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PCOS - Could the banting diet assist with falling pregnant if you have this condition?

Lets talk about PCOS, one of my followers, who I now consider to be a friend, lets call her D, asked me to please do a post on PCOS as she suffers with this condition and is wanting to expand her family.


To be perfectly honest, I had absolutely no idea what PCOS was, I'd kind of heard about it in the past but never actually looked in to it. So I go three places for information.


1) Google

2) Facebook mom groups

3) Ask my go-to mom friend who knows everything about everything (she really does, trust me)


So the information on Google is quite hectic, PCOS is the abbreviation for : Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. What the heck is that? The below is an extract from the CDCs website:


"PCOS is one of the most common causes of female infertility, affecting 6% to 12% (as many as 5 million) of US women of reproductive age. But it’s a lot more than that. This lifelong health condition continues far beyond the child-bearing years.

Women with PCOS are often insulin resistant; their bodies can make insulin but can’t use it effectively, increasing their risk for type 2 diabetes. They also have higher levels of androgens (male hormones that females also have), which can stop eggs from being released (ovulation) and cause irregular periods, acne, thinning scalp hair, and excess hair growth on the face and body.

Women with PCOS can develop serious health problems, especially if they are overweight:

  • Diabetes—more than half of women with PCOS develop type 2 diabetes by age 40
  • Gestational diabetes (diabetes when pregnant)—which puts the pregnancy and baby at risk and can lead to type 2 diabetes later in life for both mother and child
  • Heart disease—women with PCOS are at higher risk, and risk increases with age
  • High blood pressure—which can damage the heart, brain, and kidneys
  • High LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and low HDL (“good”) cholesterol—increasing the risk for heart disease
  • Sleep apneaexternal icon—a disorder that causes breathing to stop during sleep and raises the risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes
  • Stroke—plaque (cholesterol and white blood cells) clogging blood vessels can lead to blood clots that in turn can cause a stroke

PCOS is also linked to depression and anxiety, though the connection is not fully understood."


Okay holy cow. What causes this then? Well no-one REALLY knows. According to the CDC it could be caused by family history, weight issues or insulin resistance.


So now that we know what this is and what potentially causes PCOS, what (if any) treatments are there for this?


A dear friend (We'll call her J) contacted me right after I asked the question on the Mommy Facebook groups and said that she actually has PCOS. And had a very difficult time getting pregnant. In December 2016 she put herself on the Banting diet and by January 2017, she was pregnant! There is no science backed theory that this assisted but my friend and her gynae both agreed that the banting diet allowed her to fall pregnant.


Then my go-to mom friend, told me that her sister also has PCOS, however she didn't struggle to fall pregnant with her son, but she deals with the daily side effects of acne, ect to this day (she's currently 37).


I advised my new friend, D, of the above information Id been given and she said she will definitely try banting as she's already on a slew of medication and would actually prefer a more natural and holistic approach. So after researching what that would look like, I found the below information on Medical News Today, which now completely reaffirms what my other friend, J, had stated about the banting diet being the reason she could fall pregnant,


"Eliminating simple carbohydrates and sugar from the diet can help stabilize blood sugar levels and keep insulin levels low. This may mean avoiding products such as:

  • white bread
  • white pasta
  • white rice
  • cereal
  • cookies
  • chips
  • soda
  • juice
  • granola bars

Unlike simple carbohydrates, complex carbs contain fiber and other nutrients and do not raise blood sugar levels as high. Some common sources of complex carbs include:

  • whole grains
  • whole-wheat bread and pasta
  • brown rice

The best diet for someone with PCOS would comprise complex carbs, lots of fruits and vegetables, and lean proteins."


So D is going to try the banting diet in an effort to try and fall pregnant, I will keep you all updated on how this transpires and in an effort to support her, I will do the banting diet along with her. 


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