Vegetarian Diet

[TinkerQuinn]

What are people's opinions on a vegetarian diet for endometriosis?

I have been told that some people find it beneficial and am trying to weigh up my options and if it worth giving it a try?

Thanks in advance

[melanies]

There are quite a few books on endo diet - I ordered a couple second hand from amazon recently (mainly as I recently decided to go veggie and wanted to figure out how that might help). I didn’t pick up from the books that being veggie particularly helps - more about cutting out additives, trying to eat organic, cut down on dairy, sugar, fat, wheat etc. And you need to be careful with soy as it produces oestrogen makes endo grow. Soy is used as meat substitute in a lot of veggie products. Hope this helps! 💛

[Devils_Advocate]

I follow a vegan diet, which made me feel better to some extent. I suffer with bowel issues because of endo and dairy made me feel awful. I avoid processed food, gluten, fried food etc as my body hates it. I was also told to avoid caffeine but with kids and chronic illnesses I'm fairly certain it keeps me alive lol.

D x

[TinkerQuinn in reply to Devils_Advocate]

I keep trying to cut back on coffee and i'm totally with you on that one. We all need one guilty pleasure to keep us going

[Char411]

I decided to go vegan in August for health benefits and I was shocked at how much it improved my fatigue and my bowel and digestive issues. I do not eat anything processed and cook everything from fresh and also reduced my sugar intake (R.I.P diet coke)

I initially was only going to try it for 6 weeks to see how I felt and it’s now 6 months later and I don’t think I’ll go back. I really think cutting out dairy helped a lot, both meat and dairy create inflammation in your body and with endo we have enough of that already.

I watch my soy intake but so far it’s had no negative effects.

All the best x

[Bespp]

Hi, just be careful with going veggie. I did it for 3 years and did some damage in terms or running very low on iron and magnesium so definetly supplement if you do so.

[Hajnal]

For me it helped a lot. I dont know if is the surgery or the diet but with other surgery the painfree time was few months.I went from vegetarian to vegan more than 2 years now. It was just before my last surgery. Since then no cyst, no meds, no pain, no pill, clockwork period, mild period pain. Endo stage 4. Im not gluten free and have soy occasionally, it does not bother me but some people are more sensitive for that.

I supplememt D3 and B12. My iron was high when I had the last blood test.

I talked to someone who she said she had quit pain meds after 8 weeks and she used to take codamol in every 4 hours. Worked together with nutritionist to supplement vitamins too.

[YellowWarrior]

Hello, I’m vegan since January this year and the health benefits I felt were very impressive.

I’m stage 4 bowel endo and the vegan diet helped so much with my fatigue. I have just had a bowel resection last Tuesday and I’m recovering really well, animal proteins cause inflammation in our body so without them present we repair are recover much quicker. I’m now going for 2 mile long walks everyday and came off painkillers before I’d even left hospital. Watch the documentary called “The Game Changers” on Netflix it has loads of good info on this. You would need to cut out dairy for this to work as well though.

Everything we need as humans is provided in plants, the only time you need to supplement is if you’re not balancing your diet right.

I’d also recommend listening to The Doctors Kitchen podcast or just reading up on a few of his posts, his motto is eat to beat illness and he highlights the importance on our health of what we eat.

[TinkerQuinn in reply to YellowWarrior]

Wow, sounds like it has been really beneficial. Thank you, I will give "The Game Changers" a go.

[TinkerQuinn]

Thank you all for your replies It sounds like it could be beneficial. We try and have 2 veggie meals a week, but I am at the stage where I think diet is going to make a difference and I will try anything (Not that we eat a load of rubbish) I appreciate you all taking the time to reply. xx

[Hidden]

Hi, I have stopped eating red meat and haven't noticed any improvement to my pain/symptoms. I also tried the low fod map diet to rule out IBS and that didn't help either. 💛

[TinkerQuinn in reply to Hidden]

It's crazy how differently we all react to certain things. I think I am going to give it a go. At least cut back and only have meat as an occasional treat (like a family roast dinner..)

I hope you find some comfort soon. x

[Belen_gh]

Hi, I also gave vegan diet a go since January and these last two periods have been shockingly lighter.

I've leading a pretty healthy and active lifestyle for almost 5 years now but I was eating chicken, fish, eggs and dairy as my main sources of protein. I was having a lot of inflammation and severe pain and fatigue for my last year and a half and that was the reason I got to the GP to get some tests done. I've been told I had IBS and a recurrent thrush on and off for that amount of time which made me feel lost, exhausted and hopeless. I tried literally everything and nothing seemed to work.

On January I decided to cut dairy and meat and reduce alcohol and coffee intake for the previous days of my period (they trigger an inflammatory response in our body). I started taking turmeric with black pepper supplements as it has a huge antiinflamatorie effect. And pretty much reading a lot about the big positive impact on vegan diet on our health. If you don't feel like fully vegan is an option at this point I would say fish and eggs are pretty safe in terms of endo symptoms. I still have them occasionally. It's crazy when you read how the hormones, especially estrogens are found in meat and dairy and they might have an impact on our levels.

My main advice would be, don't try to do everything at once as it could feel like a lot and discourage you to keep it long term. 'Pick up limes' on Youtube has wonderful and wholesome vegan recipes and just be curious and open minded about changing for the good. It is a process, like reprogramming everything we have been told.

Hope it helps and sorry for the big text!

[TinkerQuinn in reply to Belen_gh]

Thank you so much and please don't apologise. I really appreciate everybody commenting with their experiences.

I've always been a massive introvert about my endo and tried dealing with it quietly and by myself. As part of the programme I am on I am having some counselling and she is helping me to acknowledge what I am dealing with on a daily basis and to talk about it, so I'm giving it a go and reaching out and talking with people that are suffering the same/more/less but understand

I'm pleased to hear you have had positive results, long may that continue.

Thank you. x

[Anastasia17]

Due to long term anaemia, I have put myself on an exclusion diet, but not vegetarian or vegan. Effectively I have removed the foods that cause me inflammation and pain, such as: gluten, dairy, soya, caffeine, chocolate, brown rice, apples, tomato purée, hot spices. It has reduced the bloating and the pain. It's not easy and I replace with coconut /almond milk, vegan chocolate decaff coffee, gluten free pasta and biscuits.

[Afrohair in reply to Anastasia17]

Apples?

[Anastasia17 in reply to Afrohair]

Yes. I don't know why, but it gives me nasty tummy cramps and the run at times.

[Afrohair in reply to Anastasia17]

Aww bless you x

[Anastasia17 in reply to Afrohair]

I have been told that apple and apple juice may be too acidic. I think that apples are rich in oestrogen which is the basis of all my problems, hence my exclusion diet. And I really used to enjoy eating a crunchy apple!...

[Afrohair in reply to Anastasia17]

I’ve never heard of that I’ll have to look into that one I do know they say they are clean fruits and dirty fruits on the endo diet but I’ve forgotten if apples was one of them as I don’t really go by there fruit dos and donts I’m already cutting a lot of things out never mind fruit if it didn’t agree with me however like your case I would not eat it x

[Thecraftyadder in reply to Anastasia17]

Apples are one of the top 5 foods that cause bowel issues on the fodmap diet. Just thought you'd be interested in that.

[Anastasia17 in reply to Thecraftyadder]

That's good to know, a big Thank you! 😘