Eating a “healthy diet” will certainly help you feel a little better with your Endometriosis. The thing is, that “a little better” is often not good enough to really allow us to stick to any “diet”. Endometriosis is unique in the requirements it has to feel better. What is often marketed as a “healthy diet” is just not enough for us endo girls.
Here are the Key Things, you will find in the Endometriosis Diet that make it distinctive and sooooo much better than the basic healthy diet!
1. No Dairy
Often we are told that we need to consume more dairy. We are told we need to get Calcium and the best source is Milk. It is funny, because milk actually contains quite a low quantity of calcium and it is difficult for our bodies to absorb!
The problem with milk is that it is inflammatory on our bodies. Milk is often over-processed and all that homogenizing distroys so much of it’s goodness. Dairy is also acidic on the body.
When trying to heal any disease within the body, we really want to reduce acidity as much as possible. An alkaline body is a healthy body!
2. No diet products
Those low sugar, diet products are often loaded with flavourants and ingredients which are toxic for our bodies. As endo girls, we struggle to process toxins and many have been directly linked to Endometriosis.
Unfortunately, these type of products are far from healthy and will certainly not help your healing with Endometriosis.
3. No processed oils
When we think “healthy diet”, we think of salads and this means salad dressing! Unfortunately, many of the salad dressings contain highly processed oils. These oils are just so bad for us endo girls. Our bodies are break them down and they land up as a toxin for our liver to process. They also change the cell structures in our bodies – which is never good when we are trying to heal the body!
4. No Soy products
Soy has been marketed as this “wonder healthy milk”, a “better alternative to milk”. Unfortunately, there is continuous evidence of the negative effects of soy products. Not only does it alter our hormone balance but the beans used to create the soy milk are often from genetically modified sources. Read more about Soy here.
5. Cutting out Gluten and grains
Gluten is in heaps of foods and can cause inflammation, headaches, digestive issues, poor nutritional absorption and heaps more! Both gluten and grains (even those without gluten in them) are acidic on our bodies. Check out my video about Endometriosis and Gluten.
Gluten has been directly linked to infertility and many of the symptoms experienced with Endometriosis.
I know it seems that “eating healthy” should be simple and easy but it seems that what we have been “sold” is not always the best for our bodies. The best thing to do is to stick to a more raw food diet, from organic sources. This way, you are getting easy to digest, highly nutritious foods, which will give your body great healing properties.
If you are stuck with how to start eating the Endometriosis Diet, why not check out my sister site: www.eatingwithmel.com and see how delicious and easy it can be. Our visit more information through this site, under the Endometriosis Diet section.
Author of Cure Endometriosis & Eating with Mel.
It was recently discovered that I have Stage II-III Endo after having a lap surgery. I am REALLY struggling with the endo diet- not just because it’s SO restrictive, but because I have been getting DAILY headaches. I am getting them every single day, and I don’t know how much more I can take. I am ready to scrap the whole diet altogether because the headaches are so severe I feel like I am about to have a breakdown and just want to feel better. Are the headaches normal? Any suggestions?
Hi Kristy,
So, the headaches have only come along since going on the endo diet? It could be that your body is detoxing from all the stuff in your body. My recommendation is to drink a heap of spirulina or wheatgrass or any of the green powders. They alkalise the body really quickly and act like a blood purifier for you. Perhaps, you should also take the diet in stages and not try and do it all at once. Check out this article for more inspiration to stick with it:http://www.cureendometriosis.com/making-endometriosis-diet-harder/
http://www.cureendometriosis.com/my-new-discovery-bicarbonate-of-soda-could-this-really-help-endometriosis/
Bicarb is also a great alkaliser. Just have a teaspoon in water at least 2hrs after food, once or twice a day. It also helps with pain and Interstitial Cystitis.
Hey Melissa, I first want to thank you for this site. When we hit the end of our ropes and turn to the internet and find a useful, informative, and hopeful site like this one, it really helps
I never had a problem with endo until I had a miscarriage. I assume that my immune system tanked after that, allowing the endo to get its grubby little claws into my body 
I’ve never had a lapo, so technically I’ve never been diagnosed with endometriosis, but I do know I have a largish endometrioma on my ovary, and let’s face it, when you strongly show seventeen of the twenty symptoms that previously had no explanation… it’s time to make some changes.
I have a couple of questions about this diet. I’ve been following most of it for years – even before I started showing any symptoms of endo at all. I never cook with anything except coconut oil, for example, or eat any processed foods at all.
I had read that spelt contains gluten, but that it’s more easily processed by the body than wheat gluten is. Should I just cut out grains entirely? Would this include buckwheat?
Secondly – you mention the detrimental effect of milk on the body because of the homogenization. Does this include raw cow’s milk?
Thanks again
Hi Christina and welcome to my blog
Glad you like it 
If you can cut out grains entirely that would be even better! They add to the candida issue many of us share with endo, so if you can do it, even better. Most girls just focus on gluten as this is the main culprit – it contains a protein which inhibits certain nutrients to be absorbed by some of us and affects our digestive system. See how you feel. I did a “no gluten” test for 2 weeks and then ate it and it was pretty clear it didn’t agree with me. Once you know the signs, you can work out how seriously you wanna go. I found it really hard initially. Gluten is in so many things we don’t even realise – soy sauce, condiments, soups.
Milk is also not great as it is often over produced and contains lots of other nasty stuff. If you can find a cow’s milk, which comes straight from an organic, grass fed cow, then it would probably be okay. It just creates inflammation in our bodies and to be honest, there are just better replacements for our bodies.
On a final note, miscarriages can be a sign of a lack of progesterone to carry the child through. It could be that your hormones are out of balance. http://www.cureendometriosis.com/hormones-tested-accurately-understand-move/
I am so happy you found me and look forward to hearing more from you
Hi Melissa,
I always thought non-GMO soy milk is a healthier option compared to milk, although I never liked the additives I saw in the ingredients! what do you suggest instead of milk and soy milk? I also have almond allergy, so can’t consume almond milk either!
cheers,
-Mojdeh
Hi Mojdeh,
I make my own rice milk sometimes. The stuff at the supermarket tends to contain vegetable oils or other ingredients which I don’t really like. Here is a video on how to make your own rice milk: http://youtu.be/sQhUhMUS8Yg. Hemp Milk is apparently really good too but I haven’t found that in New Zealand yet.
Soy Milk is unfortunately also not great for us endo girls as it is oestrogenic. Check out this article I did on soy: http://www.cureendometriosis.com/why-are-soy-products-are-so-bad-for-endometriosis/
thanks Melissa
… I didn’t know about hemp milk, I’ll definitely give it a try.
cheers,
-Mojdeh
Hi Mel, still struggling with the endo diet myself and looking for inspiration. Would love to read your typical daily diet – fancy sharing?
Bernadette
Sorry hun. I will do a video for you sometime this week and show you what I eat