Endometriosis is a painful condition that can cause infertility, many women with this condition can go a lifetime without conceiving. Others, however, even with endometriosis, can still get pregnant and have healthy babies. Diet is something that has long been studied to improve the terrible symptoms of endometriosis.
Most of the research focuses on risk (since eating habits are more associated with women developing endometriosis) and symptom reduction (since eating habits reduce painful menstruation). But there are few studies looking at the effect diet might have on pregnancy rates in women with endometriosis.
The chicken or the egg?
It is difficult to know which came first. For example, does drinking coffee lead to endometriosis? Or does fatigue caused by endometriosis lead women to drink more coffee? No one can say what the main cause is… there are many studies on endometriosis and diet that contradict each other.
There are studies that affirm that including more green vegetables in the diet helps, it is also true that there are no statistics that can fully corroborate it. There are also studies that affirm that coffee can worsen symptoms but there are no effects or statistics that can corroborate it. Therefore the controversy is served on fertility and diet, Although eating healthy is always good for your health and therefore it is worth a try.
Things that have been investigated
At this point, it is worth making it clear that there are some things that are proven by research and that it is important to know to adapt in the diet:
- Eating several servings of red meat or ham a week is associated with an increased risk of endometriosis
- Eating trans fatty acids is also associated with higher risk
- Drinking two or more glasses of coffee a day is associated with having a higher risk of endometriosis, making pain worse ... but there are also studies that find no correlation.
- Eating more green leafy vegetables reduces the risk of endometriosis (although there are studies that do not find the differences).
- Eating more fruit is also associated with a decreased risk (although some studies found no difference)
- Getting more omega-3 fatty acids appears to reduce risk, and fish oil intake appears to reduce painful periods in some women.
- Having three or more servings of dairy products a day seems to lower the risk of endometriosis.
- Eliminating dairy products from your diet can improve endometriosis symptoms. (Although this is controversial because the studies that carried out this hypothesis did not assess whether women could be lactose intolerant). In fact, there are other studies that show that dairy could improve endometriosis because it is related to calcium and vitamin D levels.
If your endometriosis symptoms improve with diet, talk to your doctor about your chances of getting pregnant.