Does food affect endometriosis?

[DaniahAQ]

Hey ladies,

Would be interested to know your views on a statement made by a dietician that food doesn't affect endometriosis.

What have been your experiences?

[PandoraPenguin]

I've tried dairy free, gluten free, no processed food, no solid food and nothing has made a difference to me. I know this is not the case for others.

[Gracie315]

Hi, I find diet makes a huge difference to my pain. I have been off dairy, gluten and red meat since Jan! I still have pain but it's definitely not as bad as it was and I find if I slip up and have a bit of dairy etc I can def feel the pain worse!

[DaniahAQ in reply to Gracie315]

Thanks for getting back to me Gracie. My endometriosis consultant recommends that I start the fodmap diet, but the dietician doesn't think food will make a difference, even though it came highly recommended by the specialist and a lot of lovely ladies in this forum. Is it worth starting it? I've read how strict it is..

[Gracie315 in reply to DaniahAQ]

You should def give it a go and see if you notice a diff! Dairy, gluten, red meat etc are inflammatory foods so it makes sense not to eat them for me as I already get badly inflamed due to the endo! Most big supermarkets do a great free from nowadays so it isn't too bad tbh after you get used to it!

[luthien]

Some people have found changing their diet affects the symptoms of endo; for example reducing dairy, gluten and red meat. However not all of it works for everyone, it's a case of trial and error; removing certain foods can take up to 6 weeks for the effects to show. Some women have found that reducing a type of food or two at certain times of the month helps especially if you have endo period related bloating like me then I don't have any gluten or carbs for the week through my period.

When I asked my specialist endo colorectal consultant about diet and endo he said diet doesn't change endo directly however there is evidence to show diet can help the symptoms but there are no scientific studies as the range of endo symptoms are so broad and how the body reacts to changes in diet is so individual but it can't hurt to try.

I've reduced my dairy, gluten, carbohydrates and red meat anyway years ago, which helps my general wellbeing plus probably helps me cope with my endo symptoms. Just don't forget if you do the above you need to add stuff to your diet; protein is best for keeping up energy levels, feeling full and keeping your muscles working - I have mainly fish and chicken.

[DaniahAQ in reply to luthien]

Thanks for getting back to me Farahziya,

My endometriosis consultant highly recommends that I try out the fodmap diet. My stomach is constantly so bloated (I look pregnant). I've always had a flat stomach and I just feel puffy all over, something which I've never experienced. My legs puff up from time to time along with my arms. It's starting to make me feel so self conscious.

My pain levels are also quite bad.

The dietician doesn't think that food will help at all even though the diet was highly recommended by the specialist and lots of lovely ladies in this forum.

Do you think it's worth starting the diet if there will be no help/results as I've read how strict the diet is..

[luthien in reply to DaniahAQ]

It's a strict diet; but some women find reduced symptoms just by eliminating / adding / changing a few things.

It may be worthwhile getting a book on endometriosis and diet, a really good book available on Amazon I have is "Endometriosis: A Key to Healing Through Nutrition" - it explains how different nutrients in our diet are required by our body / how they affect our body / how they can cause harm, it gives guidance on foods that are useful to consider for different symptoms so you can work out what you require / don't need. It's a little scientific but it's thorough, and a great insight into nutrition and will make you think about what you eat generally too which always helps to become healthier.

Give yourself 6 weeks for some changes to be noticed; try little changes first, and see how you go, but only change 2 or three things at once otherwise you won't know what's helping and what isn't. Some stuff you'll know in days if it works / doesn't which is brilliant!

[arielseamermaid]

I decided to go on a muscle building bulk so increased calories including eating a fair bit of refined carbs. It made my pain so much worse and made it go from 1 week per month to 3, I’ve been gluten and dairy free with as much whole foods as possible for 10 days to see if I can get it back to being manageable. So I don’t know for definite that removing food from your diet helps but it really seems like for me eating a lot of the ‘bad’ foods has made it worse.....