The primary reason why the keto diet is so effective at helping with PCOS is because it puts you into a dietary regimen that makes it easy for you to avoid foods that might negatively impact your insulin resistance. Sugary foods are a major part of western modern diets, and they are famous for ramping up insulin resistance.
During those types of diets, the body will generally use converted glucose for fuels, but since the early 20th century, functional medicine doctors have known that the body will run just as efficiently on stored fats.
- Weight Loss and Keto Diets
Once your body has moved to metabolize the fats that you have stored up, you’ll begin to lose weight, which will improve your insulin resistance. There are a variety of keto diets available, but you should pick one that’s easier for you to follow. Let our functional medicine Studio City doctors at Functional Medicine Los Angeles create a diet customized to your needs.
If you set yourself up ahead of time as often as you can, it will encourage you to stick to the diet. Look for fun recipes that you can perfect and show to friends. That way other people can appreciate the delicious meals that you enjoy.
- Keto-Friendly Foods
Part of having a successful diet is having some kind of a plan. If you take the guesswork out of your daily meal schedule, then it’ll be a lot easier to have a successful experience with your keto diet. In the next few sections, our functional medicine Los Angeles doctors will share a few meal plans that you can use to get you started on the keto path for a better quality of life while living with PCOS.
Egg Spinach Pepper Breakfast
Here’s a fun iron and protein meal to start your day.
What You Need:
2 Eggs
1 cup of spinach
I/2 sliced bell pepper
1 clove of garlic
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Put the olive oil in the pan and heat until hot but be sure the oil doesn’t burn off. Take the yellow pepper and slice it. Place the pepper slices into the oil and lightly fry until they are softer, then heat and spread the spinach leaves out along the bottom of the pan. Stir the mixture until it’s decently mixed.
Mince the garlic and add it to the mix. Make a space in the center and cook the eggs however suits you best. Remove from heat and serve for a power-packed breakfast!
Keto Taco Salad
Who doesn’t love a taco salad? This recipe will be relatively easy for nearly any skill level.
What You Need:
4 leaves of washed and rinsed romaine lettuce
3 teaspoons of salt
1 ½ tablespoon Chili powder
2 teaspoons of cumin
1 teaspoon of garlic salt
2 tablespoons
5 cherry tomatoes
½ cup of shredded cheddar cheese
⅓ cup sour cream
2 tablespoons chopped scallions
2 green onions
Get one pound of lean ground beef and brown it being sure to keep it moving and cooking evenly. Once it’s completely cooked, add the salt, chili powder, cumin, and garlic salt. Stir the mixture until the meat has a reddish color, then remove from heat. Take romaine lettuce and slice it thinly to about 1 cm in width.
Cut up the cilantro, then cut the tomatoes into small pieces. Dice up one green onion. Add the chopped scallions. Add the cheddar cheese. Toss vegetables and top with the cooked meat and sour cream. Now you have a remarkable taco salad that will help you on your journey to health!
Teriyaki Chicken Stir-Fry
Do you like simple Asian-influenced meals? Then this is a great healthy recipe that will give you a great helping of proteins, fiber, and vitamins.
What You Need:
2 tablespoons olive or avocado oil
2 – 3 tablespoons Teriyaki Sauce
1 cup of sliced broccoli
1 sliced bell pepper
1 sliced chicken breast
3 green onions
1 or 2 garlic cloves
½ cup cabbage
Gather some avocado oil and your favorite teriyaki sauce. Cut up the broccoli into the thinnest sections that you can. Slice the cabbage as thinly as you can. Slice the bell peppers into strips or dice depending on how you want your food to look, but the slices may make it easier to eat. Slice a boneless and skinless chicken breast piece into strips.
Cut up the green onion stalks. Mince the garlic and set it aside for now. Heat a pan and add the oil. If the oil smokes, it’s too hot. Once hot add the broccoli and let it cook for a minute before adding the bell pepper. Add the chicken and cook until no more pink shows.
Turkey Bacon Lettuce Rolls
These are a quick and delicious treat that will have you smiling every time you take a bite!
What You Need:
8 Large red lettuce leaves
8 slices of bacon
¼ lb of fresh oven-roasted turkey
8 slices of provolone
⅓ cup of guacamole for spread
salt and pepper shakers
4 cherry tomatoes cut into thin slices (at least 5 or 6 each)
Lay each lettuce leaf out on a plate. Place the turkey on the lettuce as flat as you can, followed by the cheese, 2 slices of bacon the cherry tomato slices, and then top with a small blob of guacamole. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper on the wrap and roll it up. Repeat this procedure for each. This makes a great lunch or snack with friends.
- Other Lifestyle Modifications For PCOS
Living with PCOS can be very challenging, but there are things other than diet that you can do to alleviate some of the strain placed on your system that leads to unpleasant effects. Below are a few extra lifestyle modifications recommended by our functional medicine Burbank specialists that you can try.
- Avoid Stress
Stress is a natural reaction to negative stimuli, and sometimes, even very positive things can cause you to experience stress, but if you are hoping to have a better quality of life, then it would be a good idea to eliminate as much unnecessary stress as you possibly can. This will help you stay focused and avoid disruptions of important hormones that can impact your ability to get through the day.
- Get Active
If you’ve been used to living a relatively sedentary lifestyle, you probably are aware that it’s not the best thing for your health. Instead of waiting, start doing whatever you can to improve your health.
When you go for walks, stretch, engage in exercise, or do some kind of physical activity like sports, your body is discovering that it will need to find ways to process energy more efficiently to accommodate your level of activity. In the long run, you will be happier, and healthier, and exercise endorphins can even dull pain responses.
- Be Aware of Your Product Purchases
This last trip probably isn’t considered by many people. There are chemicals in packaging that are used for a wide range of products that can cause issues with your hormones. BPA contained in some plastics has been linked to hormone problems in some adults, so it would be a good idea to do a small amount of due diligence to protect yourself from being poisoned by these types of products.