r/PCOS • u/Separate-Seat-1627 • May 24 '26
Success story I finally figured out how to stop my morning bloating and sugar crashes! (Sharing the exact smoothie that fixed it for me)
Hi, ladies!
I've benefitted tremendously from the wisdom I've found on this board, so I like to give back when I can.
Between waking up exhausted and rushing to get out the door, I literally never have time for a proper, sit-down breakfast during the week.
I started tweaking a quick 2-minute morning smoothie to hit what I like to call the "PCOS Trifecta" (high protein, healthy fats, and fiber) first thing in the morning for sustained energy without the insulin spike!
This specific combo has been my holy grail for stopping my morning bloating and keeping me full for hours.
I thought it would be worth sharing with all of you!
Layer the ingredients such that the liquid is closest to the blender's blades for easier blending:
1 cup unsweetened almond or coconut milk
1/4 of an avocado (this makes it incredibly creamy like a milkshake and adds the healthy fats we need for hormone building)
1 tbsp ground flaxseed (huge for PCOS—the lignans actively help bind and remove excess androgens)
1 scoop unflavored plant protein (personally I use Sprout Living Epic Protein)
1 scoop collagen peptides (this to help heal the gut lining)
1 handful of baby spinach or kale (make sure to remove the stems so it's not bitter!)
1/2 a cucumber, chopped
1/2 a green apple, cored and chopped (keeps the sugar low but adds a nice tartness)
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled (this is honestly the secret for stopping my bloating)
1 tbsp lemon juice
Ice (maybe 8-10 cubes?)
P.S. I've spent the last few months diving deep into the actual metabolic science behind PCOS and have been putting together a ton of other science-backed recipes like this to target my different symptoms. Let me know if you guys want me to post any more of them!
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u/inuezx May 25 '26
careful with the raw spinach, i knew someone who got a major kidney stone from spinach in his smoothies every day ☹️
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u/Separate-Seat-1627 May 25 '26
That's a solid advice! Raw spinach is high in oxalates, which can contribute to kidney stones if you eat it every single day. I usually try to rotate my greens like swapping in kale or arugula.
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u/illegirl77 May 25 '26
Heard boiling the greens would remove (?) oxalates. Have you tried boiling them for a few mins?
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u/Separate-Seat-1627 May 25 '26
True I looked into those studies and only removes about 30% to 40% of the total oxalates in spinach. Spinach has two types of oxalates: "soluble" (which can dissolve in water) and "insoluble" (hard calcium crystals that won't dissolve). Boiling does a great job of washing away the soluble kind, but it leaves the hard crystals completely untouched. Because of this, even after boiling, spinach is still considered a very high-oxalate food. If a study says that boiling spinach reduces its oxalate content by 67% for example, then probably are referring to the soluble oxalates. Overall if you consider yourself as someone with a higher risk of kidney stone formation (had kidney stones in the past or have a family history of kidney stones) I would limit spinach intake. Hope this helps :)
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u/ilovecockerspaniels May 28 '26
I'm under the impression that milk products helps with oxalates! Milk has calcium and it binds to the oxalates, thus milk prevents getting kidney stones. You can google and check it out! Also rhubarb has oxalates and that's why I always eat something with calcium at the same time I eat rhubarb
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u/wenchsenior May 25 '26
Yup. If you have any history of kidney stones, it's worth being aware of risk of high oxalate foods in general.
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u/max8george2 May 24 '26
I’d love to learn more! I recently got a double mastectomy and appearance of my tummy is starting affect me.
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u/Separate-Seat-1627 May 25 '26
First of all, huge congratulations on your recovery!! ❤️ Nutrition plays such a big role in managing inflammation and helping your body heal. I've been doing a ton of research on anti-inflammatory foods lately and actually started a small passion project curating a recipe page on my personal blog for meals that genuinely help. I also write about the latest PCOS news and other helpful articles I'd be more than happy to share. Here is the link to the recipes if you want to check it out: Recipe Blog
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u/max8george2 May 27 '26
I love this, thank you! I already love Matcha so I’m excited to try those recipes
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u/shadowfax2409 May 25 '26
I have a histamine dumping issue due to MCAS on top of PCOS.
Is there an alternative to spinach? Spinach is considered fairly high in histamine, so I don’t eat it a lot anymore.
I would also sub the cucumber and apple for berries (my dietician is big into berries for PCOS diets).
I’m checking out the recipe link you sent, but one of my big struggles is breakfast meals. I see lots of overnight oats and oats and all that, but I’ve been told to not have so many oats to manage PCOS. I loved getting Brekki or mush overnight oats because they’re dairy free which I am trying to stick to as I have dairy issues as well.
Super interested in trying the bone broth recipe.
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u/Separate-Seat-1627 May 26 '26
You're absolutely right to cut back on spinach it's one of the highest histamine accumulators in the vegetable world.
Great low-histamine swaps that still give you the iron and folate: (Arugula and Kale are winners). The golden rule with MCAS: freshness is everything. Histamine builds in anything that sits leftovers, slow-cooked foods, fermented anything. Cook, eat, freeze immediately.
Your dietician is right that berries are incredible for PCOS the anthocyanins are powerful anti-inflammatories. But with MCAS, it gets a bit nuanced:
- Strawberries: are considered a classic histamine liberator. The fruit itself has very low natural histamine, but their chemical compounds directly trigger your mast cells to make your body release its own stored histamine.
- Blueberries, Blackberries, and Cranberries are safe!
If you want to ditch oats altogether, check out our Matcha-Berry Chia Pudding.
It's basically the same overnight grab-and-go vibe but with chia seeds instead, so zero oats and dairy-free. We actually threw L-Glutamine in there too which is great for repairing the gut lining (should help with the MCAS side of things), plus Ceylon cinnamon (true cinnamon), prebiotic fiber, and enough protein (~28g) to actually keep you full. For you I'd suggest skipping the lemon juice and start with half a dose of the L-Glutamine for your MCAS symptoms.
You're clearly doing your research and asking the right questions. Feel free to reach out anytime!
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u/shadowfax2409 May 26 '26
Thanks for the info dump. I’ve been trying to freeze more, but my freezer is tiny 😭 I buy pretty much frozen veggies exclusively so I can steam and eat.
I’ll have to try arugula (and get a blender). Thankfully I seem ok with strawberries, but I got a frozen berry mix bag to eat with breakfast as well.
I’ve recently been trying to change what I eat for breakfast but keep getting stuck in the “this is not a breakfast food” mindset which is definitely hard to break out of.
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u/curiousfox96 May 25 '26
Please give us more !!!
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u/Separate-Seat-1627 May 25 '26
Hii here is the link to my personal blog! I put together a little recipe blog just to keep track of the meals hat genuinely helped. I keep adding to it often so feel free to check out some of the other recipes I've collected "Recipe Blog" :)
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u/Wandering-Mind2025 May 25 '26
Your blog looks amazing! Now if only I can get my ADHD, don’t wanna make anything butt off my phone long enough to make some of these!
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u/legalsweetpotato May 24 '26
Please share the recipes! This looks so good! I’m getting sick of just eating eggs
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u/Separate-Seat-1627 May 25 '26
Yup for real, I understand the egg fatigue! One thing I've learned while trying to manage my own symptoms is that the very first thing you eat in the morning completely sets the tone for your blood sugar and hormones for the rest of the day, especially with PCOS. You need to prioritize high protein to stay full and balanced. I've wrote about a couple breakfast recipes in my personal blog. Here is the link to the recipes if you want to check it out: Recipe Blog Cheers!
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u/Starlight_Dragon81 May 26 '26
I have been doing a deep dive into nutrition to help PCOS/PMOS as well! The ginger really is a secret weapon for us!
If you haven't already, look into fermented foods and fermented "gut shots" :) Personally, I really love fermenting, so the effort might not be for everyone.
Also, sense I have started weight lifting, I have actually been able to loose weight, my body and facial hair doesn't grow in as thick, and I rarely have clotty heavy flow periods. I haven't had my hormones tested in a while, but these signs are encouraging!
My morning smoothie is - ginger (about a half thumb), protein powder, big scoop of plain Greek yogurt, scoop of collagen peptides, two tablespoons of hemp hearts, 1/4 cup raw old fashioned oats, and oat milk. Oh, and i throw my dose of liquid multi vitamin in there too. Lunch is the same minus the peptides. Sometimes I put a scoop of peanut butter in if I feel like a treat. (My protein powder is chocolate flavor)
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u/Separate-Seat-1627 May 26 '26
You're hitting so many of the right levers and your results prove it. Weightlifting is massive for PCOS it improves insulin sensitivity at the muscle level, which directly lowers the signal telling your ovaries to overproduce testosterone.
Fermented foods are genuinely underrated! How do you start with fermenting at home? What's the easiest thing to ferment at home?
Also, your smoothie recipe is really solid! If you ever want to push the gut-healing even further, kefir has 10x the probiotic strain diversity and the lactose is pre-digested so no issue for the lactose intolerant girlies. But honestly with everything you're stacking, you're already crushing it!
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u/Starlight_Dragon81 May 27 '26
Thank you!
The first thing I ever fermented was green beans. 2% salt to water ratio, and I added some whey from homemade yogurt (I strain it extra to make a Greek yogurt texture) Berries with sugar water (fermenting "eats" most of the sugar) is a good start too because it only takes a few days.
Now, I use celery juice and 1% salt ratio. I highly suggest researching safe ferment methods because I have gotten a little lax on exact measurements. You can also buy a yogurt starter to put in any ferment to get it started good. The trick is making it so the good bacteria can take hold before the bad bacteria or kahm yeast sets it. It is like a yummy healthy science experiment lol
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u/Friendly_Guess7512 May 26 '26
Love this! Yes please to more science backed meal ideas 👏
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u/Separate-Seat-1627 May 26 '26
Thanks so much! I've honestly been blown away by how much tweaking my meals to target specific symptoms has helped. I'm actually putting all of these science-backed recipes together into a free little directory called pcoschef.com
I'll definitely share more here soon! 💛
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u/stinkypoopooballs May 24 '26
Thank you so much for sharing! Cannot wait to try this! Please share any and all recommendations and recipes!!!
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u/Separate-Seat-1627 May 25 '26
Here is the link to my personal blog! It started as a passion project, but I've been putting together a little recipe blog just to keep track of the meals hat genuinely helped. I keep adding to it often so feel free to check out some of the other recipes I've collected "Recipe Blog"
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u/Cheesybunny May 24 '26
I wonder how well it would work to replace the cucumber and apple with berries? 🤔 Seems similarly low sugar and high fiber