Endometriosis: A Key to Healing Through Nutrition. Michael Vernon

easier to find a cure. The endometrium normally grows only inside the womb. It is a nutrient-rich tissue designed to act as a food source and ‘nest’ for a fertilized egg. It also sets the stage for building the placenta which protects the baby as it develops in the womb.

      For some unknown reason these endometrial cells migrate in endometriosis and seek other areas to grow. These areas are known as ‘endometriotic implants’ in medical terms, as they appear to seed themselves onto other organs in the peritoneal cavity (the abdominal area). Only cells from the spleen and endometrium in the human body are known to behave like this and migrate to other areas, and we need to understand why this happens in order to find a cure.

      Women with endometriosis often ask ‘Why me?’ when they look around at their seemingly healthy friends. Endometriosis can be very distressing, and self-confidence may evaporate, but good health is not an impossible dream.

      If you understand what is happening to you, it is easier to fight endometriosis and win. This book will look at how endometriosis manifests itself, how the body behaves, and how to approach drug and surgical treatments. It is important to look at how women as individuals can work with their bodies to help themselves heal, and to strengthen the immune and reproductive systems naturally using the nutrients which we ingest daily. The aim is to get the feel better factor!

      We are all unique. No other person in the known universe is like you. People are meant to be different. Just look around in the street or your place of work at all the variables of face, hair colour, eyes, noses, height and weight. These differences are what make the strong gene pool of humankind. Orthodox medical and infertility treatments treat women as though they are all exactly the same. They take no account of your uniqueness. A 7-stone woman will be given the same dose tablet as a 14-stone woman. Treatments which work perfectly for you may not work as well for someone else because his/her body is slightly different. Moreover, many illnesses keep evolving, like the symptoms of ovarian/vaginal endometriosis, increasing levels of anxiety in those who suffer from them.

      The purpose of this book is to outline the steps you can take to maximize your body’s ability to fend off endometriosis. Although there is no known proven medical cure for endometriosis, nutrition may suppress the symptoms which are perceived as being due to endometriosis, and thus help to prevent them from interfering in your daily life. The book will review some of these options, especially the benefit of proper nutrition in the battle against endometriosis. Women who have tried these options and succeeded in combating endometriosis share their experiences.

      Nutrition is not an alternative approach like herbal medicine or homeopathy. It is essential to life. Eating is something we do every day. It sustains us and keeps us healthy, or it can make us unhealthy. Unfortunately nutrition is no longer taught in schools. It is now assumed that we have a good choice of foods in the shops. But it is the quality of the foods you choose to eat which can make all the difference to your body’s ability to heal itself. Nutrition is certainly very low on the list of doctors’ priorities, many of whom may have had only a few hours of lessons in nutrition, and do not understand how nutrients relate to body biochemistry. It is a rare doctor who shows any interest in your food intake.

      The 52 known nutrients in our foods are vital to all of us; they make our bodies work as nature intended. Vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids and the actions of phytochemicals in plants are the body’s building blocks to produce healthy new cells and to renew damaged tissue. For example, the mucous membrane which lines the digestive tract is renewed rapidly every 72 hours. New tissue can be formed very quickly on damaged organs, given the right building blocks of life. So the food you eat each day can help heal endometriosis.

      Good quality, nutrient-rich food can improve the functioning of the body cells. This book will guide you through the selection of foods which will increase your intake of much-needed nutrients, especially those required by the reproductive and immune systems. It will give advice on which nutritional supplements may be helpful in the short term to boost body cells and correct hormone production, while you assess and improve your dietary intake.

      The digestive system is the key to your healthy intake of nutrients, and improvement in this area can be a major factor in recovery from endometriosis. The gut flora and membranes must be healthy in order for all the nutrients from foods to be absorbed, so that they can reach the cells via the bloodstream. If your digestion is poor, it must be corrected before you can begin to get well. This is another key to your healing process. Once your digestion works efficiently, then the body can begin to heal itself.

      Endometriosis can cause terrible pain, and adhesions which can stick organs together, possibly causing infertility in some women. The authors will inform you how the phytochemicals and nutrients in foods and herbs may work to reduce inflammation and pain. The known reasons for pain and infertility will be discussed, to help demystify endometriosis.

      By understanding and improving the workings of your immune system, you can help to heal the reproductive system and improve fertility naturally, and the book looks at how assisted fertility works when endometriosis is present.

      • CASE STUDY •

       Gwenneth B of Sussex

       The nutrition path was absolutely brilliant. I was so well while continuing it. Unfortunately I stopped. I have to go camping and go away with other groups from time to time. It then becomes impossible to follow the diet. I wish I had more self-control so that I could do it all over again. Any chance of a new start with some supplements again? Thank you for all your help in the past.

      The incidence of endometriosis is high and many women may never even have heard of the condition, let alone be aware that their abdominal pain is due to it. Much of our society remains blissfully ignorant of endometriosis and of all its ramifications. All those with endometriosis need to teach everyone around them to understand this disease. The word endometriosis itself is disconcerting and cumbersome: ‘endo-metree-osis’. This book will attempt to explain exactly what endometriosis is, and how you can try to reduce its symptoms by using the body’s natural healing ability.

      Furthering research is a main aim of the endometriosis groups all over the world, in America, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, India, Poland, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore and Brazil. Women in the international endometriosis associations are pulling together around the globe to encourage governments to provide more funding for studying this disease, while also trying to raise money for research from their supporters. Research into endometriosis should continue apace to help improve diagnosis and treatment. Future research into how cells behave and how their basic physiology relies upon nutrients should lead to new ideas about endometriosis treatments. All women suffering from endometriosis should encourage new research in both orthodox and complementary fields to find a cure, and to prevent the next generation having to endure this disease and its traumatic treatments. We can all see hope for a future cure. Drugs and surgery are not the only answer, as we shall see. Healing from within is an important concept.

      If you use this book wisely, it may help you to find the real you again – minus the symptoms of endometriosis. Feeling like a shadow of your former self is not a pleasant experience. Endometriosis leaves you with no energy to do anything. You feel so very tired from fighting the pain. You hope that the pain will just go away, but it doesn’t. The body needs help in order to attempt to rid itself of the ‘rogue’ tissue of endometriosis. Seeking such help requires information and understanding, and in this book the authors hope that everyone will find the support they need to help them begin their healing process. Understanding is the key. Once you properly understand what you are fighting, it becomes easier. It helps to have all the information at your fingertips. If information is withheld from you, always be suspicious. Where your own body is involved you have a right to know what is being done and why. Always ask questions and only act when you feel satisfied with the answers. Truth is important to developing trust between practitioner and patient, so if information is withheld it prevents healing. When lies are told, trust is lost between the patient and expert.

      Everyone wants to be happy and healthy and to enjoy life. Endometriosis hurts our lives. It stops us in our tracks. It prevents us living the life we want to lead. The pain associated with endometriosis can at times be so intense that