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Dietary habits and their relationship with hormones and metabolism in overweight and obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome

  1. Paola Altieri1,*,
  2. Carla Cavazza1,
  3. Francesca Pasqui1,
  4. Antonio M. Morselli2,
  5. Alessandra Gambineri1,
  6. Renato Pasquali1

Article first published online: 11 DEC 2012

DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2265.2012.04355.x

Issue

Clinical Endocrinology

Clinical Endocrinology

Volume 78, Issue 1, pages 52–59, January 2013

Additional Information

How to Cite

Altieri, P., Cavazza, C., Pasqui, F., Morselli, A. M., Gambineri, A. and Pasquali, R. (2013), Dietary habits and their relationship with hormones and metabolism in overweight and obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Clinical Endocrinology, 78: 52–59. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2265.2012.04355.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    Division of Endocrinology, S.Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, University Alma Mater Studiorum of Bologna

  2. 2

    Division of Internal Medicine, S.Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, University Alma Mater Studiorum of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

*Correspondence: Paola Altieri, Division of Endocrinology, S.Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, University Alma Mater Studiorum, via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy. Tel.: +39 516364147; Fax: +39 516363080; E-mail: paola.altieri@unibo.it

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 11 DEC 2012
  2. Article first published online: 11 DEC 2012
  3. Accepted manuscript online: 30 JAN 2012 12:44PM EST
  4. Manuscript Accepted: 22 JAN 2012
  5. Manuscript Revised: 28 DEC 2011
  6. Manuscript Revised: 5 NOV 2011
  7. Manuscript Received: 10 OCT 2011

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Summary

Objective

This study investigates energy intake, macronutrient composition and habitual food choices in overweight/obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and controls similar for age and body mass index (BMI), and their relationship with hormonal and metabolic parameters.

Design

Case–control study carried out in an academic hospital in Bologna, Italy.

Patients

One-hundred obese or overweight (BMI >25 kg/m2) women with PCOS, diagnosed according to Rotterdam criteria, and 100 age- and BMI-matched controls.

Measurements

Dietary habits were investigated by means of the 7 days food diary. Fasting hormones and metabolic parameters were investigated in all subjects.

Results

We showed that diet does not differ between the two groups as regards energy, macronutrient and advanced glycosylated end product intake, except for a lower percentage of energy from lipids and a higher intake of fibres by PCOS women. PCOS women were characterized by a higher consumption of cheese and high-glycaemic index starchy sweets and a preference for raw oil rather than other cooked fats, compared to controls. The PCOS or control status influenced some of the relationships between dietary components, food choices and metabolic parameters, particularly insulinAUC and HDL-cholesterol.

Conclusions

This study did not find major differences in dietary habits between PCOS and normoandrogenic control women. Our findings support the hypothesis that specific foods may influence metabolic and hormonal pattern and that this relationship may be differently regulated in PCOS and normoandrogenic women; however, they give little support to the hypothesis of a strong dependence of PCOS status on nutritional factors.

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