With your Endometriosis do you suffer with severe bloating, pain and cramps, headaches, brain fog, fatigue, allergies – these can all be significantly reduced by starting with your nutrition – but do note nutrition alone may not sort out all your symptoms. As it all depends on the root cause as there may be deeper issues at play that will require more than a change in your nutrition to address them.
Some of you will have heard of an Endometriosis Diet, some of you may not. In today’s blog I discuss Endometriosis and nutrition, and then the relationship to fertility and nutrition. There is a difference, though not massive, between nutrition for Endo and fertility, and it is important to know why and what to do if you have Endometriosis and want to conceive.
The Conventional Endo Diet
Let’s start with that fact that I hate the word diet!
Diet means something temporary that you do and stick to for a while and then stop, often when you stop everything you have done is lost. The best example is strict weight loss diets, that you struggle with, lose weight and then put the weight back on afterwards once you stop, and you start again – resulting in a yo-yo effect, which is so bad for your body. This principle could work for women with Endo – you stick to it for a while, you hate it, you rebel, you binge, you get more pain than before, you get back to the diet and round you go again!
If you are going to make changes to what you eat and increase your nutrition then you need to make sustainable lasting change that you are happy to accept.
You hear of people being told to give up so many foods with Endo: Gluten, Dairy, Soy, Sugar, Transfats, Nightshades, Fermented foods, Beans / nuts, Meat, Eggs, Fruit
You basically end up eating vegetables and being extremely restricted. You find you cannot go out and you lose the joy in eating. You then resent what you are doing and set yourself up to fail.
I didn’t do anything as extreme as this, but I have been in that place when you lose the joy of eating because of all the restrictions, especially when you go out. I was living in Jordan when I really started my Endo healing journey, and there was so little in the way of eating out – we just didn’t go out.
I will say, that initially, it may be necessary to be more extreme in order to find out what foods that you are sensitive to and why, so that you can let various systems in your body heal.
This will likely not be forever. Things never are. Our food needs change with time, depending on our age and needs. What we needed to eat as a child vs. teenager vs. early 20’s, when we are fertile, menopause and later life will all be different.
What Foods Could Be Actually Be An Issue And Why?
Unfortunately the quote “You are what you eat” is absolutely correct.
This means for those that eat “The Western Diet” that is pro-inflammatory, full of fast-food, commercialised ingredients and little in the way of fresh fruit and vegetables then you will be fueling your body with poor choices. This means you will be fueling your Endo pain not helping to reduce it. It will also mean you are helping to create poor quality eggs, sperm and a womb lining – meaning it will be both more difficult to conceive and to maintain a healthy pregnancy.
This is why what you eat is your choice – you can change what you eat, and how you eat. You first need to find out what foods are a problem and why. Some foods will be a problem for everyone with Endo (e.g. trans-fats, soy and sugar) and other foods will may or may not be a problem depending on your and your sensitivities (e.g. gluten, dairy, nightshades, beans, meat, eggs and fruit).
I have listed out the most common food issues that can occur and a brief description of why:
- Gluten – for some people it can cause damage to the gastrointestinal cell wall lining i.e. leaky gut, which allows foreign food particles into the blood stream causing inflammation as a reaction of an immune system response. Grains with gluten have been modified over the last 60 years to contain more gluten than they did – meaning they aggravate the GI more than they did before. Also use of large amount of pesticides can causes problems for some women.
- Wheat / Rye / Barley – for some women, it may not actually be the gluten that is a problem but instead the fructans present in these grains. I recently heard a great podcast interview with Dr Will Bulsiewick on the One Part Podcast by Jessica Murnane all about fibre, including about gluten sensitivity issues. Dr B was very strong on the matter of gluten and that many people have a problem with the fructans rather than the gluten, which he says is backed by a lot of research! Something to check out I say….
- Dairy – many people have an issue with lactose and also A1 casein protein – if you do have dairy it is important to have organic and full fat, to ensure it is balanced from a hormonal perspective. One way is to try and see if you are ok with goats or sheeps products, and also with Jersey cows (as they have the A2 protein)
- Soy – this is processed soy. If you are of Asian decent and you are used to eating fermented soy this may not be an issue. Fermented soy is great e.g. tempeh, miso but processed soy is over processed and is essentially a estrogen molecule – for those with estrogen-receptor Endo this causes huge inflammation, bloating and hormonal imbalances.
- Transfats – created industrially and results in an overload of Omega 6, and causes inflammation and hormonal imbalance. It is essential to avoid partially hydrogenated oils.
- Sugar – The legal drug! We need sugars in the form of complex carbohydrates. Processed sugar is a problem though as we consume too much sugar (women should consume can. 6g / day of sugar but on average we consume 22g / day!). Sugar feeds Candida – a bacteria present in our gut, which can get out of control with too much sugar – something that is VERY common for women with Endo. Sugar also causes huge hormonal imbalances, can lead to insulin resistance and eventually diabetes. Finally, sugar decreases liver detoxification (needed to break down hormones like estrogen), increases testosterone (link to PCOS) – causes ovaries to malfunction – may not ovulate, increases estrogen production (bad for fertility and Endo) and lowers progesterone, and increases inflammation – all making Endo pain worse. P.S. if you have high insulin levels you cannot burn fat especially around your middle – this might explain why you cannot shift that fat!
- Nightshades (FODMAP) – fermentable, oligo-, di-, monosaccharide and polyols) i.e.
- fructose in sugars (fruits and vegetables),
- lactose in dairy,
- fructans in wheat, spelt, barley and rye
- Galactans in many legumes (beans)
- Polyols sugar alcohols in sweetners and some fruit and veg
- BUT WHY? Many many women with Endo suffer with Candida – there is research connecting the two. So many of the foods that you remove in the FODMAP approach are those that cause Candida to get worse.
- This show it is important to get to the root cause of your issues – not just continue to do things and not know why.
- Beans / legumes / nuts – often high in phytates, oxylates and lectins – difficult to digest – if you treat these properly then often people can eat them (depends if other digestive issues e.g. low on digestive enzymes / stomach acid, leaky gut, poor nutrient absorption, immune issues causing allergies etc)
- Meat – for some women this is a problem – this could in fact be associated with the source of the meat rather than meat itself. I found this in Jordan as there were v different sources of meat out there. If I ate grain fed mass produced meat I bloated instantly. If I ate grass fed meat I was fine. Great evidence of food journaling.
- Eggs – key to eat organic free range to ensure get the cholin (which is not present if not these) – essential for fertility.
- Fruit – rich in simple sugars – if got Candida or insulin resistance then need to work on these issues and may need to reduce fruit during a specific protocol.
Nourishing EndoFertility Principles
When you are first starting out you have a tendency to think you have to be perfect at everything and that can be very daunting. Here are 6 principles I recommend to all my clients to follow. This will help make sure what you are doing is sustainable and fits your needs, as we are all different.
Principle 1: Bioindividuality
- We are all different.
- Genetically, biologically, emotionally and life experience – this is why what suits one person will not necessarily work for someone else. You have to try what works for you. Your root causes behind your Endo and what causes your flare ups will be different.
Principle 2: No Need to be Perfect: 80 / 20 rule
- Mistakes are ok, there is no need to be perfect – focus on progress not perfection.
Principle 3: Nourish, Nourish, Nourish!
- The key for fertility is you need a nourished body.
- It can be one of the root causes to infertility.
- If you are depleted in key vitamins and minerals this will affect your ability to conceive. This is also critical for your other halves as it takes two to tango!
- As you may have seen from a recent post on low iron and fertility, this can have serious effects on your ability to conceive and health of your future baby.
- Other critical ones for example, include zinc, D3, EPA / DHA fatty acids (i.e. omega 3), coQ10 (for the guys in particular).
Principle 4: Eat Intuitively
- Listen to your body.
- What are you craving and why?
- If you are craving chocolate you might be short in magnesium?
- Do you get flicky eyes? Have you been stressed, then likely you could be depleted in magnesium. Craving sugar, you might not have eaten enough carbs.
- As fertile women we need carbs to produce an adequate balance of our hormones, especially our sex hormones. First think of a health option available to you but if there is something you are seriously craving just go for it, then think why later. If this is happening all the time, say late at night, these sugar cravings are less likely nutrient deficiency and more likely to be those horrid little critters ‘Candida’.
Principle 5: Fresh is Best, Local is Even Better, Organic is Much Better
- Need to do what you can find and afford.
- There are choices you can make – so understanding the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 is a great start on the Environmental Working Group website.
- Frozen are good, canned are ok (canned food should be your last choice due to high levels of sodium and chemicals on the inner coating).
Principle 6: Fat is OK, it is more than OK, it is essential
- This is so very important for your fertility, hormonal imbalance and healing process. It is so very important to ensure you have the right fats and a good balance of Omega 3 to 6.
- We have too many transfats in our life now.
- This seriously causes inflammation and can contribute to infertility due to hormonal imbalances.
- Change your fats up – increase good fats e.g. olive oil, coconut oil, rapeseed oil, sesame seed oil, avocado oil, nuts, seeds, avocados, oily fish, butter. Reduce transfats present – high in Omega 6 and cause inflammation e.g. heat treated sunflower oil, canola oil, e.g. crisps, fried foods etc.
- Check out my QuickStart to Fertility Ebook in the EndoFertility Resource Library for some great tips on everything from nutrition to lifestyle and toxins at home to get you started.
I Understand Your Worries Im Going Through This Again Myself!
I have learnt a lot along my personal EndoFertility journey, and I am still learning! I have learnt a lot as a nutrition and health coach. My knowledge now on my second TTC journey is a lot greater than my first TTC journey. Understanding these principles can really help you make the right choices in a sustainable manner, without food choices becoming such a burden.
I will keep you updated on my journey and the choices I make as we try for no. 2. I am hoping it will be easier than the first time, but you never know, as our bodies and their nutritional, physical and emotional needs are continually changing.
Do You Need Help?
If you are still struggling with not knowing what you are meant to do to help reduce your Endo pain and improve your chances of getting pregnant, then did you know I did EndoFertility 1:1 Nutrition and Health Coaching? I work with clients 4, 6 or 9 months depending on the severity of their Endo and fertility condition. If you want to know more then book a 15 mins free Clarity Call to see if we would be right to work together.
I would also recommend you join my Facebook Group: Thrive and Conceive with Endometriosis, where I pop in most days with something to share.