Meal management can improve fertility in women with PCOS

Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) typically struggle with getting pregnant and take Clomid or other fertility drugs to improve their outcomes. A new study by researchers at Tel Aviv University found that women with PCOS could also experience increased ovulation rates by carefully planning and timing their meals.

What is PCOS?
In order to understand why monitoring caloric intake is important for women with PCOS, it's first good to know what PCOS is and how it interferes with ovulation and fertility.

Women with PCOS usually have several small cysts in their ovaries, irregular periods and high levels of androgens, or male hormones. Because of the androgens, they might have excess body and facial hair, acne or male-pattern baldness. PCOS also interrupts ovulation.

Doctors and researchers aren't exactly sure why PCOS affects particular women, but they know that insulin resistance is a likely factor. After an individual becomes resistant to this vital hormone, the pancreas produces excess amounts of it to bring glucose from the blood to the muscles for energy. But when the insulin reaches the ovaries, it causes them to produce testosterone, which can cause significant problems with ovulation.

Researchers also believe that heredity plays a role due to mutated genes, so if a woman's mother or sister has PCOS, she could be at greater risk. There is also some evidence that low-grade inflammation causes white blood cells to produce chemicals that cause insulin resistance. Other researchers think that a woman's chance of PCOS is linked to the womb - specifically, excessive exposure to androgens during fetal development due to an error in gene expression.

The study
In this study, which was published in the May 2013 issue of Clinical Science, researchers from Tel Aviv University placed women with PCOS in two randomized groups that consumed identical foods and 1,800 calories per day for 90 days. One group ate more than half of their calories for breakfast (983), a 645 calorie-lunch and a modest 190-calorie dinner. The second group had an opposite schedule: They ate a small breakfast (190 calories) followed by a 645-calorie dinner.

After 90 days, women who consumed a large breakfast showed drastically improved results: a 56 percent reduction in insulin resistance and a 50 percent decrease in testosterone, thus a rise in progesterone, which led to a 50 percent increase in their ovulation rate. Women who consumed a large dinner did not see positive results. This research suggests that women with PCOS can take steps to improve their condition by changing their dietary habits.