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The Endometriosis Diet: Revisited

I first posted about the diet shortly after I was diagnosed with endometriosis and I was just starting to try it. Since then I've had great success with some parts (for example I've only had gluten a handful of times since then and all were accidents) but less success with others - I'm still not sugar free and the additives/preservatives bit is yet to be attempted.

Since I'm starting up the blog again and renewing my efforts I thought it'd be useful to take another look at what is cut out and why - both for readers and also to strengthen my resolve in abstaining from chocolate! This is gonna be an ~8 part series through the month focusing on what is cut out and why, along with alternatives that I've found over the last 18 months where possible.

So first a quick run down of what's cut out again, along with a little about why:

Wheat/Gluten causes all kinds of nasty symptoms from bloating to IBS. Cutting it out is the difference between me fitting my clothes and living in my stretchy pjs - literally.

Red Meat is full of type 2 prostaglandins (more on these later!), which cause your body to have an inflammatory response. Endometriosis causes inflammation all on its own, so you want to avoid adding to it!

Dairy & Eggs are full of oestrogen, something you probably already have too much of if you have endo. Cutting it from your diet can help reduce the cyclical pain.

Sugar can wreak havoc with your hormones and is particularly known for causing irritability and even rage in some sufferers. It also feeds Candida - a yeast infection in the gut often found alongside endo/IBS.

Caffeine - I'll be honest with you, I can't entirely remember why you cut out caffeine. I've mostly succeeded, but maybe doing the research for this will help my resolve with staying away from coke!

Alcohol doesn't directly affect endometriosis, but it does affect your liver's function. Your liver is the #1 organ for eliminating excess oestrogen from your body, which it can't do all that effectively if it's working on last nights indulging!

Yeast - another food-source of Candida, so a good one to avoid.

Soy(a) is absolutely full of oestrogen. There are some types of soy sauce that are okay dependent on their brewing methods, but apart from that avoid soy at all costs.

Preservatives/Additives are made up of complex chemical compounds - some of which act as endocrine disruptors and xenoestrogens (again, more on these later!). Your hormones are all over the place enough without adding chemical substitutes for your body to deal with.

Personally I've had great success with gluten, red meat (I only broke down and had a beef chilli once and it so wasn't worth it), eggs and soy (the latter two only very occasionally). Medium success with dairy, caffeine and alcohol - I do sometimes slip up with my coke addiction and indulge in alcohol on special occassions. I also haven't been able to completely kick chocolate, so dairy sneaks in now and then. As for sugar, yeast and preservatives/additives, I haven't even started aside from switching to a few natural body products. So if you look at this list and think it seems impossible to even start, don't worry. It's a journey and it'll take time to get used to it. :)

Do you follow the Endo Diet, or a version of it? What do you cut out or slip up on? I'd love to hear your experiences!

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