Pcos Diet Plan To Get Pregnant must be followed correctly. Many women with polycystic ovary syndrome are able to get pregnant using the right fertility diet. PCOS (PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome) is a condition that affects ovulation and fertility in women. The disease is characterized by an increased level of male hormones, which causes the affected woman’s body to produce more testosterone.
How to Get Pregnant With PCOS
Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common causes of female infertility, affecting an estimated 5 million women.1 But you can get pregnant with PCOS. There are a number of effective fertility treatments available, from Clomid to gonadotropins to IVF.
Most women will be able to conceive with a combination of lifestyle changes and fertility drugs. While some women with PCOS will need IVF, the great majority will get pregnant using lower-tech fertility treatments.
Weight Loss to Restart Ovulation
Many (but not all) women with PCOS struggle with obesity. This is because PCOS negatively affects how your body processes insulin, which can, in turn, cause weight gain.2
One of the main reasons women with PCOS can’t conceive is they don’t ovulate, or they don’t ovulate regularly. Women with PCOS who are overweight are more likely to experience more severe anovulation, going months between periods.
Studies have found that losing some weight may bring back ovulation. According to the research, losing 5% to 10% of current weight may be enough to jump-start menstrual cycles.
Unfortunately, there’s not much evidence that losing weight will help you conceive on your own. You may still need fertility drugs. Research has found that women who have lost weight have a great chance of having fertility treatment success.
Losing weight isn’t easy for anybody, and it may be even more difficult for those with PCOS. Also, not all women with PCOS are overweight. If that’s your situation, weight loss isn’t a solution to help with fertility.
Diet, Exercise, and PCOS
Eating a healthy diet is important for women with PCOS. This is partially due to the higher risk of becoming overweight, and partially due to their bodies’ trouble with insulin regulation. Is there any one diet that is best for PCOS? That’s a matter of debate.
Some studies have claimed that a low-carb diet is the best one for PCOS, but other studies have not found a low-carb advantage. The most important thing is to make sure your diet is rich in nutrient-rich foods and adequate protein and low on high-sugar foods. Avoiding junk food and processed foods is your best bet.
Fertility-Friendly Eating Tips for PCOS
- Eat a bigger breakfast and a smaller dinner.
- Include more protein and greens.
- When you eat carbohydrates, make them complex carbs (like whole grains and beans).
- If you eat sweets or a high carb food, combine it with healthy fats (avocado, olive oil, nuts) or protein to slow down the sugar spike.
Regular exercise has also been found to help with PCOS symptoms. In one study, a combination of regular brisk walking and eating a healthier diet improved menstrual cycle regularity by 50%.
Whether diet and exercise alone will help you conceive isn’t clear. However, a healthy lifestyle may help your fertility treatments work better, and it will certainly help you feel better overall. Like weight loss, it’s worth the effort if you want to get pregnant.
Medications
Some people with PCOS will need medications to treat the condition and/or to help them conceive.
Metformin
Ask your doctor to test your insulin levels. If you’re insulin-resistant, taking the diabetes drug metformin can treat the insulin resistance and may help you lose weight.5 It may also help you conceive.
Metformin is sometimes prescribed to people with PCOS even if they aren’t actually insulin-resistant. Using metformin for PCOS is considered off-label use. However, the drug is relatively safe and may help you conceive. According to the research, metformin may:6
- Promote weight loss
- Restart regular menstrual cycles
- Improve the effectiveness of some fertility drugs
- Reduce the rate of miscarriage (in those with repeated miscarriage)
Can metformin alone help you get pregnant? This is unlikely. While earlier research found that metformin increased the odds of a woman ovulating on her own, further studies have not found an increase in pregnancy or live birth rates.7 In other words, the improvement with ovulation didn’t lead to increased fertility.
Clomid
Clomid is the most commonly used fertility drug overall, and also the most commonly used treatment for women with PCOS. Many women with PCOS will conceive with Clomid.
Unfortunately, it’s not successful for everyone. Some women with PCOS will experience Clomid resistance. This is when Clomid does not trigger ovulation as expected. Studies have found that a combination of metformin and Clomid may help beat Clomid resistance.8
Letrozole
If metformin and Clomid are not successful, your doctor may consider the drug letrozole. Also known by its brand name Femara, it is not a fertility drug but is frequently used as one in women with PCOS. Letrozole is actually a cancer medication. However, studies have found that it may be more effective than Clomid at stimulating ovulation in women with PCOS.9
Don’t be scared off by the fact that the drug is originally intended as a cancer drug. The side effects are relatively mild, and it has been heavily researched in women trying to conceive.
Gonadotropins
If Clomid or letrozole is not successful, the next step is injectable fertility drugs or gonadotropins. Gonadotropins are made of the hormones FSH, LH, or a combination of the two. Brand names you may recognize are Gonal-F, Follistim, Ovidrel, Bravelle, and Menopur.
Your doctor may suggest a combination of oral and injectable fertility drugs (for example, Clomid with a trigger shot of LH mid-cycle). Another possibility is a cycle with just gonadotropins.
Or, your doctor may suggest gonadotropins with an IUI (intrauterine insemination) procedure. IUI involves placing specially washed semen directly into the uterus via a catheter. The semen may be from a sperm donor or your partner.
One of the possible risks of gonadotropins is ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS). This is when the ovaries overreact to the fertility medication. If untreated or severe, it can be dangerous. Women with PCOS are at a higher risk of developing OHSS.10
Your doctor may use lower doses of the injectable fertility drugs to avoid this. Ideally, your doctor should use the lowest effective dose. During treatment, if you have any symptoms of OHSS (such as rapid weight gain, abdominal pain, bloating, or nausea), make sure to tell your doctor.
Fertility Procedures
If gonadotropins are not successful, the next step is IVF (in vitro fertilization) or IVM (in vitro maturation). You’ve likely already heard of IVF. It involves using injectable fertility drugs to stimulate the ovaries so that they will provide a good number of mature eggs. The eggs are retrieved from the ovaries during a procedure known as an egg retrieval.
Those eggs are then placed together with sperm into Petri dishes. If all goes well, the sperm will fertilize some of the eggs. After the fertilized eggs have had between three and five days to divide and grow, one or two are transferred into the uterus. This procedure is known as an embryo transfer. Two weeks later, your doctor will order a pregnancy test to see if the cycle was a success or not.
As with gonadotropin treatment alone, one of the risks of IVF, especially in women with PCOS, is overstimulation of the ovaries. That’s where IVM comes in.
IVM stands for in vitro maturation. Instead of giving you high doses of fertility drugs to force your ovaries to mature many eggs, with IVM you receive either no fertility drugs or very low doses. The doctor retrieves immature eggs from the ovaries, and then mature these eggs in the lab.11 IVM is not offered at all fertility clinics. This is something to consider when choosing a fertility clinic.
Will You Need an Egg Donor?
It’s highly unusual for women with PCOS to require an egg donor, unless there are additional fertility issues at hand, like advanced age. However, women who have had procedures such as ovarian drilling or ovarian wedge resection to treat PCOS may have lower ovarian reserves.12 In this case, an egg donor may be necessary. This is one reason why surgical treatment for PCOS is not recommended.
Top Nutrition Recommended Diet Tip for PCOS
Majority of women with PCOS at some point or the other struggle with weight gain. Moreover, losing weight becomes essential to lead a healthy lifestyle. Losing weight when one is suffering from PCOS reduces many other diseases. Shedding even ten percent of your body weight in PCOS can help your body regulate your menstrual cycle and help relieve some of its signs and symptoms.
Healthy weight loss can help you recover from insulin sensitivity, reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other various PCOS complications. Therefore, to start a healthy weight loss journey, visit the doctor first and check your weight and body mass index so that you can take a step further accordingly. Let’s see, what are the few tips to maintain a healthy weight in PCOS.
Eating the right foods has been found to reverse insulin resistance and help combat chronic inflammation resulting in weight loss. Low carb and high-fat diets have helped many women with PCOS. Cutting back on carbohydrate consumption can reduce insulin load in your body, making it easier to lose weight.
Insulin resistance lies in the heart of PCOS. Hyperinsulinemia is seen in thirty percent of slim women and seventy-five percent of obese women with PCOS. By eliminating all the refined carbs and sugars from your diet, it will help maintain a healthy weight. Regular blood and insulin checkups will also assist you in the right direction.
Exercising helps you lose weight but only in the right manner. If you assume that exercising for a long time or the whole day will help you lose a lot of weight quickly, you are wrong. Instead, exercising in a grueling manner increases cortisol levels and aids in insulin resistance. Over-exercising puts your body under stress, which can be detrimental to your weight loss goals.
Gut microbiome could be key to PCOS weight loss! Several studies support that probiotic supplementation among women with PCOS has shown favorable results in weight loss, insulin resistance markers, triglycerides, and VLDL-cholesterol concentrations. Imbalance in your gut microbiota contributes to insulin resistance and leptin resistance which critically reverse your weight-loss efforts.
Maintaining healthy body weight is significant for everyone, but it’s more necessary for women with PCOS. Avoiding weight due to PCOS is often tricky, and losing it later can be a real challenge. But if you try to beat insulin resistance and balance your hormones by adopting eating habits, you can automatically tip on the weighing scales in your favour. So, incorporate these healthy weight loss tips in your day-to-day life to see how effectively they work.
Women with PCOD need to avoid or limit many foods as these may raise their blood sugar levels and aggravate symptoms of their conditions. Foods to avoid for women with PCOD include red meat, starchy vegetables, sugary foods, fried foods, processed and refined grains, vegetable oils, fruit juices, dairy, alcohol, and caffeine.
The nutrition you get from the food you include in your PCOS diet can be affected by how you choose to prepare it. Some produce is most nutritious when purchased fresh and eaten raw. Others benefit from a little steaming or boiling. Some cooking methods can make food less nutritious and make it unsuitable for a PCOS diet. For example, eggs can be the basis for a protein-packed breakfast, but not if they’re fried with butter. Instead, try poaching eggs and pairing them with whole-grain toast and a piece of fruit, instead of bacon or sausage, for a PCOS diet-friendly breakfast. If you’re trying to lose weight, you may find it helpful to use low-fat and low-carb swaps for meals, such as spiralized veggie “noodles” instead of pasta.
Losing weight with PCOD can be challenging; however, when the right diet and lifestyle are incorporated at a calorie deficit, you can achieve your desired weight goals.
Best PCOS Fertility Diet Tips to Help You Get Pregnant
Try to stick to the following Indian diet plan tips to get pregnant if you are suffering from PCOS:
1. Prefer Eating Low Glycaemic Index Food
Food that contains high glycemic levels can spike your insulin levels. To avoid weight gain and other diseases like type-2 diabetes, it is important to eat food that has a low glycemic index.
Foods To Avoid:
- White potatoes
- Rice
- Flour
- Doughnuts
- Watermelon
- Cornflakes
Foods To Eat:
- Soy milk
- Oatmeal
- Legumes
- Low-fat yoghurt
- Carrot juice
- Whole grain cereals
2. Avoid Starvation
Not eating food isn’t the solution to anything. One should eat regularly from time to time. However, avoid eating junk food or stale food. Eating healthy and fresh food ensures good health and wellness, which in turn boosts the process of losing excessive fat.
Healthy Foods To Eat:
- Lentils
- Fruits
- Green vegetables
3. Avoid Intake of Sugar
Whenever you consume sugar, you give way to increased blood sugar levels. Whether it’s chocolate, ice-cream, tea or cold drinks, you need to give up all of them. It is advisable to learn to relish the taste of food or drinks that have no added sugar to them.
Alternatives to Sugar:
- Stevia
- Honey
- Jaggery powder
4. Avoid Consuming Processed Food
If you want to get pregnant and keep PCOS in check, it is highly recommended to not eat processed food. These foods contain fats, hidden sugar, preservatives, and excessive sodium. Processed food, in turn, leads to inflammation. Instead, eat food that is freshly made and healthy.
5. Prefer Eating Anti-Inflammatory Foods
Insulin levels not only lead to weight gain and inflammation but also tiredness and weakness. Eating anti-inflammatory foods help reduce insulin levels.
Anti-Inflammatory Foods to Eat:
- Spinach
- Green tea
- Olives
- Beans and lentils
- Dark chocolate
- Coconut
- Turmeric
- Cinnamon
- Extra virgin Olive Oil
6. Consume Less of Dairy Products
It may sound weird, but yes, dairy products are not recommended for women suffering from PCOS. This is because dairy products contain Insulin-Growth-Factor 1. Though this factor aids in the growth of foetus, it is not good for women with PCOS.
It is pretty clear that giving up dairy products isn’t entirely possible, but just remember to have them in limited quantity. Butter is one dairy product that you can have in controlled limits, as it contains a right balance of fats and vitamins.
Dairy Alternatives You Can Consume:
- Almond milk
- Oat milk
- Coconut milk
- Rice milk
7. Consult Your Doctors for the Right Prescription of Drugs
There are several medicinal drugs available in the market that, in turn, has proven to be beneficial for treating PCOS. However, remember not to consume any of these drugs without consulting your gynaecologist.
- Clomid: This is prescribed as a fertility medicine that helps in stimulating ovulation process. Clomid contains an active chemical called clomiphene that makes the brain think that the oestrogen levels have reduced. When this happens, the production and secretion of FSH or follicle-stimulating hormone automatically starts. Further, the production of FSH boosts ovarian activity.
This is the recommended PCOS diet to get pregnant naturally. Try to follow these tips and consult your doctor for a proper diet plan. Another recommendation is exercise. Do not forget to exercise daily, as this is the most effective solution for staying fit and, in turn, controlling PCOS.