Post by kelly on Sept 27, 2004 8:59:00 GMT -5
SHOULD YOU DRINK MILK - OR NOT?
Many women with PCOS drink milk or consume dairy products because they are on the Atkins diet and use dairy as a source of protein. Or, possibly they eat dairy products because they understand the importance of eating low-glycemic foods, and dairy products have a low glycemic index value compared to other foods such as bread.
The purpose of these diets is to control or reduce your levels of insulin. After eating foods with a high glycemic index, your blood sugar climbs sharply. Insulin in then produced to bring the blood sugar back down to a normal level.
However, excessive insulin is a prime contributor to PCOS. If you can reduce your insulin levels, PCOS symptoms tend to diminish. This is why women often do well on a low-glycemic diet.
With carbohydrate foods, there is a strong positive correlation between the glycemic index and the amount of insulin produced in response to that food. Therefore, you would expect that a low-glycemic food such as milk would not cause much insulin to be produced. But a study conducted at Lund University in Sweden has shown that milk causes a strong insulin response, even though it is a low-glycemic food -- exactly the opposite of what you would expect.
Another study from Lund University also suggests that milk causes your insulin to go up. In this study, individuals were given low glycemic meals of spaghetti, with or without milk. People who had milk with their spaghetti had significantly higher insulin responses that the people who had spaghetti and water.
Even though these were small studies, they do suggest that consumption of dairy products because they have a low glycemic index will NOT lower your insulin response and thus may not reduce your PCOS symptoms. It's conceivable that milk could even make your PCOS worse.
There is one bright note, however. One of the studies showed that fermented dairy products such as yogurt had a lower insulin response than milk. So, if you choose to continue consuming dairy, switch to fermented products such as yogurt or kefir.
To find out more about the glycemic index, go to:
www.ovarian-cysts-pcos.com/glycemic-index.html
Sources: Ostman, EM et al, Inconsistency between glycemic and insulinemic responses to regular and fermented milk products, Am J Clin Nutr, 2001, 74(1):96-100. Liljeberg EH, et al, Milk as a supplement to mixed meals may elevate postprandial insulinaemia, Eur J Clin Nutr, 2001, 55(11):994-9.
www.ovarian-cysts-pcos.com/supplements-news9.html
Many women with PCOS drink milk or consume dairy products because they are on the Atkins diet and use dairy as a source of protein. Or, possibly they eat dairy products because they understand the importance of eating low-glycemic foods, and dairy products have a low glycemic index value compared to other foods such as bread.
The purpose of these diets is to control or reduce your levels of insulin. After eating foods with a high glycemic index, your blood sugar climbs sharply. Insulin in then produced to bring the blood sugar back down to a normal level.
However, excessive insulin is a prime contributor to PCOS. If you can reduce your insulin levels, PCOS symptoms tend to diminish. This is why women often do well on a low-glycemic diet.
With carbohydrate foods, there is a strong positive correlation between the glycemic index and the amount of insulin produced in response to that food. Therefore, you would expect that a low-glycemic food such as milk would not cause much insulin to be produced. But a study conducted at Lund University in Sweden has shown that milk causes a strong insulin response, even though it is a low-glycemic food -- exactly the opposite of what you would expect.
Another study from Lund University also suggests that milk causes your insulin to go up. In this study, individuals were given low glycemic meals of spaghetti, with or without milk. People who had milk with their spaghetti had significantly higher insulin responses that the people who had spaghetti and water.
Even though these were small studies, they do suggest that consumption of dairy products because they have a low glycemic index will NOT lower your insulin response and thus may not reduce your PCOS symptoms. It's conceivable that milk could even make your PCOS worse.
There is one bright note, however. One of the studies showed that fermented dairy products such as yogurt had a lower insulin response than milk. So, if you choose to continue consuming dairy, switch to fermented products such as yogurt or kefir.
To find out more about the glycemic index, go to:
www.ovarian-cysts-pcos.com/glycemic-index.html
Sources: Ostman, EM et al, Inconsistency between glycemic and insulinemic responses to regular and fermented milk products, Am J Clin Nutr, 2001, 74(1):96-100. Liljeberg EH, et al, Milk as a supplement to mixed meals may elevate postprandial insulinaemia, Eur J Clin Nutr, 2001, 55(11):994-9.
www.ovarian-cysts-pcos.com/supplements-news9.html
