Dian Mills

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   "Hi, this is Roberta Speyer, and I'm reporting from the ASRM meeting  in Orlando in 2001.  I have the pleasure to be talking to Dian Mills,  who is the author of the book, 'Endometriosis: Key to Healing Through  Nutrition.'  You are a clinical nutritionist, tell us about your  practice in London."
       
       

       "I am; I have practice at the Institute for Optimum Nutrition in  Putney in London.  I work with women with endometriosis and fertility  problems looking at diet and nutrition and trying to correct the body by  chemistry."
       
       

"But this isn't actually a new book, it's a revision of a book.  How long has the book been out?"
       
       

       "The book came out somewhere around eighteen months ago in April, and the book publisher has gone into receivership."
       
       

 "Ah, we're getting the real story so you're switching publishers."
       
       

       "We're getting another publisher."
       
       

 "And doing some revisions for this new release."
       
       

       "And we're putting three new chapters in the book."
       
       

 "What are the three new chapters going to be covering that weren't covered in the original release?"
       
       

       "We have one chapter which covers the ovary and the way the ovary  works which we'd only mentioned briefly.  We have another chapter, which  covers the nervous system.  I'd done a small piece on stress that many  of the women have asked me why…"
       
       

"She'd have done a larger piece but she got stressed out."
       
       

       "Yes, truth be known we didn't have time but when I was in Sweden  in April a lot of the women were saying why do we feel so low because  it's not clinical depression, it's more what we all call despair  depression.  So I've done a chapter on how the hormones impact on the  nervous system and why we begin to sort of feel very low." 
       
       

 "Plus the  whole trial of going through the pain, trying to get a definitive  diagnosis, and trying to get a good treatment plan certainly would be  enough to get anyone depressed, don't you think?  What's the third  chapter you've added?"
       
       

       "Because we put a lot of technical nutrition detail in the book,  the third chapter is going to pick out the nitty gritty of what you  should do if you're ill to get yourself well.  There's a little bit in  each chapter so I'm going to put it all in one chapter at the end such  as how to deal with digestion if the digestion's not working and how to  deal with pain."
       
       

:  "We have so  many women who use the Endometriosis Zone and Pavilion for information  and this whole concept of looking at the total person from a nutritional  as well as a surgical or medical treatment aspect is kind of new and  evolving, I'd say, maybe in the last five years?"
       
       

 "Is that why there was a need for this book?'
       
       

       "I think so, there wasn't a lot on it.  When I first started  looking there was a little bit on rabbits with endometriotic implants  being given fish oil and the implant shrank.  That was about the only  thing I could find other than looking at symptoms of pain, PMS, period  pain, headaches, digestion problems - everything else.  So I thought I'd  bring it all together in the book so that you can address all the  problems that you're getting - the bloating which people find extreme,  and the pain because every woman's endometriosis pain is different.   Some people have pain on the right hand side, some people on the left,  some people all over, some people have pain with the period, other  people it's with ovulation, and some people like me were ill everyday."
       
       

 "You have endometriosis yourself."
       
       

       "I have endometriosis.  I was diagnosed in 1987 but it was in my  notes from when I was in in 1981.  In 1981, I couldn't walk for nine  months, and I got better with homeopathy.  In 1987, I was so ill I  couldn't even move; I was literally crawling around the floor."
       
       

 "We're here at  ASRM which is a very clinical setting with a lot of reproductive  endocrinologists and physicians.  How is the medical community of  physicians responding to looking at nutrition and changes in diet for  endometriosis treatment?  Are they behind this, is there a schism within  the community - some are and some aren't?  What's your take on it?"
       
       

       "I find more and more that a lot of the gynecologists and doctors  are telling people to look at their diet.  I've had lots of  gynecologists telling people to try not eating wheat or not eating dairy  so they are coming around more and more today."
       
       

 "I want  everyone to go out and get Dian's book if they want to know what's in  it, but is there some real no-no's that stand out in your mind from a  dietary point of view for people that suffer from endometriosis?"
       
       

Dian Mills, Cert. Ed., BA, Dip. ION, MA: 

"I  think what we have to look at is the fat and the quality of the fats  and oils that are in the diet, because the steroid hormones and the  prostaglandins are based on the fats and oils.  If you're eating poor  quality trans fatty acids, the ones that have all been chemicalized by  industry…"
       
       

 "Where would you find those - in potato chips?"
       
       

       "Yes, and in cooked foods if they've been hydrogenated, whereas if  you try and eat more nuts, seeds, and oily fish where you've got  natural fish oils as they occur in the environment, the body can make  better quality hormones from those oils so I think that's one of the  keys.  The other key is the way that the digestive system deals with  estrogens, and one of the things we know is that green leaves or  vegetables contain chemicals called 'indoles' and they help to dampen down the estrogen, and as we know  estrogen feeds the endometriosis.  Grandmother was right in telling us  to eat our greens because it does have an effect on the way the body can  deal with estrogen and also correcting digestion because many of the  women I see have been to doctors, they've been diagnosed with cystitis  and pelvic inflammatory disease, they've had lots of antibiotics, their  gut flora has been disrupted, they're bloating a lot, and if you correct  digestion, particularly the gut flora, I mean we've go four pounds of  gut flora inside…"
       
       

       "It's bacteria, the oxytoxin live happily inside us on the - you scratch my back I'll scratch your back basis." 
       
       

 "Is this the  same type we hear about like a yeast infection is when certain types of  vaginal flora gets screwed up or thrown off and then it develops a yeast  infection?"
       
       

       "If you've had lots of antibiotics it can knock down the good gut  flora.  You've got like four pounds or two bags of sugar of gut flora in  the small intestine and they produce B vitamins, which work on the gut  wall to help the body produce immune cells.  So 80% of the body's  immunoglobulins - the white blood cells - that help the body deal with  endometriosis is produced from the gut.  But if you are bloating a lot  it can be that your gut flora has an imbalance."
       
       

 "It can be corrected with the diet?"
       
       

       "It can be corrected through diet."
       
       

 "Is the book  in straight language, and is it something women can understand and  utilize in their day to day life without much difficulty?  Of course,  it's always difficult to change for all of us, but it is something that  is an easy read, isn't it, and something that gives you a lot of  information?"
       
       

       "Most of it is an easy read."
       
       

 "Or is it more for professionals?"
       
       

       "We did write it for women but we did put a little bit of  nutrition and science in it because I can't be everywhere and I need  other nutritionists to understand what to do so this is why I'm doing  the extra chapter which tells you what to do."
       
       

 "The book  actually helps the sufferers themselves but it also helps someone who  works with these people to understand what the whole philosophy is  behind using dietary methods to help with endometriosis."
       
       

       "I often have women coming back in and saying they're feeling so  much better.  A lot of the symptoms can be relieved if you're eating  well because you're getting nutrients."
       
       

 "And if you're feeling better you're not curing but your quality of life..."
       
       

"Your  quality of life is restored.  I always say - touch wood - I haven't had  endometriosis pain since 1989.  I'm just very careful so it's looking  at what's happening.  With some of people I work with we'll take dairy  foods out of the diet and with some it's wheat.  I just work with each  person as a unique being until we find what works for them and nutrition  works for a lot of people.  Obviously it won't for everybody but it  does seem to help the vast majority."
       
       

"So tell our  viewers the name of the book, when it's going to be out, and the  publisher again so they can make sure they look for it and we'll be  making it available on OBGYN.net."
       
       

       "If I can reach it I can hold it up."
       
       

 "We have the book.  Oh my god, we've been hiding the book.  Here's the book!"
       
       

       "The new cover is going to have berries across the front - blueberries and raspberries."
       
       

Articles

OBGYN.net Conference CoverageFrom the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, Orlando, Florida, October 22-24, 2001

Endometriosis: Key to Healthy Healing Through Nutrition

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Endometriosis: Key to Healthy Healing Through Nutrition Video

   “I’m Mark Perloe from Georgia Reproductive Specialists and we’re here  in Seattle at the American Society of Reproductive Medicine meeting and  I’m here with Dian Mills who is a Clinical Nutritionist at the  Endometriosis and Fertility Clinic, part of the Hale Clinic in London.”
 
 

  “And thank you for  coming and joining us today.  I’m particularly interested because there  are some new clues in the role that nutrition may play in recurring  pregnancy loss and I wonder if you could tell me a bit more?”
 
 

  “Yes indeed, I’m getting several people who are coming now to the  clinic and they’ve had three or more miscarriages or failed IVF  treatment several times.  In England fertility is not investigated until  you’ve had three miscarriages.  I begin by going through their health  history of course, but many of the times I’m finding that we have  hypothyroid problems, which haven’t been picked up, or a sensitivity to  gluten or dairy foods.  So I suggest that these women and their partners  have an IGg or IGe gluten sensitivity test or a lactose intolerance  test.  If that comes up positive we take them off that food for a month  and then challenge them with the food and see what happens.  And it’s  quite interesting that for many women when we find out exactly what the  problem is, for example if there is a food intolerance that is upsetting  the immune system, they do get pregnant once they are off that food.   We obviously have to replace the food with a similar food substance so  that they are getting all their nutrients through their digestive  system.” Obviously having a calm immune system must have an effect upon  fertility. Research suggests that there is a 50 per cent increase in  conception rate on a strict gluten-free diet in males and females who  are gluten sensitive.
 
 

  “Well, as an  average diet, if there is such a thing, is it sufficient or are there  nutrients that in general most people are missing?”
 
 

  “Well, the average diet is wheat for breakfast.  Toast, Weetabix or  something like that with dairy, milk and then at lunchtime they’ll have a  sandwich with a KitKat and then in the evening they’ll have pizza or  pasta.  So, they’re having wheat, several times a day.  We need to try  to get couples to eat more fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, berries and  fish, at three regular meals a day, try and keep wheat to one meal a day  only, so that the other two meals you are having root vegetables, or  other grains like rye, oats, corn, rice.  Plenty of vegetables, I  usually say two portions of green, leafy vegetables as they contain  indoles which help balance oestrogen in the body.  So green, leafy  vegetables are very good.  Try also to have rainbow meals so, two red  vegetables daily, like beetroot, tomatoes, peppers, they contain  carotenoids, which are very helpful with fertility.  Also eating  berries, containing proanthacyanidins, in blue, red-coloured berries,  because those are anti-inflammatory and also diuretic so that can be  quite helpful with endometriosis and fertility, We are trying to improve  the way the reproductive system works.”
 
 

  “I think probably  most physicians aren’t taking the time, and feel that the prescription  of a prenatal vitamin is sufficient to get people on the right  nutritional track.  We know that there’s good evidence on the folic acid  and reduction of birth defects, are the remainder of the components  really doing anything?”
 
 

  “Well, yes they are because if you are taking folic acid on its own, it  being a B complex vitamin, you are putting the levels of  all the other  B vitamins down as they are antagonistic to one-another.  Folic acid  itself cannot be absorbed correctly into the body without it being in  the presence of zinc.  So trying to take a very good quality, rather  than a poor quality, multi-vitamin can be helpful.  We need B vitamins  to help the immune and reproductive systems.  They are needed for the  gut flora to help in the production of immuno-globulins.  It would be  crucial if you are on folic acid, on its own, to take a yeast-free  multi-vitamin-mineral alongside.” Many other nutrients are essential to  the reproductive system. The ovaries are high in iodine, magnesium, zinc  and manganese, vitamin C and E.  Vitamin A supplements in a  multi-vitamin must be below 2000iu or 600 ug, as an excess of vitamin A  can be harmful in pregnancy. Eating a healthy diet and having excellent  digestion is essential to the uptake of all nutrients.  High  hydrogenated fats and high sugars can be detrimental to reproduction.  High sugar can affect the ovary as it creates high insulin in the body  and this can make the ovary produce an excess of testosterone instead of  the usual estrogen and that can stop the eggs maturing properly. If you  are trying to get pregnant keep sugar at a low level. Hormones are made  from fats and proteins, so it is crucial to eat good quality fats and  oils as they occur in nature and best to avoid all manufactured fats and  oils. Try eating a palm-full of nuts and seeds daily and deep sea oily  fish twice a week as this can help the body to produce good quality  hormones and aid fertility.
 
 

  “Now, when a  patient first comes in to see you, obviously a history and a dietary  history is important.  Are there laboratory studies, do they play a role  in nutritional evaluation?”
 
 

  “Yes, I do various laboratory studies.  I send people to the Doctor’s  Laboratory or to Biolab in London.  We can look at hair mineral analysis  if necessary to look for heavy metals.  I also send them for gluten  sensitivity tests; IGe being true wheat gluten allergy and IGg being  wheat intolerance.  I send them for various tests, like red cell  magnesium, white cell zinc and B vitamin levels. We can look at  digestion and check for gut permeability and liver enzyme function etc.   It is also crucial to look at the thyroid and check T3, T4, TSH and  auto-antibodies to the thyroid if you are sub-fertile .So we check the  whole thing.” All IVF units should check for these things, couples need  to be healthy before undergoing expensive IVF treatment and a 3-month  nutrition program would benefit them. Sperm production in man takes 120  days to recover if there have been mutagenic chemicals around. In women  it takes 100 days for ova to mature, so planning 3 months in advance  before trying to conceive would seem to be essential in the production  of a healthy bouncing baby. As I say in my book, it takes 12 months to  make a healthy baby.
 
 

  “Is that something that’s done fairly routinely, all those tests, or is it something like history that you pick up?”
 
 

  “Yes.  If there’s something in particular going wrong then we go for  the tests.  I prefer people to spend their money on good quality food  and supplements and if we feel a test is needed, we do it.  But if it is  not needed I don’t want to waste the money on a test unnecessarily.  I  will also send people back to their own GP because on the National  Health Service in the UK their GP can do the tests and I like the GPs to  work alongside what we’re doing.”
 
 

  “And do you find physicians are supportive?  Are they referring patients or are patients coming to you directly?”
 
 

  “I’m getting a bit of both.  I get patients coming directly because of  the book “Endometriosis the key to healing through nutrition” published  by Harper Collins, and the website; but I also get doctors and  gynaecologists sending me patients.”
 
 

  “If someone wanted to learn more, where…what is the website address so that they can find it?”
 
 

 which has all the fertility information on it.”
 
 

58th Annual Meeting - Seattle, Washington - October 2002

Author | Dian Mills

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