The paleo diet will help you to control PCOS by, reducing your waistline, losing weight, and eating fresh, organic food. As it may bring some drawbacks to health.
How Can Paleo Diet Help with PCOS?
The 3 main steps toward controlling PCOS through paleo diet are losing weight, managing insulin resistance, and eating local, bio, and in-season foods as the diet recommends.
The paleo diet is low-carb too, that’s the main reason why it can help in some cases of PCOS.
1- Weight loss
The paleo diet is a low-carb, low-fat diet that eliminates many foods such as grains, legumes, and starches, and also eliminates processed and industrial foods (i.e., no added sugar or processed fats), making the paleo diet a weight loss diet.
For women with obesity and PCOS, the first step is to lose weight. So the paleo diet can help you lose weight and achieve the first main step to control PCOS. But be careful to not decrease brutally your calories, you need to go gradually to avoid some consequences.
2- Reducing belly fat
Belly fat is mostly related to a diet rich in carbs. to simplify things, the stomach area is the favorite destination for carbs because it is the most vascularized.
To get rid of belly fat, you first need a low-carb diet. As the paleo diet is low in carbs, it is considered a diet that helps with PCOS Because belly fat is the main cause of PCOS.
So to help women with PCOS, they must first lose weight by getting rid of abdominal fat as well. If you want to understand more about the link between belly fat and the low-carb diet here.
3- Ancestral diet
Some food additives can disturb women’s hormone functions and then make PCOS worse. so a PCOS diet is essential as it recommends eating almost organic, unprocessed, and natural food. Vegetables and fruits also must be in season. These recommendations will be very beneficial to keep a physical and mental balance, just like our ancestors.
The paleo diet does not only focus on foods but also on healthy cooking methods and adopting a healthy lifestyle. However, the paleo diet is still far from being like an ancestral diet that has been well-varied and balanced.
Paleo diet vs Weight loss for PCOS?
As I said above, the paleo diet includes the 3 essential steps to control PCOS including weight loss. Simply put, the paleo diet will take you to weight loss with a healthy food choice.
But it is recommended to lose weight with a healthy diet and be more balanced than the paleo diet because this is very strict for a woman with PCOS.
Women with PCOS should avoid any type of strict diet. It is essential to focus on organic food but also to vary her diet and not to exclude too many foods because there is a risk of deficiencies that will make the situation worse, food supplements are also not the best solution and a diet must always remain natural.
What paleo foods help with PCOS?
Fortunately, foods that help more with PCOS are included in the modern paleo diet. Are nuts and seeds and seafood, and this is another reason why paleo diet helps in PCOS.
Nuts and seeds
Nuts and seeds are important for women with PCOS, they are rich in vitamins, such as vitamin D which is essential for a good hormonal functioning and also rich in antyoxidants fighting against cellular aging whatever it is.
But nuts and seeds are also rich in phytic acid which is not desirable in excess. So in paleo diet you should not exceed a bunch of nuts and seeds per day.
Seafood
Seafood is very beneficial for PCOS and hormonal disorders. They are rich in Iodine which helps in hormonal regulation and avoids a deficit in their functions. They are also rich in vitamin D, an essential nutrient for hormone function.
Not only for the hormones, but they are also good for overall health because of their richness in the entire group of vitamin B and in omega three which also improves cardiovascular function.
Will PCOS Come Back after Stopping The Paleo diet?
PCOS is a chronic disease that affects a woman’s health throughout her life. By following the medical treatment associated with a proper diet (not a simple diet you find on the internet) with regular follow-ups with the dietician, you can control PCOS permanently. Many cases have succeeded by keeping the same lifestyle throughout their lives.
If you are on a diet for a short period of time without a regular follow-up with a healthcare professional it will come back after you stop the diet.
Can Paleo diet be Dangerous For Women With PCOS?
Exactly! The strict form of a paleo diet can be dangerous for your health. Much has been said about the positive effects of the paleo diet on PCOS. But the negative effects have not been discussed.
Overconsumption of meat
Meat is good for your health, rich in good-quality proteins, rich in iron and vitamin B, and magnesium. But in case of overconsumption, it can affect many parts of our body.
Kidney health
The paleo diet insists on consuming a lot of protein foods of animal origin. Meat of all types, when excessively consumed, will exhaust the kidneys. Then, meat is rich in year which can also lead to lithiasis in the long term. This is why you should not follow a low-calorie, high-protein diet for a long time.
Risk of deficiencies
The paleo diet is too restrictive, so for a woman who has PCOS and wants to start a paleo diet like her ancestors, she must first see a specialist to prescribe supplements. This is the least she can do because she may have important deficiencies, especially in dietary fiber and vitamins which are essential for her health.
Affects mental health
A woman with PCOS is generally already stressed by the disease, a restrictive diet like the paleo diet can also make her more frustrated and slow down her willpower.
What’s The Best Diet for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome?
The paleo diet is not the best diet for PCOS. The best diet offers a wide range of foods and makes a varied and balanced plate of unprocessed and healthy foods.
The Mediterranean diet seems to be very suitable. Of course, consuming more vitamin-rich foods is very beneficial for PCOS as shown previously, you just have to include them in the Mediterranean diet.
Recently, scientific arguments have been made to compare the GAPS with Paleo, which appears to be as healthy for controlling PCOS, and the Paleo diet.
Then if you want to lose weight, go into a calorie deficit, and try to cut 500 calories from your plate every month. It is very slow, but it is effective because you must strictly avoid rapid weight loss as I explained before.
Bottom Line
Finally, the paleo diet certainly has advantages for PCOS, but it can also be dangerous for a woman and can even worsen the situation.
It is therefore not the best diet to control PCOS. A balanced diet is much better, and as long as the Mediterranean diet is closer to the principles of balanced nutrition and at the same time it promotes a healthy diet, it is much better than the high-protein and low-calorie diets.
