The Endometriosis Diet: Alternatives to Dairy

Why Cut Out dairy?

Dairy is not an easy thing to cut from your diet, but there are a number of reasons that make it worth it. Dairy products have a high-fat content that contains oestrogen - a hormone that endometriosis sufferers often have too much of already. Oestrogen controls a number of processes in the body, but most importantly it controls our reproductive system and an imbalance of the hormone is closely linked to endometriosis. It 'feeds' the endometrial cells.

Series 2 prostaglandins are found in dairy and are known to promote an inflammatory response in the body. I'll devote another blog to these pesky things as they're also found in red meats and aren't easy to summarise!

Dairy can also cause a host of digestive issues such as constipation or difficulty absorbing other nutrients in your food. And finally there are a number of intolerances that are caused or worsened by dairy - not just the obvious lactose intolerance - that can manifest as illnesses such as asthma, eczema and arthritis.

Whether you're feeling the effects of all of these problems or just one, cutting dairy could give you a significant reduction in symptoms.

Cutting Dairy From Your Diet

Initially it can be tricky to get your head around all of the products that contain dairy - even things you wouldn't expect like salt and vinegar crisps! But as you acclimatise to your new diet it becomes second nature and the habits you develop will make it much easier to avoid.

I'd start by replacing your milk with a simple unsweetened nut milk such as almond or hazelnut. The taste is quite creamy and easy to adjust to and nut milk can be used the same as normal cows milk - in hot drinks, on cereal and in baking etc. These are found in the same section as normal milk and are slightly more expensive, but also have a much longer use by date so if you're an infrequent milk drinker you may even end up saving money - we have! :)

Once you've cut milk out, it gets easier to remove or find alternative products like cheese and butter. Sadly I've yet to find an alternative to cheese (vegan cheese contains soy), but I live in hope!

A Note On Yoghurt

Although a dairy product, there are certain types of yoghurt that are actually beneficial for the endometriosis diet. Commercial yoghurts are highly processed, sweetened and full of sugar, whereas the healthy yoghurts tend to be natural 'live' versions that contain bacteria that promote a healthy gut. These yoghurts can be made from animal milks as well as nut milks, however animal milk is still harder to digest and nut yoghurts would be better for you.

Dairy Free Dining

While not as common as gluten free, dairy free menu options are starting to become more popular - especially in new restaurants and smaller chains. They're often found in the vegan section, although don't assume that normal items can't be made dairy free. Often it's as simple as asking for no cheese/cream dip etc. If in doubt ask for the allergen information to go alongside the menu - restaurants now have to have this information by law so it's about to become much easier to dine out than it used to be!

Alternatives To Dairy

As mentioned already it's possible to get nut milks to replace dairy products. You can also get nut butters and yoghurts too. Rice milk is another alternative that you can buy from health stores - I've even seen it in larger Asda stores! Less obvious substitutes are water or fruit juices, depending on the use. For example water is a healthier alternative for hot chocolate and fruit juice can be used as a sweetener in baking.

Butter is fairly simple to replace too - simply use an olive or sunflower oil based spread. These should appear either in the butter section or closeby, depending on the store layout.

As I said, the only alternative I've yet to find is cheese. I've heard that cheeses made from nut milk do exist, but I've yet to find them and I'm pretty sure they'll come with a price tag I won't want to pay!

Roundup

While it's less common to cut dairy from your diet than gluten, in many ways it's easier as there are less products for you to slip up on. I would caution you to check labels, as milk can creep into some products you wouldn't expect it to, but you'll get used to this over time. Removing dairy can have a host of benefits, from clearer skin to less painful cramps and a healthier digestion.

Have you tried a dairy free diet? What alternatives do you use? And if you've found a dairy free cheese substitute (that isn't made from soya) I'd love to know!

A Change In Direction

I can't believe it's almost a year to the day since I wrote my last blog. So much has happened since then! A quick run down of last year for you, before I get on to why I'm actually writing the first new blog for 12 months...

First things first, I got engaged in September! We were on our first holiday with my family in Spain and Tom proposed at midnight on the roof of our villa in a blanket fort. It was the cheesiest, most romantic thing ever and I loved it. :)

My business was also a rollercoaster - growing impressively fast early in the year then tailing off towards the end. December was hibernation mode for me and January has started with a million and one ideas on how to change my business to reflect me a little better.

My relationship with my family has only grown stronger - our experiences in 2013 really did cement some already pretty awesome friendships. I've also made new friends and gotten closer to existing ones, so 2014 was definitely a good year for relationships all round in my life. :)

But that's enough about life. Onto why I'm writing! And how fitting that it's one year since my last post - completely unintentional I assure you. I'm about to enter the next stage of my Endometriosis journey, having some scans to check up on everything and then (all being well) having the Mirena coil removed. This is partly to start the journey of having a family, although I think that one will still take some time, but more importantly I'm taking a much more natural, holistic approach to my endo. My experiences with the diet have been bitter-sweet; when I stick to it everything goes pretty well and I'm largely symptom free still, but if I slip up even slightly it can have some nasty consequences. The first step I'll be taking is to get more strict and more healthy - introducing fitness as well.

What's this got to do with the blog you might be asking? Well I want to document it all. I'll finally be sharing full details of the diet that I failed to finish last time, including recipes I find useful and alternatives to things you can't have on the diet. For example last night I made some caramel cookies that were completely endo friendly. Would you believe it?
I'll also be including any therapies that help, product alternatives to the chemical-filled ones you'll find in supermarkets. exercises that ease pain... all of it. Much like I used to track my eco adventures, I'll now be tracking my endo adventures (with some eco thrown in of course - I haven't changed that much!) in the hopes that it could help someone else going through the same. And the therapeutic effect writing gives me. ;)

I've already got billions of ideas for blogs popping into my head, but I won't be posting everything all at once. If my past unreliability has taught me anything, it's to pace the blogs and have some prepared in advance, so that's what I'm off to do!

If you have any questions about endo, the diet, recipe requests - anything at all - just leave them in the comments and I'll be sure to respond! :)

Recipe: Endo-Friendly Moroccan Chicken & Lemon Cous-Cous

As some of you will know each week we make a meal plan so that we can keep our food costs down and also get everything in one shop rather than going to and fro all week for things we need.
Monday is meal plan & shopping day, so I usually spend the better part of the morning doing a quick inventory of the freezer and cupboards to see what we've got, then coming up with meals for the week. Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays tend to be my favourite days to cook something new as those are my days off and I can generally spend more time preparing an exciting meal.

Since starting the Endo Diet food has lost some of its appeal to us, which is a little depressing. As much as I enjoyed being inventive at first, trying to come up with exciting new ways to present what is essentially chicken or turkey and veg has become a bit of a chore. So yesterday I made an extra effort to come up with meals that sounded full of flavour and was really quite pleased with myself when I fell upon a recipe for Moroccan Chicken & Lemon Cous-Cous! Not only did it sound delicious, it was also an opportunity to attempt cooking with bone-in chicken thighs. For those who don't know me that well, I have never even eaten food with bones in before unless it was a surprise and in all occassions I stopped eating as soon as I found out. Something about it freaks me out. But in the name of money saving and on a quest for flavourful foods, I took a deep breath and jumped right in to this new experiment.

I had a little waver upon seeing them at the shop and another upon seeing the bones at first at home, but after seeing the price I pushed through. £4 got us 1.1kg of chicken thighs! To put that into context; the packets of 450g of chicken breast are also £4, so we got almost 3 times the meat for the same price. So on the back of last nights' success, I've been convinced to try AFC (Ami Fried Chicken!) using chicken wings or drumsticks in future. I'm a bone-in convert...for chicken at least!

And so on to the recipe...

Serves: 2-4

Ingredients:

4-8 Bone-in Chicken Thighs

2-4tsp Turmeric

1-2tbsp Garam Masala

Pinch of Salt

Sunflower Oil

1 Onion, finely sliced

1-2 Garlic Cloves, finely sliced

500ml Chicken Stock

Juice from 1 Lemon

125-250g Gluten Free Cous Cous

Parsley to garnish

Method:

1. Heat some oil in a large pan, coat the chicken thighs in half the spices and place skin-down in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn and cook for another 2 minutes before removing them from the pan.

2. Add the onion and garlic to the pan and fry until golden.

3. Add in the remaining spices and cook for another minute. (I forgot to do this bit and it still turned out yummy!)

4. Add the chicken stock and bring to the boil, before placing the chicken back in the pan skin side up.

5. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer for 35-40 minutes. (I didn't cover it and the stock concentrated down nicely, but I did have to add more water in later for the cous cous to cook.)

6. Remove the chicken and take the pan off the heat.

7. Stir in the lemon juice a cous-cous, topping up water if necessary, then leave to stand for 5 minutes/until the cous cous is cooked through.

8. Fluff through the cous cous and place the chicken back on top.

9. Garnish with parsley and serve!

I forgot to take a picture of our meal last night so this picture is taken from the recipe!

The Uprising Bakery and Cafe

Last month it was my friend Rachel's birthday and everyone went for a meal and a night out to celebrate. I was heartbroken I couldn't go, but with my diet and my early bedtime at the moment I would've been a dead bore for everyone. On a hen night I attended earlier in the year I'd met a lovely girl called Ellie who runs a vegan, gluten free cafe in Bristol and as a birthday treat I decided to take Rachel who's also on a gluten free diet. :)

The Uprising Bakery and Cafe is a sweet little cafe with delicate tea cups and eclectic furniture. They have a menu of savoury and sweet foods such as soups, pizzas and cakes that are all handmade on the premises not to mention quite a wide range of scrummy herbal teas.

Rachel and I shared a pot of wild berry tea (which tasted mildly of black jelly babies in my opinion!) and Rach had a red velvet cupcake while I had a yummy slice vegan banana bread. It was all absolutely delicious and very reasonably priced considering the usual raised price of anything gluten free.

Once you factor in the enjoyable walk there from the Cabot Circus car park and the lovely antique jumble shop across the road that I fell in love with, it made for a cheerful afternoon. :) Definitely something I'll be repeating when I'm in need of an endo-friendly sweet fix!

Yummy wild berry tea!

Recipe: Endo-Friendly Banana 'Ice-Cream'

I chose this recipe today to celebrate as today was the last Zoladex injection I need before my lap next month! Avoiding dairy and sugar has been difficult (and I've slipped quite a bit on sugar..) so finding this recipe has been a god send. This is definitely one for your sweet tooth, saved for those occassions when you absolutely need something sweet but don't want to slip off the bandwagon. Obviously it isn't real ice-cream, but it's close enough! It does take some pre-planning and you may not get to the ice-cream stage - while preparing my first attempt I couldn't wait for it to freeze and ended up with ice-cold mashed banana! :)

Serves 1

Ingredients:
1 Banana
Fruit Syrup (optional)

Method:
1. Break the banana up into chunks
2. Freeze then part-thaw the banana
3. Blend the banana until it's smooth and creamy
4. Serve with fruit syrup

Very budget friendly, very tastebud friendly!

Recipe: Endo-Friendly Homemade KFC

One of the things I've missed most since starting the Endo diet is fast food. Aside from hot curries, there are very few meals you can get from a takeaway that don't have ingredients you need to avoid in them. So imagine my delight when a friend of mine says she has a recipe for homemade KFC. :) I tried it this evening and it was nom, so I thought I'd share it with you!

It's healthier than KFC (who knows what else they put in it!), cheaper than KFC (the price of chicken plus a small amount of flour, spices and oil is a lot less than a takeaway) and better for the environment too - no wrappers to go in the bin. If I'd known about this recipe in my pre-diet days I'm not sure I'd ever have had KFC!

Serves 2

Ingredients:
2 large chicken breasts cut into pieces
Flour (I used rice flour but any gluten-free one should do)
Spices (I used paprika, cayenne pepper, asafoetida, oregano, thyme, chilli flakes, minced garlic)
Egg replacer
Olive Oil

Method:
1. Pre-heat the over to 22C
2. Mix the flour and the spices together in a bag (I used 4 tablespoons of flour and that was WAY too much - 2 should be more than enough)
3. Add about 1cm of oil to the bottom of a square glass dish
4. Dip the chicken into the egg replacer and place it in the bag, shaking it so that the chicken is fully coated (1-2 pieces at a time so that it doesn't all stick together)
5. Place the chicken in the dish, repeat until all the chicken is coated
6. Cook for 30 minutes, turn, then cook for a further 15 minutes
7. Remove from oil and place on a piece of kitchen roll to drain
8. Serve and enjoy!

Chicken ready to go in the oven!

Recipe: Endo-Friendly Spicy Lentil and Chicken Soup

This is a new twist on an old favourite of ours and is really simple to make. Spicy chicken soup is a fall-back whenever we fancy something satisfying, warming but still healthy and budget-friendly - it really hits all bases! I especially like this recipe as you can get away with just 1 large chicken breast for 2 people. Chicken isn't cheap (there's a pun there somewhere) so needing half the amount definitely helps the food bill. I was doubtful when I first tried it, but you really do end up with a LOT of chicken once it's shredded. If you're not a fan of spicy foods it's really simple to swap out the spices and put herbs like Basil, Thyme and Parsley in their place too.

(Serves 2)
Ingredients:
100g Red Split Lentils
Olive Oil
1 Onion, chopped
1 Carrot, chopped
1 Garlic Clove
1 Large Chicken Breast
400ml Chicken Stock
270g Crushed Tomatoes
1tsp Cumin
1tsp Cayenne Pepper
Salt
Black Pepper

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan on a medium heat and add the onion, carrot and garlic - cook for 5 minutes.
2. Add the chicken, cumin and cayenne and cook fur a further 5 minutes until the chicken starts to brown.
3. Stir in the stock and water then simmer for 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.
4. Remove and set aside the chicken and add the lentils and tomatoes, leave to simmer for 15-20 minutes. While the soup is simmering, shred the chicken breast.
5. Add the chicken back to the soup and simmer for a further 5-10 minutes.
6. Season to taste and serve.

For a naughty added extra crush some lightly salted corn chips (make sure they're gluten/soya/milk free - Asda Smart Price ones are but don't know about other brands) and sprinkle them over the top for a crunchy layer.

Recipe: Endo Friendly Chicken Goulash

Today I decided to use the slower cooker that's been collecting dust since we moved in! Tom had work and I was feeling particularly lazy, so a batch of slow-cooked chicken goulash found its way onto the menu. It's incredibly simple to make and takes between 2.5-6 hours to cook depending on the setting you use. Prep time is only about 10-15 minutes so it really is a hands off meal!

Serves 6 (I froze 4 portions for later meals)

Ingredients:
olive oil
1/2 an onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 red pepper
1kg chicken breast
1 1/2 tins of chopped tomatoes
1tbsp brown sugar
1tbsp paprika
3 handfuls of red lentils
other seasoning to taste (I used sage, mint, parsley & chilli flakes)
water/tomato puree can be used to thin/thicken it as you like

Method:
1. Heat oil in a pan and add the onion, saute until cooked through and add to the slow cooker.
2. Cook the pepper and garlic in the pan then add to the slow cooker.
3. Add all of the other ingredients (minus the 'other seasoning' and lentils) to the slow cooker and mix together.
4. Cook for 2.5-3 hours on High or 5-6 hours on Low.
5. Remove the chicken and shred it.
6. Add the chicken, lentils and other seasoning to the slow cooker and cook for 15 minutes on High or 30 minutes on Low.
7. Serve and enjoy!

I especially liked this recipe as it was something I could share with Tom - he cleared his bowl! Half the battle of the endo diet is feeling like you can't share meals with other people without feeling like they're giving up a good meal, so this was a real relief. :) It's also a budget-friendly meal, especially when done as a big batch. The chicken was the biggest expense at £6 but the rest cost no more than a few pence per ingredient, bringing the cost per portion to less than £1.50!

Endo Recipe Book Review

I recently purchased Recipes & Diet Advice for Endometriosis by Carolyn Levett* for two purposes: firstly to explain what foods to cut out and why, secondly for the recipe ideas it contains. On both fronts I've been very happy with the purchase.

                                        

The first few chapters deal with what foods to avoid and the science behind them. I found this bit particularly fascinating, especially learning exactly why each food exacerbated endometriosis in particular. Although I knew some of the things on the list weren't exactly 'healthy', I didn't realise they could have such negative effects on the body. For example I knew soy wasn't good from a salt-content perspective, but I was surprised to find that every aspect of mass-produced soy is bad for you as the process removes all the good nutrients and aluminium from the containers is slowly absorbed into the end product.
The chapters are broken down simply and the science-y bits are really easy to follow (if not understand!).

The beginning of the book also deals with foods that will help you in your recovery - liver friendly ingredients to help with detoxing, along with lists of specific fruit and veg that contain vitamins directly useful to healing from endometriosis. I've found this section extremely useful when trying to flavour new recipes I'm testing - consulting the spice rack for its medicinal uses instead of just the flavours I can create.

Another aspect that I've found helpful is that throughout the book there are sections explaining alternative ingredients you can use in place of the banned ones. For example stevia, cacao or carob can replace sugar depending on the recipe you're using. There's also a lengthy section explaining the different benefits of alternative gluten free flours. These alternatives can be a bit pricey though so I'd definitely pick recipes that use the same kind of flour so that you only need to buy one.

The majority of the book is dedicated to recipes; from drinks and starters all the way through to desserts and baking, not to mention party food options. This is where the true value of the book is found, as a lot of sources will tell you what you can't eat but very few will help you work out what you can. All of the recipes are extremely basic and conform to a completely vegan diet, so that absolutely anyone can use them. This leaves plenty of room for you to add your favourite white meat or fish to the dishes.

Whenever I'm planning our meals for the week I've taken to having this book nearby. I'm very fussy when it comes to food, but even if I don't like the exact recipe it's excellent for getting base ideas to build on.

If I had one complaint it would be that the book has typos scattered throughout and you can tell it wasn't professionally written. The author is an endo-sufferer and wants to share what she's discovered and found to help. It's not a big problem, these things just jump out at me!

Overall this book is absolutely invaluable and if you're an endo sufferer it should definitely be on your bookshelf! Or even if you just want a healthier diet that isn't full of the additives and hidden nasties that regular products are now becoming overloaded with.

*This is an Amazon Associate link.

The Endo Diet

Having done a lot of research into Endometriosis and alternative treatments that help the condition, I've come across a number of things that are said to help. The method that crops up most often is the 'Endo Diet' - a diet that cuts out all foods known to aggravate the condition. The list is pretty extensive!

There are countless testimonials saying their pain has all but disappeared and some even claim their endometriosis has gone entirely. So it's time to test out their claims and try it for myself. :)

My first step was to buy Recipes & Diet Advice For Endometriosis by Carolyn Levett*. There are lots of books out there that explain the diet and the science behind it, but this book comes with 260 recipes that are Endo-friendly, all the way from starters & soups to baking and party foods. Once you see the list of things you can't eat, you'll understand why this is a God-send!

Once that arrived I spent the morning reading through the science-y stuff and working out what foods I'll be saying goodbye to and which new friends I'll be greeting. Without going into great detail, here is the list of foods to avoid:

• Wheat/Gluten
• Red Meat
• Dairy
• Sugar
• Caffeine
• Eggs
• Alcohol
• Yeast
• Soy
• Additives & Preservatives

As you can see, it's pretty much everything you'll find in a normal diet. You may be thinking there's nothing left to eat, but you'd be surprised at how much I can still eat - I was!

For example chicken, pork, turkey and fish are all fine (as long as you're careful about the source), along with all gluten free products like breads, pasta, rice etc. Fruit and veg are fine too, natural sugars are okay. Plus herbs and spices are really good to include, so it doesn't have to be a bland diet.

Next stop was Asda to stock up on a few healthy items. I won't be jumping feet first into this diet, it'd be too extreme for my body and pretty heavy on my bank balance! The plan is to slowly use up what we have in the cupboards and replace them with the healthy alternatives over time.

We bought:

• Organic chicken stock cubes
• A fruit syrup alternative to sugar
• Almond milk
• Gluten free cous-cous
• Organic Virgin Olive Oil
• Organic tinned tomatoes (high in antioxidants)
• Turkey Mince

It came out as a pretty expensive shop! My favourite find was definitely the fruit syrup, which I used in my porridge this morning. It was quite a subtle but sweet taste and can be used in all kinds of things - tea, coffee, porridge, spread on toast, in baking and cooking etc.

                                             

We've now come up with a meal plan for the week, some of the meals being the new healthy version and some still being from our normal diet. Tom is going to be doing this diet with me (with some red meat added in for his man-needs!) so we'll be easing into it gently.

This blog is getting pretty long now so I'll leave it here! Over the next week or two I'll be throwing in some recipes that we've tried out (including the turkey chilli one from last night) along with a more in-depth explanation about why each of the foods are being cut out.

If you find this topic interesting or know someone who might benefit from the information please share my blog. :) It was quite scary at first getting a diagnosis with no known cure, but having looked around and talked to people with the illness it's really reassuring knowing there are things you can do to help. I'd love to be able to pass on that experience to others!

*This is an Amazon Associate link.