PCOS activist seeks to help women live comfortably in their skin

Passionate about human rights, innovation, the future of business and sustainability, 23-year-old Nutana Singh has used her diagnosis with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) to launch a platform to help others living with the condition.

Since her diagnosis Singh told Stabroek Weekend that she was motivated to share her experience with the condition as she really believes in “lift while you climb”.

According to the United Kingdom’s National Health Service website, PCOS is a common condition that affects how a woman’s ovaries work. Three main features are: irregular periods – which means your ovaries do not regularly release eggs (ovulation); excess androgen – high levels of male hormones in your body, which may cause physical signs such as excess facial or body hair; and polycystic ovaries – your ovaries become enlarged and contain many fluid-filled sacs (follicles) that surround the eggs (but despite the name, you do not actually have cysts if you have PCOS).

The symptoms can include:

●  irregular periods or no periods at all

●  difficulty getting pregnant as a result of irregular ovulation or failure to ovulate

● excessive hair growth (hirsutism) – usually on the face, chest, back or buttocks

● weight gain

● thinning hair and hair loss from the head

● oily skin or acne

PCOS is also associated with an increased risk of developing health problems in later life, such as type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol levels.

September is also PCOS Awareness Month.

Describing herself as a “food enthusiast,” advocate and activist, Singh explain-ed that she is someone who is trying to make the world a better place and who loves working out as she sees it as “a great outlet, to start a busy day, to end a stressful day, when I’m anxious or feeling down…”.

Before being diagnosed, Singh said, she had never really looked into PCOS because her symptoms always seemed like they could be something else. She noted that this is partially why so many women are not diagnosed because the symptoms can relate to a multitude of other issues.

At the time she assumed that her symptoms could have been due to her living away from her family and the stress of university. She was in Canada, but her diagnosis was made while on Christmas break in Guyana.

Since she started to publicly speak out about PCOS, Singh said, people have been messaging her for advice.

“It’s been very humbling to inspire and educate other women so they too can manage their PCOS,” she said.

She noted that women of all ages, including some who are trying to have children have been contacting her and just to be able to inspire and motivate them to make holistic changes to help to manage PCOS has been worth the effort.

“A lot of us, not just women with PCOS, but society in general have body image issues, and with PCOS, the skin discolorations, hirsutism, hair thinning, [and] to be able to be like you are not alone, that community has been very humbling,” she added.

Singh advises women with the condition to be patient, especially if they feel like they are making progress, and make holistic lifestyle change as the mind-body-soul approach is very important.

“You do not need to go on birth control and take metformin as a way to fix your PCOS,  because there is no fix, it is about managing your symptoms,” she warned adding that sometimes the weight gain is a symptom of their  PCOS and not a fix to their PCOS.

Further, Singh said, women really have to focus on foods that would not leave them feeling inflamed and bloated. She added that coming from a culture where the typical diet is carbohydrate heavy, it has been quite the adjustment and she admitted that it is still a daily struggle with PCOS. 

‘Balance’

She has since started a food blog, as after months of posting her recipes on Instagram she wanted a more accessible platform and as a result she built the website. It has since been transformed from her just posting her recipes and food she orders when she dines out to tips and tricks on how to manage the inflammation and how to follow the 80/20 lifestyle.

“Balance has been my mantra, and the evolution of my website from being only food centred to giving advice on how to make holistic changes, the mind-body-soul approach to be how you can invest in your wellbeing, invest in your health,” she told this newspaper.

Her website (https://www.eatingwithpcos.com) will see more innovation in the future as she sees the demand by not just other women with PCOS but anyone who wants to revolutionize their lifestyle for a healthier more sustainable future.

According to the young woman, a lot of the health conditions that plague Guyanese, such as diabetes and hypertension, are more easily manageable through proper diet and exercise.

“I don’t really like the word diet because it is limiting and people imagine starving themselves almost, so rather I should say… smart nutrition and lifestyle choices would make life with these health conditions much easier, and better for your longevity. Right now the WHO is promoting that even more so as a way to protect yourself from COVID-19,” she noted.

Getting into recipe development was not difficult for Singh as she disclosed that she has always loved food and when she started her undergrad studies she started cooking more and just loved trying to make things super healthy, even before her PCOS diagnosis.

She recently graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce from Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada.

Currently working on becoming a sustainable innovator and looking into masters programmes, Singh said that she has dabbled in legal tech and innovation while pursuing her undergrad. “In everything we do, we live in the age of technology, but I truly believe this is the decade for action. I am generation equality, and to use that and ensure everything we do is in a sustainable manner,” she added.

She has now ventured into being a social entrepreneur as she recently started to import more PCOS friendly foods on a small scale to test the market and so far the reaction has been good because a lot of things are extremely overpriced and just not affordable to everyone.

She noted that her mother got her family into yoga and meditation at a young age, and the Zen style of yoga really helped her to remain calm, especially when she was first diagnosed. “My doctor, thankfully, wasn’t one of those who said you must take birth control and metformin, which a lot of women around the world had to deal with. We had a lengthy discussion about foods to focus on and foods to avoid, which was the start for me of my eating with PCOS journey. I have had some setbacks yes but I have been able to overcome and truly feel comfortable in my skin,” the young woman said.

My starting point of change

I grew up as a chubby child, which inevitably transformed into a ‘fat’ teenager. As a child, I did classical dancing, in my pre-teens and early teen years I did yoga. However, in spite of all my efforts, I kept gaining weight, even with a reduced intake of junk food.

In 2014, I started CrossFit. I worked with a trainer, and I achieved some amount of weight loss. For the first time, I finally felt like something is working. The initial weight loss plateaued. I was eating ‘super healthy’. I still went from maintaining to gaining again, this started a year later. I simply blamed this to the fact that I have now relocated my life and just started university. I needed the occasional indulgence to help with my relocation to Toronto.

Fast forward to the start of 2017, I was home, not feeling so well. I did some tests and discovered I have some cysts on my ovaries. This stressed me out so much, and the doctors at school wanted to put me on birth control. However, in February, I went home for my semester break, where I saw Dr Madhu Singh. She went over all my test results and explained that I have PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome). She then patiently and thoroughly explained all the key PCOS things I should know, especially about my carbohydrate intake, avoiding dairy, caffeine, etc.

This was my starting point of change, finally, I realized why I was gaining, it gave me the courage to go back to the gym, and slowly make the necessary adjustments needed to truly feel my best and be comfortable in my skin. Tons of nutrition research, hours in the kitchen and a lot of time at the gym, I have almost lost fifty pounds. As a food enthusiast, living with PCOS comes down to a lot of “tough” decisions and saying NO even when you really want to say yes.

My blog is about my efforts of following an 80/20 lifestyle while keeping the majority of my meals low carb and filled with wholesome ingredients. All those things I say NO to, I find a way to recreate in a PCOS friendly manner, so follow my blog for creative ideas on how to replace traditional carbs with yummy wholesome ingredients and still indulge all the foods you love!

My goal is not only to share my recipes but to encourage other women with PCOS to realize, there is a way to live, healthy, happy and comfortable in your own skin. Please feel free to connect with me!

– Nutana Singh’s PCOS journey in her own words, extracted from her website, https://www.eatingwithpcos.com