5 Tips For Balancing Your Blood Sugar (and Why This is Crucial for Women with PCOS)

Let’s talk PCOS and blood sugar.Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is a condition of insulin resistance and ovulatory dysfunction. This is why keeping  blood sugar balanced is CRUCIAL for managing PCOS and putting it into remission.For women with PCOS (and everyone else as well!) it’s imperative to design meals with the number one goal of making sure they will balance your blood sugar and give you the nutrients you need.Your meal should keep you full for at least 3-6 hours, and if you’re hungry 1-2 hours after eating, then this is an indicator that your meal did not promote balanced blood sugar levels.The link between high blood sugar and PCOS is due to the hormone called insulin.When the insulin level is elevated due to high blood sugar levels, it will block the receptors on the ovaries that are designed to receive ovarian hormones, and this can stop ovulation. Also, when excess insulin attaches to the receptors, it stimulates the ovaries to produce excess androgens (male hormones). So the overall effect of eating lots of sugar and processed carbs is progression towards infertility and hormonal imbalance (such as manifests with PCOS).This is why the journey to hormonal balance (not just for women with PCOS but for ALL women) starts with balancing blood sugar levels.

5 Tips for Balancing Blood Sugar: 

1. Eat healthy fats with every meal (you can read more about these in chapter 3 of “7 Steps to a Healthier You”
2. Stay away from sugar, processed carbs, and high glycemic index fruits (you can find the list in chapter 7 of “7 Steps to a Healthier You”.
3. Fill half your plate with non-starchy vegetables
4. Include a lean protein from a clean source.
5. Avoid snacking. The advice to eat five small meals throughout the day is simply bad advice (the only scenario where this is acceptable is for someone with severe blood sugar instability, but it’s not a permanent solution). Research is now showing that snacking is not the best advice because every time you eat, insulin is released, and insulin is a fat storage hormone! So when you are snacking every two hours you will not lose weight because you are inhibiting the growth hormone that promotes lean muscle mass. This is why you shouldn’t eat right after you exercise! Wait at least an hour.

Signs of blood sugar instability:

1. Hungry all the time-If you are hungry 1-2 hours after eating your blood sugar has crashed
2. Food coma- If you get very tired after eating your blood sugar has crashed.
3. Hangry- if you get “hangry” this means your blood sugar has crashed. You should never get hangry. This is a sign the food you ate spiked you blood sugar and then it crashed.

If you need more support then I encourage you to sign up for a consultation with me!xxxxHealth Coach Jenna