, which is Logan's absolute favorite. It helped her regulate her cycle as well as ovulating regularly. It also helped her with bloating and cramping. To me, it smells like that crisp, clean, soap smell that you only get from an ivory soap bar. I find it relaxing and comforting.
The second oil is EndoFlex, it kind of like is sounds, supports the endocrine system as well as helps regulate thyroid function. Which is fantastic because my thyroid is underperforming like a champ! Logan said it helped her stabilize her energy levels and minimized afternoon slumps, as well as night sweats.
The last oil I won is SclarEssence which helps support hormones, reduce bloating, and balance the body's natural pH.
Thanks for stopping by and supporting PCOS Awareness month everyone. I pray each of you have a great day and may God bless you this week.
Blessings,
A
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