Endo & Nutrition: Part 1- Foods to Eliminate

Nutrition is not alternative medicine! It is vital to your everyday well being and affects how you feel. Without nutritional changes I never would have survived the time period between by my 3rd and 4th surgeries, when the doctor I like to refer to as the 'butcher' completely annihilated my body after surgery number three. That surgery took over 6 weeks to recover from and left me with all kinds of increased pains. (I'll be happy to do an in-depth post later about this clown). The summer of 2006 to the summer of 2007 was a huge struggle coping with the effects and pain of endo. One of my few saving graces was enhanced nutrition; consuming healing foods and elimiating wheat and cow until I could get myself to an excision surgeon in the summer of 2007.

Allergies affect everyone differently. When I quit wheat (3 years before my Celiac diagnoses) my fatigue & pain levels eased. It was the first time in my life that I didn't to have to nap. And you do have to quit all wheat. Unfortunately, the entire supply is corrupted from (presumably) the genetic modifications made back in the 70's in which two hormones were added to wheat (our first genetically modified food): one was to make the heads more prolific and the second to make the stalks stronger to support those heads. It is thought that these hormones have an estrogenic effect in women. Which is problematic as endo is a disease of excess estrogen - there are other theories for this intolerance but this is my favorite (studies are currently underway).

Wheat Free Options

There are a lot of wheat-free options and you can eat different types of wheat as long as you’re not sensitive to gluten or have Celiac (which is me too ). My favorite is spelt, an ancient cousin of modern wheat that is making a comeback lately. It is much more nutritious than regular wheat (including whole wheat) and has a wholesome nutty flavor. Spelt has such a strong covering that no pesticides or spays are needed to grow it, so it’s automatically organic and it loses none of its nutritional value when processed (to boot). You can also eat rye, barley(neither for gluten-free diets), millet, quinoa, oats...there are tons of other grain options, they are just a bit off the beaten path. You do have to be careful because there is hidden wheat in a lot of foods. The following could a indicate wheat presence: modified starch, dextrins, maltodextrins, bran, wheatgerm, farina, couscous, semolina, rusk, soy sauce (you can get wheat free soy sauce sometimes referred to as tamari but make sure the label also says 'wheat free'...I bring my own to eat sushi), lagers and some beers. It seems like everything has wheat, but a little extra research can go a long way.

Quitting or Reducing Cow Products

If you are in crises, even the organic ones should be avoided. This is because of the type 2 prostaglandins found in cow products cause a lot of inflammation in the body. On the dairy front you want to avoid the cow but you can eat sheep or goat milk, yogurt or cheeses including feta, manchego, roquefort, pecorino romano (parmesan), halloumi, or buffalo mozzarella (I love me some cheese). Also, you could try nut butters: hemp (my personal favorite), almond, or rice milk.

Yeah, I'm a nag on the wheat and cow front, but it can make such a drastic difference in your pain levels that you owe it to yourself to try it. Some girls are so turned off by this they have actually stop communicating with me after this recommendation. Seriously, just try it for one month and note your pain levels; you have nothing to lose except some extra calories. And everything to gain. Hell, try it for a week...think of it as preventative medicine.

If you're in the clutches of cyclical endo pain you will probably try anything.