Home/PCOS & PCOD
PCOS & PCOD
PCOS is not a willpower problem. It's an insulin problem.
Most PCOS plans start with the scale. We start with the hormone actually driving it, and with the food already in your kitchen.
Does this sound like you?
Tick whichever ones you recognise.
- Your periods are irregular, or they've gone missing altogether
- The weight keeps climbing even though you're eating less than your friends
- Acne along the jawline and chin that never fully clears
- Facial hair, or hair thinning at the crown
- Constant cravings, especially late evening
- You were handed a tablet and no explanation of why any of this is happening
- An ultrasound mentioned cysts and you left more confused than when you arrived
What's actually going on
Insulin comes first. Everything else follows it.
In most women with PCOS, the cells stop responding properly to insulin. The pancreas compensates by making more of it, and that excess insulin tells the ovaries to produce more androgens. Those androgens are what drive the acne, the facial hair and the missed cycles.
High insulin also keeps your body in storage mode. That's why the weight climbs on a calorie count that would work perfectly well for someone else, and why cutting further usually makes things worse rather than better.
So a plan that only counts calories is working one level too far downstream. Fix the insulin signal and the rest of it starts to settle, usually in that order.
The approach
What we'd actually do.
We read your bloods properly
Fasting insulin and HOMA-IR, not just glucose. Plus thyroid, Vitamin D, B12 and ferritin, because deficiencies here mimic and worsen PCOS symptoms. If you haven't had these done, we'll decide together which are worth checking.
We fix meal composition before meal size
Every carb gets paired with protein and fat so the glucose curve flattens. Rice and roti stay. What changes is what sits next to them on the plate, and the order you eat it in.
We work with your cycle, not against it
Energy, cravings and insulin sensitivity all shift across the month. The plan flexes with that instead of pretending every week is identical.
We track what actually indicates progress
Cycle regularity, skin, energy and lab values. Weight is on the list, but it is not the first thing to move and it is not how we judge whether this is working.
The order that flattens the spike
- Half the plate, vegetables. Sabzi, salad, whatever is cooked that day. Eat this first.
- A quarter, protein. Dal, curd, paneer, egg, chicken or fish. Eat this second.
- A quarter, carbohydrate. Rice or roti. Still there. Just last.
Same food, same kitchen, different order. This alone measurably lowers the post-meal glucose rise, which is where most of the damage happens.
What to expect
What changes, and when.
Rough guide, not a promise. Bodies differ, and anyone giving you exact dates is guessing.
Relevant training
Certified Diabetes Educator (CC in Diabetes Education, NDEP), which is the same insulin-resistance training that underpins diabetes care. PCOS and pre-diabetes share the same mechanism.
Questions
What people ask me about this.
Do I have to cut carbs completely?
No, and please don't. Very low carb works for a few weeks and then backfires, usually with worse cravings and a stalled cycle. We keep rice and roti and change what they're eaten with.
I'm already on metformin. Does this still help?
Yes. Metformin improves insulin sensitivity and so does food, and they work well together. Many women find their doctor can revisit the dose after a few months. That decision stays with your doctor, not me.
Is PCOS the same as PCOD?
In everyday Indian usage the terms get swapped freely. Clinically PCOS is the broader metabolic and hormonal syndrome, while PCOD usually refers just to the ovarian appearance on a scan. The nutrition approach is largely the same.
Will this help me get pregnant?
Nutrition can restore ovulation in a lot of women with PCOS, which is the usual barrier. It is not a fertility treatment and I don't work in place of your gynaecologist, but the two together tend to work far better than either alone.
How long before I see my cycle change?
Most women see some movement by the second or third month. If nothing has shifted by month four, that tells us something useful and we investigate further rather than just carrying on.
Let's work out what's going on.
Bring your reports. One consultation and a straight answer on what will and won't work.
Also treated
Other conditions.
Thyroid
Hypothyroidism, Hashimoto's and the stubborn weight, fatigue and hair fall that follow.
Read more →Diabetes & pre-diabetes
Blood sugar control, HbA1c reduction and reversing pre-diabetes while it's still reversible.
Read more →Gut health, IBS & IBD
Daily bloating, acidity, food intolerance, Crohn's and ulcerative colitis.
Read more →