How to prevent and improve endometriosis
Endometriosis is one of the conditions in the female cycle that can lead to fertility problems.
Endometriosis is ectopic endometrial tissue, that is, outside the usual place, which is combined with the alteration of two systems: the immune system and the hormonal or endocrine system. In this article you can learn in more detail what endometriosis is, its causes and how it is related to female fertility.
Precisely because of this double causality of endometriosis (immunological and hormonal) it is considered that endometriosis should be assessed and treated from a general or systemic point of view and not only gynecological.
And therefore, not only gynecologists can help improve endometriosis diagnoses, but many other areas of health can also provide information. tips to help prevent the appearance of endometriosis, mitigate its symptoms or avoid its recurrence (repetition of the disease when it had already been overcome).
Avoid constant activation of the immune system
This is something easier said than done. In reality, it is not that it is difficult to avoid the constant activation of the immune system, but there are many causes of the activation of the immune system, so you must be attentive to many factors.
The advantage is that recommendations to avoid overactivation of the immune system also impact general health, not only for patients with endometriosis.
Therefore, These recommendations to improve endometriosis are valid for the whole family!
Eating healthy to improve endometriosis symptoms
The body needs quality nutrients, and vitamins and minerals need to be absorbed through fruits, vegetables, quality proteins, nuts and seeds.
To keep the body healthy, you must also avoid excess flour, sugar and juices. The best thing, if eating healthy “is too much for you”, is to contact a nutritionist who can give you tools to eat better, and follow-up to achieve your healthy eating goals.
Take care of the digestive system to improve endometriosis
It is not just about eating well, but about our body being able to correctly take advantage of what we eat. There should be no continuous inflammation, heartburn, excess gas, constipation, or pasty stools, to give some examples. If so, it is better to seek professional advice from a digestologist, nutritionist or psychoneuroimmunologist.
Moving your body - and not just because of endometriosis -
Exercising is great, yes. But not everyone enjoys it, and in fact, many people end up not moving because they don't like exercise.
If you are not one of those who exercise in the classic way (running, swimming, playing basketball, going to the gym), try moving your body in any of its million ways: walk to work, take walks, dance at home , set an alarm to get up every hour if you have a sedentary job... The body is prepared to move, and if we don't, the body receives a warning signal: something is not right. And immediately the immune system responds by activating.
Sunbathe, or what is known as vitamin D
Sunlight is essential, as if it were just another nutrient. We live in a country with a lot of sun but where a very high percentage of the population has a deficiency of this vitamin due to lack of exposure to the sun. To the point that it is being widely recommended to provide this vitamin to all newborns, in a country where there are many hours of sunshine.
This vitamin is not only relevant for fixing calcium to the bones but is also involved in building muscles and muscle strength, and in the immune system. A poor state of the intestinal flora can also influence a deficiency of vitamin D.
Control your stress
Stress is something natural and a good survival tool for human beings. We have had peaks of stress since the beginning of humanity and our body is designed to secrete certain substances that make us more efficient under stressful situations.
But even though our body continues to respond in the same way as it did millions of years ago, the stressors have changed and, above all, have been perpetuated over time.
Today we are not specifically pursued by a predator (a stressor from the beginning of time), but instead we have a stressor that remains over time: pressure from the boss or the mortgage. And the body cannot bear to continually live under stressful situations.
Get enough rest
Not sleeping is already a stress in itself. In fact, sleep deprivation has been used as a form of human torture. If human beings do not sleep, they literally go crazy.
And without going to that extreme, sleeping little disturbs us enormously: it alters our perceptions, our ability to make decisions, our susceptibility, our irritability...
But be careful!
Consequences of not getting enough rest
- It alters our digestive and intestinal mucosa,
- Alters our caloric needs,
- It makes us choose foods of poorer quality and with a high caloric load to compensate for the expense caused by stress,
- It makes us feel tired and avoid energy-consuming behaviors such as moving or exercising.
Keep hormones in check
The Sex hormones that come from cholesterol must be eliminated. The liver is the organ in charge of discarding these hormones once they have done their job. And it must be done in an agile and coordinated manner in two phases. If their activity is slowed down by a fatty liver, by lack of cofactors (energy, folic acid, B12 and minerals) or by excess of other work to be carried out, the hormones may not leave the body in the desired time and cause estrogenic activity. exaggerated
Avoid excessive production of estrogen
To avoid excessive estrogen production, which can influence endometriosis, it is important to avoid insulin spikes, control your stress and lose weight.
You must avoid insulin spikes that stimulate the aromatase hormone, responsible for transforming androgens into estrogens..
Avoid sweet drinks, even if they are natural, at least for a while. The sweet liquid enters the blood very quickly and generates a high insulin spike. And avoid foods with a high glycemic load (You can find lists on the internet like this one: https://www.fundaciondiabetes.org/upload/publicaciones_ficheros/71/TABLAHC.pdf )
You should avoid sustained stress that increases hormonal production in general.
And, last but not least, you should try to lose weight: the cells of fatty tissue, adipocytes, act as an endocrine organ on their own, producing hormones and altering their natural equation.
Improves the detox capacity of your liver
It is important to let the liver rest a little and help it in its work.
As?
Avoid overworking the liver by filtering out too many toxins that come from the intestine. In fact, the intestine must maintain its correct permeability.
Factors that increase intestinal permeability:
Stress, gluten, nightshades (tomato, pepper, eggplant and potato) or legumes. It does not mean that you should necessarily eliminate them, it will depend on the cases, but it does mean that you should control their consumption.
Tips to improve the detox capacity of the liver
On the other hand, avoid artificial fructose that is used in processed products and convenience foods. Don't be afraid of the fructose in fruit. It would take 12 apples a day for their fructose to put a burden on the liver. But be careful, if you abuse juices you can increase the amount of fruit you consume without realizing it.
Avoid excess caloric load in your diet or you could even consider eating a little less so as not to make the liver have to transform this excess into substances that can be stored by the body such as glycogen or triglycerides. All this is done by the liver.
Within the diet we could recommend sulfur products such as leeks, garlic or onions or radishes.
And finally, use a simple detox infusion with herbs such as milk thistle, artichoke (link to detox infusion)or black radish and combine it with digestive infusions, This guy is from this LINK
Acupuncture.
The renowned Cochrane association concludes that, although there are still more studies needed to corroborate the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of endometriosis, the benefits obtained in existing studies are significant. Other studies have successfully tested acupuncture to reduce the symptoms of the pathology as well as to reduce the size of endometriomas (cysts of endometrial tissue located in the ovaries). Treatments require persistence and are medium-long term.
These are all general tips.
If you want to deepen or personalize your case, do not hesitate to go to a professional for advice. Furthermore, in the case of endometriosis, if you are considering becoming a mother in the future but are not yet looking for pregnancy, you could consider vitrification or freezing of oocytes.
