February 6th, 2012
Some people may enjoy exercising before breakfast but it’s actually a bad time to try to get your body moving with strenuous activity.
Why? Because after fasting all night and lying mainly in one position for hours, it’s like asking your body to perform like a sports car without putting any gas in the tank. It’s a much better idea to boost your energy levels with a healthy breakfast before exercising so there is some fuel to call on.
A recent study by the University of South Carolina found that swimmers who raced at different times of the day performed worse in the early morning up to 8:00am and best in the evening. In fact, evening exercise has the extra benefit of replacing typically sedentary night-time activities such as watching TV and surfing the Internet.
But a really crucial factor in exercise is regularity. So it’s best to pick a time with the fewest distractions.
That may end up meaning early morning for some people because it’s the only time they can guarantee not skipping an exercise session by being asked to help with a child’s homework or having to stay late at the office.
Regular exercise combined with a balanced, nutritious PCOS diet can help reverse an underlying cause of excess weight and obesity, namely the imbalance of blood glucose and insulin called Insulin Resistance. This latter condition decreases insulin sensitivity. By reversing Insulin Resistance, it is possible to facilitate Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome weight loss.
February 2nd, 2012
People who go for intense workouts over fairly long periods of time often fare less well at avoiding serious conditions than those who opt for more moderate exercise, according to a new study. However, length and intensity of exercise can also bring their own rewards.
Researchers at Duke University found that individuals who followed a relatively gentle exercise regime such as 30 minutes of daily walking had more success at reducing a significant risk factor for heart disease and Diabetes, namely levels of fat in the blood called triglycerides. The benefits also lingered longer.
The study team said they were “amazed” to discover that not only did triglycerides drop more with moderate but continuous exercise compared to intense workouts but also the levels stayed low even two weeks after the gentler exercise ended.
On the other hand, levels of HDL “good” cholesterol tended to improve with the length and intensity of the workout, with the benefits “sustained over time.” The higher the levels of HDL cholesterol, the less the chance of a heart attack or stroke.
One possible conclusion to draw from the research is that people should check their cholesterol levels, including LDL “bad” cholesterol, with their doctor and tailor the intensity and duration of their workouts to focus on specific problems.
A balanced, nutritious PCOS diet combined with regular exercise can help reverse an underlying cause of excess weight and obesity, namely the imbalance of blood glucose and insulin called Insulin Resistance, which decreases insulin sensitivity. By reversing Insulin Resistance, it is possible to facilitate PCOS weight loss.
January 31st, 2012
People with PCOS depression have a higher risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes than non-depressed individuals, according to a new study.
The findings, in the Journal of the American Medical Association, indicated that the relationship between Type 2 Diabetes, which is closely linked to obesity and a sedentary lifestyle, may be somewhat like a two-way highway. Not only can Diabetes lead to depression, but the latter can also lead to Diabetes.
U.S. researchers led by Dr. Sherita Hill Golden of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore tracked an ethnically diverse group of about 5,000 men and women between ages 45-84 for three years.
They found that people with symptoms of depression were 42% more likely to develop Diabetes by the end of the study than those without such symptoms. They also found that the more serious the symptoms, the higher the risk of Diabetes.
The researchers statistically accounted for factors including obesity, smoking and lack of physical activity, finding that the risk for Diabetes was still 34% higher in patients with depression.
“When we looked at the people in our study who had elevated symptoms of depression, they were more likely to eat more calories, they exercised less and they were more likely to be current smokers. And as a consequence, they were also more obese,” said Dr. Golden, who added that depression also pushes up the levels of stress hormones such as cortisol.
This latter hormone can impair insulin sensitivity and encourage belly fat – risk factors, in their own right, for the onset of Diabetes.
The study also measured the risk for developing depression among people who already had Type 2 Diabetes. Researchers discovered that people who had been treated for this condition were 54% more likely to develop depression symptoms than non-Diabetics.
Regular exercise combined with a balanced, nutritious PCOS diet can help reverse an underlying cause of depression-linked excess weight and obesity, namely the imbalance of blood glucose and insulin called Insulin Resistance, which decreases insulin sensitivity. By reversing Insulin Resistance, it is possible to facilitate PCOS weight loss and improve mood.
January 30th, 2012
As you get older, regular exercise becomes, if anything, even more important if you want to stay PCOS healthy and self-reliant. It’s easy to understand why because exercise improves strength, balance, flexibility and endurance.
Always bear in mind that it’s never too early or too late to incorporate regular exercise into your Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome daily regime. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommend four types of exercises for older adults, which have multiple benefits, especially for the heart:
Strength exercises to build muscles and increase your metabolism, which helps to keep your PCOS weight and blood sugar in check.
Balance exercises to build leg muscles, which helps to prevent falls. According to the NIH, American hospitals have 300,000 admissions for broken hips each year, many of them seniors. Falling is often the cause of those fractures.
Stretching exercises can give you more freedom of movement, which will allow you to be more active. Stretching exercises alone, however, will not improve your endurance or strength.
Endurance exercises are any activity – walking, jogging, swimming, biking, even raking leaves – that increases your heart rate and breathing for an extended period of time. Build up your endurance gradually, starting with as little as 5 minutes of endurance activities at a time.
