This past month I wrapped up the Hangry Book by Sarah Fragoso and Dr. Brooke. I can’t recommend this book enough if you are a woman who is looking to heal her hormones, get into lifting, finding joy, and eating healthier - this is definitely the book for you!
They start with the 5 pillars. Which is essentially your foundation for a healthy lifestyle. These are the daily commitments you make to yourself to keep your temple (your body) running at an optimum level. Before you start the 5 pillars though, their main goal is to find what works best for you and commit to it.
For me finding the best diet was the hardest part about healing my hormones. With the insane amounts of misinformation available at our fingertips, how do we know what’s actually true, what will actually work? The long answer is that you have to find what works…for you. For your specific lifestyle, your specific body, your hormone needs. For instance, my body does not tolerate dairy products very well, yours may have no issue with it. That’s great! That’s why you hear this phrase “living your best life”. What is it that will work best for you?
What I want to do today is provide the information on the top diets recommended for PCOS and weight loss, as well as imperfectly balanced hormones. I’ll be going over the pros and cons of each as well as what the experts have to say. Leaving the decision on where to start, up to you.
Let’s start with the most recent buzzword Keto: The goal of a Ketogenic diet is to get more calories from protein and fat than from carbs. It works by depleting your body of its store of sugar, so it will start to break down protein and fat for energy, causing ketosis. This is a process where your body burns ketones or fat burning molecules instead of glucose molecules. This type of diet is classified as low carb, high-fat diet. According to PCOS Diet Support, some of the benefits to a Keto diet are weight loss, fewer cravings, feeling fuller longer; significantly reduced testosterone, improved cardiovascular health, and less acne!
Perfect Keto had some surprising information to share on the keto diet. Did you know it originally started in 1924 to help treat epilepsy? I was also surprised to learn that it can be therapeutic for Alzheimer's disease according to a Pubmed article published in 2008. Essentially it sounds like, at the time the research was focused on how with Alzheimer's there is a decline in brain region-specific glucose metabolism. "The benefit of (ketone bodies) can be attributed to their ability to increase mitochondrial efficiency and supplement the brain's normal reliance on glucose."
The cons: It may be a little hard to stick too due to being incredibly restrictive in carbs. With an overall carb count being lower you may be missing some much-needed fiber to keep things moving which might lead to constipation.
The biggest con though would be if you have any thyroid issues. The reason being is that with the Keto diet your insulin levels will lower, which can help with weight loss, but some insulin is needed for healthy thyroid function. If you're like me and your thyroid is already struggling to keep up, Tararryn over at PCOS Diet Support recommends sticking to a diet that focuses on more moderate carbohydrate intake.
Perfect Keto talks about the drawbacks of practicing a Keto diet. Hitting the specific target Marcos for a keto diet can be hard for beginners, especially those coming off of the standard American diet. There's also a thing called the Keto flu, headaches, mental fog, body aches, low motivation,
On a personal note, I practiced the Atkins diet for most of 2013 and 2014. I thought it was similar to Keto diet however there is one glaring difference. The biggest difference being Keto focuses on whole foods and Atkins does not discourage processed foods. (As you can see from the myriad of processed products on store shelves. Also not good for all of my allergies.)
For me, Atkins became too restrictive over time and created unneeded stress. I was also still struggling with a string of other issues such as acne, leg cramps, constipation, and skipping almost two whole periods. What I didn't realize though was how much of an impact a low carb diet would have on my thyroid. I did enjoy the weight loss benefits, but it wasn't until I added more whole food, healthy carbs that my energy levels improved, as well the digestive issues...well...worked themselves out 😉 💩
So, if you don't have thyroid issues, and you get expert advice on how to manage the keto diet it would be a good start to a weight loss plan. It also helps you focus on real food vs packaged food.
Alright friends, I am off to start the bedtime routine. Thanks for coming back to read. Tomorrow I will tackle Intermittent Fasting, followed by the Vegan diet on Thursday.
Blessings,
A
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