OHIO — Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, or PCOS, often causes hormonal imbalance and metabolism problems in women.
What You Need To Know
- September is PCOS Awareness Month
- PCOS stands for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and it affects a woman's hormone balance
- Symptoms can range from facial hair to trouble conceiving
- Diet and lifestyle changes can affect how severe symptoms are
Millions of women suffer from Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). The health condition is an ovarian syndrome that attacks the reproductive hormones, causing irregular menstrual cycles and making it hard to have children.
Some common symptoms are facial hair, infertility, development of cysts in the ovaries, insulin resistance (which can cause rapid weight gain) and acne prone and/or oily skin.
While there is no known cause of PCOS, health officials suggest those who suffer from the health condition to make lifestyle changes in order to address the symptoms. Exercise, along with diet, can have the biggest effect.
Kara Collier is a licensed dietitian nutritionist and said a change in what women eat can affect their mood and remove some symptoms altogether.
“Leafy greens, bright tomatoes, avocados, blueberries and other types of berries,” said Collier. “These types of foods are really anti-inflammatory and also things like fatty fish. Salmon, tuna, mackerel, these have those healthy protective omega threes that are also anti-inflammatory and then really high-quality protein.”
Collier said the best way to support someone with PCOS is to help them with new diet changes and maybe even participate with them along with knowing the symptoms to advocate for them and their needs.