Digestion is often compromised in those with endometriosis. This happens for a few different reasons.
A major one is related to the balance of beneficial and non-beneficial bacteria. Women with endometriosis are predisposed to having higher amounts of bacterial imbalance in their gut.
Another big one is how fatigue and chronic pain can impact eating habits. It can be difficult to eat regularly throughout the day, leading to a higher risk of slow metabolism and sluggish thyroid, leading to low stomach acid production. This slow motility puts the person at higher risk of small intestinal bacteria overgrowth (SIBO) and IBS.
This is why supporting digestion is a great place to start for those struggling with endometriosis. One of the best ways to do this is to use digestive bitters before meals, and this helps your body make more of its own digestive juices and improves how well you break down and absorb your food.
When we break down our food better, we move it through the intestines more efficiently, supporting healthy bowel movements. Our bowel movements are how we eliminate estrogen from the body, so we want to prioritize this in women with endometriosis.
Supporting digestion can also reduce the risk of histamine issues. Many women with endo struggle with histamine because of the vicious cycle between estrogen and histamine.
Histamine is released from mast cells from the immune system, which are produced in higher amounts in women with endo.
Endo tissue can produce estrogen locally and trigger more histamine release and then histamine triggers more estrogen. Estrogen can then inhibit the DAO enzyme, which helps us breakdown histamine.
@endo.fertility.dietitian goes into this on this podcast episode of the Are You Menstrual? Podcast episode!
Looking for more information on endometriosis? Here is A Comprehensive Look At Endometriosis.
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