Bite Back with Abbey Sharp - Can Period Blood Hold the Key to Diagnosing Endometriosis without Surgery? With Dr Harini Bhat

Episode Date: October 28, 2025

Here’s a run down of what we discussed in today’s episode:Introduction — Why Endometriosis Deserves More AttentionDr.Bhat’s Journey and the Diagnostic StruggleThe Systemic Dismissal of Women��s Pain in MedicineTreatment Gaps and the Desperation They CreateThe Rise of “Endo Diets” and Wellness ScamsInside the Research OutSmarts Endometriosis (ROSE) StudyWhat the ROSE Study Is Teaching Us About Menstrual HealthCultural Shame and the Silence Around Menstrual ResearchWhy Endometriosis Research Still Lacks FundingEvidence-Based Nutrition and Lifestyle Approaches for EndoReferences: www.endofound.org/rose-studyCheck in with today’s amazing guest: Dr. Harini Bhatinstagram.com/tilsciencetiktok.com/@tilscienceyoutube.com/@tilsciencetilscience.substack.com Disclaimer: The content in this episode is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is never a substitute for medical advice. If you’re struggling with with your mental or physical health, please work one on one with a health care provider.If you have heard yourself in our discussion today, and are looking for support, contact the free NEDIC helpline at 1-866-NEDIC-20 or go to eatingdisorderhope.com.  🥤 Check out my 2-in-1 Plant Based Probiotic Protein Powder, neue theory at www.neuetheory.com or @neuetheory and use my promo code BITEBACK20 to get 20% off your order! Don’t forget to Please subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts and leave us a review! It really helps us out. ✉️ SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTERS ⤵️Neue Theory newsletterAbbey's Kitchen newsletter 🥞 FREE HUNGER CRUSHING COMBO™ E-BOOK! 💪🏼 FREE PROTEIN 101 E-BOOK! 📱 Follow me! Instagram: @abbeyskitchenTikTok: @abbeyskitchenYouTube: @AbbeysKitchen My blog, Abbey’s Kitchen www.abbeyskitchen.comMy book, The Mindful Glow Cookbook affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3NoHtvf If you liked this podcast, please like, follow, and leave a review with your thoughts and let me know who you want me to discuss next!

Your options that you were given were go on the pill, or be pregnant for life. Welcome to another episode, A Bite Back with Abby Sharp, where I dismantled Diet Culture Rules, call out the charlatans spinning the pseudoscience, and help you achieve food freedom for good. Today we're going to be talking about a condition that affects one in ten women of reproductive age. Yes, we're chatting about endometriosis. For those who don't know, endometriosis is a chronic estrogen-dependent inflammatory condition where endometrial tissue starts to grow outside the uterus, resulting in painful periods, sex, bowel movements, and urination, along with heavy periods, fatigue, IBS symptoms, infertility, and increased risk of ovarian cancer. Despite impacting

millions worldwide and being often described as one of the most painful, underdiagnosed and misunderstood conditions, research and treatment have lagged far behind. Our guest today is one of the many women who have felt let down by the science and medical community in helping to support her endometriosis management journey. Dr. Harini Bat is a pharmacist-turned-science storyteller, creator of the Today I Learned Science Substack and podcast, and TikTok Sensation at TIL Science. Today we will be discussing systematic sexism in healthcare, the truth about so-called, quote, endod diets, how your period blood may be the secret to diagnosing and treating the condition, and I'm going to be finishing with some evidence-based diet dues and don'ts for symptom management.

Now, quick note that for simplicity, I may use inclusive women-centered language, but I want to fully acknowledge that a lot of this will apply to folks who do not identify as women as well. Finally, I have some massively exciting news if you haven't heard, but my new book, The Hunger Cushing Combo Method, is now on pre-sale, and I would really, really, really appreciate if you would support me because let me tell you, pre-sales can make or break the success of a book. So this really, really does mean so much to me. So I will be leaving the link in the show notes where you can pre-order. All right, let's get into it. Well, hello, Harini. Thank you so much for being here. I am just such a huge fan of your

podcast and your social content. I'm just so excited for this conversation. Thanks, Abby. Thanks so much for having me. So you've been very open about your personal endometriosis journey. Do you want to just kind of briefly tell us about your experience trying to get diagnosed? Absolutely. I mean, it was, I think just like for many other people out there, it's such a long process. I didn't even know I had it, to be honest. But I've had horrible peer pains ever since I've had my peers since I was 11 years old to the point where I think it was just a year later. I was 12 or 13. I was hospitalized and needed a blood transfusion. And the doctors didn't know, of course, like what was wrong with just a young girl. They thought I had a hemophilia. I was a hemophilia. or I had Juan Willa Brand's disease, like something crazy like that. And my parents were like, what, what's going on? Of course, it was none of that. I think looking back, it was definitely early science of endo. It wasn't until I was 30. So many, many years later that I had horrible, horrible pains to the point where it was worse. Like, I couldn't handle pain with my period pain. So this was times 10, what I usually experience. So clearly I knew something was wrong.

my sister-in-law is a primary care physician so i was asking her and she's like it sounds like you might have a kidney stone and i was like it's probably that because it was kind of like in that area so i go to the hospital i was on vacation actually i was on i went to the hospital by myself and went there and she did the ultrasound and she looked at it once and was like oh you have endo and i was like no no no that's not possible because i was also it's all these um not false truths, but there's a lot of misinformation and things were told culturally that we are just ingrained to believe. One of them being, it's normal to have painful periods. Right. And two, which at least in the U.S., you can't get diagnosed with endometriosis without

surgery. And I was in a different country, so possibly their medical laws are different there or their guidelines are different. But she said, oh, you have a chocolate cyst that's one of the telltale signs that you have endometriosis. She's like, it is always possible you don't, but I'm willing to bet you do. Wow. And that was basically how I found out. And it's one of those moments where everything starts to tune out and you're just like, what is happening?

That was absolutely not the news I was expecting. I never once thought I had endometriosis or PCOS or any of those kinds of issues. So when I asked her, I knew from being a pharmacist, I knew there was no cure, no real treatment. are really good options for me. And it was going to be a lifelong disease that I'd be dealing with. So I did ask her, okay, what can I do? And she just said, well, you're married, you're 30. Just get pregnant. And I was like, okay, well, what if that's not going to stop it. So what do I do once I'm not pregnant? She's like, just keep getting pregnant. I'm not kidding you. Oh, my God. So I'm just like, okay, this is not helpful information whatsoever. So we settled on birth control,

which is many, many people's stories. So that's how I found out I had endometriosis. I mean, that response just keep having babies is wild. Really wild. Like maybe that's not what you want for your life. But I just really feel like, you know, obviously your experience really echoes just this broader issue that so many folks with uterus is, you know, dealing with these long, frustrating paths to recognition and diagnosis and adequate care.

Like, endometriosis apparently can take seven to 10 years on average to diagnose. And that is a long time for women to suffer in pain, like physically, obviously, but also emotionally, especially if there's like infertility involved, right? Absolutely. And we just see these similar patterns with other conditions like PCOS and menopause and PMDD and heart attacks and women and neurodivergence even, which has long gone underdiagnosed in women. Why do you think women's suffering is so often dismissed or normalized in the medical system? Oh my gosh. That's the million dollar question. I mean, we have studies to prove it.

There are so many statistics that show that in medicine, whether it's, doesn't matter what the gender is, whoever your doctor is, women's health and their pain is consistently more dismissed or looked at as not as much of a real pain issue compared to men. Men are more likely to receive morphine or other pain options than women consistently across the board. There is some strange cultural belief that women are built to withstand pain and possibly that comes from us being able to give birth and the pain that comes with that. But pain is pain.

And I think that has been such a huge issue. do in the medical community is just not studying women, one, first of all, not knowing how medicine works in women, what really constitutes a woman's body and how with all the hormones and everything like that, but also just believing women's pain. Yeah. I know so many women who are just not given the pain that they need are told that it's all in their head when they're going through something like this. It needs to change. It absolutely needs to change. And, and, you know, back to what you said earlier during your diagnosis journey, your options that you were given were be pregnant for life or go on the pill. Yeah. Is this the only options we've got? Pretty much. I mean, that's the only

FDA-approved options that we have. There is no, and this is something that I've recently learned through the Rose study, which they're doing fantastic work, and we can talk about that if you'd like. We are going to talk about it. Yeah. So Dr. Christine Metz, who's one of the co- co-leaders of the Roe study, we had a conversation. And from that, I didn't even know this, but the, they didn't even, for birth control, which is one of the options for people who have endometrosis, the end point for that was not even a limited progression of disease. It was just pain, which is a huge difference because we are often told, I was told by my OB that if you go on birth control, it will stop progression of disease, point blank. And that is not scientifically

the case, nor was it how it was studied. There are, I guess, anecdotal evidence that it can limit progression of the disease, but has not been specifically studied in that. So so far it is just for pain. And that is difficult to swallow as a person who, anyone who has endometriosis, because what that really tells you is there is no, there are no treatment options for endometriosis, ultimately, besides potentially getting surgery. But surgery is not. an option for everyone depending on what stage you're at and so on and so forth. So there's so much work to be done in the sector. Oh my gosh. Yeah. I mean, of course, like naturally, you know, if women were told, well, if you're going on hormones, it's really just for pain management. Why would you take

the hormones and deal with the side effects when you could just take Advil if that's what it's doing anyways? Yeah, absolutely. And ultimately, like one of the issues with not having high quality research or good treatment options for women is that we just become so much more susceptible to these like grifters bogus wellness culture promises. And there, as you probably know, are so many quote unquote experts online sharing their endo diets and their protocols. And I'm curious in your endo journey, you know, did you ever feel tempted to try this diet or supplement or like protocol that your science brain was telling you was probably BS? But because you were in the state of like there's nothing else for me, you just felt like

you got to try it. You got to try it all. Absolutely. I think it doesn't even matter if his endo could be anything. There's so much social pressure to just look or be or feel a certain way. And especially when it comes to something that is so painful and debilitating in your life like endometriosis, you get to the point where you're so desperate to just try anything just to feel some kind of relief.

absolutely like I definitely looked into a bunch of different supplements that promise improvements and symptoms and things like that I have found ways to make things work whether that's you know I think it's very common for people with endometriosis to take magnesium at night to help with the symptoms and things like that like that for sure I mean everything I say is just something that's helped me specifically but the magnesium that I take at night has definitely helped something else that I have recently tried after my surgery that has helped a lot is actually acupuncture like i have tried that and that has been helping me it could be placebo i have no idea but who knows like i think for me some of it for a lot of

these people who have it some of it is psychological like you need to feel like you're doing something because no one else is yes you know it's kind of that thing i mean there are now people who are definitely doing that and we're so thankful that they are but for the most part for the vast majority of the history of this happening, not much has been done. So you sort of feel like you need to be doing something for yourself to take that control back because so much of your body has not been in your control for the most part. Oh my gosh. I can relate to that so much. I don't have endometriosis, but I did go through infertility and IVF. And so, you know, also in the infertility world, which obviously overlaps with the endo world, it's like, you know, you feel so

hopeless. Of course you want to do every stupid, weird, crazy thing that you've read on the internet and some Reddit thread. And again, just to kind of feel like you're doing it. And that almost gives you this like little confidence. So like you said, there's an element of placebo. I also felt that acupuncture has been incredibly helpful in my life for various reasons. So I mean, I do think there's some good there. I think at the end of the day when it comes to these like snake oil, gimmicks and things like that. As long as it's not detracting you from evidence-based treatments and, you know, obviously putting you in some kind of like financial situation where you can't afford to keep up these things and it's causing undue stress because of that, you know,

there is obviously no harm in, you know, trying a magnesium supplement or tweaking your diet and experimenting like that. But it really comes down to how it's affecting your physical and mental health and what those tradeoffs are. Totally. And I'm going to give some more insight at the end of the show on a lot of the kind of popular endometriosis diet recommendations and if they're legit. But I need to talk to you and ask you about the Rose study and Dr. Metz's pioneering work. Yeah. Can you tell us what they are doing? That is so revolutionary. Oh yeah. It's it's absolutely incredible. So Dr. Christine Metz and her co-le, Dr. Gregerson, they, are both working on something that has not ever been done before in this real sense.

They are studying menstrual fluid in people who have both endometriosis and people who don't, and essentially comparing those two. Because when you think about what endometriosis is, it's basically the lining of your womb, which is the endometrium, growing in places where it shouldn't. And so the idea is you should be able to basically understand. understand if there's differences in the endometrial cell compared to people who don't. And right now, the current gold standard is to just figure that out by opening people up and actually seeing through surgery. But Dr. Metz came up with this brilliant idea and her team that why don't we

just wait for the endometrium to come to us? Because every month, women get their period. And it's just the shedding of the endometrial lining. It's like it just makes total sense. It's so simple yet so genius. So they take that and the crazy part about all of this is that there was zero protocols on how to collect and store menstrual samples because it's never been done before. So that was the biggest hurdle, at least from my understanding for the Rose study, is to first even figure out how do you even collect store and do it safely in a way that it will actually be viable once you start studying it. So that took them many, many years. And once they started doing it, they did figure out there are differences. There are four major biomarkers that are different in people who have

endometriosis compared to those who don't. So what they're trying to do is make a not-invasive diagnostic test based on this information so that people can basically get diagnosed with endo or not in a single doctor's visit instead of having to wait what you were saying, the seven to 10 years. It's huge. It's absolutely huge. So what they would really like to do and what they're recruiting for now is to actually get people who are younger, whether they have it or not, just to get more younger samples, because that's where the big question mark is. Because right now, I'm considered old when it comes to endo because I'm on the later end. You only get diagnosed like when you're in your mid to late 20s or even after that. They're really trying to understand

the disease in its earlier progression from that 11 to maybe 17 year old range. So that is really where the more of the studies needs to come in. So hopefully they get more recruits in that age range and we can get a diagnostic test. So the next goal for them is to do bigger studies, larger scale studies with more humans in them, and then get FDA approved. Oh, this is so exciting. It's so exciting. But also very like, like shocking to me that it's only now that scientists have ever considered period blood to be useful in research or diagnostics rather than just something we flush down the toilet. Yeah.

And I don't know what the justification for the delay has been, but I just, I can't help but think that a longstanding cultural discomfort with women's bodies and this insinuation that period blood is dirty, like that has played this role in thwarting this scientific inquiry. But wow. Yeah, absolutely. and obviously this is just like such an incredible new source of rich data about women's bodies what else can or potentially like could period blood tell us about our health i mean so many things i mean this is just the beginning and speaking to dr met's endometriosis is just the

breakthrough point, I would say, to get into everything else, whether that's PCOS or PMDD or even other things. Just understanding your health in general could even tell you symptoms of ovarian cancer or, and I'm just saying like off the top, like these are just the potentials of what we could do, even down to simple things of your stress levels or whatever is going on. Your menstrual fluid is essentially a monthly diagnostic health report because it tells you what's been going on in the last month if you are having an active period, let's say. If you're not, that would be a different story. But if you are, it does tell you so much information that we just haven't been capitalizing on it at all or just taking that opportunity to learn more about women's bodies. And it is interesting

to see where the priorities have laid for the last however many years in science, where men's health has really progressed. We're talking about ED or balding and things like this. compared to just basic things, actual needs for women, like having a cure or some kind of treatment for endometriosis, for PCOS, these are things that women have been dealing with for so many generations with no help whatsoever. So yeah, it's very exciting to see genuine progress in this space. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. And I hate to kind of end on like a maybe less exciting less no but you know and I never I never talk about politics on my platforms or anything but I have to just say that I I am scared like a lot of science commuters I am scared for the state of

science right now especially yeah for us women you know there's allegedly being directives to eliminate references to women and gender from research proposals and funding to projects targeting reproductive issues and LGBTQ plus health and pregnancy related outcomes and on I'm not American. I'm a Canadian. And I've, you know, obviously I've seen a lot of debate whether this is fearmongering or legitimate research restrictions because to my knowledge, it's a little bit unclear. But what are your fears and maybe hopes? Maybe you can tell me for the future of women's health. I am ultimately overall hopeful. I think it's just wild to see where the state of science has gone in the U.S. under this current administration. It's, it is scary.

I have had to stop. I have a bunch of subscriptions to like science magazines and publications. And it's just been this barrage of this is getting cut. This is being slashed. It's just like constant every single day for the last few months. And I've just had to stop reading it because it does make you less and less optimistic about the future. However, I will say, and I'll give the Rose study as an example, that was a real

conversation that we had with them. And yes, they are also being affected by traditional funding. However, they have been very determined and have been very creative about how they get their funding. And they have found different ways through other means of funding and donations and so on and so forth. So there are ways, like even going back to crowdfunding. I mean, that is why I did the YouTube video to get more eyes out there and get people understanding that this is happening and we can donate. Like we can do on the ground boots movement to get these studies up and running. or continuing, rather, because a lot of these studies are being slash and closed.

Wow. So ultimately, I am positive about a future with women's health. There's, regardless if it's in the U.S., because I think that's the other thing we need to realize. The U.S. is not the center of the world. There are so many other incredible academic institutions, other clinical trials that are happening around the world that are doing incredible progress in women's health. So if it's not happening in the U.S., I'd say what I'm really hopeful about is what's happening in the rest of the world. And they are starting to catch up and surpass us in that space in the U.S. And I'm saying full steam ahead to all those people because we absolutely need it.

Yes. Amen. I'm so happy to hear that from you. I mean, we can't let science be silenced, especially with these exciting possibilities on the horizon through research like the Rose study. So I will absolutely be linking to the information below for the Roe study. I love the idea of, you know, crowdfunding these things. We're 50% of the population. Like this matters. Absolutely. This matters.

We can do it. Yes. We absolutely win. So we'll, there's a way with us women. So yes. Thank you so much for fighting the good fight. Your content is wildly helpful. I'm so glad we were able to hear more about the incredible potential of the Roe study.

And of course, for those who don't follow, I will be leaving links to today I Learned Science, the substack in podcast, and your social media at TLS Science. So thank you again. Thank you, Abby. It's been pleasure. This was so, so insightful. I feel like I learned so much from this episode. But to wrap things up here, I want to do a little quick review of some of the big dietary suggestions that we see making the rounds online. and what the research actually says. Let's just start here with what may actually be worth limiting. Fried foods are one, since trans fats have been linked to greater endometriosis risk. Red meat is another since one large study found that eating two servings of red meat a day was associated with a 56% higher risk of endometriosis and more pelvic pain. Alcohol has also been tied to increased symptoms, likely because of it's,

it raises estrogen levels, which thickens the endometrium and worsens pain. Now, that doesn't mean you could never enjoy a burger or a glass of wine again, but as with other inflammatory conditions, too much of these foods may make symptoms worse, and ultimately, endo or not, these are substances that we should probably all limit. Now, what about what to add? Well, the research does seem promising that omega-3 rich foods like fatty fish, may help to reduce symptom severity since EPA omega-3's lower pro-inflammatory prostate glandins. And that one feels pretty intuitive to me because, again, it's really a suggestion that I would make

to anyone and everyone anyway. But then there are some of the more fringe or controversial ideas that may go against general healthy eating advice. For example, a lot of influencers are now promoting a carnivore diet for endo, because for some folks with endometriosis, the excess fiber and fodmaps in fruits and vegetables may trigger or exacerbate bloating. The problem with carnivore, however, is that it's generally very high in, again, red meat and these pro-inflammatory saturated fats and low in anti-inflammatory fiber-rich plants. And when we look at the research, we see that people who eat more fiber-retreats and vegetables actually have a lower risk of endometriosis. So carnivore would definitely be a no-no for me.

Dairy is another hot topic. Even though it is a common IBS trigger and high in fob maps, which again may exacerbate bloating in some people, research has actually found that dairy intake, especially higher protein fermented dairy like yogurt and cheese is linked to a lower risk of endometriosis. The key here, I think, is experimenting to find your personal FODMAP triggers and when possible choosing lower FodMap produce options like carrots, blueberries, kiwi, or green beans to get your fiber without the bloat. Now another controversial food that gets demonized in the endo world is soy, since soy foods contain compounds called phytoestrogens that can mimic estrogen in the body.

Despite this, the majority of research shows that soy isn't harmful and may actually decrease endos symptoms. So if lactose is an issue for you, soy foods may be another great high protein alternative. And then finally, we've got to talk about coffee. We do know that caffeine can raise estrogen levels in some people, with some studies linking coffee to endometriosis diagnosis and others finding no strong connection at all. Ultimately, correlation never equals causation, and more importantly, as with FODMAPs, it really comes down to testing your own tolerance and noticing how these foods impact your unique symptoms. But in conclusion, I just want to acknowledge how confusing it may feel to try to navigate your endo-diagnosis and improve your symptoms

when the data is so grossly lacking. But if we stay vigilant in supporting research on women's health, we may someday soon have a more direct path forward. And on that note, thank you again to Dr. Harini Bat for helping me bite back against science misinformation and share her incredible experience and knowledge. Signing off with Science and Sass. I'm Abby Sharp. Thanks for listening.