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Meta-Analysis
. 2022 Sep 22;21(1):58.
doi: 10.1186/s12937-022-00812-x.

Food groups and nutrients consumption and risk of endometriosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies

Arman Arab  1 , Elham Karimi  2   3 , Kristina Vingrys  4 , Mahnaz Rezaei Kelishadi  1 , Sanaz Mehrabani  2 , Gholamreza Askari  5
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Food groups and nutrients consumption and risk of endometriosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies

Arman Arab et al. Nutr J. .

Abstract

Dietary factors may play a role in the etiology of endometriosis and dietary intake of some food groups and nutrients could be associated with endometriosis risk. This systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies was conducted to summarize the findings on the association between dietary intakes of selected food groups and nutrients (dairy, fats, fruits, vegetables, legumes, and animal-derived protein sources), and the risk of endometriosis among adult women. PubMed, Scopus, and ISI Web of Science were systematically searched up to September 2022. The inverse variance-weighted fixed-effect method was used to estimate the effect size and corresponding 95% CI. A total of 8 publications (4 studies) including 5 cohorts and 3 case-control with a sample size ranging from 156 to 116,607 were included in this study. A higher intake of total dairy [all low-fat and high-fat dairy foods] was associated with decreased risk of endometriosis (RR 0.90; 95% CI, 0.85 to 0.95; P < 0.001; I2 = 37.0%), but these associations were not observed with intakes of low or high-fat dairy, cheese or milk. Increased risk of endometriosis was associated with higher consumption of red meat (RR 1.17; 95% CI, 1.08 to 1.26; P < 0.001; I2 = 82.4%), trans fatty acids (TFA) (RR 1.12; 95% CI, 1.02 to 1.23; P = 0.019; I2 = 73.0%), and saturated fatty acids (SFA) (RR 1.06; 95% CI, 1.04 to 1.09; P < 0.001; I2 = 57.3%). The results of this meta-analysis suggest that there may be differing associations between dietary intake of dairy foods, red meat, SFAs, and TFAs and the risk of endometriosis. It may be useful to extend the analysis to other types of food groups and dietary patterns to obtain a complete picture. Additionally, further investigations are needed to clarify the role of diet in the incidence and progression of endometriosis.Trial registration: PROSPERO, CRD42020203939.

Keywords: Diet; Endometriosis; Food groups; Meta-analysis; Systematic review.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The flow diagram of study selection
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Forest plots of the association between dietary intake of dairy foods (total-(a), low-(b) and high-fat(c) dairy, cheese(d) and milk(e)) and risk of endometriosis
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Forest plots of the association between dietary intake of fats (total fat (a), MUFA (b), PUFA (c), SFA (d), and TFA (e)) and risk of endometriosis
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Forest plot of the association between dietary intake of fruits and risk of endometriosis
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Forest plot of the association between dietary intake of vegetables and risk of endometriosis
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Forest plot of the association between dietary intake of legumes and risk of endometriosis
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Forest plots of the association between dietary intake of animal-derived protein sources (egg (a), fish (b), poultry (c), and red meat (d)) and risk of endometriosis
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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