Endometriosis diet change

[Josimner]

Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to post about Endometriosis and diet just to share with you how it has been helping me over the last 10 months. If by reading this it helps anyone else then that is just great.

I am constantly reading about what things I can do to help control side effects of Endometriosis, It gets frustrating when the doctors don't really want to help you, so I felt I had to take the matters into my own hands. I see an amazing aromatherapist 1/2 times a month and she has helped me so much. Along with all the amazing lotions and potions she helps with diet advice and encourages me to take certain supplements. When I am feeling exhausted an hour with maria is just what the doctor ordered. Over the past year we have been trying to rebalance my hormones, constant issues with my periods, bad skin, tears you name it the lot. So I take evening primrose oil daily to help with my hormone imbalance and various b vitamins to help with vitality. She also suggested that I give up chicken as it contains various hormones, so I did that and also chicken eggs. A year later I can honestly say it has made a massive difference, there aren't so many tears, the skins a lot better and i am more like me again.

There are so many different types of foods that experts say doesn't help endo and that as suffer's we should try to avoid, to be honest it was a little overwhelming! The list goes on and on so I decided the first step would be to choose one food and go from there. I decided to give up red meat including pork, a very extreme choice as I have been eating meat my whole life, but I took to the change like a duck to water and I haven't looked back since. I feel as though my body is less sluggish and works so much better. I haven't eaten any red meat for 10 months and I do not miss it one bit and i think it was the best thing I ever did.

Over the last year I have developed a slight intolerance to Gluten, which I have been reading up can be linked to having Endometriosis. I constantly felt bloated and uncomfortable, so Maria suggested gutting out porridge, bread and changing to gluten free pasta. I changed all of the above and nearly instantly felt so much better. The bloating feeling went away and again my body seems to function so much better.

After all the changes in diet that I have been making and all the improvements it has made, one thing that hasn't got better is the pain BUT last month I decided that I needed to make one more change to see if this made a difference and I think it really has. Diary, this is one of the bigger food groups experts encourage endo suffers to leave out the diet and I couldn't agree with them more. I have swapped milk for plant based alternatives like coconut milk and almond milk, they are so tasty and are so good for you. I have only been doing this for the last month but boy what a difference it has made. For the first time in years the pain was greatly reduced this month and I haven't been getting as tired as I usually do. I know it is still early days and I need to see how this goes over the next 6 months but I am so encouraged by the results in only a month I wanted to share it with you all. I still eat a bit of cheese and a bit of yogurt now and then but have massively reduced the diary intake.

I guess the whole purpose of this post is to encourage you to make changes to help yourself and your suffering with Endometirosis. Just taking small steps one at a time might make a real difference to the quality of your life like it has mine for example swapping chicken eggs with duck eggs, change to gluten free. Eat more fish and turkey instead of red meat and try an alternative to milk. I know that it seems so scary to give up the food that you love and believe me I was unsure how giving up those foods would help me but hand on heart they really have. I wanted to take charge of my Endo and beat it myself, I hope you guys can do the same too x

[Wind_mill]

I agree with so much of this! Even though I still get pain, it is so much more manageable than it used to be. I still have organic eggs but have eliminated all dairy (I didn't eat meat anyway) and it's helped so much. I'm also eating gluten and sugar free. Sugar is so closely linked to my pain. I'm taking lots of supplements at the moment but am hoping to reduce these as I go on - I have been seeing a nutritionist for the past 2 months, but previously cut out a lot of food types a couple of years ago. I now eat a lot of fish and vegetables! I love the Rude Health coconut and almond milk - have you tried them? They taste amazing. I am also drinking lots of pukka teas - three Mint and green tea as well as the relaxing evening one.

[Hopeful82]

Thank you so much for these posts. I am struggling so much with diet at mo. You have mentioned diary as a big no no. Milk or cheese is not an issue for me but yogurt is. I live greek yogurt so just wondering if you had come across any alternative s to yogurt on your journey s? In addition , when you have a mo can you suggest a couple of your favourite recipes that sit within the remit of the endo lifestyle? Thank you so much

[Kathlyn in reply to Hopeful82]

You could try coconut yogurt, it's expensive but delicious.

[Hidden]

Thank you for this advice I am glad it's helping you and will indeed give it a go X

[Steph78]

Thanks for your post! I follow the same diet and swear by it...I have little or no more bloating, and my fatigue is improving! I eat organic chicken and organic eggs ( no injected hormones or food to make them grow bigger), but no other meat, no dairy, no soya (lots of plant based estrogen), no gluten, caffeine or alcohol. Well, sometimes I treat myself to a proper coffee, or a cider or a bit of cheese once in a while but day to day I try to go without. I found that cutting out one by one was much easier and gave me to time to find alternatives and recipes instead of being overwhelmed. I eat lots of stir fries, curries, salads, lentils etc, coconut milk, almond milk. It's definitely worth and try and makes you feel like you can do something to help yourself. All these painkillers, hormones and tablets you take upset your system and eating well will help your body fight back. There are lots of books on line which advice what you can and can't eat. I've also realised that the slimming world and weight watchers diets are virtually the same ( little carbs no dairy, etc), so can be somewhere to start xx

[JessieP]

Interesting posts thanks so much. Im a life long veggie (45yrs) so never experienced meat thankfully. Eat lots of Quorn type products as replacements.

I would really struggle to stop bread though, ever! Reduction would be my way to go on some foods & I have been advised to try Evening Primrose again also so thanks for the reminder.

Jx

[Hannah27]

I'm on day two of dairy free, even my oatcakes had dairy in them yesterday! So I bought some plain ones that were dairy free. I haven't had coffee yet as the thought of a black coffee just doesnt appeal to me at all! Its good to see something that has helped someone, I'm willing to try just about anything at the moment!

Any tips for keeping dairy free?