Short Oral Presentation Nutrition Society of Australia 50th Annual Scientific Meeting 2026

Adherence to a Mediterranean diet and intensity of endometriosis symptoms: A cross-sectional analysis of Australian women (146873)

Evangeline Mantzioris 1 , Courtney Harris 2 , Nicole Scannell 2 , Nina Wilson 1 , Anthony Villani 1
  1. Adelaide University, Adelaide, SA, Australia
  2. School of Health, University of Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, Queensland, Australia

Adherence to a Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) has been associated with reproductive health. However, there is a lack of evidence on the potential efficacy on attenuating the intensity of global symptoms related to endometriosis. Endometriosis is a chronic, estrogen-dominant, inflammatory condition(1) that affects approximately ~11.4% of Australian women(2, 3) with women of age [30-34 years] most likely to receive a diagnosis(3). Endometriosis is characterised by the presence of endometrial-like tissue found ectopically on organs such as the uterine cavity, often resulting in chronic pelvic pain. This cross-sectional analysis investigated the association between adherence to a MedDiet (and associated lifestyle factors) and the intensity of global symptoms of endometriosis in Australian women. (1) Participants were recruited via social media platforms requesting voluntary participation in an online questionnaire hosted on QualtricsXM. The link to the survey was recognisable only once, preventing duplication in responses. Adherence to a MedDiet (and associated lifestyle) was assessed using the Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener (MEDAS) and MEDiterranean LIFEstyle Index (MEDLIFE), and the impact of endometriosis symptoms was assessed using the Endometriosis Impact Questionnaire (EIQ-63). A total of n = 103 participants (29.7 ± 8.6 years; BMI: 27.1 ± 6.8 kg/m2) were included in the final analyses. Participants reported moderate MEDLIFE adherence scores (12.1 ± 3.2) and low-moderate adherence to a MedDiet (5.6 ± 2.0). Few participants achieved normative serve size criteria for key dietary components including legumes (n = 14, 16.7%), fruit (n = 11, 13.1%), fish and seafood (n = 9, 10.7%), nuts (n = 15, 17.9%) and olive oil (n = 2, 2.4%). Both MEDLIFE index and MEDAS adherence were not associated with global impact symptoms of endometriosis. Despite the null findings, these results provide an important contribution to the existing literature highlighting the importance of diet quality on women’s health more broadly. Exploration of these findings using well controlled longitudinal analyses and robust clinical trials are needed to discover causal relationships.

  1. Emond JP, Caron P, Pušić M et al. (2023) Front endocrinol (Lausanne) 13,1034614.
  2. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2003). https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/chronic-disease/endometriosis-in-australia-2023
  3. Rowlands IJ, Abbott JA, Montgomery GW et al. (2021) BJOG 128, 657-665