Endometriosis Diet

To be honest, this sounds extremely dangerous. If you do decide to go this route, be sure to look at vitamin/mineral replacement and how to get your adequate daily requirements of macronutrients (protein, carb, fat) because it will be difficult to do on a raw diet. Is this diet meant to decrease exposure to estrogen or what? I'm not much for alternative medicine, but whatever works for you as long as it is safe! :flowerforyou:

I'm 29 and been suffering from Endo since I was a teenager. I have never done the Endo diet, but I have read quite a bit about it. What I've realized, however, is that eating healthy in general (even if I eat the "no-nos" on the Endo diet) and getting frequent exercise has helped me immensely. Also, I take anti-inflammatories for 48 hours before I think I will actually need them and I am on hormonal BC. The combination of all these things, and cutting out alcohol and fried foods, seems to have helped tremendously. Two months ago was the first time in years that I was able to go through a cycle and control my pain with only occasional use of Advil. It was amazing!

At my worst, I would plan my entire life around when I knew I would be in pain. I wouldn't leave town, I would tell my friends I was unavailable, and I would even take off work if possible. I was taking about 5,000 mg of ibuprofen a day, more than 800 mg of naproxen, and then taking heavy dose prescription pain killers every four hours and sometimes even resorting to taking shots of vodka just to dull the pain. That was all in one day, and I was still in pain. I was completely unable to function. Taking the first part of the weight off made a huge difference as well. I wish you luck!

I wouldn't say that the Endo diet suggests you eat raw, but rather that you eat Vegan. You are allowed to cook your food on the Endo diet, but you must also cut out all soy products, alcohol, any kind of sweetener, and wheat and products containing wheat. This is incredibly difficult to do and maintain your caloric requirements and a proper macronutrient balance without a lot of time, research, and dedication. I would suggest simply phasing out foods that you find are triggers for you. For example, I spoke with Danna Korn, the founder of Gluten Freedom and author of Living Gluten Free for Dummies, about the suggestion that Endometriosis patients stop eating wheat. She said that there wasn't much research on the topic, but that in theory she thought it would be at least helpful (even if it didn't cure the problem) because of the inflammatory properties of wheat digestion, since Endo is related to the Autoimmune system. However, there are lots of other food sources of inflammation, including most vegetable oils. The elimination of soy has to do with the estrogen-like chemicals that it contains. I would have to look into it further, but on the surface the Endo diet seems to be similar to the Paleolithic diet.

Try keeping a strict journal throughout your cycle and record not only the foods you are eating and the types of fluids you are drinking, but the symptoms you are having. At the end of the month, look back over it and see if you can recognize any patters and determine which foods you should stay away from. For instance, the Endo diet recommends staying away from caffeine, but I know that my symptoms seem to improve if I ingest caffeine while I am in pain.

Feel free to friend request/message me if you like. Best of luck.