There is a lot of 'noise' around gluten and whether or not you should remove them from your diet. My viewpoint is that only if gluten are causing your problems should you remove them.
And because you have Endometriosis, removing gluten from your diet is an important strategy.
Let me explain why.
There is a strong connection between autoimmune diseases (where your immune system starts attacking healthy organs and tissues instead of bacteria and viruses), and women with Endometriosis have been found to have an immune response to gluten in wheat just like people with Coeliac Disease.
The immune response to gluten creates a vicious circle which makes the reaction worse over time:
- It weakens the connections between the cells in the lining of your gut;
- Contents of your gut can then 'leak' through.
- Your immune system classifies these leaked particles as invaders and produces antibodies to fight them off.
- Which leads to inflammation of the gut.
- The inflammation further weakens the gut lining.
- Etc.
In a study done in 2012, where patients with painful endometriosis were put on a gluten-free diet for 12 months, 75% of patients saw a clear improvement in pain after 12 months. They also noticed improvements in physical functioning, general health perception, vitality, social functioning, and mental health.
The other 25% saw no change, and nobody reported that their symptoms had worsened.
As with many autoimmune-like diseases (Endometriosis has not yet been formally classified as one), we are not completely clear on why the immune system goes crazy. But we do have good evidence that removing wheat from your diet can improve your symptoms!
So what are gluten?
Gluten is the name for the protein in wheat that makes the wheat 'stretchy'. Our bodies don’t do anything with them, they don’t have any nutritional value. And in healthy people, they just get broken down and removed.
But if you have Endometriosis, you really should remove wheat from your diet.
The grains to avoid are:
- wheat (in breads, biscuits, pasta, breakfast cereals)
- wheat germ
- rye
- barley
- millet
- spelt
- semolina
You can replace these grains with:
- Brown rice
- Corn
- Buckwheat (which isn't a wheat at all)
- Flax
- Arrowroot
- Legumes
- Quinoa
And check products like oats - they don't contain gluten, but are often processed in machines that also process wheat, so there may be traces of gluten in them.
Many processed foods contain gluten, even if they don't seem an obvious source:
- Soups
- Frozen chips (they're dusted with flour before they're frozen)
- Processed cheese and meats
- mayonnaise
- ketchup
- soy sauce and teriyaki sauces
- salad dressings