In a hospital in Tehran, researchers set the everyday plates of 313 women beside one another and found a stark difference: those with endometriosis, a painful condition in which uterine-like tissue grows where it does not belong, had eaten far less in the manner of the Mediterranean table. The pattern does not prove that food shapes the disease, since a single snapshot can reveal only a shadow of cause, yet it adds a thread to a long human effort to understand how what we eat might steady or unsettle the body. Until that thread is tested over time, it remains a hopeful clue rather than a remed
Mediterranean Diet Linked to Sharply Lower Odds of Endometriosis in Iranian Women Study
Endometriosis affects about 10% of women of reproductive age and is a major cause of pelvic pain and infertility.
Controls scored 9.21 on the Mediterranean scale, against 5.63 for women with endometriosis.
Mark
Ninety-four percent lower odds sounds enormous. What is it actually comparing?
Mimi
Women with high Mediterranean adherence against everyone else, in 105 women with endometriosis and 208 without, all in Tehran. Controls averaged 9.21 on a 16-point scale; cases averaged 5.63.
Mark
So eat more fish and legumes, and the disease mostly goes away?
Luke
No, and the study doesn't say that. It is a case-control design, so it can't show causality. It shows an association at one point in time.
Mimi
Right. Cases also reported more meat and dairy, with odds ratios around 10 and 4.6.
Luke
Those are big numbers, but look at the intervals. Meat runs from 4.31 to 24.87. That is a wide range, which suggests a small sample and imprecise estimates.
Mark
Could diet recall be an issue?
Luke
Yes. Women were asked about the past year, and the authors name recall bias. Women with a diagnosis may remember or report food differently.
Mimi
The odd results are telling too. Whole grains were linked to higher odds, and so were monounsaturated fats, which runs against what we'd expect.
Luke
The authors say it may reflect local food sources or confounding. That is their explanation, not something the study tested.
Mark
What's missing?
Luke
Socioeconomic status wasn't adjusted for, and neither were coffee, soy, specific oils or supplements. Whether diet changes anything remains unknown until longitudinal or interventional studies exist.
O Pulso
- Roughly one in ten women of reproductive age lives with endometriosis, and its pelvic pain and infertility weigh heavily on daily life.
- A hospital case-control study in Tehran found that women who closely followed a Mediterranean-style diet had dramatically lower odds of the disease.
- Meat, dairy and, unexpectedly, whole grains and monounsaturated fat were tied to higher odds, unsettling assumptions about healthy eating.
- Researchers are navigating a design that can show association but not cause, and they are calling for longitudinal and interventional trials before any dietary advice is offered.
- The findings are landing as a promising signal that remains unproven, pointing toward future trials rather than clinical recommendations.
In a hospital in Tehran, researchers set the everyday plates of 313 women beside one another and found a stark difference: those with endometriosis, a painful condition in which uterine-like tissue grows where it does not belong, had eaten far less in the manner of the Mediterranean table. The pattern does not prove that food shapes the disease, since a single snapshot can reveal only a shadow of cause, yet it adds a thread to a long human effort to understand how what we eat might steady or unsettle the body. Until that thread is tested over time, it remains a hopeful clue rather than a remedy.
In a hospital in Tehran, researchers compared what women ate with whether they had endometriosis, and the gap between the two groups was wide. Women who followed a Mediterranean-style diet closely had up to 94% lower odds of the disease, a result reported in Scientific Reports.
Endometriosis is a chronic, estrogen-dependent condition that often brings pelvic pain, painful periods and infertility to about one in ten women of reproductive age. Diet has drawn growing interest because, unlike many risk factors, it is something women can change, and food is known to touch inflammation, hormones and the muscle contractions tied to the disease.
The study followed 313 women aged 18 to 49, comparing 105 women with surgically or pathologically confirmed disease against 208 without it. Diet was measured with a validated food questionnaire and scored on two indices, and interviewers who did not know each participant's status collected the data. Controls ate noticeably more fruits, vegetables, nuts, fish and legumes, while women with the disease reported more meat, dairy and saturated fat.
Some results ran against expectation. Whole-grain intake was linked to higher odds, and so was monounsaturated fat, findings the authors suspect may reflect local food sources or hidden confounding rather than biology.
The study's limits are clear. Its design cannot prove that diet causes or prevents the disease, and it did not account for socioeconomic status, coffee, soy or supplements. For now, the work supports plant-centred eating as part of women's health thinking, while longer and interventional studies are needed before anyone can say diet treats endometriosis.
In a hospital-based study in Tehran, researchers compared what women ate with whether they had endometriosis, and the gap between the two groups was wide. Women who followed a Mediterranean-style diet closely had up to 94% lower odds of the disease. The work was published in the journal Scientific Reports.
Endometriosis is a chronic, estrogen-dependent condition in which tissue resembling the lining of the uterus grows outside it, often in the pelvis. It affects about 10% of women of reproductive age and is a major cause of pelvic pain and infertility. Typical symptoms include pelvic pain outside of menstruation, painful periods and back pain. Physical inactivity, body weight, oral contraceptive use, smoking and alcohol have all been linked to it, and diet has lately drawn attention as a factor women can change. Food can influence inflammation, oxidative stress, hormone balance and muscle contractions, all of which are tied to how the disease progresses.
The study enrolled 115 women whose endometriosis had been confirmed by surgery or tissue examination, along with 230 controls without the disease. After incomplete records were removed, 105 cases and 208 controls remained, 313 women in all. Participants were 18 to 49 years old and were not pregnant, breastfeeding or menopausal. None had a major chronic condition such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease or cancer. Everyone gave informed consent, and the study had ethical approval.
Diet over the previous year was assessed with a validated 168-item food frequency questionnaire. Trained interviewers, who did not know who had endometriosis, collected the dietary and body measurement data. Mediterranean adherence was scored on the Medi-Lite scale from 0 to 16, which looks at fruits and nuts, vegetables, legumes, fish, whole grains, meat, dairy and the ratio of monounsaturated to saturated fat. Alcohol was left out because the data were insufficient. A second measure, the Healthy Diet Indicator, ran from 0 to 9 and was built from World Health Organization dietary guidelines. The analysis adjusted for age, body mass index, energy intake, age at first period, menstrual factors, smoking, occupation and family history.
Controls scored 9.21 on the Mediterranean scale, against 5.63 for women with endometriosis. On the Healthy Diet Indicator the averages were 5.54 and 2.80. Women without the disease ate more fruits, nuts, fish, vegetables and legumes, while those with it reported more saturated fat, meat and dairy.
High Mediterranean adherence carried an adjusted odds ratio of 0.06 (95% CI 0.02–0.15). Higher intake of fruits and nuts had an odds ratio of 0.09, vegetables 0.18, fish 0.16 and legumes 0.26. Meat went the other way, at 10.36, roughly tenfold higher odds, and dairy at 4.58. A high Healthy Diet Indicator score corresponded to 95% lower odds (OR 0.05; 95% CI 0.01–0.15). Within that index, saturated fat (OR 7.01) and monounsaturated fat (OR 7.91) were linked to higher odds.
Two results ran against expectation. Higher whole-grain intake was associated with greater odds (OR 2.30; 95% CI 1.10–4.82), even though whole grains are usually seen as healthy. The monounsaturated fat result was also surprising. The authors cautioned that these may reflect local food sources or residual confounding rather than a direct biological effect.
The authors list strengths: validated dietary tools, blinded interviewers and adjustment for key confounders. The limitations are real. A case-control design cannot show causality, recall bias is possible, and the analysis did not adjust for socioeconomic status or for coffee, soy, phytoestrogens, specific oils or supplements. The confidence intervals are also wide, which fits a modest sample.
The findings support promoting plant-centered, Mediterranean-style eating in women's health strategies, but they do not show that diet prevents or treats endometriosis. Longitudinal and interventional studies will be needed to test that.
Citações Notáveis
The whole-grain and monounsaturated fat findings may reflect local food sources or residual confounding rather than a direct effect, and the design cannot prove causality.— Study authors, Scientific Reports (paraphrased)
Quer a matéria completa?
Leia o original em News-Medical.net ↗
Health & Medicine