ABSTRACT
Introduction
Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory gynaecological disease that significantly impairs quality of life. Dietary strategies such as low-FODMAP diet have been proposed as adjunctive non-pharmacological approaches to symptom management. This systematic review and meta-analysis aim to evaluate the association of a low-FODMAP diet on quality-of-life outcomes in women with endometriosis.
Methods
PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane were searched for randomised and observational studies assessing low-FODMAP dietary interventions in women with endometriosis. Outcomes were evaluated using the Endometriosis Health Profile-30 (EHP-30). Pooled analysis was performed using a random-effects model.
Results
We included three studies comprising 90 women with a mean age of 34 years. The mean follow-up duration was 3.5 months. The pooled post-intervention mean score was 28.45 for pain (95% CI: 20.88 to 36.02; I² = 61.8%) and 39.33 for control/helplessness (95% CI: 24.92 to 53.73; I² = 81.7%). The corresponding post-intervention mean scores were 31.87 for emotional well-being (95% CI: 27.15 to 36.59; I² = 0%), 38.94 for social support (95% CI: 33.69 to 44.20; I² = 0%), and 43.22 for self-image (95% CI: 35.94 to 50.49; I² = 21.2%).
Conclusion
A low-FODMAP diet was associated with improvements across multiple quality-of-life domains in women with endometriosis. However, these findings should be interpreted with caution and considered hypothesis-generating, requiring confirmation by larger, well-designed randomised controlled trials.
Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Volume 39, Issue 5, October 2026. Read More