Fertility in a marriage is important in nigeria. Growing up, I have heard grimm stories of women being chased out from their homes, accused of being prositutes, who commited the sin of abortion in the past. Some women even witness humiliation In their own matrimonial homes, by the husband's family who introduced a second wife into the home. A lot of nigerian women, suffer from a syndrom called pcos ( polycystic ovarian syndrome).
PCOS, or Polycystic Ovary Syndrome is a hormonal disorder that affects 1 in 10 women with varying degrees of severity. Among its symptoms are multiple ovarian cysts, high level of male hormones which can result in acne, hirsutism (excessive hair growth or male patterned baldness), absent or irregular menstrual cycles, abdominal cramps, infertility, multiple miscarriages, and type II diabetes, just to name some.
PCOS can manifest itself when a girl reaches puberty, but a lot of women don't know they have it until much later they find that they cannot conceive. Most doctors either dismiss their symptoms as 'women problems' and tell them to learn to deal with it or prescribe birth control pills which is found to aid in the hormonal imbalance and lessening of symptoms.
If it is an under-diagnosed condition in the more developed parts of the world, what more in Nigeria?

I was wondering girls/ women in this forum have pcos? There are a lot western pcos diets, which would not really help us, due to our cultural difference in food. I would like to create a Nigerian-pcos diet,which could help women especially women who are overweight, lose weight. Statistics show that a 7 percent weight loss can significantly relieve a woman from those pcos symptoms. It is also to mention that not every pcos- woman, will display excess hair, or weight gain! Pcos is however strongly linked to insulin resistance! A Nigerian diet can be very starchy ( Ebba, apku, poundo iyan, semo, pap, american rice, yam) and high in fat. I would be happy if women on nairaland, diagnosed with this syndrome ( which cannot be cured, but only managed), share their experience, thoughts and tips. So that we can help those who may have been going through hell, due to their illness and educate them, about it! God bless

I share your tots!

I look forward to a nija diet plan n importantly support.

Hiya, how are u? Have u been diagnosed with pcos? I heard that a low carb diet is the best way to lose weight with pcos. It shud be a diet dominated by lean animal protein, vegetables, and minimal amount of fruits. If u are someone who loves rice and starchy food, try and replace white refined carbs with brown ones and eat them maybe 2-3 times a week. I am trying to do this as well. My problem however is, that I can't stay away from sweet things. I crave them ( sweets, chocolate). I stopped drinking fizzy drinks and enjoy drinking water. I also enjoy eating vegetables. It is important to have ur carbs in the day... And have ur proteins in the evening. When eating ur protein, it is important to eat it with vegetables and not with carbs. When eating ur carbs enjoy eating them with veg only. Try to also snack and and eat small meals 5 times a day.

I would happy if u can help me think, about protein based nigerian meals ? Eg: beans, moi moi, plantain, pepper soup ( without yam), and other. Lean animal protein based ones (eg: chicken, fish, eggs,) and maybe u can help me set up a diet plan.

Hi Pcoco, I have o. My chalenge is how to prepare that brown rice wif an appropriate sauce. What I did was restrict myself to only vegetable every evening. Should I want to peck, I have dis yellow biscuit from goodies-lechiz or so, it's blank and dietary in nature. You can also try it. I also learnt to take oat wif milk n fruit the rest. If I can tackle that rice mater, I can do well.

I will prepare a mini plan n post shortly.

Take kia

Have u got bbm by any chance.. Me and some other ladies.. Are exchanging diet tipps, experience, sorrows and testimonies.. I try to brown rice maybe once a week. I can give u an example of what I ate on monday. In the morning I had to fry egg white ( and added tuna and onions to it)+ 1 orange. At around 10 I had 1 apple+ banana. At lunch I had chicken+a little brown rice and for dinner I had a small portion of beans( used olive oil instead of palm oil and added spices and onions). I drank a bottle (2l) water throughout the whole day and felt really good. My main problem is refined carbs and sweets.. So I invented a new way of snacking. I cut 1 apple into slices and dunk it into peanut butter..( Peanut butter contains a lot of healthy unsaturated fat which can increase ur good cholesterol and it also contains a high amount ot protein due to its nut content ( do not do this if u are allergic though, or if u get breakouts from eating nuts).

pauli coco: Have u got bbm by any chance.. Me and some other ladies.. Are exchanging diet tipps, experience, sorrows and testimonies.. I try to brown rice maybe once a week. I can give u an example of what I ate on monday. In the morning I had to fry egg white ( and added tuna and onions to it)+ 1 orange. At around 10 I had 1 apple+ banana. At lunch I had chicken+a little brown rice and for dinner I had a small portion of beans( used olive oil instead of palm oil and added spices and onions). I drank a bottle (2l) water throughout the whole day and felt really good. My main problem is refined carbs and sweets.. So I invented a new way of snacking. I cut 1 apple into slices and dunk it into peanut butter..( Peanut butter contains a lot of healthy unsaturated fat which can increase ur good cholesterol and it also contains a high amount ot protein due to its nut content ( do not do this if u are allergic though, or if u get breakouts from eating nuts).

Kindly drop ur pin for my wife to add you.
She would need more information as regards this.
Thanks

22DE62DB

Hi Ladies,

I don't have PCOS, but i have a sister who does( and was able to get pregnant after losing weight on a low starch diet) and have friends who do. I however try to find ways to eat healthy. May i suggest the following:

Quinoa as a substitute for rice (high in protein)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa

Couscous
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cous_cous

and please stop taking white sugar. while i was TTC i stopped taking sugar and used only AGAVE nectar (trust me you won't miss sugar) it is sweeter than honey and it is made from plant.most vegans use it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agave_nectar

I also encourage that instead of eliminating an entire food item you can start by limiting the portions.

Good luck ladies.

I have PCOS but the diet thing is hard especially when ur spouse loves his CARBS plus most of our food in Naija is CARBS. So I try to just supplement with fruits and beans. Its not easy Biko! Guess I'll add u on bbm, my user name is tee jolly so u can add me to ur bbm PCOS group.
I tried couscous last night n sauce, still trying to Ơ̴̴̴̴͡.̮Ơ̴̴̴͡ if I will like that food.

U didn't accept the request I sent to u on bbm.

i lost my bb but i have whatsapp

ok paulicoco
help us with your phone number so we cud meet up on whatsapp.
thanks

hi paulicoco,pls I sent u a mail now.kindly a knowledge so I can giv u my no.to add to d watsapp grp too

This is coming over a year after this post, but pls is d pcos whatsapp group still on? If yes can I get the number pls

Where can one get White Peony and Licorice combination in Nigeria

My sister was having pcos but but treated it herbal way and she is OK, she using metformin it nearly got her blind d side effects was too much. But d herbs had no effect today she's pregnant. This is her number she sells d herbs her self 08187280305

For pcos herbal treatment call 08187280305

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For pcos treatment call 09065688473