Alongside taking hormonal therapy, most guidance states weight loss is one of the best ways to manage PCOS. Even just a 5% loss of body weight is shown to improve symptoms. Weight loss can also help reduce risk of developing more serious health problems related to excess weight, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and sleep apnoea.
But hormonal imbalances linked to PCOS can make it difficult for women to lose weight. Historic underfunding for PCOS-centred research also means there’s a serious lack of reliable, evidence-based guidance on the best ways to lose weight – and what PCOS symptoms may improve as a result.
This leads many women to turn to the internet, where diet advice is abundant. But this information is often profit-driven and potentially grounded in misinformation. Not only does this questionable diet advice provide false hope for people with PCOS, it may also be putting them at risk of harm – including disordered eating.
Read the full story on The Conversation website co-authored by Sharon Dixon, Researcher, Jadine Scragg, Researcher and Cervantée Wild, Research Fellow, all of the Nuffield Department for Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford.
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