I have PCOS and I’m thinking of following a no-carb diet for a month. Can I eat brown rice, pasta, and bread on this diet?

Portrait of young woman with sandwichAvoiding carbs (carbohydrates) all together, (even for just a month), isn’t a great idea because carbs provide your body with energy. Some people believe that eating carbs will cause weight gain but actually, carbs (like any other food) will only cause weight gain if you eat too many of them. Brown rice, whole wheat pasta, and whole wheat bread are all great sources of high-fiber, low-sugar carbohydrates that will help to stabilize your insulin levels. Combine these foods with proteins and fats and you’ll be good to go. A well balanced diet will help to stabilize the sugar released from carbohydrates into the blood to keep insulin levels low. If you have other questions about healthy eating and PCOS, please feel free to check out our PCOS Guides.


Our health guides are developed through a systematic, rigorous process to ensure accuracy, reliability, and trustworthiness. Written and reviewed by experienced healthcare clinicians from Boston Children's Hospital, a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital and consistently ranked as a top hospital by Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report, these guides combine clinical expertise, specialized knowledge, and evidence-based medicine. We also incorporate research and best practices from authoritative sources such as the CDC, NIH, PubMed, top medical journals, and UpToDate.com. Clinical specialists and subject matter experts review and edit each guide, reinforcing our commitment to high-quality, factual, scientifically accurate health information for young people.