Nutritional Intervention for Endometriosis
Endometriosis
About this trial
This is an interventional treatment trial for Endometriosis focused on measuring endometriosis, plant-based, vegan, low-fat, diet, nutrition
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
- Women with a surgical, imaging, or clinical diagnosis of endometriosis
- Age 18-45 years
- Stable health condition and medications for past 3 months
- Modified Biberoglu and Behrman (B&B) pelvic pain score of at least 5/9
- Able to follow a plant-based diet for 12 weeks
- Willing to be randomly assigned to either a plant-based group or a control group that will not make any dietary changes for 12 weeks
Exclusion Criteria:
- Body mass index ≥ 40 kg/m2
- Smoking or drug abuse during the past six months
- Alcohol consumption of more than 2 drinks per day or the equivalent, episodic increased drinking (e.g., more than 2 drinks per day on weekends), or a history of alcohol abuse or dependency followed by any current use
- Unstable medical or psychiatric illness
- Already following a plant-based diet
- Pregnant or breastfeeding, or plans of pregnancy within the study period
- Hysterectomy or ovariectomy
- Fibroids, ovarian cysts, pelvic inflammatory disease
- Endocrine inflammatory conditions, such as Cushing's syndrome, Hashimoto's thyroiditis, Graves' disease, type 1 diabetes mellitus, and Addison's disease
- Lack of English fluency
- Unable or unwilling to participate in all components of the study
- Evidence of an eating disorder
Sites / Locations
- Physicians Committee for Responsible MedicineRecruiting
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Arm 2
Experimental
No Intervention
Plant-based Intervention Group
Control Group
Intervention group participants will adopt a low-fat, plant-based diet for 12 weeks. Participants will be provided with a commercially available supplement containing 100 micrograms of vitamin B12 and asked to take it daily during the study. Alcoholic beverages will be limited to 1 per day. Participants will be asked to keep their physical activity level constant.
Control group participants will be asked to maintain their usual diet for the duration of the 12-week study period. Participants will be provided with a commercially available supplement containing 100 micrograms of vitamin B12 and asked to take it daily during the study. Alcoholic beverages will be limited to 1 per day. Participants will be asked to keep their physical activity level constant. At the conclusion of the 12 weeks, control group participants will be offered instruction in the plant-based diet.