I LOVE to cook and bake, and I really like eating delicious food.
Food is also one of the biggest tools in the PCOS toolkit for most women. But it’s a bit tricky! You might feel compelled to approach food for PCOS management like a trendy 90-day weight loss challenge or 30-day “clean eating” challenge (spoiler- there are no dirty foods! Even for women with PCOS!).
But PCOS lasts longer than 30 or 90 days. It lasts for life.
Now you might be thinking, but this has to do with my hormones and my irregular periods, so it’ll end at menopause. While the irregular periods will end at menopause, the underlying causes of why your hormones are out of whack and why your periods are irregular (genetic propensity towards insulin resistance, tendency towards becoming inflamed easily, etc.) will be with you forever. (I’m really sorry if I just ruined your day!)
So, we absolutely cannot approach nutrition for PCOS like a short-term diet challenge. We need to figure out what foods work for your body (and this might vary across your cycle) that you also love to eat. Then you’ll focus on eating those foods most, but not all, of the time. Sometimes, you should eat foods that maybe don’t work so well for your body, but they bring you so much joy that they are still worth consuming.
The peanut butter and chocolate ganache-filled chocolate macarons I made for a friend’s Super Bowl party this year, which fell in a part of my cycle when I am not insulin resistant. While not a staple in my diet, macarons are a favorite occasional treat.
This evening, I’m headed to a gathering of ladies in my neighborhood. I was told I could just bring myself, but I am unable to go to someone’s home empty-handed. At a different point in my menstrual cycle, I’d likely be whipping up a batch of macarons, my favorite treat! (Future posts will discuss how to work in treats while minimizing the impacts on your hormones.)
Sadly, I’m in the (very!) insulin resistant phase of my menstrual cycle, which usually spans about 7 to 10 days before my period arrives. Since discovering this, I have cut out all dense carbs and sugary foods in this window of time. Since it is only a finite period of time each cycle, it feels sustainable to be a bit more rigid. I just remind myself that I can have a treat next week. This plan has dramatically helped the reactive hypoglycemia I was experiencing and has also reduced the dark hairs sprouting in places I did not want to see dark hairs.
PCOS-friendly dark chocolate truffles made with 74% bittersweet baking chips, cream, vanilla, butter, cashews, and hazelnuts.
So instead of making macarons for this evening, I made dark chocolate truffles rolled in either hazelnuts or salted cashews. They are much lower in sugar and higher in fat, with a smidge of protein and fiber from the nuts, compared to macarons, so they won’t send me on a blood sugar roller coaster. And they are delicious! I won’t even feel the need to “warn” people that they are low sugar. I’m certain they will be devoured, and I get to make and eat something delicious, while still keeping my hormones and body happy. That’s a win-win for sure!
Every week, I spend a few hours on Sundays prepping my meals for the work week. I’ll be sending out the recipes that I’ve made with a short explanation of any tweaks I made to the original recipe for better blood sugar maintenance or other health reasons to my newsletter subscribers. This week, I’m including these truffles! So scroll down to the bottom of this page, and subscribe! The weekly newsletter will also include the latest posts, and any updates on new events or services.
Happy eating!