PCOS Diet to Improve Fertility
Top Diet Tips To Improve Fertility With PCOS
PCOS, Fertility and The Diet Connection
Following a PCOS diet is important when you are wanting to improve your fertility and trying to conceive (TTC). This is because diet and lifestyle factors have a direct influence on reproductive hormones associated with ovulation, egg maturity and production and implantation. This can be attributed to the impact of diet on Insulin Resistance (IR), estrogen and androgen excess and low thyroid hormones. These may be influenced by poor glycaemic control, high BPA levels, Free Radical damage or poor digestive health.
PCOS Fertility Tip 1. Improve Insulin Resistance
PCOS, diet and insulin resistance go hand in hand. Foods that influence high levels of insulin are processed foods, soft drinks, caffeine and alcohol.
So, what is insulin resistance? Insulin resistance is a condition that leads to sustained high levels of insulin in the bloodstream. It is possible that this extra insulin binds onto the receptors lining the ovary causing hormonal imbalances and consequently PCOS.
High levels of insulin can pose considerable risk to pregnancy. Data from New Zealand indicates that miscarriage in women with type 2 diabetes was triple that in those without diabetes.
For many women, the key to improving fertility naturally is to ensure healthy insulin levels by improving glycaemic control. Food like whole grains, legumes and nuts coupled with other dietary changes can be helpful in promoting healthy insulin levels.
This hormone is so easily influenced and is the key to overall hormone balance, regular ovulatory cycles, optimal egg quality, healthy embryo development and implantation. It also plays a role in maintaining the PH of cervical mucus.
Understanding the influence of insulin is the first step in the right direction to making pregnancy happen. Symptoms of imbalance can include cravings, weight gain, mood swings, headaches and insomnia.
Although maintaining balanced insulin levels can be challenging, it is widely agreed that dietary changes, although an integral component healthy insulin balance; are not the only influence.
Researchers now agree that there are other underlying factors aside from diet associated with poor glucose regulation and PCOS. Such as infection, toxins, digestive problems, stress and immune irregularities that can influence insulin secretion. This is why identifying and addressing these underlying factors plays such an important role in ensuring your body is baby ready with PCOS.
PCOS Fertility Tip 2. Decrease BPA Levels
Dietary intake of Bisphenol A (BPA) is linked to lowered fertility in PCOS sufferes. BPA is found in the interior coating of tins, milk containers, baby formula bottles, re-usable water bottles and dental material. Increased temperatures and storage can cause leaching of BPA into products. Adding boiling water to re-usable bottles can increase the rate of BPA leaching by up to 55 fold.
BPA binds to oestrogen receptors, but has a stronger activity than oestrogen itself. Studies have shown that BPA alters steroid hormone synthesis. Exposure to BPA is associated with recurrent miscarriage and it may play a role in obesity.
One study on women undergoing IVF showed that those with higher BPA levels did not become pregnant.
If you are experiencing problems with your periods or are planning to start or extend your family in the near future, avoiding bottles and containers that contain BPA is recommended. If you have used those in the past, talk to your health care practitioner about a detoxification program to help eliminate them from your body.
PCOS Fertility Tip 3. Decrease Free Radicals Exposure
Free Radicals found in dietary foods such as processed refined foods, influence PCOS and fertility. Let's start in the ovaries. Various types of free radicals can lower the quality of the eggs. That means that you already start with a disadvantage.
Then there is the fact that free radicals inhibit secretion of progesterone. Progesterone is the hormone that prepares the uterus for implantation of a fertilized egg. Low progesterone levels lead to poorer quality of the lining of the uterus, decreasing the chances on implantation and a viable pregnancy.
They not only affect progesterone production, they can also reduce or inhibit oestrogen production, even further reducing the quality of the lining of your womb. The chances on a viable pregnancy are much reduced by now.
But let's assume that an egg is released into your fallopian tubes and your womb is preparing for implantation. Free radicals then create a hostile environment in the fallopian tubes, making it harder for the sperm cells to reach and fertilize the released egg. If the sperm cells themselves are already damaged, have poor mobility or are low in number due to oxidative stress in the male partner, the chances that a healthy sperm cell reaches the released egg and actually fertilizes it, are not great.
Let's be optimistic and assume that sperm and egg cell meet and merge, and make it down to the womb. Once there, they encounter nitric oxide, a free radical which inhibits implantation by increasing inflammation in the uterus. The fertilized egg, that has beat the odds so far, has nowhere to implant, and no option but to die off.
This means that from start to finish, free radicals fight fertility all the way. And that is just in women without any underlying medical conditions that impair fertility. In those who suffer endometriosis or PCOS, free radicals make conceiving even harder.
PCOS Fertility Tip 4. Improve Ovulation
Dietary changes can improve ovulation challenges in women diagnosed with PCOS. Premature Ovarian Failure (POF) or primary ovarian insufficiency, affects approximately 1 in 3 Australian women and strongly associated with PCOS. It is a symptom that describes a stop in the normal functioning of the ovaries in a woman younger than age 40 and is a leading cause of infertility. Although medical treatment to reverse POF is limited, identification and reversal of the underlying cause with medicinal herbs and orthomolecular therapy, can improve a woman's ability to have a baby naturally, especially with PCOS.
The most common symptom of premature ovarian failure is skipping or having irregular periods. Some women with premature ovarian failure and PCOS also have other symptoms, similar to those of women going through natural menopause.
However PCOS is different to premature menopause. Researchers know that in women with ovarian failure something happens to stop the normal functioning of the ovaries; but in most cases, the exact cause is not identified without extensive review.
This is why it is important to not just treat the symptom, but address the cause. The factors that cause POF with PCOS are multidimensional and complex. Although most research focuses on a problem with the follicles in the ovaries, identifying and reversing the underlying cause is the key to improved ovulation and fertility with PCOS.
Natural solutions to manage PCOS and Fertility
Naturopathic solutions for PCOS are successful and have helped many women manage their symptoms and achieve pregnancy naturally.
When you discover how to support your body you will see and feel the results!
Your PCOS Program ...
- Identifies & address the underlying causes of your PCOS
- Establishes fertility weakness and assists in restoring balance
- Provides a direct referral for further testing and interprets the results
- Applies a 100% natural targeted strategy to assist healthy digestive function
Your Body Needs Help!
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