The influence of selected food ingredients on the reduction of the risk of endometriosis: a literature review

Karolina Mikut, Anna Gorajek, Jakub Bartoszewicz, Izabela Nowakowska, Dominika Wojtachnio, Anna Grądzik, Aleksandra Osiejewska, Małgorzata Kudan
In: Journal of Education, Health and Sport · 2022 · vol. 12(8) , pp. 966–974 · doi:10.12775/jehs.2022.12.08.079 · W4292973817
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This literature review explored the impact of dietary factors on endometriosis risk, identifying omega-3 fatty acids, dairy, and soy as potentially protective food components.

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This paper is a literature review evaluating evidence that specific dietary components—particularly omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, dairy products, soy isoflavones, and fruits and vegetables—may reduce the risk of endometriosis. It synthesizes findings from epidemiologic studies and mechanistic work, concluding that omega-3 fatty acids, dairy products, and soy are “promising” dietary factors, while vegetables and fruit are also discussed as relevant dietary elements. The review emphasizes that endometriosis has an unclear etiology and that diagnosis is often challenging due to reliance on surgical confirmation, which may complicate study interpretation. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — it reviews dietary ingredients and their potential association with reducing endometriosis risk.

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Abstract

Endometriosis is a common disease that occurs in 6-10% of women of reproductive age. The disease is often associated with chronic pelvic pain and infertility. Endometriosis is an inflammatory disease and is estrogen dependent. Its definition is the presence of endometrial-like tissue outside the uterus. The etiology of the disease remains unclear. It is believed that a variety of immunological, genetic, hormonal, and environmental factors may be responsible for the development of endometriosis. Surgical confirmation of the presence of endometrial tissue outside the uterus is necessary for the diagnosis of endometriosis. For this reason, endometriosis is considered to be underdiagnosed. Currently, available treatments have many limitations and cause many side effects during their long-term use. For this reason, other treatment and prevention methods for this disease are being sought. Research on the influence of dietary factors on endometriosis allows concluding that diet and particular food ingredients can be considered a factor reducing the risk of endometriosis. Therefore, understanding the role of nutrition in the development of endometriosis is of great importance for the development of effective guidelines related to the prevention of this disease. Therefore, we have reviewed the available literature related to the impact of individual components of the daily diet on the risk of developing endometriosis. Omega-3 fatty acids, dairy products, and soy in particular appear to be promising dietary factors that could potentially reduce the risk of endometriosis. Further research is needed to solidify this knowledge.
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The influence of selected food ingredients on the reduction of the risk of endometriosis: a literature review DOI: https://doi.org/10.12775/JEHS.2022.12.08.079Keywords endometriosis, dairy products, ω-6 and ω-3 PUFAs, soy isoflavones, vegetables and fruitAbstract Endometriosis is a common disease that occurs in 6-10% of women of reproductive age. The disease is often associated with chronic pelvic pain and infertility. Endometriosis is an inflammatory disease and is estrogen dependent. Its definition is the presence of endometrial-like tissue outside the uterus. The etiology of the disease remains unclear. It is believed that a variety of immunological, genetic, hormonal, and environmental factors may be responsible for the development of endometriosis. Surgical confirmation of the presence of endometrial tissue outside the uterus is necessary for the diagnosis of endometriosis. For this reason, endometriosis is considered to be underdiagnosed. Currently, available treatments have many limitations and cause many side effects during their long-term use. For this reason, other treatment and prevention methods for this disease are being sought. Research on the influence of dietary factors on endometriosis allows concluding that diet and particular food ingredients can be considered a factor reducing the risk of endometriosis. Therefore, understanding the role of nutrition in the development of endometriosis is of great importance for the development of effective guidelines related to the prevention of this disease. Therefore, we have reviewed the available literature related to the impact of individual components of the daily diet on the risk of developing endometriosis. Omega-3 fatty acids, dairy products, and soy in particular appear to be promising dietary factors that could potentially reduce the risk of endometriosis. Further research is needed to solidify this knowledge. References Saunders PTK, Horne AW. Endometriosis: Etiology, pathobiology, and therapeutic prospects. Cell. 2021;184(11):2807-2824. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2021.04.041 Bulun SE, Yilmaz BD, Sison C, et al. Endometriosis. Endocrine Reviews. 2019;40(4):1048-1079. doi:10.1210/er.2018-00242 Burney RO, Giudice LC. Pathogenesis and pathophysiology of endometriosis. Fertility and Sterility. 2012;98(3):511-519. doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2012.06.029 Parazzini F, Viganò P, Candiani M, Fedele L. Diet and endometriosis risk: A literature review. Reproductive BioMedicine Online. 2013;26(4):323-336. doi:10.1016/j.rbmo.2012.12.011 Mier-Cabrera J, Aburto-Soto T, Burrola-Méndez S, et al. Women with endometriosis improved their peripheral antioxidant markers after the application of a high antioxidant diet. Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology. 2009;7(1):54. doi:10.1186/1477-7827-7-54 Harris HR, Eke AC, Chavarro JE, Missmer SA. Fruit and vegetable consumption and risk of endometriosis. Human Reproduction. 2018;33(4):715-727. doi:10.1093/humrep/dey014 Parazzini F. Selected food intake and risk of endometriosis. Human Reproduction. 2004;19(8):1755-1759. doi:10.1093/humrep/deh395 Trabert B, Peters U, de Roos AJ, Scholes D, Holt VL. Diet and risk of endometriosis in a population-based case–control study. British Journal of Nutrition. 2011;105(3):459-467. doi:10.1017/S0007114510003661 Ulven SM, Holven KB, Gil A, Rangel-Huerta OD. Milk and Dairy Product Consumption and Inflammatory Biomarkers: An Updated Systematic Review of Randomized Clinical Trials. Advances in Nutrition. 2019;10(suppl_2):S239-S250. doi:10.1093/advances/nmy072 Hess JM, Stephensen CB, Kratz M, Bolling BW. Exploring the Links between Diet and Inflammation: Dairy Foods as Case Studies. Advances in Nutrition. 2021;12(Supplement_1):1S-13S. doi:10.1093/advances/nmab108 Stancliffe RA, Thorpe T, Zemel MB. Dairy attenuates oxidative and inflammatory stress in metabolic syndrome. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2011;94(2):422-430. doi:10.3945/ajcn.111.013342 Qi X, Zhang W, Ge M, et al. Relationship Between Dairy Products Intake and Risk of Endometriosis: A Systematic Review and Dose-Response Meta-Analysis. Frontiers in Nutrition. 2021;8. doi:10.3389/fnut.2021.701860 Nodler JL, Harris HR, Chavarro JE, Frazier AL, Missmer SA. Dairy consumption during adolescence and endometriosis risk. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2020;222(3):257.e1-257.e16. doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2019.09.010 Youseflu S, Sadatmahalleh SJ, Mottaghi A, Kazemnejad A. The association of food consumption and nutrient intake with endometriosis risk in Iranian women: A case-control study. International Journal of Reproductive BioMedicine. Published online September 22, 2019. doi:10.18502/ijrm.v17i9.5102 Harris HR, Chavarro JE, Malspeis S, Willett WC, Missmer SA. Dairy-Food, Calcium, Magnesium, and Vitamin D Intake and Endometriosis: A Prospective Cohort Study. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2013;177(5):420-430. doi:10.1093/aje/kws247 Hopeman MM, Riley JK, Frolova AI, Jiang H, Jungheim ES. Serum Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Endometriosis. Reproductive Sciences. 2015;22(9):1083-1087. doi:10.1177/1933719114565030 D’Angelo S, Motti ML, Meccariello R. ω-3 and ω-6 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids, Obesity and Cancer. Nutrients. 2020;12(9):2751. doi:10.3390/nu12092751 Tan A, Sullenbarger B, Prakash R, McDaniel JC. Supplementation with eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid reduces high levels of circulating proinflammatory cytokines in aging adults: A randomized, controlled study. Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes, and Essential Fatty Acids. 2018;132:23-29. doi:10.1016/j.plefa.2018.03.010 Missmer SA, Chavarro JE, Malspeis S, et al. A prospective study of dietary fat consumption and endometriosis risk. Human Reproduction. 2010;25(6):1528-1535. doi:10.1093/humrep/deq044 Khanaki K, Nouri M, Ardekani AM, et al. Evaluation of the relationship between endometriosis and omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Iran Biomed J. 2012;16(1):38-43. doi:10.6091/ibj.1025.2012 Gazvani MR, Smith L, Haggarty P, Fowler PA, Templeton A. High ω-3:ω-6 fatty acid ratios in culture medium reduce endometrial-cell survival in combined endometrial gland and stromal cell cultures from women with and without endometriosis. Fertility and Sterility. 2001;76(4):717-722. doi:10.1016/S0015-0282(01)01991-4 Akyol A, Şimşek M, İlhan R, et al. Efficacies of vitamin D and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on experimental endometriosis. Taiwanese Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 2016;55(6):835-839. doi:10.1016/j.tjog.2015.06.018 Tomio K, Kawana K, Taguchi A, et al. Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Suppress the Cystic Lesion Formation of Peritoneal Endometriosis in Transgenic Mouse Models. PLoS ONE. 2013;8(9):e73085. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0073085 NAKAI S, FUJITA M, KAMEI Y. Health Promotion Effects of Soy Isoflavones. Journal of Nutritional Science and Vitaminology. 2020;66(6):502-507. doi:10.3177/jnsv.66.502 Sutrisno S, Aprina H, Simanungkalit HM, et al. Genistein modulates the estrogen receptor and suppresses angiogenesis and inflammation in the murine model of peritoneal endometriosis. Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine. 2018;8(2):278-281. doi:10.1016/j.jtcme.2017.03.002 Takaoka O, Mori T, Ito F, et al. Daidzein-rich isoflavone aglycones inhibit cell growth and inflammation in endometriosis. The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. 2018;181:125-132. doi:10.1016/j.jsbmb.2018.04.004 Tsuchiya M, Miura T, Hanaoka T, et al. Effect of Soy Isoflavones on Endometriosis. Epidemiology. 2007;18(3):402-408. doi:10.1097/01.ede.0000257571.01358.f9 Downloads Published How to Cite Issue Section License Copyright (c) 2022 Karolina Mikut, Anna Gorajek, Jakub Bartoszewicz, Izabela Nowakowska, Dominika Wojtachnio, Anna Grądzik, Aleksandra Osiejewska, Małgorzata Kudan This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. The periodical offers access to content in the Open Access system under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Stats Number of views and downloads: 1000 Number of citations: 0

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