Has Switching to Gluten-Free Diet helped you to improve your symptoms?

What is Gluten ?

Gluten is a protein, a sticky substance found in wheat, rye, barley, maida and semolina. It may be present in your daily chapati, bread, that you buy from your grocery store daliya, bottled sauces, marinades or oats (unless labeled gluten-free), sauces, noodles, pizza base, pasta, pasta !!!

Why is everyone going Gluten-Free ?

The modern sedentary lifestyle could make it hard for women with PCOS to digest gluten! Women with PCOS have higher markers of inflammation than women without the PCOS. This inflammation could be due to high levels of stress, sedentary lifestyle, poor eating habits etc.

Reducing gluten consumption or avoiding it , could potentially reduce inflammation in PCOS. Many research papers explain how eliminating gluten from your diet could help reduce inflammation, improve fertility, reduce weight, improve insulin sensitivity amongst improving various other PCOS symptoms as well.

Do you have to be Gluten-Free all your Life ?

After eliminating gluten for some time ( say 6-8 weeks), & once you start seeing improvements in your symptoms try introducing gluten back in your diet in form of fiber rich “whole wheat”. Unless you have a celiac disease [ btw only 2-3% of  global population have celiac disease], you should  consider to include gluten back!

Also, diet change is just a small part of the  lifestyle change. Ensuring you are active,  ensuring you get enough sleep, & managing stress are equally important as well to improve your symptoms

What grains can i consider while I’m on a gf diet?

*some millets such as bajra & buckwheat can be much more heat inducing in nature & are better alternatives for colder weathers. Also, some women may experience discomfort to digest millets, so you have to really be mindful about how your body accepts these new alternatives.

Millet Nutrition Facts per 100gms

Sources of Information

https://eatrightindia.gov.in/
https://wholegrainscouncil.org/
https://www.millets.res.in/ra19-20.php#L [ Indian Institute of Millets]
https://www.tcrconnectingagriculture.com/
https://beyongceliac.org

Final Word

Though going gluten free has shown some great results, be mindful about how you ensure to bring the fibre rich  alternatives in your diet in form of millets etc.
Also, once you feel better, its okay to bring back  whole wheat back in your eating routine (partially or fully)  though its your personal choice, if you’d like to stick to gluten free grains !