Thirty-seven women completed the trial. A separate part of the study tested the effects of a nutritional supplement. About two-thirds of the participants benefitted from the diet change. For about one in three, the pain reduction was profound.
Nutrition gives many women a much better option.
The participants met as a group once a week during the study to learn how nutrition affects hormones and pain and how to follow a vegetarian diet at home, work, and restaurants. But as the participants started to feel better, lose weight, and find their pain diminishing, they came to embrace the new way of eating. Indeed, many participants refused to give up the diet entirely when the study design required them to move on to the supplement phase. A separate study examining the effects of a similar diet in endometriosis was scheduled.