Endometriosis: Diet changes can soothe symptoms and ease pain

Endometriosis affects nearly 200 million people worldwide. This chronic condition is characterised by tissue resembling the lining of the womb growing outside of the uterus.

This common condition has devastating effects on patients’ wellbeing. It causes chronic pain (particularly during their periods), infertility and symptoms similar to irritable bowel syndrome, including bloating, constipation, diarrhoea and pain during bowel movements.

While there are ways of managing endometriosis, these treatments can be invasive and often don’t work for everyone. This is why many patients seek out their own ways of managing their symptoms.

A frequent question we get from patients is: “Can you recommend a diet that will help me manage my pain and gut symptoms?” While ample advice exists online, there’s little information from clinical studies to adequately answer whether or not diet can have an effect on endometriosis symptoms.

So we conducted an international online survey, inviting people with endometriosis to share their experiences of how diet has affected their endometriosis pain symptoms.

Diet and pain

Before publishing the survey online, we collaborated with a local Scottish endometriosis patient support group to come up with appropriate questions.

The final survey included multiple-choice and free-text questions about the participant’s demographics, their pain, their use of diet in managing symptoms and their sources of dietary advice. It was promoted online through social...

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