The Role of Lifestyle and Diet in the Treatment of Endometriosis: A Review

Dóra Boroncsok, Anna Filó, Marianna Török, Hajnalka Vágó, Nándor Ács, Gábor Sobel
Nutrients · 2026 · vol. 18(1) , pp. 142 · doi:10.3390/nu18010142 · PMID:41515258 · W7117970829
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 ⓘ

This review finds that lifestyle and dietary interventions, including physical activity, anti-inflammatory diets, and certain supplements, complement conventional treatments for endometriosis by reducing symptoms and modulating inflammation.

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Abstract

Endometriosis is a chronic, oestrogen-dependent inflammatory condition affecting approximately 10% of women of reproductive age, frequently associated with chronic pelvic pain, dysmenorrhoea and infertility, substantially impairing quality of life. While pharmacological and surgical therapies represent the standard of care, growing evidence indicates that lifestyle and dietary factors play an important complementary role in symptom management and may influence disease progression. Regular physical activity appears to attenuate systemic inflammation, improve hormonal regulation and support psychological well-being. Dietary patterns rich in anti-inflammatory components, particularly Mediterranean-diets and low-inflammatory diets, have been associated with reduced pain and improved gastrointestinal symptoms, whereas high consumption of red and processed meats may increase disease risk. Micronutrients and selected supplements, including vitamins C, E and D, magnesium, zinc, folate, omega-3 fatty acids, N-acetylcysteine, curcumin, probiotics and green tea polyphenols, show promising but variable evidence for symptom relief. Additional lifestyle factors, such as avoiding endocrine-disrupting chemicals, moderating alcohol intake, ensuring adequate sleep and managing psychological stress, may further modulate inflammatory and hormonal pathways relevant to the disorder. Overall, current evidence indicates that integrating lifestyle interventions alongside conventional treatments offers clinically relevant benefits, although larger, well-designed clinical studies are needed to clarify the magnitude of these effects and to explore further promising lifestyle-based therapeutic approaches.

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Outcome instruments

EHP-30 VAS-pain NRS-pain

Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosischronic_pelvic_paindysmenorrheainfertility

MeSH descriptors

Diet Diet Diet Diet Diet Diet Diet Diet Diet Diet Diet Diet Diet Diet Diet Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis Endometriosis

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (95)

Cited by (2)

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