This Endolife

Recently we’ve been talking about the low FODMAP diet and how it can be helpful for histamine issues and endometriosis symptoms… but what about what it was designed for - IBS, and by default, SIBO?Show notesLow FODMAP diet infohttps://www.monashfodmap.com/about-fodmap-and-ibs/https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4918736/IBS and SIBOhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv8LjTgpmP0https://www.ibssmart.com/sibo-symptoms-and-diagnosishttps://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-05933-1https://www.msjonline.org/index.php/ijrms/article/view/15048SIBO and endometriosishttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39959963/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9660426/IBS and endometriosis https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9357916/https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11668458/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18715239/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28303579/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18715239/Microbiome and endohttps://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10747908/https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10904627/https://www.fro

Last week I talked about the low FODMAP diet for lowering histamine levels and helping to improve MCAS or histamine intolerance symptoms, but today I want to talk about the low FODMAP diet specifically for endometriosis and what the research shows so far.Show notesLow FODMAP diet infohttps://www.monashfodmap.com/about-fodmap-and-ibs/https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4918736/Studies referencedhttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28303579/https://bmcwomenshealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12905-025-03715-1https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12107219/Need more help or want to learn how to work with me?Free resources:This podcast! Endometriosis Net ColumnEndometriosis News ColumnNewsletterInstagramWays to work with me:This EndoLife, It Starts with Breakfast digital cookbookMasterclasses in endo nutrition, surgery prep and recovery and pain reliefLive and Thrive with Endo: The Foundations DIY courseOne to one coaching info and applicationProduced by Chris Robson

Today I wanted to talk about the low FOMDAP diet, but not for the reasons you may think.Today, I don’t actually want to talk about it specifically for IBS/SIBO (though we will touch upon that again), I want to talk about its benefits for histamine, because the low FODMAP diet can actually be a way to lower histamine levels. Show notes Low FODMAP diet infohttps://www.monashfodmap.com/about-fodmap-and-ibs/https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4918736/Endometriosis and histamine/MCAShttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22332753/https://www.emjreviews.com/reproductive-health/article/targeting-mast-cells-as-a-viable-therapeutic-option-in-endometriosis/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31998139/https://www.eds.clinic/articles/the-role-of-mast-cells-in-endometriosishttps://www.gynecologiconcologyinstitute.org/news/endometriosis/endometriosis-news/mast-cell-activation-syndrome-and-endometriosis-a-potential-link-for-unexplained-symptoms-in-women/MCAShttps://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/dx-2020-0005/htmlhttp

Finally, about two months later, I am wrapping up my series on certain vitamins and minerals and their association with period/endo pain when low.Now, just to recap and highlight, the key nutrients we see associated with more severe menstrual or endo pain when low, or shown to improve menstrual/endo pain are:Vitamin AVitamins B1, B6 and B12 (for those of you wondering, folate - otherwise known as B9 - hasn’t been associated with menstrual pain, but does improve ovulation and hormonal health)Vitamin CVitamin ECalciumZincMagnesiumOmega 3 fatty acidsSo today, we’re focusing on the last one in the series, and that’s vitamin D. Show notes Endo, vit D, inflammatory pathways, menstrual pain researchhttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2666571922000202https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4512562/https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7834752/#b31-ogs-20205https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6790261/Vit D and chronic painhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10260782/Calcium and vitamin D in

Some of you may know that I recently completed the elemental diet for SIBO treatment, and today, I wanted to share my experience with the particular formula I used.Show notes Endometriosis, SIBO, LPS and the microbiome connectionhttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9660426/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39959963/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5902457/https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4519769/https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8247/16/12/1696https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(14)00666-9/fulltextAdhesions and surgeryhttps://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/endo-belly-after-endometriosis-surgery?rq=adhesions surgerySIBO test results interpretationhttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28323273/https://endometriosisnews.com/2020/08/06/how-to-interpret-results-sibo-breath-test/https://www.theendobellycoach.com/this-endolife-podcast-episodes/how-to-treat-sibo-with-dr-allison-siebeckerSIBO treatment optionshttps://endometriosisnews.com/2020/12/17/elemental-diet-sibo-treatment/https://endometriosisnews.com/2

Most people with endo are struggling with symptoms, and so the last thing they need is to also struggle with nutrition changes.That’s why today, I wanted to offer you a quick change that can make a big improvement.Enter kiwis.Show notes Kiwis and gut motilityhttps://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/kiwis-for-constipation?rq=kiwisEndo and oxidative stresshttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1477-7827-7-54https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5625949/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22728166/Endo and vitamin Chttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1477-7827-7-54https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0020729207005772Kiwis and vit Chttps://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6267416/ https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/1102667/nutrientshttps://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-c/#:~:text=How much vitamin C do,in your diet every day.https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminC-HealthProfessional/https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/21/4657https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles

Today I want to do a short episode on a slightly different topic, and that’s how to think of or how to approach your healing journey.So, in my training with Dr Jessica Drummond at the Integrative Women’s Health Institute, we were taught to always start each coaching session with a celebration - typically, this celebration is tied to our work and the client’s well-being. So, it might be something as small as they ate an apple that week, and apples are a fruit that client doesn’t eat often, or it might be something big, like a low pain period. Often though, client’s love to celebrate things that happen in their lives too, from a sunny day or a nice meal out for their birthday.But the reason we do this is two fold: Often, because we’re working with chronic illnesses, and usually multiple, sessions can get heavy and we might cover some difficult topics. Starting the session with a win starts the conversation on a lighter, more positive note, that can help the client to not spiral and to notice the good parts of l

So last week I shared my number one strategy for ensuring your meals are blood sugar balancing.Today, I want to provide you with some key blood sugar super foods that can really help you on your way to balancing your levels in the short term and in the long term, which in turn, will improve your inflammation and oxidation levels - essential for endo management.Now, obviously, we’ve already discussed the role of fibre from veggies, protein and healthy fats, and I shared how each of these slow down the release of glucose from foods, so you know the importance of these key foods groups.But today, I want to give you some specific foods, that have been shown in the studies to give our blood sugar efforts a little (well actually, pretty big) boost. Show notesNutshttps://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9965730/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30395790/ - peanut butterhttps://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9965730/ - almondshttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21364607/ - pistachios https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24424

Okay so the past few weeks I’ve been talking about blood sugar and how to identify if blood sugar dysregulation is an issue for you.This week, I want to give you the number one strategy for beginning to stabilise your blood sugar. Now, I have talked about this before in the context of other episodes, I’ve done some lives on the topic and put them out as episodes, and I’ve linked to articles I’ve written, but I don’t think I have ever done a solo episode on this key strategy, so I decided, so you didn’t have to hunt for it, just to do an episode dedicated to this one tool.Now, of course there are other factors here, like how much sugar you’re eating between meals, but this strategy is key to building an approach to your daily meals that keeps blood sugar levels stable consistently, and as a result, that tends to reduce cravings and improve symptoms, which can allow you to start taking on bigger changes, like reducing sugary snacks for example.Show notesFibrehttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18287346/https://link

Last week we discussed signs and symptoms of dysregulated blood sugar levels. Now, if you were concerned, I recommended speaking to your GP, however, often if you’re not pre-diabetic or diabetic, they’re not very concerned about your levels, and won’t really spend the time to get them under control.So, today, I wanted to share how to take your own glucose readings, so you can see what your blood sugar levels are doing over the day, and so you can tweak your meals to better suit your blood sugar needs.Read more.Show notesReference ranges info and toolshttps://www.diabetes.co.uk/blood-sugar-converter.html#google_vignettehttps://www.levels.com/blog/what-should-my-glucose-levels-be-ultimate-guidehttps://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/medical/tests/blood-sugarHelpful resourceshttps://endometriosis.net/living/diet-sugarhttps://endometriosis.net/living/how-to-balance-your-blood-sugar-levels-to-reduce-endo-symptomshttps://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/endo-blood-sugar-gargi-parikhhttps:/

If you follow my work or have coached with me, you’ll know that blood sugar balance is an absolute staple to my approach for managing endo. Whilst this isn’t an episode into how blood sugar affects endo, to give you a short explanation - blood sugar imbalances can have a significant negative impact on hormones, gut inflammation and the microbiome, and raise both oxidative stress levels and prostaglandin levels, both are key to endo growth and pain. I’ll link to some episodes and articles I’ve done on the topic, but maybe in the future I’ll do an updated episode covering these areas.Show notesHelpful resourceshttps://endometriosis.net/living/diet-sugarhttps://endometriosis.net/living/how-to-balance-your-blood-sugar-levels-to-reduce-endo-symptomshttps://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/endo-blood-sugar-gargi-parikhhttps://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/glycemic-index-load-endohttps://www.theendobellycoach.com/podcast/endo-and-pms-the-key-to-reducing-mood-swings-anxiety-and-low-moods-in-your-luteal-phasehttp

This one is a super quick episode today, as I didn’t want to do another replay, but also I don’t have the time at present to continue with our series on pain and nutrients, as those episodes take about a day to research and write up. So, today I want to talk about something that I’ve been discussing with two clients lately, and it occurred to me, that you might benefit as well. Regulating the nervous system and our stress response can have a profound and positive impact on our endometriosis pain levels and our energy levels (and of course, our stress levels and mental health). I won’t go into the science of it here, because I have other episodes on this and this is supposed to be a quick episode, but in short, our cortisol levels and our stress response don’t just influence our experience of stress, but our entire sleep-wake cycle and energy levels over the day. They also influence our pain signals and can turn up the volume on pain. If you want to learn more about this, I’ve linked to two previous episodes i

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome is a group of 13 conditions which all affect connective tissue (collagen) in the body. Most are rare, but one type called hypermobility EDS is common. Because the intestines are made from soft tissue, EDS affects digestion and often causes IBS symptoms. It is a major risk factor for developing SIBO, because it slows down motility. If you have EDS and SIBO, you will be chronic - but you can still live well! And we’ll get to that in the bonus lesson with Dr Allison Siebecker. And just to hammer this point home about the connection between EDS and IBS, one study of 228 IBS patients found 48% also had EDS.Now the reason why I want to bring EDS to your attention is because I am seeing it more and more in my clients with both endometriosis and SIBO.Despite these statistics, to my knowledge, most experts do not consider EDS and endometriosis to be significantly connected. At present, it is thought that most of the period pain and menstrual problems of those with EDS is not caused by endometrio

Dr. Linda Bluestein is a board-certified anesthesiologist, integrative pain medicine physician and former ballet dancer who specialises in coaching and educating dancers and other athletes and individuals at increased risk of hypermobility disorders.Dr Linda’s own experience with h-EDS eventually led her down a career path change that has seen her help countless others to live well with hypermobility and avoid chronic pain development. She is widely published, considered an expert on hypermobility disorders, and has lectured internationally.In this episode, Dr Linda and I sit down to discuss the link between Hypermobility spectrum disorders, hypermobile-Ehler’s Danlos syndrome, mast cell activation syndrome and endometriosis.Here’s what we cover:What we mean by generalised hypermobility, hypermobility spectrum disorders and hypermobility-EDS, and how they differ.What are the signs and symptoms of these conditions. The link between h-EDS and menstrual disorders, bladder dysfunction and pelvic pain and Dr Linda

Do you get full body pain? Does it affect your muscles, nerves or joints? Do you find that you need to rest after walking or find you tired more easily than others?It might not just be endometriosis. Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome is a group of 13 conditions which all affect connective tissue (collagen) in the body. Most are rare, but one type called hypermobility EDS is common - and out of those with this type of EDS, 6-23% have endometriosis. But that’s not where the connection ends…32-77% of those with EDS have vulvodynia and or pain with sex.33-75% have heavy menstrual bleeding. 73-93% have painful periods.Additionally, histamine intolerance caused by Mast Cell Activation Syndrome is a co-condition of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, and we also know that overactive mast cells play a role in endometriosis. Not only can this cause more painful periods, but it can also create problems like allergies and eczema to name a few.Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome is also a huge risk factor for SIBO, and as you may now know, at present SIBO

You all know I’ve been fascinated with the world of chronic pain science for a long time now. In fact, I did an episode on lowering pain signals through calming the brain and nervous system back in 2019 but I’ve been on a continuously evolving research journey since. And this research has led me to Curable, an app for chronic pain, that works by helping to reprogram the brain and nervous system so we can unlearn pain pathways and reduce chronic pain flare ups. I absolutely love Curable, and use it with my clients to help them to address the ways in which trauma, stress and a heightened nervous system could be contributing to their pain levels. Often I find it’s the missing piece of the puzzle in someone’s endo healing journey.So I am so excited to introduce you to this week’s guest, social worker and psychotherapist Christie Uipi. Christie is on the Scientific Advisory Team at Curable, and is specialised in chronic pain, depression and anxiety. After enduring years of chronic pain herself, Christie went on to

Today we’re continuing with our series on low micronutrient levels and the impact on period and endo-related period pain.Vitamin A is an antioxidant, which may have significant benefits for endometriosis pain. Read more.Show notesOxidative stress, endo and period painhttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1477-7827-7-54https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5625949/https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7602455/ https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/13/6/1308Low levels of vitamin Ahttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31734759/https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10303710/https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0310995https://reproductive-health-journal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12978-024-01895-xhttps://ovarianresearch.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13048-015-0179-6https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1477-7827-7-54Treatment with diethttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/1477-7827-7-54https://rbej.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12958-023-01126-1https://pmc

Today we’re continuing with our theme of micronutrients and their impact on endo pain and period pain. Today, we’re talking about B12.Research on the use of B12 for pain suggests that B12 can reduce chronic pain (and menstrual pain) through various methods.Firstly, B12 can inhibit the production of the inflammatory prostaglandins which are responsible for pain and inflammation, and are found to be especially high in people with endometriosis and dysmenorrhea (which is the medical term for period pain). Additionally, B12 plays a role in supporting nerve health and pain signally pathways, which can influence pain perception. If nerves or pain signalling pathways are comprised, this could increase pain levels. This is particularly relevant to those of us with endo who are suffering with nerve related pain due to endo on the nerves, nerve damage from surgery, leg pain, etc.Read more.Show notesB12 pain benefits and endo/prostaglandin linkhttps://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7468922https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.g

Today we’re continuing our series on nutrients and their effects on period pain and endo pain, and this episode is about B6.Now, we’ve already talked a lot about the powers of B6 for hormonal health, but what about its effects on pain?B6 can support us with pain reduction in a number of ways.Read more.Show notesB6 pain relieving/anti-inflammatory properties https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4519769/https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5902457/https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(08)01969-9/fulltexthttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39421613/ https://obgyn.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ijgo.16096https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8361989/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11401933/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0090698074900549https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328373051_Effect_of_Pyridoxine_on_Prostaglandin_Plasma_Level_for_Primary_Dysmenorrheal_Treatmenthttps://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/11/9/2578 Period pain and B6https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10178

Today we’re continuing on with our discussion around micronutrients and their impact on endo and period painIn this episode, we’re beginning with the first of the B vitamins, B1, otherwise known as thiamine. Read more.Show notesB1 propertieshttps://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.21.639433v1.fullhttps://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5625949/https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4825494/pdf/GJHS-6-144.pdfPeriod pain and low B1 levelshttps://www.jpagonline.org/article/S1083-3188(06)00186-0/abstracthttps://go.gale.com/ps/anonymous?id=GALE|A123709137https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/17455057231185624?icid=int.sj-full-text.similar-articles.9Endo and low B1 levelshttps://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.02.21.639433v1.fullhttps://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11536846/B1 and period, endo and musculoskeletal pain relief https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7146731/pdf/jcs-9-47.pdfhttps://academicjournals.org/journal/AJPP/article-full-text-pdf/71051DE28902https://www.isca.me/IJBS/Archi