First post

I was diagnosed with endometriosis about a year ago. I have always had gyn. issues including fibroids, and after 3 surgeries in 3 years and infertility I starting seeking some alternative ways to deal with them. Armed with the fabulous resources on the web, books and recipes I decided to change my diet for an endo friendly diet. This has not been particularly easy but overall I have to say I feel infinately better on this diet. My endo has never been debilitating but my cramps, PMT and heavy periods are a thing of the past almost, and I am trying to do everything I can to avoid another surgery. There are days when I lapse and have to have that bar of chocolate or glass of wine, or pizza, but on the whole I stick to it quite well.

So, if you have endo and are struggling to think of how you will possibly live on this diet, I look forward to sharing my experiences and recipes with you.

I won't go into too much detail of the ins and outs of our infertility on this blog as there are many, many other fantastic resources out there dealing with that already. I want this one just to concentrate on how I am following an endo friendly diet while having a regular life in which nuts and seeds are not always on the menu.

My interpretation of the diet is this:
- no wheat
- no dairy
- no meat
- no processed food
- no refined sugars
- no caffeine
- no soy

For much more detailed information, see endo resolved (link on right) which is a fantastic resource.

You may be wondering what on earth you are going to eat but in fact this diet forces you to consume much more natural, healthy and taseful foods. There is so much good food in nature that I just wish I had eaten this way all my life.

I have been semi vegetarian for the past 10 years since moving in with my now husband who is a full on vegetarian, but we have always eaten a lot of processed food especially the vegetarian burgers, sausages, pasta sauces etc. I started this diet in October 2006 and I was still eating processed food for a while. But since my knowledge of the diet and recipe arsenal has increased I find I do not need to rely on these foods at all.

I live in Washington DC and have a local organic grocery store about 3 blocks away which is where I do most of my shopping. If you do not have access to such a shop, most of the products that I use actually can be bought on line. I will provide the links where necessary.

Note: I have no medical or nutrition training so please do not follow anything I say here as gospel. This blog is purely my interpretation of the rules of an endo friendly diet.