Talking about a diet for endometriosis implies the selection of a dietary regime that will significantly help to reduce the pain and inflammation.
The diet plan aims to improve the insulin response and mitigate the overall symptomatology of endometriosis by selecting foods with anti-inflammatory/detox properties that are free of hormones, which notoriously promote the disease.
The diet presented here is the result of the research conducted by the Italian Endometriosis Foundation and its team of specialists for over 15 years.
Warning
Remember that this anti-inflammatory diet serves as a set of guiding roles for your nutritional awareness. It must not be considered as a specific nutritional program, which can be defined only by a nutritionist or a specialized dietitian.Endometriosis can be significantly fought starting with the correct nutritional choices. An anti-inflammatory diet can drastically reduce the pain and symptoms, considerably improving the quality of life.
Which foods to consume more
Increased consumption of dietary fibres is known to promote digestion and the correct functioning of the intestine. It also reduces the estrogens in the blood, with a low impact on the estrogen-dependent tissues.
The dietary fibres should be increased up to 20%–30% of the meals. In particular, one should eat more of the following:
- Vegetables: they contain a lot of fibres, clean the organism and have antioxidant properties
- Whole-wheat cereals, especially if low-gluten: they reduce the glycemic peak and contain many fibres
- Legumes: they contain proteins and carbohydrates and are gluten-free
- Fruits: they are rich in vitamins and fibres (Learn more about Fruit and Endometriosis)
- Oily seeds: they have high contents of Omega 3 and iron
Increased consumption of Omega-3 fatty acids promotes the production of prostaglandin E1 (PGE1), which mitigates the abdominal inflammation induced by endometriosis. One should eat more of the following:
- “Blue fishes”: oily fishes such as sardines, anchovies and mackerels
- Salmon and tuna
- Olive oil
- Dry fruits: walnuts, pecans, almonds and cashew nuts
- Avocado
- Seeds: chia, sunflower, pumpkin and linseeds
Which foods to consume less
- Meat: the consumption of red meat should be minimized in favour of white meat from controlled farms
- Dairy products: they should be minimized due to their casein and lactose contents (Learn more amount Milk and Endometriosis)
- Gluten: better to consume only when contained in whole-wheat or raw flour
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Which foods to avoid
- Industrial products: snacks, chips, snack bars, biscuits and cookies, sweetened beverages, packaged foods, etc.
- Alcohol
- Caffeine
- Dairy products with uncontrolled origin: due to their high contents of hormones and antibiotics
- Soy-containing foods: (soy sauce, tofu, edamame, etc.) due to their content of phytoestrogens
- White flour and refined bakery products
- Saturated fats
- White sugar (Learn more about Sugar and Endometriosis )
- High-sugar candies
- Oat and rye: due to their high content of estrogens
Dietary supplements and essential nutrients
Some essential nutrients significantly help to mitigate the disease. However, they can be hard to find in high concentrations in natural foods. Nonetheless, some dietary supplements contain the following components:
• Vitamin D
• Omega 3
• Omega 6
• Curcumin
• Quercetin
• Parthenium
• Nicotinamide
• Calcium methylfolate
Do you want to learn more?
Feeling better via correct nutrition is possible.
Here, you will find detailed recommendations and menu examples to help you follow, in practice, an anti-inflammatory diet that can minimize the administration of estrogens and other hormones, which usually promote endometriosis development.
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