Welcome back to the Endo Belly Girl Podcast! In this week’s episode, I discuss “the endometriosis diet.” Contrary to popular belief, there isn't one specific diet to follow. There is no one diet because everyone is bio-individual, meaning we all have different bodies and we do not process foods the exact same way.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
-Why there isn’t a singular diet for endometriosis, and why there is so much confusion out there.
-The key is your unique bio-individuality, and what works for others might not work for you because our bodies are all different.
-Eat primarily whole foods, which are foods you find in nature like meat, fish, seafood, fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds if your body tolerates it.
-Focus on a nutrient-dense diet to ensure you're getting a wide range of nutrients like colorful vegetables, as each offers unique nutritional benefits; also prioritize omega-3s and protein, which are crucial for healing and overall well-being.
-Organic and grass feed and finished meat, pasture-raised eggs and poultry, and wild-caught fish and seafood are best for your body and the environment.
-Avoid vegetable oils like canola, corn, soybean, safflower, and sunflower oils, as well as sugar and processed foods; these can cause inflammation in the body, potentially aggravating endometriosis symptoms.
-Focus on fats like ghee, coconut oil, and avocado oil; olive oil works well for low heat or salads. For sweeteners, opt for lower glycemic options like maple syrup, fruit, coconut sugar, and honey.
-Bio-individuality means we're all unique, with different bodies and needs; it's not just about what you eat, but also about your cultural, religious, and personal beliefs.
-Identify problematic foods like dairy or gluten that might worsen your endometriosis symptoms due to inflammation. Consider trying a 30-day elimination diet like the PALEO AIP.
Trust your intuition to discover which foods suit you best and allow you to customize your diet to your needs, ultimately understanding your bio-individuality. Check out the guide below to create your personalized endometriosis diet. It's a valuable resource for deciding what works best for you. Remember, eating should be enjoyable, not stressful or dreaded.
Resources:
Episode 26
Free Endo Diet Guide
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Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. This may not be the best fit for you and your personal situation. It shall not be construed as medical advice. The information and education provided here is not intended or implied to supplement or replace professional medical treatment, advice, and/or diagnosis. Always check with your own physician or medical professional before trying or implementing any information read here.
Alyssa Chavez [00:00:02]:
Hey, my friend, and welcome back to the Endo Belly Girl podcast. I am telling you, recording these podcast episodes is my favorite thing to do. I hope that you're loving them as much as I am. And if you are, I would actually really love it if you would pop in and leave me a review or a rating or whatever. I know it works differently in some of the different listening platforms. I'm not entirely sure how it works in all of them. I'm an Apple user myself, so I know that you can leave a rating and a review. I think it's Spotify, it's a rating or something like that.
Alyssa Chavez [00:00:39]:
Whatever you have available to you, I would love to hear your thoughts and see if this information is resonating with you. So I always forget to say that on the podcast because I get so excited about the information that I'm sharing. But it does help me to be able to reach more people. And also, I just love to hear from you. Right. I am literally sitting in a room by myself talking to a microphone, which is fine, but it is nice to actually connect with human beings and get to know all of you. And I really want to build here a community of endnowarriors, not just talk at you. So I would love to hear from you and.
Alyssa Chavez [00:01:23]:
Yeah. Okay. So today's episode is all centered around a question that I receive often. I would say it's probably the question that I am asked the most, which is, what is the endometriosis diet? Now, I find it so fascinating, even the way that this question is phrased, and this is often how I hear it, or something very similar to that. What is the endometriosis diet? And here's the thing. There's so much confusion around the endometriosis diet because everybody says something different. That's why I have to laugh at the way it's phrased, the endometriosis diet, as if it's one thing. Spoiler alert.
Alyssa Chavez [00:02:12]:
It's not. There is not one endometriosis diet that is perfect for everybody because we are all unique human beings. So that's pretty much the episode. You can sign off here, and you've gotten. You've gotten the bulk of what we're going to talk about today. It is all bio individual. Okay, I will dive deeper into that and unpack that for you all today. What I really want to share with all of you is to just find clarity on that, cut through the crap that you find on the Internet to be, quite frankly, and help you to pinpoint what to actually eat in a way that is simple, clear and straightforward, and most importantly, actually based on scientific evidence, not just kind of random nutrition advice.
Alyssa Chavez [00:03:02]:
That sounds good. I am a huge nutrition nerd. I love to talk about it all day long. I have spent years studying just nutrition on its own. It's not like some small part of my training. It's been most of my training, and I have a lot to say about it, much less my personal experience being an endowarrior and developing my own diet along the way. Okay, and then be sure on this episode to stay tuned until the very end because I'm going to be talking about a brand new special freebie that I have created specifically around this topic. So if you love today's episode, if you're even intrigued by the title of today's episode, you're going to love this.
Alyssa Chavez [00:03:44]:
Okay, so I was planning this episode and I knew, I knew in my mind that there are so many different ideas that people have or the Internet has about the endometriosis diet and what that actually is and what that means. So I decided to, as I was planning this episode, to do a quick little Google search and see what different ideas are out there, just so that you can see what in the world I'm talking about. If you haven't spent a lot of time going down that Google rabbit hole just yet, you don't need to. So I did it for you. This is all the information that you need to know. Right? So one result that I clicked on, this is just all from page one of Google search results, right? One endometriosis diet said lots of fiber, eats omega three s, avoid caffeine, sugar and alcohol. Okay, pretty straightforward and simple, right? Another one says, eat fruits, vegetables, fish and seafood, skinless lean meat, beans and legumes, limited red meat and cold pressed vegetable oils like canola and vegetable oils and nut based oils. Oh, I almost can't even say this with a straight face.
Alyssa Chavez [00:05:01]:
And whole grains and low fat dairy. Oh, I have so much to say about that one. Just no, I'm just, just no, no on that. Okay. Another one says that foods that aggravate endo include trans fat, red meat, gluten, high fodmap foods and good foods. To include are fibrous foods, iron rich foods, essential fatty acids and antioxidants. And yet another result says to follow the mediterranean diet and also focus on magnesium rich foods, high fiber omega three s, and a higher intake in dairy. And you should avoid fried foods, baked goods, red meat and butter.
Alyssa Chavez [00:05:45]:
And yet another result says to go completely plant based. Okay. There's a lot to unpack just with that for starters. Just. No, ignore all of that. There's a lot of just misinformation on most of that. I have a lot to say on the things. There's some good information.
Alyssa Chavez [00:06:11]:
I wouldn't nix absolutely everything that is on these websites that I looked at, but the vast majority of it is just crap, to be quite frank. I'm just going to get right. I'm feeling feisty today. I'm just going to get right to the point. But even besides that, whether it's good nutrition information or not, there's so many different thoughts there. The things that are good, the things that are bad are just very different even from diet to diet. Some are saying to include lots of dairy, some are saying to exclude dairy, some are saying to only have low fat dairy, which by the way is a bad decision if you're going to eat dairy. And yeah, just so, so many things that are so confusing.
Alyssa Chavez [00:06:56]:
So of course it would be very easy to go down that Google Rabbit hole and come out the other side feeling more confused than when you started. So that's what we're going to do today, is just cut the crap and focus on what actually works for you. Now, I'm looking at the sources of this information and it is largely coming from medical websites, which sounds great, except that I am not, not a fan of doctors. That was a double negative and I know that's very confusing. I feel like doctor there, first of all, are a lot of very excellent doctors out there in the world. I am a huge fan, for example, of my surgeon who did my endometriosis excision surgery. I'm very happy that she is in the world and went through all the years of training that she did. She did an excellent job and it's definitely not something I would want to take on myself.
Alyssa Chavez [00:07:52]:
That being said, for the most part, within western medicine, doctors just aren't receiving very much training in nutrition. I've actually talked to doctors directly about this and they say this. Oh, I only received, you know, a unit or two of training in nutrition in all of the eight years, twelve years, however long they've been in training, which isn't very much. And a lot of the mainstream nutrition information out there, I'm putting that in quotations. If you can't see me, just isn't true. And there are studies showing that if you care to look and honestly, a lot of the nutrition information that's out there, I encourage you, if you're reading something online or you're watching a documentary or something like that. Take a look at who paid for that information to come out. This is something that really is a whole topic for another day.
Alyssa Chavez [00:08:46]:
But I just want to touch base on it here because it's important when you're trying to become a discerning individual and learn what actually works in general and definitely what works for you. There's just a lot of pay to play kind of stuff, right? Where a large food company, for example, is sponsoring the creation of a documentary showing why the type of foods they create are actually good for you. Right? Things like that happen a lot. Just something to be aware of. For example, in the 1960s, people were told to go to work on an egg, like eat an egg for breakfast before you go to work kind of thing. And then all of a sudden, 1970s came around and everybody was told to avoid eggs because they elevate your cholesterol. And now eggs are good again. It's all very back and forth.
Alyssa Chavez [00:09:40]:
Side note, unrelated to today's episode, but dietary cholesterol actually does not have huge impacts on your blood cholesterol for most people. There are a small percentage of the population who are kind of hyper responders where there may be more affected, but it's a small percentage of the population, even if you struggle with high cholesterol. Plus, you actually need dietary cholesterol in order for your body to synthesize hormones, meaning you can't create your hormones like estrogen and progesterone without cholesterol in your diet. You need that. And yes, you do want those hormones. Hormones are not bad. I have a lot to say about that, too. Okay.
Alyssa Chavez [00:10:23]:
I feel like I am going off on tangents here, but I just, as you can tell, I'm very passionate about this stuff and I have a lot of thoughts. Okay, so with all of that confusion and all of that information out there, how do you actually know what to eat for your body? Now, I want to start off by saying that food does have huge impacts on your body, especially if you're struggling with a condition like endometriosis. Food is how we get most of our nutrients, and your body needs nutrients in order to function for everything it does, from your digestion, to your ability to build hormones, to your ability to heal wounds, to your ability to build muscle and just move your body and be able to think and have nerve reactions. Like, literally every process in your body requires nutrients in some form or another. For example, we need zinc in our bodies in order for your immune system to function which is very crucial for endometriosis. You also need zinc for wound healing, including any internal damage that may have happened from endometriosis. You also need that zinc for metabolism and nerve function and skin health. Hello, acne.
Alyssa Chavez [00:11:46]:
You need zinc for fertility, especially during follicle development that happens each cycle. And deficiency in zinc can lead to a dysfunction in a lot of those processes. And yes, you can supplement with zinc, but today we are focusing on food. And so zinc rich foods can include oysters, red meat, poultry, seafood, nuts and beans are great examples of zinc rich foods. Now I am planning on doing a future episode, or possibly multiple future episodes because it's a big topic on the impacts of specific nutrients on endometriosis and how different things can impact your body, like taking a deeper look at zinc and magnesium and even protein and fat and things like that. But today we are going to zoom out and look at the big picture of figuring out what to actually eat with endometriosis. In other words, building your own endo diet. Now, for starters, the biggest takeaway that I want to clarify for all of you today is that there is not one perfect endo diet.
Alyssa Chavez [00:13:02]:
In fact, just take perfect out of the picture altogether and take the word the in front of endo diet out altogether. It's about figuring out what actually works best for your body. And the key piece here that's important for everybody to know is a term called bio individuality. And this is something that is so key with my, when I work with one on one clients, I'm not going to sit there and tell everybody to eat the same thing. Here's a diet plan. Go. It's about figuring out what foods work really well for your body and what don't. And that's going to be different for everybody.
Alyssa Chavez [00:13:50]:
We are all unique humans. We all have unique needs, unique biology, and so all of our nutritional needs are different. Now, that being said, there are certain simple principles that we all can follow as a jumping off point as we figure out what works and what doesn't work for your body. So let's start by unpacking all of that for starters. Number one thing that I recommend for everybody to start with is to eat primarily a whole food diet. What are whole foods? Those are foods that are found in nature, foods in the form that they are found in nature. So that's going to include meat, poultry, fish, eggs, seafood, dairy, if you tolerate it, right? All of this really is, if your body tolerates it, fruits, vegetables, possibly whole grains and legumes and nuts. Again, all of that, assuming your body tolerates that.
Alyssa Chavez [00:14:56]:
Now, that may sound way too simple to just focus on whole foods, but just eating a diet that's primarily based in whole foods can make a world of difference in and of itself. And in a little bit, we'll talk about some of the biggest foods that you will want to avoid, and you'll see that processed foods are primarily made up of those ingredients, which is why that really matters. Now, in addition to that, in addition to just focusing on a whole food diet, you want to also be eating a nutrient dense diet. Meaning you want to pack in as many different nutrients as you can in order to do that. That means you want to be eating as many different foods as possible within that whole food category. In particular, getting a wide variety of vegetables. Right? Think of vegetables and all the different colors they come in. And this can certainly apply to fruits as well.
Alyssa Chavez [00:15:58]:
We just don't want to go too, too overboard with fruits because they are a little higher in sugar content. But same idea applies. Work on getting all the colors of the rainbow, green, yellow, red, orange, purple, white, blue. I'm sure I'm missing some colors, but all the colors, because each of those colors, and even each of the individual foods, they all have different nutrient content. So rather than trying to get super nitpicky and make sure that you're getting this specific food because it has this nutrient, and this specific food because it has this nutrient that can be super stressful and chaotic to try to keep up with that, if you just focus on eating a wide variety of foods, you're going to get a wide variety of nutrients in your body. Now, there are some specific foods that are best, better, I would say, to focus on, or things that you want to make sure that you're incorporating in your diet. And that includes things like omega three s, which is a type of fat. And that includes foods like salmon, mackerel, herring, which are all types of fish, as well as flaxseeds, chia seeds and walnuts.
Alyssa Chavez [00:17:12]:
If you're looking for plant sources, you also want to focus in on getting plenty of protein. Again, you need protein in order to build hormones in order for your body to heal. So that's going to include meat, poultry, eggs, seafood, and even plant sources of protein. And that's it. We're going to keep it simple for today. Yeah, there's more we can dive into on specific nutrients and things that you want to have in your diet, but especially if you're working on just building the foundation and just trying to cut through the confusion and the chaotic nature of trying to figure out what to eat that will work well for your body. Keeping it simple is my best piece of advice. Right.
Alyssa Chavez [00:18:03]:
Just keep it simple. Now, there are some sourcing considerations that I want to throw out there, just as a little side note for today, because the sourcing of the food that you're eating does matter. It will have huge impacts on your health in the long run. So as much as possible when you're eating these foods, organic is going to be best because that's going to avoid some of the endocrine disrupting chemicals that can have impacts on your hormone health, as well as just your overall toxic load in your body. And when you're looking at your protein sources, you're looking for grass fed, and hopefully even grass fed and finished meat, pasture raised eggs and poultry, wild caught seafood. All of this is going to be better for you and better for your environment if that's something that you care about. Coming from somebody who was a former vegetarian, I was a vegetarian for about six years. Figured out that that wasn't actually working well for my body.
Alyssa Chavez [00:19:04]:
But I do still very much care about the environment. I care about the well being of the animals out there. And so that's something that is me, mutually beneficial for you and the animals of the world that are becoming our source of protein. The sourcing of that matters from both sides. So, just something to consider. All right, so we've taken some time to unpack what the best foods are to eat for your endo body. The next question that I often receive is on what foods to avoid. Now, I'm not going to sit here and give you a big long list of no foods here, because again, most of that is very bio individual.
Alyssa Chavez [00:19:50]:
The goal is to eat as many foods as possible, not to eat a super restrictive diet, because remember, the more variety of foods that you're getting, the more nutrients and more nutrients equals better healthy. Now, that being said, there are certain foods that really are best avoided for everybody, not just if you have endometriosis. Really? So let's take a look at what those are and why. Number one on my list is vegetable oils, and that includes canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, and even those healthier vegetable oils like sunflower and safflower oil. Why is this important? Well, those oils are processed in a way that uses heat in order to extract them. And that heat, as well as the oxygen they're exposed to, actually damages them in a way that it contributes to inflammation in your body. And that's honestly, a major issue is that those types of oils, those vegetable oils are not stable. When they're heated, they become very unstable and that can contribute to the production of free radicals in your body.
Alyssa Chavez [00:21:10]:
Basically, it contributes to that overall inflammation and that inflammation contributes to pain and fatigue and abdominal discomfort and bloating. Hello, endo belly. All the symptoms that we don't want. So be sure to look out for those oils. They're very prevalent in processed and packaged foods. If you're looking at your ingredient labels, which you're, you definitely should be, that's a high priority, is always reading the food labels. And of course you'll want to avoid cooking with them, right? You're not going to use canola oil or any of the others that I listed to cook your food. Instead, you want to focus on fats and oils like ghee, which is a clarified butter.
Alyssa Chavez [00:21:57]:
It. So it has the dairy protein removed. So many people can actually tolerate ghee even if you don't tolerate dairy. That's true. For myself, I can't eat dairy, but I can use ghee. In fact, I use that one on the daily. That's probably the most common fat that I cook with. You can also use coconut oil.
Alyssa Chavez [00:22:15]:
You can use avocado oil. Those are good options for anything that's being cooked or heated. Olive oil is also a good choice. But olive oil has a much lower smoke point. Point meaning you won't want to use olive oil at high heat. But olive oil can be fine on a low heat. Like if you're sauteing something on a very low heat, it can be safe. Or for cold foods if you're making salads.
Alyssa Chavez [00:22:40]:
Or like I like to use olive oil if I'm making a pesto sauce or something like that where it's not going to be heated up can be a great choice for that. Or not heated up very much anyway. Okay, number two on my list is sugar. Now this 1 may not be a huge surprise to you because sugar is just everywhere and most of us in these modern times get way too much of it in our diets. Now, sugar is another thing that can contribute to inflammation as well as digestive issues and blood sugar imbalance and even hormone imbalance. Remember, everything in our bodies is interconnected, so you want to avoid sugar in the obvious places like baked goods, candies, cakes, things like that. But you will also want to look out for sugar in those packaged, processed foods. And not just the obvious ones.
Alyssa Chavez [00:23:37]:
I'm talking even things like salad dressings and pasta sauces and bacon. Yes, bacon you want to look out for. Of course, sugar itself sometimes will be the ingredient listed, but sometimes you'll also see words like fructose or sucrose, which are basically other terms for sugar. Looking for basically anything that ends in ose is a good place to good thing to look for on the labels. And instead, if you're going to use sweeteners or eat foods that have sweeteners in them, you want to at least focus on the sweeteners that have a lower glycemic impact on your body. And that can include fruit, coconut sugar, or even honey and maple syrup. Next on the list, processed foods. Now, you may have already noticed that processed foods are one of the main sources of sugar and vegetable oils that we already talked about.
Alyssa Chavez [00:24:33]:
So just avoiding those ingredients will eliminate most processed foods out there. Now, what exactly is a processed food if you're not super clear on that? Basically, it's anything that comes in a package with an ingredients list. Now, it's important to note that there are healthier alternatives to processed foods that do actually contain whole food ingredients. There are some really great companies out there that are doing an awesome job in making packaged foods that are much, much healthier for your body and actually use real whole food ingredients. So I would say go ahead and include those. Just be a discerning label reader when you are deciding what foods to eat, but use those, include those as more of a small addition to your diet while still keeping those whole foods that we talked about in the forefront, because those still are going to be your very best bet in the long run. And then last thing that I wanted to talk about today is gluten and dairy. Now this is a possibly gluten and dairy are not for sure things that you should be excluding if you have endometriosis.
Alyssa Chavez [00:25:51]:
I include these on the list because they are very common triggers for people. That doesn't mean that they're a problem for everybody. And this is where we come back to that bio individuality that we talked about before. Now, if you are not sure if gluten and or dairy are a problem for you, what I would recommend is eliminating both of them for a 30 day trial period and then reintroducing them one at a time with at least three days in between. So that way you can gauge how your body is actually reacting to those foods. Because if you're just consuming them all the time and you're not giving your body a break from it, it can be difficult to tell how your body's actually reacting. I mean, I was 30 years old before I figured out that I was gluten intolerant. You know, I was consuming it my entire life before that and had no idea because I didn't have any direct abdominal digestive distress from that, but it was causing inflammation in my body and dairy was a different story.
Alyssa Chavez [00:26:55]:
I've actually had issues with dairy since I was a kid, but when I removed gluten for, I think a month or two and then I reintroduced it actually in my story, it was by accident. I ate something and didn't realize it had gluten in it. And I had the worst stomach pain I've ever had in my life. It was super intense because when you remove a food and then, and give your body a break from it and then reintroduce it, you can end up having a much stronger reaction to that, which can give you a much more clear answer as to whether or not that's a problem for you. If you already know that it's an issue and you know that your body doesn't do well with gluten and or dairy, then leave it be. You don't need to experiment. If you already know. It goes back to that phrase like, I wonder if this food that hurt my, hurts my stomach, will hurt my stomach today.
Alyssa Chavez [00:27:50]:
Stop. Stop. If you know that food doesn't do well for your body, just don't eat it. You remember you are the biggest expert in your own body and you know what's best. Sometimes you just have to listen to your own advice and that's it, my friend. Everything beyond those basics is all bio individual, which we'll discuss in the next section. Food is meant to be an enjoyable part of life, right? Even as an endowarrier, it's important to keep it simple and remember that food is nourishment. Okay, congratulations.
Alyssa Chavez [00:28:27]:
You have made it to the last piece of building your endo diet. Woohoo. And this is all about bio individuality. What is bioindividuality? We talked about that a little bit already, but basically it refers to the fact that we are all unique individuals with unique bodies, meaning we all have unique needs. And this is why oftentimes that diet you read about on the Internet that somebody else was raving about may not work for you. And I know some of you have experienced this where you heard about a diet that somebody else was following and they had great results and they felt amazing and their symptoms were going away and this and that, and you're like, oh my gosh, this is it. I have to try this and you drop everything and follow this crazy diet. Or maybe it's not too crazy.
Alyssa Chavez [00:29:17]:
I don't know. Oftentimes it is, and you end up just feeling worse, right? Or maybe you feel better for a short period of time and then end up feeling worse later on. Right? That's because you're not the same person they are. Does not mean there's anything wrong with you. It does not mean you're doing it wrong, or you're not trying hard enough, or any of the things. It just means you are not the same person that they are. You have different cells, you have different biology, you have different DNA, you're a different human being. And honestly, my best piece of advice is just to stop taking other people's dietary advice.
Alyssa Chavez [00:30:00]:
Unless you're actually working with a trained nutrition professional who's going to be helping you to tailor your diet to you, even if it worked great for somebody else, stop taking other people's advice when it comes to diet. Instead, focus on pinpointing what actually works for you. Focusing first on the principles we already talked about, what foods to focus on, what foods are best to cut from your diet. And then let's take a look a little bit at bioindividuality and how that can play into all of this. So, first thing I wanted to touch base on here when it comes to bio individuality, is just thinking about where you came from and the beliefs that have shaped you along the way, right? Things like your culture. Does your culture have any particular foods that are important if you follow a religion? Does your religion have any specific dietary principles or ideas that are important to you? Or do you have any just personal beliefs about diet or life in general that are important to you and are going to be shaping your decisions around food? Because all of that matters. Those are all important considerations for your diet, because they're an important part of you and your life. And that's part of bio individuality.
Alyssa Chavez [00:31:26]:
Including foods that have significance to you personally can help you to feel fulfilled and joyful about eating. And that's just as important as the actual nutrients that you're putting into your body. And then another piece of bio individuality is thinking about the way that your unique body is reacting to food. Truly, no two people have the exact same food sensitivities, allergies, intolerances, any of the things. And just having endometriosis as a commonality honestly will tell you very little, if not nothing, in that regard. Right? That being said, pinpointing what foods are an issue for you is a key piece of the puzzle when it comes to helping your body to get into a better state of health. With endometriosis, food sensitivities cause your immune system to react, which causes inflammation, which again points us back to pain, fatigue, and gut related symptoms, all of which are so very common with endometriosis. Now, we just talked about this in a recent episode, all about why gut health matters for endometriosis.
Alyssa Chavez [00:32:43]:
That was episode number 26, I believe, and I can link to that in the show notes, but definitely something that you want to be thinking about, right? Is what foods are actually an issue for your unique body. Now, if you're not sure what foods you are actually reacting to. In my practice, I like to use the MRT food sensitivity test. I talked all about that in episode 26, if you want to hear all about that, which helps us get to the bottom of that question really fast, if that's not an option right now, you can also do something like an elimination diet. You can use a tool like the paleo AIP diet for a short period of time, like 30 days, not forever, and then slowly reintroduce foods. And that can give you a good idea, too. A good elimination diet is really like a nice, easy, well, relatively easy to do, gold standard on figuring out your unique food sensitivities. But do be sure to leave time in between each food reintroduction, like 72 hours.
Alyssa Chavez [00:33:53]:
Because sometimes reactions can be delayed in your body. It's not always going to be immediate. Now, my very best piece of advice when it comes to bio individuality is simply listening to your intuition. Your body is so intelligent and can tell you so much when you learn to tune in, symptoms are your body's way of telling you that something is out of balance. And remember that this is a fine tuning process that you're going to be following for the long term. You're tuning into your body each and every day to pinpoint what is working, what is not, and to custom tailor your diet to fit your needs on a daily basis. And on top of that, as women, we are cyclical beings. Our hormones and our bodies are changing so much throughout the course of the month and throughout the course of our lifetime.
Alyssa Chavez [00:34:48]:
And honoring that is a huge piece of bio individuality as well. All right, my friend, you made it. So today we talked about, okay, what are the foods you want to focus on? Which I'll give you a little quick little recap here. You want to focus on whole foods, real foods, right? Specifically focusing in on omega three, fats and protein. If you want some specific things to really be focusing on in your diet, foods to avoid. We looked at vegetable oils, sugar, processed foods, and possibly gluten and dairy. That can be something you can play around with and see what works for your unique body. And then we talked about bio individuality, figuring out what works best for you and your unique body only and nobody else's, right? Our diets should be as unique as we are.
Alyssa Chavez [00:35:50]:
All right, my friend, I hope this gives you some guidance and some more clarity on your endo journey. This is something that's so important that I wanted to, of course, record an episode about this, but I also wanted to create a resource for you to help you along the way as you're figuring all of this out. So I actually have created a whole guide around this topic that you can download and print and keep and highlight and whatever you need to do with that. It's called the ultimate guide to building your own endometriosis diet. I have been working on this for quite some time and I am excited to finally share it with the world. It's completely free. I just want it to be a resource for you to go back to. Of course, listening to this episode can be helpful, but sometimes having a tangible resource that you can actually hold on to or digitally, whatever works best for you, it's just a PDF file, can be really helpful.
Alyssa Chavez [00:36:49]:
So that will be linked in the show notes so you can go in and find that and download your own ultimate guide to building your own endometriosis diet. And I hope that's helpful. If you have anything, any specific questions that come up as you're listening to this, as you're going through the guide and you're trying to figure things out. As always, feel free to dm me on Instagram andobellygirl. I am always happy to connect and chat there. All right, I hope you have a wonderful day, my friend. Happy eating, happy cooking. Enjoy the process of fine tuning your endometriosis diet.
Alyssa Chavez [00:37:29]:
I hope you have the most wonderful day and we will talk soon.