Your Spring PCOS Diet Should Include…

It is time for spring cleaning! For your home, that means washing your windows to let all in all the radiant spring sunshine. For your body, it means flushing out all of the heavy foods that you have been enjoying all winter and refreshing with fresh foods of the season which compliment your PCOS diet.

I like to do a gentle, PCOS friendly detox or cleanse at the start of spring. It gives my body a boost as it naturally purges the heaviness of winter and sets me on the right path for the new season.

I love the feeling during a cleanse when suddenly, I am lighter, brighter, have less brain fog, and more energy. The feeling of renewal is my favorite part of spring!

The goal of a spring cleanse is to rid your body of excess fat, proteins and toxins it stored up to help get through the winter. During cold, dry weather, your body holds on to water to keep itself in balance. In the spring, it naturally begins to flush all of this extra water.

With the water, it flushes toxins that have built up. The body protects itself from these toxins by producing extra mucus.

Spring foods such as dandelion root, echinacea, chicory, watercress, mustard greens, parsley and cilantro can help break up that mucus.

All of these flushed toxins can begin to overwhelm the liver. Spring bitter roots such as dandelion are natural diuretics and liver protectors. In addition, the chlorophyll found in all of these beautiful spring greens promote the growth of healthy bacteria in your intestines that protect you from parasites, yeast and harmful bacteria.

A good cleanse or detox will support your liver and lessen its burden during this period. My Sparkle Program, for example, includes detoxifying smoothies and recipes for cleansing (but satisfying) foods as well as enzyme and nutritional support capsules. This combination is offers your system a gentle boost to its natural cleansing.

Whether you “do a detox” or not this spring. Try to work some cleansing foods into your PCOS diet.

Foods to Enjoy in Abundance: 

• sprouts of any kind
• mustard greens
• leafy greens
• green beans
• asparagus
• kale
• spinach
• Swiss chard
• dandelion greens
• cherries
• berries
• onions
• watercress
• parsley
• celery
• cilantro

Foods to Reduce or Avoid:

Heavy dairy (ice cream, cheese, yogurt) – If you have PCOS, you should avoid dairy anyway. For more information, read my article about PCOS and dairy.

As you begin to prepare your body for spring, concentrate on gentle whole foods.  In order to truly cleanse and help your body rid itself of toxins, you need to have proper nourishment, lots of filtered water, and plenty of seasonal produce – especially green leafy vegetables. These easily digested foods allow us to free up energy that can be used to help rid toxins from the body. This is the way to go, especially if you have PCOS.

Also, by removing common food allergens that often cause an immune response and inflammation, you boost your nutritional uptake, support your digestive track, and support the liver in its work of neutralizing and preparing those toxins to be eliminated.

So, get out there and start enjoying the bounty of the season, from sunshine to vegetables!

Amy Medling, best-selling author of Healing PCOS and certified health coach, specializes in working with women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), who are frustrated and have lost all hope when the only solution their doctors offer is to lose weight, take a pill, and live with their symptoms. In response, Amy founded PCOS Diva and developed a proven protocol of supplements, diet, and lifestyle programs that offer women tools to help gain control of their PCOS and regain their fertility, femininity, health, and happiness.