Endometriosis and What to Eat?
March 12, 2022
Endometriosis is a painful tissue disorder involving abnormal growth of the endometrial tissue. Endometrial tissue lines the inside of the uterus but during endometriosis, the tissue begins to grow on your ovaries, fallopian tubes, and the tissues lining your pelvis. This is known as the endometrial implant. This misplacement of the endometrial tissue along with hormonal changes that occur during one’s menstrual cycle causes the area to become inflamed and painful. The tissue eventually gets trapped in your pelvis and undergoes a constant cycle of growth, thickening, and breakdown.
Endometriosis is a serious condition that causes severe pain, heavy bleeding, and abdominal cramps during periods and also leads to fertility problems. Currently, there is no confirmed cure for this condition but the only way to come around is gradually undertaking comprehensive care. This must include pain management as well as a healthy lifestyle initiative with good nutrition and exercise.
Diet and Endometriosis
Diet plays a crucial role in determining the risk as well as the progression of developing endometriosis. It determines how well managed the disorder is. Clinically this condition is caused by inflammation, therefore having a well-balanced diet that helps minimize inflammation and subsequent damage needs to be adopted.
What should your diet include?
Fibrous foods: Wide range of fruits and dark green leafy vegetables provide the diet with high fiber content. It is a must to ensure adequate serving of legumes, pulses, and whole grains instead of refined cereals.
Antioxidant-rich foods: Colorful fruits and vegetables, berries and citrus fruits help fight against the free radical damage that is caused due to inflammation. They also provide essential vitamins and minerals to the diet which supports the recovery and lowers inflammation. Foods in antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E like citrus fruits, green leafy vegetables, nuts, and seeds must be part of our daily diet.
Foods rich in essential fatty acids: Omega-3 fatty acids are known to reduce the production of molecules and substances associated with inflammation. It is important to include rich sources of omega 3 fatty acids like fish (salmon, mackerel), fish oil, flaxseeds, chia seeds, soybean, and canola oil.
Iron-rich foods: Iron is an important mineral that regulates the expression of several endometriosis-specific genes as well as the genes involved in oxidative stress. Therefore, it is crucial to have a substantial amount of iron in your daily diet. Food sources rich in iron include heme (poultry and fish) and non-heme (lentils, beans, nuts, seeds, garden cress seeds, and fortified food products) sources.
Along with keeping in mind what foods to eat it is equally important to know the foods that must be avoided in case of endometriosis. Even though there is no rule yet but many food products can worsen the development of the painful condition you are already undergoing and also slow the recovery rate. Foods high in trans fat predominantly found in fried, processed, and fast foods, red meat, gluten in some cases, caffeine, and alcohol must be avoided.
Diet does play an essential role in determining the pathogenesis as well as the management of the condition, but a healthy life choice along with regular exercise and effective treatment can help in faster recovery.
