Endometriosis is an undiagnosed disease for millions of women. Bloating, abdominal pain, rectal pain, and heavy periods are just a few of the symptoms that women with endometriosis experience. And once diagnosed, your options are often limited. What is endometriosis? Endometriosis is a condition of estrogen dominance, meaning your body isn’t breaking down estrogen the way it should. The excess estrogen causes the lining of your uterus (your endometrium) to thicken and spread. The key to managing endometriosis is getting your estrogen back into balance. Here are three steps you can use to relieve endometriosis and estrogen imbalance. Strengthen your gut bacteria A healthy gut leads to healthy hormone levels. The bacteria in your gut release an enzyme called beta-glucuronidase that breaks down estrogen and keeps your circulating hormone levels where they should be. If your gut falls out of balance and damaging gut bacteria start taking over, good bacteria stop producing enough beta-glucuronidase to keep estrogen where it should be. An imbalanced

gut is one of the root causes of endometriosis. Eat an anti-inflammatory diet Inflammation can trigger endometriosis and make it worse [3]. Eat an anti-inflammatory diet to relieve pain and cramping from endometriosis [4,5]. You may find many of your symptoms start to disappear. Avoid inflammatory foods like sugar, gluten, dairy, alcohol, and oxidized oils. Instead, base your diet around healthy fats and antioxidant-rich vegetables. Eat foods like these: Wild-caught fatty fish (salmon, sardines, anchovies) Grass-fed beef and lamb Pasture-raised eggs Olive oil Avocado oil Nuts Broccoli Cauliflower Kale Fennel Spinach Brussels sprouts Avocado Fresh berries (blackberries, blueberries, strawberries) Eat foods that calm inflammation to relieve your endometriosis symptoms. Olive oil and cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts are particularly useful for breaking down estrogen. Take a DIM supplement Diindolylmethane (DIM) is my favorite supplement for breaking down excess estrogen. It’s a natural estrogen blocker that helps your body to disassemble estrogen and bring your levels back into balance [6]. Take at least 200mg of DIM every day, with food. For more support, contact your holistic counselor.