Is Coconut Water Good for PCOS. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome affects about 20% of women in their reproductive age between 15-45 years and is also one of the primary causes of infertility.
Meaning it can affect anyone at the peak of fertility despite how healthy the individual is. Women are sensitive due to hormones that are essential for the Ovulation cycle.
Since women are sensitive to hormonal changes, ovulation is not the primary problem behind PCOS. Instead, it is the kind of lifestyle we adopt that triggers PCOS in women.
Your lifestyle can either improve or negatively affect your wellbeing, hence the need to be cautious about the kind of lifestyle you are leading.
Lifestyle involves our daily diet, how we handle stress and the activeness of the individual’s body.
There are types of foods like junk, sweets, sugary, and preserved foods, and drinks are some of the fast foods near the reach.
These foods are addictive, thereby inducing the individual into a poor lifestyle that many consider luxury and their favourite delicacy, but they are entirely unhealthy.
Shooting straight, as it sounds discouraging about these foods, you should not ignore the knowledge because it is the kind of power and encouragement you need for a healthy lifestyle.
There are many types of food ranging from herbs, vegetables, meat and drinks that are powerful against PCOS, but Is Coconut Water Good for PCOS? Yes.
Coconut water is good for PCOS because its nutritional value can help to improve PCOS symptoms in the following ways:
What is coconut water?
For those who have never tasted Coconut water, this clear liquid tapped from the young green coconut tastes nutty and sweet, but don’t confuse it with high-fat coconut milk.
Did you know that drinking coconut water is equivalent to eating four bananas? Banana is the direct source of potassium, but drinking coconut water is like consuming about four times the amount of potassium in a banana.
Thus it is mainly used to cub hangovers because potassium induces electrolytes in the body, which plays a vital role in hydration.
Coconut water is naturally refreshing because it contains a high amount of potassium with anti-viral properties, but a lower amount of sodium, fewer calories and is naturally free of fat and cholesterol.
Its nutrient value makes it better than preserved drinks that contain too much sugar, chemical additives and caffeine making it unhealthy.
But what is the significance of coconut water against Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome? To better understand how coconut water helps curb PCOS, below are the transient causes and effects of PCOS.
They include:
Causes of PCOS
There is no actual proof as to why PCOS affects women, but through different studies conducted, it is believed to be triggered by the following reasons:
• Growth of uterine muscles and tissues implant outwards the uterus, which interferes with the functions of ovaries, fallopian tubes, and uterus, leading to PCOS or infertility.
• Damage or blockage of the fallopian tube Blockage or damage; hence, blocking ovulation occurs because the egg cannot travel through the fallopian tube, thereby interfering with FSH and LH hormone.
• Inflammation in the uterine wall is caused by an increase in androgen hormone levels in the body.
• Insulin Resistance. When individual body cells do not usually respond to the insulin, it’s level increases leading to obesity or overweight, type 2 diabetes, and trigger the secretion of more androgen hormone.
• Abnormal secretion of Androgen male hormone affects the menstrual cycle because it reduces the secretion of Reproductive hormones essential for ovulation. Androgen hormone is believed to be the primary cause of PCOS.
Effects of PCOS on individual Health
Since PCOS is triggered by Androgen male hormone, it makes an individual body respond differently to other essential hormones, depriving its normal function. Hence, it affects your life in the following aspects:
Increase in body weight
Since Androgen male hormone is at a higher level in the body, it makes the body cells resistant to the insulin hormone.
Inadequate response to insulin hormone triggers high LDL {bad cholesterol} and sugar to accumulate in the body, which then is reserved as fats and even have difficulties in losing weight.
The effects of having a high amount of LDL Cholesterol in the body triggers metabolic syndrome, which leads to high blood sugar, pressure and obesity.
The latter also increases the risk for hypertension, diabetes and even stroke.
• Endometrial Cancer
PCOS causes inflammation of the uterine walls because cysts build upon the uterine lining, and if an individual continues to miss her menstrual cycle, the uterine lining becomes thicker.
Cysts are fats that surround the egg, but when ovulation does not occur, it remains on the fallopian wall and continues to evolve thick; hence, it increases the risks for endometrial cancer.
• Sleep apnea
Sleep apnea is the cause of the breathing rhythm or pattern while asleep. Since PCOS triggers obesity, the risk for sleep apnea is higher, especially in women.
Sleep apnea is a severe condition that causes sleeplessness because an individual automatically pauses breathe pattern, interrupting an individual sleeping pattern.
• Growth of Facial hair
Androgen hormone controls male traits in men; however, women produce them in lower amounts.
But when its level increases in the body, it enhances facial hair growth and thinning of hair and eventual baldness.
Facial hair can negatively affect a woman’s emotions leading to anxiety and depression.
• Infertility
The inability to ovulate regularly deprives your fertility rate because there is no egg to be fertilized. Hence, PCOS is the primary reason for infertility.
If you observe the causes and effects of PCOS, primarily they are contributed by the poor lifestyle we choose, and for that reason, you should adopt a healthy diet.
Employing a healthy diet will significantly improve the risks for PCOS.
Reasons why Drinking Coconut water is good for PCOS
Coconut water is a natural organic compound drink with many health benefits, containing vital minerals and vitamins.
These minerals and vitamins can do wonders against PCOS in the following ways:
• It enhances blood circulation
Potassium and sodium are the main mineral in coconut water that aids blood circulation in the body.
Drinking coconut induces electrolytes in the body to enhance the transportation of fluid in the body.
Efficient blood circulation helps the uterine wall to receive enough blood and oxygen, which reduces inflammation because of the breakdown of cysts, thereby reducing the risks for endometrium cancer.
• It boosts the body immunity against infections.
Infection upsets the hormone balance in the body, which might make your menstrual cycle pattern change.
The anti-viral and microbial properties found in coconut water boost your body immunity to protect you against opportunistic illnesses like flu.
Drink coconut water regularly to fortify your immunity and eliminate factors that can interfere with your hormonal balance by maintaining your PH levels.
Moreover, it helps prevent acne and cure eczema by rejuvenating the body cells and maintaining the PH levels, making it practical and natural detoxifying.
Apply the coconut water to the affected area and allow it to rest overnight.
• It replenishes the lost fluid, maintains body temperature and manages urinary infections/disorders.
Since it contains potassium and sodium, which induces electrolytes in the body, which makes it beneficial for the body, the electrolytes in the body significantly balance the water level, thereby encouraging you to drink more water to cool your body.
Additionally, it also replenishes the lost minerals and vitamins in the body. Hydration is essential for those with PCOS health conditions because it flushes out toxic hormones and substances through urine.
Urine infection and toxins induce stress in the body, thereby causing hormonal imbalance.
Therefore, do not be anxious if you frequently urinate upon drinking coconut water because it is the way your body flushes out toxins.
• It helps to minimize diabetes symptoms and weight gain.
Coconut water contains a lower amount of sugar and also a shallow glycemic index of 3.
These properties make it a suitable and healthy drink for patients with diabetes and PCOS because it enhances insulin sensitivity.
Increased insulin sensitivity helps convert sugar and cholesterol into energy and water, leading to lesser fat and cholesterol accumulation.
Additionally, the energy produced from the breakdown of fats and lipids induces a lot of power in the body, thereby minimizing the desire to binge junky foods hence preventing weight gain.
• It helps in building a lean and toned body.
Since it helps break fats and cholesterol, your body will become toned because of lesser grease and cholesterol accumulation.
• Boosts metabolism
You should drink coconut water at least thrice a week because the potassium and sodium induce electrolytes which triggers the Thyroid gland to produce more thyroid hormone.
Thyroid hormone increases the metabolism rate, meaning your body will burn breakdown more sugar, fats and LDL cholesterol faster.
Increased metabolism rate also burn excess insulin, thereby keeping your blood sugar level in check and clear the digestive tract to improve digestion.
• It contains anti-ageing properties.
Besides being a natural detoxifying supplement, coconut water also contains cytokinins, an anti-ageing property that hydrates and radiates the skin.
• It manages hypertension and cardiovascular health.
The slight amount of sodium and magnesium in coconut water helps manage high blood sugar and pressure levels in the body.
Drinking coconut water reduces LDL cholesterol levels and maintains the supply of sodium ions in the body, which is vital in controlling blood pressure.
However, suppose you intend to prevent both conditions. In that case, you should regulate its intake to avoid inducing too much sodium ion in the body because when it reaches its optimum level, your body acts as an enzyme inhibitor.
• The Best remedy for curbing Cholera
Since coconut contains potassium in bulk, you can mix it with lime juice for consumption to help in regulating your body fluid if you are suffering from Cholera.
It will help if you drink it regularly to bring back the electrolyte balance to aid in faster recovery.
• It reduces appetite
PCOS victims experience many challenges in losing weight.
But drinking coconut water will be the best option for controlling the weight because the taste of coconut water has a combination of sugar and salt, which makes it easier to satisfy your taste bud.
This taste’s significance will help reduce your appetite against fast foods, thereby enhancing speedier weight.
• It helps to reduce stress and enhance endurance.
Drinking coconut water induces more electrolytes in the body.
Electrolytes are vital for physiological body processes, which increases the metabolic rate and control body hormones to an optimum level, thereby reducing hormonal stress in a woman.
Moreover, more electrolytes in the body increases fluid circulation and oxygen to the body cells and replenishes to improve your body endurance while working out.
Is Coconut water enough for Curbing PCOS Symptoms
Coconut water offers many health benefits to your body, but it does not guarantee that drinking coconut water alone will work like magic.
Since it is a beverage, you should incorporate other lifestyle practices for you to observe its significance in your body.
These lifestyle practices include as follows:
Working Out
Cysts are fats that cover the egg, but when an individual misses their menstrual cycle, the cysts become thicker, making their body fat level increase.
Thus most PCOS patients gain a lot of weight rapidly, and due to the blockage of the fallopian tube, the secretion of FSH and LH reduces, increasing male androgen hormone.
The best way to reduce the continuous thickening of cysts and fats on the lower abdomen is to work out. Moreover, it also offers a lot of health benefits that are linked to reducing PCOS symptoms.
They include:
-It increases the metabolic rate, which helps in the breakdown of reserved fats and cholesterol in the body, leading to weight loss and body toning.
-Due to the breakdown of unwanted fats and bad cholesterol in the lower abdomen, cysts will also break down.
Breakdown of the cyst will activate the pituitary gland to secrete more FSH and LH, which will then trigger ovulation.
Moreover, the more these reproductive hormones are produced, the androgen hormone will reduce to its optimum level.
– It improves an individual endurance because of improved blood circulation, which helps to increase the body cell oxygen intake and insulin sensitivity for more energy.
Hence, minimizing the blood sugar level and pressure in the body.
-Working out also helps to utilize the excess androgen hormone in the body. In turn, facial hair growth will reduce, and your skin becomes more radiant because progesterone and estrogen hormones are produced.
-Since more reproductive hormone is produced, it increases an individual sexual drive.
Increased sexual drive reduces risks for PCOS because more FSH and LH hormones will be delivered in cycles to replace the used one, thereby minimizing infertility.
-It helps in relieving stress because it helps to eliminate stress hormones {cortisol} in the body.
Stress hormones are dangerous since they block other vital hormones in the body like insulin, endocrine, melatonin, serotonin, progesterone, and estrogen.
-It also eliminates sleep apnea because it triggers the release of more serotonin.
Serotonin is a sleeping hormone that promotes sleepiness and helping to orient our circadian rhythm.
-It boosts your immunity system and elimination of toxins in the body.
This helps to fortify the body against opportunistic diseases and detoxifying the blood.
Detoxification eliminates unwanted hormones and pathogens in the body.
• Eating well-balanced Diet
If not well managed, PCOS is a severe condition that can even lead to death due to the effects as mentioned earlier.
Therefore, any individual suffering from PCOS should avoid foods with too much caffeine, sugary foods and beverage, fried foods, processed foods, excess red meat, solid fats, and refined carbohydrates like pastries and white bread.
These foods are unhealthy because they contain chemical additives, fats, and cholesterols and preservatives that can increase weight, insulin resistance and induce stress in the body, leading to hormonal imbalance.
Foods that will help regulate and optimize your reproductive hormones and are friendlier to your body,
They include;
Vegetables, dark red fruits like berry family and grapes, nuts, dried cereals, organic spices, fatty fish, high-fiber foods, healthy fats from fruits and nuts, broccoli and cauliflower.
• Avoid Stress
Stress can be brought by anything, even from the diet, sleeping patterns, and conflicts in the family, friends, kids, relationships and many more.
Stress interferes with the normal physiological processes in the body, which leads to hormonal imbalance making it difficult to track the menstrual cycle.
Therefore, you should avoid stress at all costs and adopt a healthy way of handling issues by taking time to solve instead of being irrational and impatient.
The best way of managing stress is to engage yourself in exercise because it will help curb anxiety and depression hormones like cortisol and trigger serotonin, endocrine and many more.
Conclusion
Coconut water is the best remedy and pocket-friendly beverage you can take at the expense of fighting against PCOS symptoms.
This drink is healthy and can be consumed by any individual without restrictions. If you see bikers queuing waiting for coconut water, join them to get a detox supplement.