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Hello,
I’ve found this forum super helpful and informative. I have PCOS with insulin resistance and suspected raised testosterone. I conceived my son on metformin and am hoping to sway pink this time, without metformin. From what I understand, a low carb / low sugar diet with lots of nuts, flaxseed, cranberries etc is beneficial? I’m slightly confused about milk though? Some say you should drink lots (plus yoghurt), whilst other day to avoid dairy?
Thanks in advance x
Well, you can't really sway pink on a low carb diet. What we have you do is a LOWER carb diet (lower than most people eat and also much lower than our standard pink sway diet). Low carb diets generally have too much fat and protein to be a good pink sway. We are striking a balance between doing what is beneficial for PCOS while still swaying pink and we've hit on the following nutritional breakdown:
1500-1800 cals (for most people, a large minority go up to 1800-2000, a very small minority drop to 1200-1500. Low carb veg are free and unlimited, have as much as you want, no need to count them.)
50-60 g protein and fat (not counting the protein and fat in fruits and vegetables)
So you'll have a set amount of calories overall, and a set portion of these will always be in the form of protein and fat. The rest will be carbs, but this will very likely still be fewer carbs than you were eating normally because you're limiting calories. And we will get those calories of carbs from whole grains, fruits and higher carb vegetables instead of white, refined carbs and sugar (both of which are terrible for PCOS).
RE dairy - your confusion stems in part from the fact that some sway sites believe that dairy foods sway strongly pink and have people eat massive amounts dairy, and in part because some nutritionists used to believe that all dairy was universally bad for PCOS and should be avoided. Neither of these things is true. Massive amounts of dairy do not sway pink, likely sway blue, and if you believe that calcium sways pink just please take calcium and magnesium supplements without added vitamin D instead, and keep dairy to within LE Diet limits above. And, only skim dairy is bad for people with PCOS. Full fat dairy is actually very beneficial to those with PCOS so please include full fat dairy within the limits of the day as described above, and avoid skim dairy and part skim (even 2%!) completely. Yogurt is definitely ok but be sure you're getting full fat only. It can be tricky to find full fat yogurt as many brands are part skim.
Cranberry - while once it was believed that cranberry supplements swayed pink, our results since 2011 have shown that they do nothing at all to help sway. The same number of people got girls with and without cranberry, and since it has also been shown to have serious side effects possibly including miscarriage, I can't recommend them. Cranberry juice and food has never swayed because there is simply no way that the cranberry could ever be concentrated enough in juice/food to affect your body medicinally. So even if cranberry supplements worked, which they don't, cran juice and eating Crasins and stuff like that simply won't help anyone's sway and may even hurt it by adding nutrients you likely don't even need.
I'm not sure where you're getting info about nuts swaying strongly pink? They're fine within limits but they aren't a magic pink food. Stick in the limits for everything and you can't go wrong.
Flaxseed in medicinal amounts is NOT GOOD for anyone trying to conceive. No more than dietary amounts only (small amounts 2-3 times a week absolute max). Flaxseed meal and flaxseed oil have been shown to cause premature labor in human beings and it has also been linked to deformities of the genitals in animals. Flaxseed also may act as estrogen which can possibly sway blue (blue swayers, please do not use flaxseed, though) and/or interfere with the development of a new pregnancy. Plus, in PCOS our hormones are acting nutty enough, no need to toss other things onto that! in short, no proven benefit, with a proven risk. Just not worth it.
Thanks so much for your reply and all the information. I will definitely try a low calorie diet - think I will purchase the plan to help.
Am I right in thinking you need to start the diet at least 6 weeks before trying to conceive?
Yep. While we've seen best results with 12 weeks or more, 6 weeks or longer has been acceptably good results. :)