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head around the GI and GL, it won’t spell disaster for your PCOS diet. Whether you work with the GI or not, the best way to make PCOS-friendly food choices is to follow the first three recommendations of our PCOS diet and replace processed and refined foods (sweets, cakes, white bread and sugar) with whole foods such as fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds.

      SAMPLE GI-/GL-FRIENDLY MENU

       Breakfast: Oat porridge

       Mid-morning snack: Smoothie – 10oz goat’s milk, I banana, 3oz berries

       Lunch: Hummus or lean chicken with salad, tomato and onion on wholegrain bread; an apple; a few walnuts

       Mid-afternoon snack: Low fat yoghurt; nuts and seeds

       Dinner: Wholegrain rice with lean fish, vegetables, green bean salad; fruit salad

      5) DRINK MORE WATER

      Cutting down on sugar and working out the glycaemic factor of your diet are probably the hardest and most challenging changes we’ll be asking you to make. It really does get easier from now on. Change Number 5, for example, is simple: drink more water.

      WHY?

      Not only is your body two-thirds water, but water intake and distribution are essential for hormonal balance. Water also helps your body metabolize stored fat by maximizing muscle function, so is also crucial for weight management. Water regulates body temperature and provides the means for nutrients to travel to all your organs, as well as transporting oxygen to our cells, removing waste and protecting our joints and organs.

      Water may also help reduce the increased risk of heart disease and high blood pressure associated with PCOS. Research⁸ suggests that people who drink five or more 8-ounce (225-ml) glasses of water a day have fewer heart attacks than those who drink two or fewer glasses. This is because dehydration seems to increase the tendency for blood to clot, and blood-clotting is a risk factor for heart disease.

      SIGNS OF DEHYDRATION

      We lose water through urination, respiration and by sweating. Diuretics such as caffeine and alcohol result in the need to drink more water because they trick our bodies into thinking we have more water than we need.

      Symptoms of mild dehydration include chronic pains in joints and muscles, lower back pain, headaches and constipation. A strong odour to your urine, along with a yellow or amber colour, indicates that you’re not getting enough water. Thirst is an obvious sign of dehydration, though in fact you need water long before you feel thirsty.

      HOW MUCH?

      On average you should try to drink eight 8-ounce (225-ml) glasses of water a day. A good rule of thumb is to take your body weight in pounds and divide that number in half. That gives you the number of ounces of water per day that you need to drink. If you exercise you should drink another 8-ounce glass of water for every 20 minutes you are active. If you drink coffee or alcohol, you should drink at least an equal amount of water. When you’re travelling on an airplane, it’s good to drink 8 ounces of water for every hour you’re on board the plane. If you live in an arid climate or are always near central heating, you should add another two glasses per day.

      As you can see, your daily need for water can add up to quite a lot.

      The best source of water is plain, pure drinking water. Fizzy drinks have a lot of sugar in them and aren’t a good source, so if you drink them, they won’t count towards your daily amount. Herbal teas that aren’t diuretic are fine (steer clear of dandelion, parsley, nettle and fennel). Sports drinks contain electrolytes and may be beneficial, just look out for added sugar and calories that you don’t need.

      If you aren’t sure you’re drinking enough, keep a record for a few days. Any non-caffeinated, non-fizzy drinks can be counted as fluid. If you aren’t drinking enough, here are some ideas for including more fluids:

       Carry a water bottle. It may be difficult to drink enough water on a busy day. Be sure you have water handy at all times by keeping a bottle with you when you’re working, travelling or exercising.

       Add some lemon. If you get bored with plain water, add a bit of lemon or lime for a touch of flavour. There are some brands of flavoured water available, but some of them have sugar or artificial sweeteners which you don’t need.

       Experiment with herbal teas, watered-down fruit juices or diluted fresh-pressed juice – but watch out for juice drinks that are loaded with sugar.

       Drink fluids at room temperature. You wouldn’t water your plants with freezing cold water or put icy water into your pet’s water bowl, would you? In Traditional Chinese Medicine, cold drinks disrupt the proper flow of energy in the body and ‘shock’ the body. Stick to warm or room-temperature fluids.

      As a rule of thumb, filtered water is best. Tap water can be contaminated with heavy metals, micro-organisms, chlorine, fluoride and other impurities. Still, if bottled water proves too expensive, tap water will do just fine, especially if you use a water filter.

      If you’re eating plenty of fruits and vegetables this will count towards your fluid intake, as they are 90 per cent water.

      6) PASS ON THE SALT

      The next stage on the PCOS diet is to cut down on salt. Instead of adding salt to your food, add herbs, spices or lemon juice for flavour.

      WHY?

      A diet high in salt can increase your already higher risk of high blood pressure and cause fluid retention.

      HOW?

      First of all, get out of the habit of adding salt to your food and your cooking and experiment with herbs, spices, lemon juice, mustard powder, lime juice, vinegar, red or wine white, onions, garlic, ginger, chillies, etc.

      If you’ve always added salt to your food this may be tough, but once you get used to cutting back you’ll discover all those wonderful and more subtle flavours that were drowned out by the overpowering taste of salt. If you really can’t get used to not having salt with some foods, try a salt substitute such as LoSalt which contains potassium instead of sodium.

      You also need to be aware that salt is a hidden ingredient in many foods, in particular processed and pre-packed foods, so once again you need to read labels to check for salt (sodium) content. To find out how much salt is in a food, multiply the sodium content on the label by 2.5. You should aim for fewer than 5 g of salt a day.

      You also need to avoid foods such as cured and smoked meats, smoked and pickled fish, tinned meats, salted nuts, salted butter, biscuits, beans and vegetables in brine. Go instead for low-salt alternatives such as fresh fish, fresh lean meat, unsalted butter and nuts, dried fruit, beans and vegetables frozen with no added salt, olives in oil and low-salt versions of sauces.

      1 Read food labels to choose foods lower in sodium.

      2 Eat fewer canned and processed foods that are high in sodium (e.g., bologna, crisp pork rinds, sausage, pepperoni, salami, hot dogs, tinned and instant soups, cheese, and chips).

      3 Eat fresh fruits and vegetables instead of salty snacks.

      4 Eat fewer salted crackers and nuts. Try unsalted nuts and unsalted or low-sodium crackers.

      5 Eat fewer olives and pickles.

      6 Use half the amount of salt you normally use when cooking, if any.

      7 Better still, cook and season food with herbs and spices instead of salt.

      8 Use less bouillon, adobo, capers and soy sauce. If you use these condiments, do not add

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