Nutrition/The “Endometriosis Diet”

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Remember, the information on my website, podcast, Instagram, and any other ways I communicate and/or produce content is educational information only and not medical advice. Always check with your qualified medical professional before making any changes to your treatment plan for endometriosis or any other health problems. See my full disclaimer here.

This page is specific to tips for eating with endometriosis. It’s not meant to feed into diet/wellness culture. I talk here about the toxic beliefs imposed on us by diet/wellness culture, as well as feeling shame and guilt, social determinants of health, and “healthism” in society.

I’ve been following what’s typically considered a restrictive diet for 18 years, since I was 19 years old. I no longer consider it restrictive, but rather my preferred way of eating because it helps me to feel my best. I talk about how I’ve embraced my way of eating and improved my relationship with food in my podcast episodes (listed at the end of this page).

There is no such thing as an Endometriosis Diet

While there is no such thing as an official “endometriosis diet,” for many people eating an anti-inflammatory diet individually tailored to their needs improves their symptoms and quality of life. This doesn’t always mean they become symptom free, but rather that by eating a certain way, they may have less diarrhea, or less fatigue compared to when they eat a different way. For me, food is one of the biggest contributors to my symptoms, so I personally eat the way I do because there is a marked improvement in how I feel: I have more energy and less pain, and I’m less incapacitated by my flares.

Focus on adding foods in vs cutting them out

While we may decide to cut out foods that contribute to our individual symptoms and pain, it’s also important to add in a variety of nutrient dense foods such as a variety of vegetables, adequate protein, and healthy fats so that we are satiated and have energy.

This can help you crowd our your trigger foods or eat less ultra-processed foods since you are eating more of other foods. You may find that by improving the nutritional quality of your diet, you are naturally limiting certain foods and don’t need to cut them out.

Learn to cook

This can help you control the ingredients in your meals (helpful if you have a lot of food intolerances), bring up the nutritional quality of your diet, and save money. You can try out a new recipe each week, or commit to cooking a few nights a week and work your way up in frequency. There’s so many ways to cook different foods. A vegetable roasted doesn’t taste the same as steamed, in a soup, or raw. Tomato sauce, cheese, garlic, herbs, or spices can drastically change the flavor of a meal. You can also try different types of cuisine. It turns out that I love Indian food and it’s now the majority of what I cook, even though I didn’t grow up eating it!

Get to know your cooking style. For example, for some people, batch cooking their weekly meals works great for them. For me, I loathed being in the kitchen for 3 hours, and cooking multiple recipes was overwhelming. Plus there was so much clean up after. I realized I’d rather just cook for each meal.