What the new 2010 Dietary Guidelines mean to Women with PCOS

Did you hear the U.S. Government came out with new diet guidelines? The newly released 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/DGAs2010-PolicyDocument.htm) offer a practical roadmap to help people make changes in their eating plans to improve their health, according to the American Dietetic Association. Here are the highlights from these guidelines and what they mean for the health of women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Overall, the 2010 Dietary Guidelines are favorable for women with PCOS. The Dietary Guidelines encourage Americans to eat more:

• Whole grains
• Vegetables
• Fruits
• Low-fat or fat-free milk, yogurt and cheese or fortified soy beverages
• Vegetable oils such as canola, corn, olive, peanut and soybean.
• Seafood

All of these types of foods are beneficial to women with PCOS. Whole grains, fruits, vegetables and a diet rich in unsaturated and omega-3 fats can improve insulin resistance and lower the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Getting enough vitamin D through low-fat dairy sources is also important for improving insulin.

And the 2010 Dietary Guidelines recommend eating less:

• Added sugars
• Solid fats, including trans fats
• Refined grains
• Sodium

These guidelines are important for everyone, not just for women with PCOS. A diet high in sugar and refined carbohydrates (processed and 'white' foods) raises the risk for heart disease and diabetes. It also maintains high insulin levels which will affect weight loss efforts and contribute to weight gain (belly fat). Sodium and fats are of particular concern because of their links to serious health conditions such as heart disease and hypertension.

Sodium
The Dietary Guidelines maintain their previous recommendation of no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium - about 1 teaspoon of salt - for most people, but now recommend reducing daily consumption of sodium to 1,500 milligrams - about ⅔ of a teaspoon of salt - for people over age 51, African-Americans and those with a history of high blood pressure, kidney problems or diabetes. Meeting these lower sodium guidelines can be a challenge if you eat processed foods or eat out on a regular basis but necessary. Hopefully food manufacturers and food service establishments will help us out by lowering their amounts of sodium as well.

Fat
The Dietary Guidelines recommend people consume less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fatty acids by replacing them with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. These recommendations are on par with the dietary fat guidelines for PCOS.

Saturated fats are found in fatty animal-based foods such as meat, poultry skin, bacon, sausage, butter and whole milk products or foods made with vegetable oils that have been partially hydrogenated, such as cookies, donuts, pastries and crackers. Eating too many of these can contribute to heart disease and affect your ability to utilize the benefits of unsaturated fats.

Ideally, most fats in the diet should be polyunsaturated or monounsaturated, such as liquid vegetable oils like canola, olive, peanut and soybean and high-fat plant-based foods like nuts, seeds, olives and
avocados. Omega-3s are found in seafood, especially cold-water fish like Atlantic or Pacific mackerel, albacore tuna, salmon, sardines and lake trout. The new Guidelines encourage Americans to consume at least 8 ounces of these fish each week.

If you aren't a fish eater, have high triglycerides or want to improve other PCOS signs and symptoms and reduce your risk for chronic disease, you should take a fish oil supplement.

Bottom line: the new Dietary Guidelines are important for all individuals to follow, but are particularly beneficial to the health of women with PCOS.

What do you think of the new guidelines? Do they motivate you to make changes in your eating?