PCOD, or Polycystic Ovarian Disease, is a common reproductive endocrine disorder that affects one in every 10 women. Its symptoms include excessive hair growth, acne, obesity, diabetes, and most importantly, irregular periods, which can be extremely painful. While there’s no permanent cure, the symptoms can be eased with lifestyle changes and the right adjustments in your diet. According to celebrity nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar — whose clientele includes Kareena Kapoor Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Alia Bhatt — a diverse diet complete with weight training and yoga is key to ensuring regular and pain-free periods.
“There are three indicators that you can gauge the levels of your health by: one, your energy levels throughout the day. Two, your sleep quality during the night. Three, compliance to your exercise plan,” says Rujuta, who believes that these natural indicators work better as opposed to AI or scales.
Consuming a varied diet is key to maintaining diverse gut bacteria, she adds. “This helps with insulin sensitivity and regulates periods,” she says. “Coconut, ghee, jaggery and aliv seeds (water cress seeds) are the superfoods that help with enlarged pores on the skin. Raw banana, suran (elephant foot yam) and sprouted legumes prevent PMS and migraines, and spotting that goes on for days altogether,” she says. Meanwhile, superfoods like nachni, either as dosa, porridge or bhakri, work in preventing cramps and battles acne that tends to sprout around the chin.
Moving on to the second-most important aspect that can help with PCOD, Rujuta believes doing the right exercises can ensure a pain-free period. “Weight train once a week to improve bone mineral density and muscle tone. Practice yoga asanas, especially the restorative poses like supta baddhakonasana to ease pain during heavy flow,” she suggests. And to counter those annoying cramps, headaches and back aches, Rujuta recommends having a calcium and a B12 supplement during the entire week of your period.
These simple tips are not only easy to incorporate in your lifestyle, but effective too. Get started today to ensure a pain-free period journey.
Easily available superfoods that naturally heal the body
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