Diet?

[mariahimk]

What is the endometriosis diet?

[Starry]

It's a US diet that recommends eliminating foods that are believed to contribute to or aggravate endo symptoms in particular red meat, dairy, soya, gluten, caffeine. Below is a round up of what I have found during my research to date:

The Endo Diet Book

The Endo diet book is written by an American and tends to get treated as absolute and sole truth. It has plenty of good tips, but it is not entirely accurate for the UK market. Also, it doesn't always present a balanced rounded view on both sides of some of the nutrition debates or include the latest clinical findings (particularly phyto-oestrogens and soya) which don't support its opinions, so should be taken with a pinch of salt and a bit of organic GM free tofu in my personal opinion, though some swear by it.

Caveats

Firstly EU food production standards are far stricter than those in the US, GM was not accepted by the UK public so the US soya issues don't apply here (though meat fed on GM is sold) .

My second reservation is that it relies a little heavily on Dr John Lee, a controversial US clinician whose made a lot of money from controversial clinically unregulated allegedly "natural" progestogen creams ( for the debate see bmj.com/rapid-response/2011... and health.harvard.edu/womens-h... ).

Trying one thing at a time scientifically and taking what works for you is the the best approach rather than following it blindly as a Bible rather that stop everything all at once as what works seems to vary significantly by individual.

Liver

The liver is important in metabolising excess hormones so eating foods that help it like leafy greens and avoiding foods that strain it like wine is helpful.

womensinternational.com/pdf...

Wine

Wine is again contentious, on balance not so good, I suspect because it puts a strain on your liver. At any rate I find I physically can't drink more than half a small champagne glass now, very depressing! Here are some links.

bloominuterus.com/2016/07/2...

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

Dairy

When it comes to dairy milk it is the casein type that is relevant apparently. Originally cows' milk had A2 beta casein, the same as in human milk. But the domestication of cows for dairy production caused a mutation that gave rise to A1 beta casein that has seemingly been proven to have several adverse effects on health. Amongst these are effects on immune and endocrine function and, as a consequence, on autoimmunity and allergies. There does seem to be a case that it is potentially harmful for anyone, but particularly for someone with an immune/endocrine disease such as endo. Goat's milk and Guernsey milk are meant to have mostly A2 so not be so bad. Or try any of the numerous alternatives soya, almond, oat milk, rice milk etc. Bute Island Scheese is the best dairy free cheese alternative ( I've tried them all!)

larabriden.com/the-inflamma...

Soya

Soy gets a bad press from to the Endo Diet and also to be fair from certain dubious US manufacturing methods, where it is often GM and heavily crop sprayed and there seems to have been a US specific scandal about production methods. Using organic branded products like Cauldron and Alpro with traceability tested beans avoids this risk and any GM intake from human foods.

If GM is a real concern you need to consider only eating organic meat and dairy or going vegan. In the UK large quantities of GM soya and maize are now used as animal feed. Meat and dairy products fed on GM animal feed are not reqired to be labelled as GM-fed in British supermarkets.

There is no evidence that soy is bad for you although I would always stick to organic and avoid USA products where they use GM and crop spray and it's good to avoid over reliance on any one protein source. If soya had a material negative impact, having consumed it extensively for over 20 years I would be riddled with end-stage severity endo not just one rv nodule.

Hormones and Diet

hormonesbalance.com/article...

Wine and soya are both linked to phyto oestrogens but the debate centres on soya.

Phyto-oestrogens

Phytoestrogens have been controversial. They aren’t actually oestrogen but are naturally-occurring plant compounds that are functionally similar to mammalian estrogens.

Past studies were conflicting but now the latest studies lean towards soya, which is particularly rich in phyto-oestrogens, being mildly positive. It was thought that as oestrogen stimulates endo, plant oestrogens would do the same. But there are only so many receptors that oestrogen can latch onto. So the recent thinking is that phyto-oestrogens (which are very weak) will occupy some of the receptors and prevent the much stronger oestradiol from attaching (the driver of endo and oestrogen cancers). Latest clinical opinion now is leaning toward soya as having protective effects due to this. Earlier positive studies also existed from Japan where tofu is a traditional diet component and a lower incidence of Endo was recorded.

Phyto-oestrogen links

empowher.com/endometriosis/...

academic.oup.com/jnci/artic...

nextwavetherapy.com.au/phyt...

endometriosisnetwork.com/ea...

cancerresearchuk.org/about-...

Organics and Toxins

There is lots of debate about the connection between various toxins in our diet and environment and auto immune disorders and endo.

I certainly found going to organic sanitary towels and toiletries beneficial to my IC, and a long standing skin rash my husband has has cleared up to boot, so I guess I am a convert, and I now look out for SLS and SLES an irritant used in toothpaste and toiletries.

Diet

I don't know of any direct evidence of harm to humans from pesticides but glyphosphate, often used on wheat shortly before harvest, is believed to be carcinogenic (WHO) and there are concerns more broadly about the cocktail mix of chemicals being used together. (SO) Certainly bees and other pollinators are now definitively proven to be affected and their population is plummeting. If you can afford it, I'd say eat ( or grow) as much organic as possible, it can only be a good thing to reduce toxins. If you can't do wash fresh fruit and veg thoroughly. The Soil Association ( the organic certification body) campaigns against pesticides so is probably a good place to do more research if interested.

soilassociation.org/our-cam...

Summary

Cause and effect is hard to prove and theories abound but any overall healthy diet that is high in fresh vegetables and fruit, low in fat, sugar, artificial chemicals and processed food is likely to help you feel better in yourself regardless of any endo specific properties.

I am now more or less 100% vegan but eat a fair bit of organic soya as I am nut allergic . I have just recently cut down gluten to beneficial effect. I continue to have wine and caffeine though I shouldn't. I have severe deep endo but only experience comparatively mild to moderate pain. Others will have different experiences though and find different foods a problem or aid, as we are all unique.

Hope this helps give an overview of things to explore.....

[Ardenrose in reply to Starry]

I actually bought some Alpro soya yogurt the other day then saw an article about soya impacting on endo and have been afraid to eat it! From what you are saying I take it I should be ok to have it?

[Rosewein in reply to Ardenrose]

I do no soy, people seem to vary on oppinon. It does have high estrogen and coconut yougart is nicer.

[Starry in reply to Rosewein]

It's a personal thing, but coconut also has very mixed reviews on health grounds due to extremely high saturated fat levels and concerns about heart disease long term. It's never clear cut, moderate intake of both is probably fine as part of a varied healthy diet with lots of fresh unprocessed foods.

health.harvard.edu/staying-...

metro.co.uk/2017/06/18/surp...

[Starry in reply to Ardenrose]

Hi Ardenrose,

You are right it is absolutely fine to have it and likely to be far better than dairy casein for most people ( unless you happen to be allergic) . Alpro is a premium quality brand with full traceability so no GM concerns.

I have eaten lots and lots of soya including Alpro yoghurts and soy milk for decades as I am veggie and have a nut allergy. If it was harmful or endo stimulating I would be utterly riddled with endo disease and not just have one small nodule and no pain symptoms.

The scare about soya driving endo is based on out of date science. The Endo Diet book was written 10 years ago. In fact there always were a fairly even amount of contradictory science research finding it good or bad) and perpetuated by misinformation based on the USA industry practices in the now 10 year old Endo diet book which does not reflect this new scientific view or UK food standards.

Read the links and decide for yourself on the latest scientific evidence rather than taking anybody's say so though ( mine included).

The science: Phyto-oestrogens are far weaker than human oestrogendrives so if they take up spaces in the limited numbee of receptors they have less effect so overall that's net neutral or mildly positive from an endo perspective.

The Endo book itself:. If you read the detail fully does very. briefly acknowledge traditional soya products are fine tofu seitan etc she called them " safe soy foods" using eastern techniques, a nod to the large scale surveys finding very low incidence of Endo in Japan with high Soya consumption, if endo was caused by soy itself that would not be the case. But it is biased , over relies on a single controversial source (Lee) so doesn't give a balanced view and emphasises the USA GM and manufacturing process scandals adding chemicals and toxins as the problem, this USA industry dimension gets overlooked and the topline message became "soya bad, endo diet good" and people have become blinkered with that view.

That is not to say you should overload on soya, using a variety of protein sources is definity a healthy approach. Also not to say that soya may not disagree with some people who are intolerant, as people may be to any other proteins like dairy, wheat, gluten, nuts etc. Particularly if the food is heavily processed with additives or has been farmed in the dubious way they do in the US with GM and heavy crop spraying. Who would want to eat that! But that book is written about the USA food industry, not the UK which does not permit GM soy, which people forget.

We have a similar issue in the UK with farmers spraying glyphosphate on wheat right before harvest, which is now found in bread, I wonder if that may not be the cause of many people's intolerance and the soil association is campaigning against. This however gets no publicity in contrast to the fuss about soya. soilassociation.org/our-cam...

I think the best approach is remove one thing at a time rather than follow any diet blindly and see what works for you as you are unique.

For me it's more about reducing the processed junk whether or not it has soy or gluten that seems to help. More fresh healthy fruit and veg as organic as possible. But that is my way, you will find a different way that works for you.

[Ardenrose in reply to Starry]

Thank you Starry. This is very helpful information.

[Ardenrose]

I recently saw a recommendation for a book called 'The Endometriosis Health & Diet Program' by Dr. Andrew S Cook and Danielle Cook. See details here: vitalhealth.com/endo-blog/t...

Might be useful if you are going to try the endo diet. I've already given up alcohol, caffeine and reduced sugars. I am also trying to avoid gluten and dairy. This diet has helped me a lot but I must admit it can be hard to stick to at times. I'm probably going to get this book for the recipes which I hope will enable me to stick to it better.

[Tillyfloss]

hi. I was very sceptical about the endometriosis diet, it was suggested by a work college of my husband and I really didn't think it would have any affect - boy was I wrong!! My hubby bought the Endo diet healing through nutrition ( sorry I'm not at home and can't remember the exact title). It's not a light read but made perfect sense to my husband and he changed our diet accordingly. Id had a week in hospital after a burst cyst and had been in dreadful pain so he decided to tackle it head on stuck to it strictly for 6 weeks and my pain settled down I wasn't struggling to get up and move and my period came and went without the week in hospital! I'm not as strict with it as I've had surgery and my pain at the moment is very mild although we had pizza the other day which had me reaching for the pain killers so its a very personal process to find what your body can tolerate and what really aggrevates you. For us changing everything and reducing the pain was right but it was a change taken on by my husband I wouldn't of been well enough to do it myself and I have gradually tried things one at a time to see if it upsets me like the pizza.

the specialist we saw said it was worth a go but did say it doesn't work for everyone but for me it's definitely helped to reduce the pain.

xx