Firstly, a quick recap of the past year or so:
Nicole is in pain. Endometriosis is the diagnosis after a laparoscopy is done. Nicole decides to combat this by having lots of babies and breastfeeding for as long as possible. Nicole gets pregnant. Pain improves. Nicole gives birth to Baby E. Retained placenta leads to two D&C’s and antibiotics for infections. Doctor prescribes a high dose of estrogen for a month to help prevent intrauterine scarring and infertility. Nicole is in pain. Endometriosis and estrogen are not friends. Nicole seeks out and tests an endometriosis-friendly diet to see if it makes any difference. Nicole writes this post . . .
Foods you can eat while on an endometriosis diet:
After I finished my month-long regime of taking an estrogen pill typically used on postmenopausal women (I was prescribed a drug called Premarin, if you’re curious), I had some bleeding and a whole lot of pain. Thankfully once my bleeding stopped and my breastfeeding hormones were allowed to take over, the pain subsided to a manageable level. To undo some of the damage that I’m sure was done to my poor body as a result of this necessary evil, I decided to investigate which foods help and which foods aggravate endometriosis. I honestly believe that diet has a huge impact when it comes to a lot of chronic conditions.
Most of my Internet research told me which foods to cut out (non-organic foods, soy, wheat, dairy, red meat, sugar, additives, and preservatives), but didn’t give a lot of information about what I could eat. I found two excellent resources with a lot of information about what to eat if you have endometriosis along with recipe ideas for endometriosis:
1. The Infertility Cure by Randine Lewis
I bought this book two years ago when trying to get pregnant with MC after a complicated miscarriage (the book describes different strategies for treating infertility using Traditional Chinese Medicine). I love this book and consulted it again when my endometriosis became very painful following the estrogen therapy (there is an entire chapter devoted to the treatment of endometriosis and fibroids). According to The Infertility Cure, I can eat fish, walnuts, dark greens, root vegetables, omega-3 fatty acids, along with a range of other foods that are specific to my personal symptoms.
2. Recipes for the Endometriosis Diet by Carolyn Levett
I downloaded and printed the e-book version of this resource. It’s full of recipes and information as to why/why not certain foods can be eaten. In particular, I found Recipes for the Endometriosis Diet helpful for planning the day-to-day meals and snacks for my family. We have tried (and love) some of the recipes for breads using alternatives to wheat flour along with various side dishes. According to this book (which agrees with a lot of the principles listed in The Infertility Cure), I can eat apples, berries, nuts and seeds, peas, beans, carrots, raisins, dates, decaffeinated green tea, and whole grains (excluding wheat). Plain “live” yogurt with active bacterial cultures is the one exception to the no-dairy rule.
Basically, I’m now eating a high-fibre diet that includes a wide variety of whole grains (quinoa, buckwheat, oats, rice, popcorn, spelt, etc) and is rich in fruits and vegetables. My protein comes primarily from nuts and seeds (with the odd meal of fish). I drink almond milk and add plain yogurt to some recipes for calcium.
But . . .
Is it realistic to stick to an endometriosis diet all the time?
For me, no. Fortunately, I live with a family of health-nuts and this type of diet is not a drastic change for us, so we’ve decided that most of the meals we eat on a daily basis will follow an endometriosis-friendly diet. When out somewhere as a family or having a meal with friends, we eat whatever is available/being served. Also, I like testing and blogging about a wide range of food that people may be interested in purchasing at the grocery store. Thus, I’ve been following the endometriosis diet about 80% of the time. It’s enough to keep the excruciating pain at bay for now.
Will I continue on my endometriosis diet?
Yes, unless my pain becomes significantly worse, I’ll stick to my same goal of adhering to this diet 70-80% of the time. I definitely have an increase in my pain when I eat inflammatory foods, but I like not feeling deprived or as though I’m inconveniencing people with my food needs when out with friends. I wouldn’t say it’s a cure-all for endometriosis, but following the advice of the above resources has made a noticeable difference for me.
So, if you thought I was a crazy crunchy-granola eating freak before . . . I’m even freakier now! But well-balanced about it.
If you have endometriosis (or any other chronic health condition),
have you tried eliminating some foods?
Has it made a difference for you?
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Glad to hear that it’s helping! And I’m glad to hear M and K like the food. My little girl is on a cracker and pasta diet. It is near impossible to convince her to eat anything remotely healthy!!!
I think I’m on this diet maybe 20% of the time – I just find it so hard in a family that really doesn’t share my love of random other food. If I lived on my own, I could do it, no problem – and would even enjoy exploring it – but my husband likes steak and potatoes on his plate – the less colour the better. Alexys will eat whatever, but then I’m not making 2 different meals everyday. We do 100% avoid soy if we can and perhaps next year (:D) I’ll try this out again!
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