Anti-inflammatory and endo belly healing banana, hazelnut and chia toast

I love having toast for breakfast or brunch at the weekends. I don’t make it part of my daily routine, as I like to keep my diet mainly whole foods for the most part, but at the weekend, I rarely go without a few slices of toast!

But, is toast - or bread - okay for endo?

I get this question from clients and students all the time (p.s. if you’re looking for one to one endo coaching, I am currently taking applications for my fall 2024 cohort).

In one of my most recent podcast episodes, I talked about the ever popular sourdough bread, and whether it can have any benefits for endo and endo belly, and whether it can cause us further symptoms or actually help.

The answer depends, because of course, it’s about your body’s personal sensitivities and tolerances, but sourdough bread may be better tolerated than standard bread for us endo folk.

It is lower in FODMAPS so may be better for those of us with IBS and endo belly, it’s lower in gluten (but not gluten free) so those of us sensitive to gluten may digest it more easily and without triggering inflammation, it’s better for blood sugar than standard bread, and it’s higher in resistant starch and other prebiotics, which boost levels of endo fighting butyrate.

Of course, we also need to consider whether your body does better on gluten free sourdough or regular sourdough, and the podcast episode highlights how to identify that.

To learn more about sourdough and endo, as well that complicated topic of gluten and endo, listen to or read my podcast episode here.

But back to this week’s recipe.

When it comes to eating processed carbohydrates like bread, I want to ensure I am doing it in a way that is going to minimise any negative impact and maximise on any benefits.

So, this recipe:

• Is high in resistant starch from the green bananas and frozen sourdough. Resistant starch boosts levels of butyrate, a short chain fatty acid that helps us to fight endo and endo belly, by lowering inflammation in the gut, inhibiting inflammatory pathways linked to endo growth, and fighting off bad bacteria linked to endo.

• Is less likely to spike blood sugar due to the resistant starch in the green bananas and sourdough, the extra fibre from chia; the fat, protein and fibre from the hazelnut butter and the high levels of polyphenols found in the cacao, cinnamon and hazelnut butter.

• Is a source of omega 3 fatty acids. A type of good fat that is essential for keeping inflammation levels at bay, and lower levels have been linked to endo and inflammation in research.

• Is a rich source of anti-inflammatory and endo belly busting polyphenols. These plant compounds are incredible antioxidants that can help lower inflammation, but also have been shown to help stabilise blood sugar levels and feed our good gut bacteria (and may even inhibit bad bacteria!). Keeping blood sugar levels balanced can help us to balance our hormones and keep inflammation down, whilst re-establishing a healthy gut microbiome can ease endo belly symptoms but may also even help in the fight against endo. To learn more, listen to or read this and this.

• Is low FODMAP thanks to the fermentation process and carefully selected ingredients and quantities, helping to prevent endo belly flare ups.

• Is low gluten or entirely gluten free (depending on the type of sourdough you choose) which may help to alleviate endo symptoms, IBS issues and can also help heal leaky gut. Leaky gut is when holes in the gut lining widen and allow for bacteria, toxins (known as LPS) and food particles to leak into the blood stream. This can cause inflammation, but may also be how LPS and bacteria find their way into the pelvic area of people with endo. LPS and certain bacteria have been linked to endo growth. To learn about the role of gluten in leaky gut, listen to or read this.

Important notes to help you tailor this toast recipe to your own body and needs (and tastebuds!)

Please remember that especially when it comes to people with SIBO (which many of us with endo have), tolerances will vary, so whilst I’ve done my utmost to make this recipe tasty, healthy and endo friendly, I cannot guarantee you won’t personally react to it. If you do, try to work out which ingredient is bothersome to you, and perhaps swap it out or lower the serving size.

Sourdough bread

As I mentioned earlier, sourdough bread may have several benefits for us endo peeps, you can learn about the benefits here. But in this recipe, I am taking it a step further, by freezing the bread overnight before use. When you freeze bread, it develops more resistant starch. Resistant starch breaks down slower in the intestines than regular starch (found in regular, unfrozen bread), meaning that it doesn’t create such a blood sugar spike. Balancing blood sugar is one of the foundational strategies I use for managing endo, I’ve linked to a couple of resources below if you want to learn more.

However, the benefits of resistant starch don’t just end there. Resistant starch boosts levels of a short chain fatty acid called butyrate, and butyrate is often low in people with endo, and may help to inhibit the inflammatory processes linked to endo development. It also helps to address the specific microbiome alternations we see in people with endo, helping us to fight endo belly.

To learn more about resistant starch for endo, head here.

Green bananas

I know most people prefer a ripe banana, but for this recipe, we’re utilising the benefits of green bananas for serval reasons. One is that green bananas are low FODMAP, and you can have up to 95g of a firm, underripe banana without it getting into moderate FODMAP territory. So, this means that typically, underripe bananas may be better tolerated for those with IBS or bloating issues.

Green bananas are also a good source of resistant starch. As they ripen, the starch chemically changes, and becomes starch that is much easier and quicker to digest, having a bigger impact on blood sugar. In contrast, green bananas contain resistant starch that breaks down slowly, having a lesser effect on blood sugar. The other fantastic benefit is, just like with sourdough, the resistant starch also boosts our endo belly fighting short chain fatty acids.

If fully green feels too hard core for you, go for a pale lime green banana. We just don’t want it to be completely yellow or started to brown. Once it’s brown and fully ripe, only a small portion (37g) is low FODMAP, and you won’t have much resistant starch left in it, if at all.

Chia

Chia seeds are seeds which contain soluble fibre. They draw in water, which creates a gel like texture which can bulk out stools and aid with constipation and better bowel movements. To learn more about how to use chia for constipation with endo, head here. This is also worth reading/listening to if you’re not sure whether chia agrees with you.

However, their rich fibre content and gelling properties, slows down digestion of carbohydrates and the movement of food through the stomach, which means that you don’t get a sudden blood sugar spike from the bread. Instead, the chia helps to digest the food at a slower rate, allowing for a steadier drip of glucose to your blood stream.

Chia seeds are also a great source of omega 3 fatty acids, which are crucial for keeping inflammation levels at bay. Omega 3 fatty acids are the precursors to anti-inflammatory prostaglandins, type of immune chemicals that balance out our inflammatory prostaglandins. We know that inflammatory prostaglandins are too high in people with endo and period pain, so lowering inflammatory levels by raising our omega 3 intake can help us manage the condition.

Hazelnut butter

Hazelnut butter is obviously delicious, but there’s another reason why I’ve aded to this recipe. Hazelnuts are one of our richest sources of polyphenols. Polyphenols are plant compounds that have a range of positive health benefits, including helping to stabilise blood sugar (which as I shared earlier, is important for endo management) and lowering inflammation through reducing oxidative stress, a damaging process linked heavily to endo development.

In research, polyphenols have demonstrated the ability to slow down the breakdown of starch, reducing the blood sugar spike after a meal. Whilst we haven’t got many studies on this with wholefoods rich in polyphenols, the research suggests that pairing starchy foods with polyphenol rich foods could improve postprandial (meaning after meal) blood sugar levels. Additionally, the extra fat, fibre and protein found in hazelnut butter can further slow down blood sugar release.

But the benefits don’t just end there. Polyphenols are prebiotics, meaning they feed our good gut bugs and help establish a healthy environment for them to thrive in the large intestine. As we’ve explored recently in various podcast episodes, people with endo often have lower levels of beneficial bacteria and higher levels of pathogenic bacteria, which can contribute to the disease development process.

Cacao and cinnamon powder

Both cacao and cinnamon are some of the richest sources of polyphenols and antioxidants you can eat, topping both charts that look at polyphenol and antioxidant content across foods! These incredible flavour additions are two of the most anti-inflammatory foods you can add to your meals, and because they are so high in these healthy plant compounds, you don’t need loads to benefit. However, if you want to increase the amounts, up to 8g of cacao and 2g cinnamon powder is low FODMAP, but that would be a lot of powder to sprinkle on top, so I doubt you’ll add that much!

Now, some people with interstitial cystitis and/or histamine intolerance (both of which are quite common with endo) are not able to tolerate cacao or cinnamon, or can’t have much of them. If this is you, please just reduce the amount you use or omit entirely. Vanilla powder is a great alternative which is still incredibly high in polyphenols! In Europe it’s pretty cheap to buy, but in the UK, it’s quite an expensive product, so you may need to shop around.

Further resources

If you’re struggling with your gut health, you might find my courses and one to one coaching helpful. You can find out more here. I’ve also got endless podcast episodes on gut health and blood sugar, plus, you might find these article helpful in terms of how to manage your blood sugar levels and why:

https://endometriosis.net/living/diet-sugar

https://endometriosis.net/living/how-to-balance-your-blood-sugar-levels-to-reduce-endo-symptoms

To understand more about the low FODMAP diet, start here.

Method:

The night before, slice your sourdough and weigh to ensure you are within low FODMAP amounts. Freeze overnight.

The next morning, toast your bread to the level you desire. Whilst it’s toasting, slice the banana.

Once the toast is done, spread with hazelnut butter, sprinkle with chia seeds, top with the banana and then dust with a pinch of cinnamon and cacao.

*Low FODMAP sourdough servings:

52g slice spelt sourdough

55g slice white wheat sourdough

48.5g slice whole-wheat sourdough

35g slice gluten free rice flour sourdough

** See notes on cacao and cinnamon powder regarding swapping for vanilla.