Soy is a key food for many of you and it can be confusing to know whether it will help with your Endometriosis or make your symptoms worse.

Although Endometriosis is not caused by an excess of oestrogen (one of the 2 female hormones), Endometriosis is an oestrogen-dependent disease. This means that your Endometriosis responds to rising levels of oestrogen leading up to your period by growing and spreading.

So it makes sense to avoid adding more oestrogen to your system through food and soy contains oestrogen isoflavones.

So, should you avoid eating it?

I wish there was a simple answer. There hasn't been a lot of research into the effect of eating soy on Endometriosis. In a study that looked into the effects of eating soy from an early age, Endometriosis progression and pelvic pain was higher when eating a diet that contained more than 10%. Another study found that eating soy was beneficial in advanced Endometriosis, but not in early Endometriosis but it didn't discuss amounts of soy in the diet.

Another factor to consider is that many of my clients show an intolerance to soy. You can read more about the importance of finding out what your food intolerances are in this article.

Soy is a key source of protein for those of you that are vegan or vegetarian. Based on the very limited research done in this area, including soy in your diet should be okay if you keep it at around 10% of your total food intake when you are in the early stages of Endometriosis. If you have advanced Endometriosis you may need to experiment with amounts to see how it affects you.

Some foods should be avoided though as they contain high levels of hidden soy:

• hamburgers
• sausages
• some cheese
• ice cream
• muesli
• energy bars
• any product that contains lecithin (in chocolate, packaged cakes and biscuits, mayonnaise and salad dressings)

If you want to explore whether nutrition can be the right option for you to take some control over your symptoms, book an obligation-free 30-minute Endometriosis SOS Call.