Endometriosis Explained — and what you can do.
What is endometriosis?
Endometriosis is a painful pelvic condition that affects 1 out of every 10 women in the United States. It occurs when tissue that is similar to the inner lining of the uterus - the endometrium - grows outside of the uterus.
The problem with this is that the tissue still behaves as if it were in the uterus. Every month, the endometrium thickens in preparation for pregnancy, but if pregnancy does not occur, the endometrium is shed through your monthly period. In women with endometriosis, the endometrial tissue both inside - and outside - of the uterus is stimulated to grow every month. The problem is that during menstruation, this growing tissue has no where to release to, resulting in inflammation and pain.
What does endometriosis look like?
Symptoms of endometriosis include the following:
Intense menstrual cramps
Pelvic pain even when you do not have your period
Low back pain
Pain with sex
Painful bowel movements or urination.
If you experience any of these symptoms and are concerned that you may have endometriosis, I encourage you to start a conversation with your healthcare provider.
What can you do?
While there is currently no cure for endometriosis, there are things that you can do right now to significantly alleviate your symptoms.
The most important area to address is diet and lifestyle, taking steps to remove anything that could contribute to the excessive inflammation of endometriosis. Because our bodies experience inflammation as pain, reducing the inflammatory load can alleviate some fo the painful symptoms of endometriosis.
Reduce inflammatory foods. These include gluten, sugar, alcohol, dairy and animal protein. I know this doesn’t sound fun, but I recommend doing a trial run to see how you feel!
Reduce your toxic burden. This includes avoiding plastic containers and water bottles, filtering your water, buying organic when possible, and avoiding synthetic fragrances and chemicals.
Reduce stress. Let’s be honest, this is easier said than done. Reducing stress can be … stressful. I encourage you to do something every day that brings you joy, whether that means watching an episode of your favorite show, FaceTiming with a friend, or taking a few moments to enjoy your favorite cup of tea.
After removing some of the culprits that could be contributing to worsening symptoms, it’s time to begin adding in foods and supplements that help to alleviate symptoms..
Focus on a whole-foods plant based diet with a variety of organic fruits and vegetables. Not only will this provide your body with the vitamins and minerals that it craves, but it will also increases fiber, which helps to balance hormones by keeping your bowel movements regular
Curcumin, an active constituent found in turmeric, is extremely anti-inflammatory and there is research suggesting the potential of curcumin to suppress the proliferation of Endometriosis. (1)
Melatonin is another anti-inflammatory antioxidant shown to be beneficial in endometriosis. One study showed that taking 10mg of melatonin nightly decreased daily pain scores by almost 40%! (2)
Omega-3 fatty acids are extremely anti-inflammatory and you can get them in your diet through chia seeds, flax seeds, hemp seeds, walnuts and seaweed.
N-acetyl-cysteine is a precursor to glutathione, a powerful antioxidant. Studies show that taking 600 mg of NAC three times per day decreases pain and cyst size in patients with endometriosis. (3)
Pycnogenol is an extract from pine bark with anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. It was shown to significantly reduce endometriosis symptoms by decreasing inflammation. (4)
SOURCES:
Zhang Y, Cao H, Yu Z, Peng HY, Zhang CJ. Curcumin inhibits endometriosis endometrial cells by reducing estradiol production. Iran J Reprod Med. 2013;11(5):415-422.
Schwertner A, Conceiao Dos Santos CC, Costa GD, et al. Efficacy of melatonin in the treatment of endometriosis: a phase II, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Pain. 2013;154(6):874-881. doi:10.1016/j.pain.2013.02.025
Porpora MG, Brunelli R, Costa G, et al. A promise in the treatment of endometriosis: an observational cohort study on ovarian endometrioma reduction by N-acetylcysteine. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2013;2013:240702. doi:10.1155/2013/240702
Khama T, Herai K, Inoue M. Effect of French maritime pine bark extract on endometriosis as compared with leuprorelin acetate. J Reprod Med. 2007;52(8):703-708.
