Best Vitamins and Supplements for Endometriosis: What Does the Science Say?

Endometriosis and Natural Supplements: What the Latest Research Says About Nanocurcumin and Alpha Lipoic Acid

I, Dr. Conor Kerley, was invited to speak at the 2019 Endometriosis Association of Ireland. I agreed but once I hung up the phone, I googled: 'What is endometriosis'

I read through the research on nutrition and endometriosis and presented on the day but was so shocked and saddened to learn how common, severe and neglected endo was and still is.

I made it my mission to try help as many with endometriosis as best I can...

So I keep up with the research around which ALL aspects of lifestyle, especially nutrition and nutrients can have benefits or harms for endo.

Recent clinical research in women with endo suggests that two supplements 1) Nanocurcumin + 2) Alpha lipoic acid

• reduce pain & inflammation 
• improve quality of life

in women with endometriosis.

While they are not a cure and should not replace medical treatment, human studies in women with endometriosis have shown encouraging benefits and safety, particularly when highly bioavailable forms are used.

Why Are Scientists Interested in Nutrition and specific nutrients for endometriosis?

Endometriosis is a chronic whole body disease associated with:

• inflammation
• oxidative stress
• immune dysfunction
• oestrogen signalling

Certain nutritional strategies, including food supplements can target and improve all 4 of these areas and hence may provide significant benefit to women with endometriosis. 

Snapshot of benefits for endometriosis from human research studies

Best Vitamins and Supplements for Endometriosis: Nanocurcumin

There are 2 human studies regarding nanocurcumin supplementation in women with endometriosis (not lab studies or studies in animals)

Across these 2 published studies in women with endometriosis (not lab studies or studies in animals), nanocurcumin supplementation was consistently associated with improvements in

 Nanocurcumin supplementation in endometriosis had the following benefits:

• Decreased inflammatory biomarkers
• Decreased Period pain (dysmenorrhoea)
• Decreased Pain during sexual intercourse (dyspareunia)
• Decreased Chronic pelvic pain
• Decreased Pain during bowel movements (dyschezia)
• Decreased Overall pain scores
• Improved sexual function
• Improved overall quality of life
• Increased total antioxidant capacity
• Improved fertility

With these different clinical research studies in women with endometriosis concluding:

Nanocurcumin study 1 conclusions:

'nanocurcumin can be a therapeutic target for patients with endometriosis'

Nanocurcumin study 2 conclusions:

'the combination of nanocurcumin and dienogest (a progesterone oral contraceptive pill) significantly reduced pain and improved quality of life and sexual function in women with endometriosis, suggesting nanocurcumin as an effective therapy'

 

Indeed, a simple google search using keywords 'endometriosis nanocurcumin' brings up research reporting nanocurcumin as a potent anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and antiangiogenic agent (antiangiogenic means stops and slows abnormal blood vessel growth, which is common in endometriosis).

 

The google results also mention benefits of nanocurcumin including:

• pain reduction 
• anti-inflammatory anf anti-oxidant action 
• improved fertility and IVF outcomes
• additional cellular action, through decreased oestrogen production 

Indeed, the website of the endometriosis center mentions the benefit of nanucurcumin:

Best Vitamins and Supplements for Endometriosis: Alpha Lipoic Acid

In addition, there are 4 human studies regarding alpha lipoic acid supplementation in women with endometriosis (not lab studies or studies in animals)

Across these 4 published human studies, alpha lipoic acid supplementation has consistently been associated with improvements in women with endometriosis

Alpha Lipoic acid supplementation in endometriosis had the following benefits:

• Decreased Period pain (dysmenorrhoea)
• Decreased chronic pelvic pain
• Decreased overall pain scores
• Decreased pain during sexual intercourse (dyspareunia)
• Decreased painkiller use
• Decreased incontinence
• Improved sexual function
• Improved overall quality of life

 

A 2023 scientific review from Italian researchers was titled

and this review concluded: 

 

'These results provide convincing evidence that ALA might inhibit endometriosis progression'

With different studies in women with endometriosis concluding:

Lipoic Acid study 1 conclusions:

The progressive reduction of the pain syndrome reported by women over the treatment period could contribute to improve the quality of life and sexual life of women on alpha lipoic acid

Lipoic Acid study 2 conclusions:

Women with endometriosis treated with alpha lipoic acid experienced a significant improvement in endometriosis-associated pelvic pain and required lower intake of pain killers'

Lipoic Acid study 3 conclusions:

The results from this study support the results of clinical trials showing the benefits of alpha-lipoic acid for the management of gynaecological pelvic pain, enabling the reduction or withdrawal of painkillers, anti-inflammatory medications and nerve medications'

Lipoic Acid study 4 conclusions:  

Alpha-lipoic acid may play a very important role in the treatment of individual symptoms of endometriosis'

At Phytaphix, we know the science!

That’s why we’ve built the Endo bundle

Our Evidence-Based Endo Bundle

Gold Standard Curcumin: 80mg nanocurcumin with essential micronutrients (including 400mcg methylfolate, vitamin B12 + vitamin D3 + more)

• Delivers highly bioavailable nanocurcumin
• One capsule daily, with food

Lipoic Acid Phix: 300mg R-alpha lipoic acid with ginger extract and essential micronutrients

• Delivers naturally occurring R-alpha lipoic acid
• 2 capsules daily, preferably one early in the day and one late in the day
• Gold Standard Curcumin – one capsule daily
• Lipoic Acid Phix – 2 capsules daily, preferable one early in the day and one late in the day

For the scientific details, see below:

Curcumin and endometriosis

Laboratory and animal studies have consistently shown that curcumin influences many of the biological processes involved in endometriosis.

Research suggests curcumin may help:

• Support healthy immune regulation
• Reduce inflammatory signalling
• Lower oxidative stress
• Reduce abnormal blood vessel formation
• Help regulate excess oestrogen activity
• Slow the growth of endometriosis-like tissue

These findings are encouraging because endometriosis is characterised by altered immune function, chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, abnormal blood vessel formation and oestrogen-driven tissue growth.

However, laboratory research alone does not prove that a supplement will work in people. So what does the human research show?

Curcumin supplementation in women with endometriosis

A 2024 clinical trial gave women with endometriosis 500 mg of standard curcumin twice daily (1,000mg daily – this is very high dose curcumin).

The researchers concluded that curcumin did not significantly improve pain symptoms or quality of life compared with the control group who got placebo capsules.

The researchers stated:

‘The results showed that using (plain standard) curcumin does NOT affect the painful symptoms and quality of life of women with endometriosis’.

These findings highlight an important issue: not all curcumin supplements are absorbed equally. Researchers therefore turned their attention to more bioavailable formulations such as nanocurcumin.

  Nanocurcumin: A Better Form of Curcumin

Nanocurcumin is designed to overcome one of the biggest limitations of conventional curcumin by dramatically improving its absorption, by up to 285%!

Because the curcumin particles are much smaller, more of the active compound can reach the bloodstream and the tissues where it is needed and can have benefit.

This improved bioavailability has led researchers to investigate whether nanocurcumin may produce better clinical outcomes than standard curcumin.

Nanocurcumin and Women's Health

Previous research has shown that nanocurcumin has benefits in other areas of women’s health:

• ·      Nanocurcumin and PMOS (PCOS)
• ·      Nanocurcumin and Menopause

But what about nanocurcumin and endometriosis?

Clinical Research on Nanocurcumin and Endometriosis

Study Snapshot 1

Participants

Women with endometriosis receiving dienogest

Intervention

Nanocurcumin (80mg) daily for 8 weeks

Researchers found

✓ less pelvic pain

✓ less painful periods

✓ less painful intercourse

✓ better quality of life

✓ improved sexual function

Can Nanocurcumin Improve Fertility in Women with Endometriosis?

Study Snapshot 2

Participants

Women with endometriosis undergoing fertility treatment.

Intervention

Nanocurcumin (80mg) daily

10 weeks

Researchers found

✓ Increased total antioxidant capacity

✓ Higher antioxidant enzyme activity

✓ Reduced inflammatory markers in follicular fluid

The authors concluded that:

'Nanocurcumin treatment can modulate oxidative stress and inflammation in endometriosis.'

Specific to fertility, women with endometriosis taking nanocurcumin also demonstrated improvements in several assisted reproduction (IVF) outcomes, including:

✓ More eggs retrieved

✓More mature (MII) eggs

✓Higher fertilisation rates

✓Improved embryo cleavage

✓Greater numbers of high-quality embryos

The researchers concluded that nanocurcumin represents a promising therapeutic option for women with endometriosis-related infertility.

What Does the Current Evidence Tell Us?

Current research suggests an important distinction.

Studies using standard curcumin, which is poorly absorbed, have generally not demonstrated meaningful clinical benefits in endometriosis

By contrast, early human studies using nanocurcumin, a more bioavailable form of curcumin, have shown encouraging improvements in pain, inflammation, quality of life and fertility-related outcomes specifically in women with endometriosis

Why Choose Gold Standard Curcumin?

✓One capsule daily

✓Formulated by nutrition expert, Dr. Conor Kerley

✓Superior form of curcumin (Nanocurcumin)

✓Research based dose

✓12 Essential micronutrients

__________________________________________________________________

Best Vitamins and Supplements for Endometriosis: Alpha Lipoic Acid

Laboratory and animal studies have consistently shown that alpha lipoic acid influences many of the biological processes involved in endometriosis 4,5

Research suggests alpha lipoic acid:

• Decreased total oxidative stress
• Decreased Endometrial implant volumes
• Decreased Inflammation
• Decreased endometriosis severity
• Decreased number of endometrial cysts

One research group wrote:

‘Alpha-lipoic acid may have a therapeutic potential in the treatment of endometriosis due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects’ ⁴

The Problem with Standard Alpha Lipoic Acid

Most food supplements use artificially produced lipoic acid as it’s easier to manufacture with but standard alpha lipoic acid

• Artificially manufactured
• Not naturally occurring
• Suboptimal absorption and biological activity
• Can cause heart burn and stomach issues

R-alpha Lipoic Acid: A Better Form of Lipoic Acid 

The R form of Alpha Lipoic Acid has multiple benefits:

• The naturally occurring form
• Better absorption
• More biologically active
• Better health effects
• Better tolerance i.e. less side effects

Lipoic acid and Fertility in endometriosis

Most studies did not examine fertility. However, in one animal study regarding endometriosis and fertility, ALA increased pregnancy in endometriosis by 25% ¹⁰

Further, additional studies reported improved fertility in women after supplementing with alpha lipoic acid (see below).

Lipoic Acid and women’s health

Previous research has shown that alpha lipoic acid has benefits in other areas of women’s health:

• Alpha lipoic acid and pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS) or Dysmenorrhea
• Alpha lipoic acid and PMOS (PCOS)
• Alpha lipoic acid and Female fertility

As well as some inflammatory conditions that affect women more than men

• Alpha lipoic acid and Migraine
• Alpha lipoic acid and Multiple sclerosis

But what about alpha lipoic acid and endometriosis?

Clinical Research on Alpha Lipoic Acid supplementation in women with endometriosis

There are 4 human studies regarding Alpha Lipoic Acid supplementation in women with endometriosis. Across the four published human studies to date, alpha lipoic acid supplementation has consistently been associated with improvements in pain and quality-of-life outcomes.

One study in women with endometriosis found no benefit of ALA after 3 months…but after 6 months, there was reduced pelvic pain, period pain and painful sex as well as increased quality of life and sexual function.⁶

A 2018 study reported that pain scores and painkiller use decreased after 3 months but decreased again after 6 months.⁷

A 2019 study reported significant decreases in pain symptoms, including dyspareunia, dysmenorrhea and chronic pelvic pain.⁸

A 2022 case series reported that treatment with alpha lipoic acid decreased or eliminated pelvic pain and associated painful sex. The researchers wrote: these clinical cases support the results of clinical trials showing the benefits of alpha-lipoic acid for the management of gynaecological pelvic pain, enabling the reduction or withdrawal of other medications e.g. pain killers, anti-inflammatory and nerve medications.⁹

What Does the Current Evidence Tell Us?

Human studies in women with endometriosis have shown encouraging improvements in pain, inflammation and quality of life outcomes.

Why Choose Lipoic Acid Phix?

✓Two capsules daily

  ✓Superior form of alpha lipoic acid (R Alpha Lipoic Acid) 

✓Research based dose

✓ Formulated by nutrition expert, Dr. Conor Kerley

✓ Enriched with ginger extract

✓Essential 6 micronutrients

Current evidence suggests that nanocurcumin and alpha lipoic acid are both safe AND beneficial in endometriosis. However, supplements should complement, not replace, the treatment plan recommended by your healthcare professional. 

If you have endometriosis, check out the Endo bundle

Share this page with someone who might be interested as well as with your Endo healthcare team.