What do you think?

I am always curious as to what others think the cause of PCOS is. Now that I have a few readers, I hope to get some opinions .

Though I've known about PCOS since around 2000, I still know very little about the cause. I've read a few books, websites, magazine articles and it seems like all the information at best is based on theory. Here are my scattered thoughts as to what may cause PCOS; this is also based on what I read.

• Genetic predispositions (both the mother and/or the father's side). For the time being (until I change my mind) I feel having a genetic predisposition plus one or more of the risk factors following below.
• Family history of diabetes
  
• Exposure to xenoestrogens as a fetus.
• Pesticides
  
• Hormones in food
• Overuse of antibiotics
  
• Refined sugars and flour/starches
• Trans fats
• Too much estrogen or "estrogen dominance"
  
• Overweight (though it can certainly cause it)
• Stress
• Birth control pills
  
• Depo Provera
  

I may add on to the list later as I think of more possible causes or risk factors.

What do you think?

I'm getting to the point (I guess it’s a seasonal thing) where I would do a minor diet overhaul. Maybe I've been mindlessly eating too many carbs, even good ones. Maybe I haven’t been taking my supplements like I should or not eating enough veggies. Whatever the case, I like to take some time out to see how I can improve.

I realized that I would do better overall eating more raw foods. Not go raw vegan because I feel better consuming some animal protein and a modified traditional foods diet, but add more raw plant based foods to my diet. When I did this last year for a bit, my energy shot up and I lost a few pounds in a short period of time. Two books on the subject I recommend are:

Rawsome by Brigitte Mars
This book is great because Brigitte not only list recipes and techniques, tools and instructions, but you also get a very wide overview of plant-based foods and what they can do for the body - not your just basic nutritional information. I recommend this book even if you're not in strictly interested in a raw vegan diet.

RAWvolution by Matt Amsden
This book is mostly recipes, but it does give you some basic instructions in preparation and "equipment" you will need. I love this book is full of beautiful photographs of the food itself, where the previous book doesn’t have any. Sometimes it’s good to get an idea of what the food you’re preparing does look like – especially if you are new to raw food preparation.

Like I mentioned I don’t believe that a strict raw foods diet is best for me, but trying to get a large percentage of raw food in my diet isn’t unreasonable. Salads and celery sticks can easily get boring so this give me a way to have gourmet style plant-based meals, gluten and sugar free desserts, dairy and soy free smoothies and sprouted nuts and grains (better for digestion). A 100% raw vegan diet is very time consuming and can be pricy, especially with the equipment (fortunately I do have), but 2-3 new times a week wont hurt me. I'm not a raw expert by any means, but there are a ton of books on the subject and many more websites and blogs.

While out of town

I spent the past few days (Friday - Sunday) at a tradeshow in Anaheim. I never knew how hard it would be to find decent food in that area. Overall, my dining experience was less than stellar. It was the Natural Products Expo so there were quite a few vendors shelling out samples of their items, but for an actual meal in the area...good luck. Friday morning I was home where I was able to have my usual breakfast. I took a snack for lunch. Dinner was at a nearby Marriott restaurant and it was a little better than I though, but not enough to justify the price. I had mix greens salad with vinaigrette and a crabcake (I know it has gluten) and it was edible. My DP had the seared Ahi tuna and it was pretty good - just how tuna should be prepared. The next day, started the culinary decline. Breakfast was a very modest, organic raw walnut butter, a strip of nori and a little coconut oil for we didn’t really have a place to go to eat. The hotel restaurant had the usual "continental" breakfast: starch, carbs, sugar, and more starch. Lunch was at the same place we at the previous night, except the food was surprisingly horrible (and overpriced to boot). I opted for the salad bar. All of the prepared salads had cheese, something I just don’t like at all. The only salad that was available was ice berg lettuce and a few ashy shredded carrots. The other food at the bar consisted of baked Buffalo wings, fried chicken (tasted like it was previously frozen for 20 years), potato skins with cheese (looked disgusting), soggy squash, and a few other things was forgettable. DP ordered the halibut and it was dried, tasteless and slathered in a thick, bland sauce. Needless to say, I ate pretty light for lunch.

The show was packed and busy and I was able to satisfy my hunger with the samples on the show floor. Dinner was a bit later because we met a friend for a glass of wine after the show and engaged in some post-show activities. While scrambling for a place to eat, we came across a Thai food restaurant outside of the area. It was a small, hole-in-the-wall type place in an older, decaying strip mall. Normally where I come from, hole-in-the-wall places are the best. It was small, but not cute though. There were no other places to go in the area. The menu looked pretty diverse and so we ordered several plates. The idea was to have enough for the next day since we had a refrigerator in our room. ¾ of the way through the meal, my head started to pound. The gentleman that joined us asked the server if there was MSG in the food and she said yes.

Now given my allergy to MSG, I should have remembered to ask, but its been years since I’ve actually been to a place that had that in their food. MSG just isn’t that popular in the Bay Area (especially Berkeley) given that amount of health conscious people we have in the area. I immediately stopped eating (thankfully, I didn’t have much) and drink a glass of water. On our way back to the hotel, it felt as if my head was under a vice. The pain gradually got tighter and tighter. I don’t have headaches let alone migraines normally so this was a new experience for me.

When we got back to the hotel, I took a few supplements and it seemed to have calmed it down. We ordered a movie and went to bed to prepare for our journey home the next day.

Afraid to eat anything ever again but hungry, we asked the front desk if there are any places they would recommend for food. They handed us a generic hand drawn map of downtown Fullerton and gave us directions. The navigation system in our car got us there. In ninety something degree heat, hungry and recovering from the previous night’s MSG poisoning, we walked around the quiet, but quaint downtown area where the streets are lined with independent shops and restaurants; a stark contrast to the rest of the area with its 1970s strip malls, fast food and chain stores. We found a vegan restaurant to cool off and have lunch. I had the grilled tempeh (fermented tofu), brown rice with tamari, grilled eggplant, peppers and portabella mushrooms. I also ordered a salad. My body was starving for nourishment. DP ordered something similar. It was very good meal, perfect for the 7 hour drive that was ahead of us.

Next time I am in the area, I will be more prepared. I just had no idea that food choices were so limited in the area, given the amount of visitors it attracts every year.

My workout schedule had been derailed by the news of my cousin passing away. Friday, I ran for 30 minutes but my knees and joints were so sore I couldn't do much else. I took a long, hot bath Saturday night to help with the soreness. With the exception of a sweet treat (gluten-free chocolate macaroon) I've been pretty much on track. Today, I did about 30 minutes of gardening, but I plan on spinning in the morning before work.