Endometriosis: A Key to Healing Through Nutrition. Michael Vernon

are found in the ovaries, skin, brain, kidney and blood vessels. Insulin normally controls the enzymes involved in carbohydrate metabolism. It stimulates the storage of glucose in muscle and fat, and glycogen storage in the liver.

      Insulin resistance is very complex. When extreme insulin reactions occur, it affects other steroid hormones. Too much insulin, and other hormones react badly; too little insulin, and hormones react poorly. The body always requires balance.

      The liver holds the secret of syndrome X or insulin resistance. It deals with the products from digestion. Cell biochemistry research has shown that sugar can be as bad for the heart as saturated fats. The liver can flood the bloodstream with saturated fats as it deals with digestion. Since the 1960s, people have begun to shun the regular eating pattern of three meals a day and are now more likely to graze throughout the day. It is felt that this change in eating patterns may be why syndrome X is on the increase. Eating too frequently makes the liver continue to churn out digestive enzymes with no rest whereas eating three regular meals a day allows the liver a period of respite between each meal. Grazing or snacking all day long means that the overworked liver has to churn out fats, enzymes and hormones all the time. Every time we eat, the pancreas has to release insulin hormone into the bloodstream. Insulin encourages our body cells and organs to use up the glucose that surges through the bloodstream. Any glucose left in the blood for too long is dangerous as it sticks to proteins and leads to kidney damage or blindness. Insulin can also stop the liver from releasing excess fat. Excess fats in the bloodstream are dangerous as there they are altered biochemically and stick to the walls of the arteries, thus narrowing the blood channel. This can lead to heart attacks and strokes.³

Research suggests that when people munch on snacks – grazing throughout the day – instead of eating regular meals, the liver has to deal with insulin being around for long periods of time. This prevents the liver from withholding fats such as triglycerides and instead causes the opposite to happen. The liver releases an excess of triglycerides, which may lead to heart disease and other problems related to ovarian function. This excess of fatty triglycerides makes muscle cells insulin-resistant which, in turn, makes the liver secrete even more insulin. Even the fat cells, with all the extra triglycerides and glucose hurled at them to store, finally give in to insulin resistance. As the fat cells become overloaded, they push an excess of fatty acids into the bloodstream, and this overload kills off the important cells in the pancreas that produce insulin. What happens next is that insulin levels fall and glucose builds up in the blood to dangerous levels.⁴

      As there is insufficient insulin left to maintain the normal balance of two teaspoons of glucose to eight pints of blood, type II adult-onset diabetes may then be diagnosed. (This may also be related to high dairy intake which, nutrition research suggests, may trigger an immune system reaction against cells in the pancreas.) If you eat a bar of chocolate containing eight teaspoons of sugar, the body has to react immediately to restore balance. The pancreas has to produce insulin and glucose tolerance factor in order to maintain normal blood sugar levels; doing this too often creates mayhem. The pancreas struggles to respond as sugar washes through the system. Eventually the pancreas cells reduce their response and are unable to cope with the demand, leaving these cells to die off.

      How does this all relate to endometriosis and polycystic ovaries?

      1 It affects liver function, and we need the liver to be extra efficient so that oestrogen is dealt with correctly and excreted from the body if in excess. If we eat too much sugar and saturated fats, we are tying up the liver to deal with sugar and triglycerides, leaving it too weary to balance oestrogen correctly.

      2 Insulin affects ovarian function. The ovaries are very sensitive to insulin, as it has a steroidal action and makes the ovary produce an excess of the male hormone testosterone. This causes too many follicles to be stimulated, causing the ovary to have six or more follicles trying to ripen at any one time instead of the usual two or three. It may also have a relationship to the build up of ovarian ‘chocolate’ cysts.

      POLYCYSTIC OVARY SYNDROME (PCOS)

      Polycystic ovary syndrome is a common endocrine disorder affecting 5 to 10 per cent of women of reproductive age all around the world. Many women with endometriosis are also diagnosed with PCOS. Symptoms vary from irregular menstrual cycles with months in between, hirsutism, acne, frontal hair loss, skin tags and acanthosis nigrans (a velvet-like skin patch often found in the groin, neck, and under the breasts and arms). Weight accumulates on the stomach, thighs and hips. Though PCOS is independent of obesity, skinny and overweight women show signs of decreased insulin sensitivity. Obese women in general may exhibit insulin resistance. (Women with regular menstrual cycles do not show signs of insulin resistance.)⁵

      In PCOS, hormone messengers from the pituitary gland to the ovary seem to be at abnormal levels, which in turn has a domino effect and creates havoc with the normal hormone balance. Lutenizing hormone (LH) levels are often abnormally raised, which stimulates the ovarian follicle, but the follicle is unable to mature fully as follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) measurements are then at the wrong levels. High LH causes the ovarian follicle to produce more testosterone than is normal. This testosterone changes the oestrogen level and triggers menstrual dysfunction.⁶

      These scrabbled hormones lead to the ovary’s ending up with many small cysts – having between six to ten cysts constitutes a diagnosis of PCOS. Some contain eggs, others are dormant and the rest may secrete hormones. Unlike endometriotic (chocolate) cysts, which may grow as large as a five-month-old fetus, these PCOS cysts remain small and do not grow (8mm in diameter is maximum). They appear, are reabsorbed and others come to take their place, all due to receiving the wrong hormonal messages.⁷

      Some women with endometriosis also appear to develop PCOS, but not every woman. PCOS tends to run in families, with evidence suggesting that there may be a genetic link.⁸

      • CASE STUDY •

       Lou C of Buenos Aires, Argentina

      I would like to express my utmost gratitude to you for all your help and advice regarding my PCOS. After years of being pushed from doctor to doctor with no real answers being given, I decided to turn my back on conventional medicine and focus on dietary change. I am now a firm believer that ‘you are what you eat’.

       My symptoms started four years ago with hirsutism, weight gain, acne, severe mood swings, insomnia and depression, all of which pointed to PCOS. It took two years before I was diagnosed correctly. The only help offered was to go on the contraceptive pill Dianette. Purely by chance several years later, I saw a television programme on the Hale Clinic, offering alternative and complementary therapies. After my first consultation with you, it was clear that my condition could be greatly helped by dietary changes and food supplements. The main change in my diet was to reduce wheat products, avoid dairy products, eat less meat and drink less alcohol, and increase my intake of fish, vegetables and fruit.

       The difference was amazing. Within two weeks, there was a noticeable 99 per cent improvement in all my symptoms. My husband said it was like having a new wife. My life has totally changed for the better and I feel like a totally new woman, full of energy and life. I am now nearly 99 per cent symptom-free – a change due completely to my new way of eating.

       If you want something different for tomorrow, you have to do something different today! I cannot express my gratitude to you enough for all you have done for me. Many thanks!

      PCOS AND ENDOMETRIOSIS

      PCOS may or may not be found alongside endometriosis. With endometriosis, the link may be related to insulin resistance due to erratic hormone levels, liver dysfunction and poor food choice. When periods are erratic, and acne, hirsutism and weight gain are present, women may suffer from both conditions. Many sufferers of both PCOS and endometriosis may share the hyperinsulinism, high insulin secretion disorder. High insulin triggers the higher levels of testosterone and LH that give rise to these extra symptoms, and this can lead to anovulation, where the ovaries fail to produce a viable egg. It is the pituitary gland that produces growth hormone, stimulating the release of glucagons and insulin from the pancreas. This insulin acts on the outer layer of