Recipes for PCOS
Carob, Yogurt Smoothie
Ingredients
1 cup 2% Milk, Soy Milk, or Almond Milk
(You can find almond milk at your local whole foods store, usually kept unrefrigerated near the soy milk)
2 Tbsp. Carob Powder
(You can find toasted carob powder pre-packaged or in bulk at your local whole foods store)
2 Tbsp. Xylitol, Agave Nectar or Sugar Substitute
(Xylitol can also be found at your whole grocer, it is a low glycemic sweetener made from corn. Agave Nectar is a sweetener made from the nectar of the agave plant it too has a lower glycemic index than most sugars)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. natural peanut butter or almond butter (unsweetened)
½ Cup Unsweetened Yogurt
¼ Tsp. Cinnamon Powder
1 Tbsp. Lecithin Granules (again you can find this at the whole grocer)
Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until completely incorporated and whipped.
Serve in a tall glass with a straw, sprinkle some carob powder and cinnamon on top for decoration, enjoy.
Variations:
You can add ½ a frozen banana to this recipe for thickness and flavor (peel bananas before freezing for ease of preparation)
You can omit the peanut or almond butter from this recipe
You can add frozen milk (freeze milk in ice cube trays) to make an icier smoothie
Enjoy your carob smoothie on a hot summer’s day, or as a daily breakfast. Protein powder can be added to make this a complete meal.
You can find more tips and recipes on PCOS blogs and message boards to help with the symptoms of PCOS.
Ingredients
1 cup 2% Milk, Soy Milk, or Almond Milk
(You can find almond milk at your local whole foods store, usually kept unrefrigerated near the soy milk)
2 Tbsp. Carob Powder
(You can find toasted carob powder pre-packaged or in bulk at your local whole foods store)
2 Tbsp. Xylitol, Agave Nectar or Sugar Substitute
(Xylitol can also be found at your whole grocer, it is a low glycemic sweetener made from corn. Agave Nectar is a sweetener made from the nectar of the agave plant it too has a lower glycemic index than most sugars)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. natural peanut butter or almond butter (unsweetened)
½ Cup Unsweetened Yogurt
¼ Tsp. Cinnamon Powder
1 Tbsp. Lecithin Granules (again you can find this at the whole grocer)
Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until completely incorporated and whipped.
Serve in a tall glass with a straw, sprinkle some carob powder and cinnamon on top for decoration, enjoy.
Variations:
You can add ½ a frozen banana to this recipe for thickness and flavor (peel bananas before freezing for ease of preparation)
You can omit the peanut or almond butter from this recipe
You can add frozen milk (freeze milk in ice cube trays) to make an icier smoothie
Enjoy your carob smoothie on a hot summer’s day, or as a daily breakfast. Protein powder can be added to make this a complete meal.
You can find more tips and recipes on PCOS blogs and message boards to help with the symptoms of PCOS.
Hairloss Oral remedies
Oral remedies for Hairloss
Cayenne Pepper
Like Propecia, orally consumed Cayenne Pepper upregulates follicle IGF-1, and acts as a Substance P ( a neuropeptide that mediates systemic and local stress response), antagonist. Combined with Soy Isoflavones it grew hair in 88% of subjects with Androgenetic Alopecia, (Harada, et al). Cayenne Pepper (Ground Red Pepper), is available at any supermarket. The “5th Season” brand from Walmart cost only 50 cents a bottle. The amounts of Capsaicin used in the Harada study amount to approximately ¾ teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper a day.
Ground Flax Meal
Flax lignans function as enterolactone precursors, which downregulate both DHT and Androstenedione (via 5AR AND 17BHSD), both significant hormonal factors in pattern hair loss. One rather loosely controlled study showed a benefit of the oral consumption of a Flax lignan extract on pattern loss. 3 tablespoons a day of ground Flax meal will provide a rich source of enterolactone precursors, and benefit your health in myriad other ways. Flax seeds can be purchased in bulk from any large health food store, and be easily ground in any blender.
Coconut Oil
Coconut Oil consumed internally has a multitude of health benefits. For hair growth purposes its oral consumption has anti-androgenic properties, and was shown by itself to shrink prostates in rats when implemented into their diets. The human Coconut Oil consumption equivalent would be about two tablespoons a day for a 150lb person. Natural Coconut Oil can be purchased at Walmart, (Louana brand) for a fraction of what it costs in health food stores, 4 dollars and change for a 32oz container. Although it’s not organic or extra virgin, it likely has equivocal benefits.
Low Dose Proscar
Obtaining Proscar, which is 5mg finasteride (Propecia is 1 mg finasteride), or its’ generic, and sectioning it, using .5mg every other day, will get you more than a years supply of finasteride for the cost of one box of 30 tablets. Compare that to paying $70.00 or more a month for Propecia, not to mention the cost for followup “visits” to the doctor to keep your prescription indefinitely refilled. You can legally import up to 3 boxes of Proscar at a time without a doctor’s prescription, (it’s NOT a controlled substance). If you use finasteride (which I stopped in 2004), there is no reason you should be paying more than $5.00 a month.
2 % Nizoral Shampoo for a Co-Pay
2% Nizoral Shampoo is undoubtedly one of the best, and most underused frontline treatments for hair loss. Unfortunately, if you ask your Doctor for a prescription for 2% Nizoral Shampoo to treat hair loss, he is likely to look at you like you have 3 heads. Such is the general level of ignorance with the medical profession. Although Nizoral has been a mainstay in hair loss treatment circles for many years, most doctors (at least in the U.S.) only know of Rogaine and Propecia. There is a deft and rather obvious way around this. Simply tell him/her that you are using it to treat dandruff, for which it is FDA approved. There is an element of truth in that there are the same bacterial infiltrates treatable by Nizoral are found in dandruff and hair loss. Better yet you can phone in the request to his office, I’ve never known a doctor require anyone to physically show up to “count the flakes.” 2% Nizoral Shampoo is uniformly covered by insurance, and you can usually get it for a $5.00-$10.00 co-pay.
Emu Oil
Emu Oil is thick, absorbs readily, and disperses over wide area when only a few drops are topically applied. Anecdotal reports indicate Emu Oil, for some reason, is particularly effective at generating regrowth along the frontal hairline. One 2oz bottle typically last about 2 months at a usage rate of one application a day.
Cayenne Pepper
Like Propecia, orally consumed Cayenne Pepper upregulates follicle IGF-1, and acts as a Substance P ( a neuropeptide that mediates systemic and local stress response), antagonist. Combined with Soy Isoflavones it grew hair in 88% of subjects with Androgenetic Alopecia, (Harada, et al). Cayenne Pepper (Ground Red Pepper), is available at any supermarket. The “5th Season” brand from Walmart cost only 50 cents a bottle. The amounts of Capsaicin used in the Harada study amount to approximately ¾ teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper a day.
Ground Flax Meal
Flax lignans function as enterolactone precursors, which downregulate both DHT and Androstenedione (via 5AR AND 17BHSD), both significant hormonal factors in pattern hair loss. One rather loosely controlled study showed a benefit of the oral consumption of a Flax lignan extract on pattern loss. 3 tablespoons a day of ground Flax meal will provide a rich source of enterolactone precursors, and benefit your health in myriad other ways. Flax seeds can be purchased in bulk from any large health food store, and be easily ground in any blender.
Coconut Oil
Coconut Oil consumed internally has a multitude of health benefits. For hair growth purposes its oral consumption has anti-androgenic properties, and was shown by itself to shrink prostates in rats when implemented into their diets. The human Coconut Oil consumption equivalent would be about two tablespoons a day for a 150lb person. Natural Coconut Oil can be purchased at Walmart, (Louana brand) for a fraction of what it costs in health food stores, 4 dollars and change for a 32oz container. Although it’s not organic or extra virgin, it likely has equivocal benefits.
Low Dose Proscar
Obtaining Proscar, which is 5mg finasteride (Propecia is 1 mg finasteride), or its’ generic, and sectioning it, using .5mg every other day, will get you more than a years supply of finasteride for the cost of one box of 30 tablets. Compare that to paying $70.00 or more a month for Propecia, not to mention the cost for followup “visits” to the doctor to keep your prescription indefinitely refilled. You can legally import up to 3 boxes of Proscar at a time without a doctor’s prescription, (it’s NOT a controlled substance). If you use finasteride (which I stopped in 2004), there is no reason you should be paying more than $5.00 a month.
2 % Nizoral Shampoo for a Co-Pay
2% Nizoral Shampoo is undoubtedly one of the best, and most underused frontline treatments for hair loss. Unfortunately, if you ask your Doctor for a prescription for 2% Nizoral Shampoo to treat hair loss, he is likely to look at you like you have 3 heads. Such is the general level of ignorance with the medical profession. Although Nizoral has been a mainstay in hair loss treatment circles for many years, most doctors (at least in the U.S.) only know of Rogaine and Propecia. There is a deft and rather obvious way around this. Simply tell him/her that you are using it to treat dandruff, for which it is FDA approved. There is an element of truth in that there are the same bacterial infiltrates treatable by Nizoral are found in dandruff and hair loss. Better yet you can phone in the request to his office, I’ve never known a doctor require anyone to physically show up to “count the flakes.” 2% Nizoral Shampoo is uniformly covered by insurance, and you can usually get it for a $5.00-$10.00 co-pay.
Emu Oil
Emu Oil is thick, absorbs readily, and disperses over wide area when only a few drops are topically applied. Anecdotal reports indicate Emu Oil, for some reason, is particularly effective at generating regrowth along the frontal hairline. One 2oz bottle typically last about 2 months at a usage rate of one application a day.
PCOS & its Treatment
PCOS:
Polycystic ovary disease is a condition in which there are many small cysts in the ovaries, which can affect a woman's ability to get pregnant.
Symptoms (https://health.google.com/health/ref/Polycystic+ovary+disease)
Treatment
Medications used to treat the symptoms of polycystic ovary disease include:
Birth control pills
The principal features are obesity, anovulation (resulting in irregular menstruation), acne, and excessive amounts or effects of androgenic (masculinizing) hormones. The symptoms and severity of the syndrome vary greatly among women. While the causes are unknown, insulin resistance, diabetes, and obesity are all strongly correlated with PCOS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycystic_ovary_syndrome).
Polycystic ovary disease is a condition in which there are many small cysts in the ovaries, which can affect a woman's ability to get pregnant.
Symptoms (https://health.google.com/health/ref/Polycystic+ovary+disease)
- Abnormal, irregular, or very light or infrequent menstrual periods
- Absent periods, usually (but not always) after having one or more normal menstrual periods during puberty (secondary amenorrhea)
- Acne that gets worse
- Decreased breast size
- Development of male sex characteristics (virilization), such as increased body hair, facial hair, a deepening of the voice, male-pattern baldness, and enlargement of the clitoris
- Diabetes
- Increased hair growth; body hair may be in a male pattern
- Infertility
- Poor response to the hormone, insulin (insulin resistance), leading to a build-up of insulin in the blood
- Weight gain, or obesity
Treatment
Medications used to treat the symptoms of polycystic ovary disease include:
Birth control pills
Overview Polycystic ovary disease is a condition in which there are many small cysts in the ovaries, which can affect a woman's ability to get pregnant. Symptoms If you have polycystic ovary disease, you are likely to have some of the following symptoms:
Treatment Medications used to treat the symptoms of polycystic ovary disease include:
Causes: Polycystic ovary disease affects hormone cycles. Hormones help regulate the normal development of eggs in the ovaries. It is not completely understood why or how hormone cycles are interrupted, although there are several ideas. Follicles are sacs within the ovaries that contain eggs. In polycystic ovary disease, there are many poorly developed follicles in the ovaries. The eggs in these follicles do not mature and, therefore, cannot be released from the ovaries. Instead, they form cysts in the ovary. This can contribute to infertility. The immature follicles and the inability to release an egg (ovulate) are likely caused by low levels of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), and higher than normal levels of male hormones (androgens) produced in the ovary. Women are usually diagnosed when in their 20s or 30s. Women with this disorder often have a mother or sister who has symptoms similar to polycystic ovary disease. Tests & diagnosis During a pelvic examination, the health care provider may note an enlarged clitoris (very rare finding) and enlarged ovaries. Tests include:
Prognosis Women who have this condition can get pregnant with the right surgical or medical treatments. Pregnancies are usually normal. Complications
When to contact a doctor Call for an appointment with your health care provider if you have symptoms of this disorder. Note: PCOS can be effectively controlled by following proper diet, exercise and some life style changes than with medications More to follow in the next post... |