Dietary supplements helpful for endometriosis?

How many people with endometriosis use Dietary supplements to relieve their symptoms?

56,40% of people with endometriosis have already tried Dietary supplements to relieve endometriosis in our survey.

15,26% of them find that Dietary supplements very helpful.
The following table shows the endometriosis remedy Dietary supplements among people with endometriosis. The scale ranges from 1 (not helpful at all) to 5 (very helpful).

Does Dietary supplements help with endometriosis?

Dietary supplements
(n = 983)
15,26%
23,40%
34,18%
15,67%
11,50%

Tabular summary for Dietary supplements

Rating Percent Count
not helpful at all 11,50% 113
hardly helpful 15,67% 154
slightly helpful 34,18% 336
helpful 23,40% 230
very helpful 15,26% 150

Dietary supplements bei Endometriose

Whether you have endometriosis or not – what is certain is that your body needs specific minerals, nutrients, and vitamins to function optimally. That is why some people include dietary supplements in their treatment plan. However, the scientific evidence is conflicting, so it is not established whether they truly have a positive effect on your endometriosis symptoms. Only for vitamins C and E has it been found that they apparently relieved pelvic pain, period pain, and pain during sex. According to the researchers, this is mainly because they help reduce oxidative stress in your body by exerting anti-inflammatory effects. Others, however, have shown that taking certain nutrients and vitamins exclusively as supplements has no effect. According to them, they influence your symptoms only when consumed in their natural form, such as fruits and vegetables. This suggests that certain vitamins and trace elements can be properly absorbed by the body only in combination with other components, such as tannins in fruit. A balanced diet alone is therefore generally sufficient to supply you with everything essential.

Under certain circumstances, however, it can be appropriate to take specific substances in a targeted way. If you are pregnant, iron, iodine, and folic acid are necessary. If you follow a vegan diet, you should supplement vitamin B12. With a vegetarian diet, omega-3 fatty acids may be beneficial. People who do not spend much time outdoors in the sun often lack sufficient vitamin D. Of course, you can also ask your doctor to check whether you are deficient in specific trace elements and vitamins and then take these additionally. However, you should always be careful not to take excessively high doses of certain dietary supplements, as otherwise you may do more harm than good.

Further sources:

  • Amini, L. 2021. „The Effect of Combined Vitamin C and Vitamin E Supplementation on Oxidative Stress Markers in Women with Endometriosis: A Randomized, Triple-Blind Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial.“ Pain Research and Management.
  • Darling, A.M. 2013. „A Prospective Cohort Study of Vitamins B, C, E, and Multivitamin Intake and Endometriosis.“ Journal of Endometriosis and Pelvic Pain Disorders 5(1).
  • Santanam, N. et al. 2013. „Antioxidant supplementation reduces endometriosis-related pelvic pain in humans.“ Translational Research 161(3): 189-1995.

Did you know that you can also have a big influence on endometriosis symptoms yourself? In the Endo App you learn self-management techniques for endometriosis and find many interactive exercises to relieve symptoms.