Endo Belly Healing Fudgy No Bake Brownies

These endo belly healing fudgy no bake brownies are part of my series on short chain fatty acid boosting recipes!

Why?

Because people with endo are often low in short chain fatty acids, and short chain fatty acids can help fight endo and ease endo belly! If you want to learn how and why, head over to my two podcast episodes on this topic here and here, you can listen or read.

And whilst these foods won’t cure endo, they can help us better manage it by giving our body the tools to protect us from the disease.

One of the most beneficial short chain fatty acids for endo is butyrate, which we can increase by eating resistant starch. So, this recipe is packed with resistant starch ingredients:

  • Raw oats

  • Kidney beans (or black beans)

  • Cooked and cooled rice

These brownies are…

  • High in fibre but low in FODMAPs, helping to prevent bloating but also still feed our good gut bugs (which many with endo are low in).

  • Support a healthy intestinal barrier, which keeps toxins from bad and gram-negative bacteria known as LPS inside the gut, not outside, where they can contribute to endo development. This is thanks to our key resistant starch ingredients - raw oats, kidney beans and cooked and cooled rice.

  • Are good source of plant-based protein at 8g per serving.

  • Are rich in fibre, healthy fats and protein, with the bonus of resistant starch, to help keep blood sugar levels stable. Resistant starch can also help improve blood sugar long-term!

  • Are a good source of slower release carbs, making them great for walks and pre-exercise.

  • Help to boost our levels of butyrate, which can help inhibit the inflammatory pathways that trigger endo development (and many people with endo are low in).

  • Help to establish a healthy, balanced microbiome and lower intestinal inflammation thanks to the resistant starch, other sources of fibre from the chia and almond butter, and the polyphenols from the cacao.

  • Rich in omega 3 fatty acids (from the chia), which help to fight inflammation.

  • Boost your good gut bacteria with live yoghurt.

Important notes to help you tailor these brownies for your own body and needs (and tastebuds!)

Blood sugar modifications

These brownies are moderately high in carbs at 32g per serving. However, they are high in fibre, have a fair amount of protein and a decent amount of fat. Not to mention, the carb sources in them are various forms of resistant starch, which resists digestion in the small intestine and breaks down slowly in the large intestine, this lowers the amount of glucose you absorb and the glucose you do absorb is released slower. So in theory, the carbs in these brownies will break down slowly, preventing a blood sugar spike.

However, everyone is different, especially when it comes to blood sugar, so you may find that these do spike you a little bit. If that’s the case, swap the frosting for the yoghurt and cacao version, which saves you some sugar, and double the chia serving (from 30g to 60g), as the fibre in chia really helps with blood sugar spikes. I wanted to go higher with the chia and do so for myself, but I felt that most people would prefer the texture of the 30g serving, which creates a fudgy texture, whereas more chia (60g) creates a harder texture that is a bit more like an energy ball kind of vibe.

The other thing is that because these are high energy, they’re great before a walk, a work out or when you need a boost, and moving your body (in any way) after food, is a great way to stabilise blood sugar. I eat these brownies before I go for a jog, walk, or do weight lifting or Pilates.

Bloating modifications

This recipe is low FODMAP, not because I believe we should all be low FODMAP, but because my demographic of clients, readers and listeners tend to have bloating, often due to small intestine bacterial overgrowth, IBS, or microbiome imbalances.

Eating low FODMAP meals can help reduce the amount of gas produced, keeping bloating and IBS reactions lower. However, the low FODMAP diet is a therapeutic diet and if you plan to or are doing it fully, you need to be working with a low FODMAP trained practitioner.

Additionally, the resistant starch ingredients ferment at a slower pace, which means that you’ll have less of a spike in gas, which can occur with FODMAPS, that are quicker to ferment.

It’s very important to use canned kidney beans here, as canned helps to reduce the FODMAP amount, whereas dried kidney beans that you cook yourself are much higher. If you don’t do well with kidney beans, firstly, consider if it’s the serving size. The serving size of kidney beans per serving is very small here.

Secondly, I’ve given you options of black beans or chickpeas, which both boost short chain fatty acids (kidney and black beans boost butyrate more than chickpeas). For all of these, you’ll need to go tinned to keep the FODMAP servings low.

Finally, this recipe may still cause you bloating or IBS upset. Why? Because gut health is very individual, esp. when we have endometriosis (because there could be many causes behind your bloating) and whilst I’ve tried to lower lots of risk factors that could contribute, I can’t make any guarantees.

Taste modifications

I am always mindful of sugar content with my recipes, because blood sugar management is a key part of my approach to managing endo.

Therefore, these brownies aren’t super sweet, but if you want to, you can increase the dates, but it will of course increase the sugar content, which could cause blood sugar highs and lows.

You can also go for a sweeter dark chocolate with a lower cacao percentage, but again, they’ll be more sugar. Totally your choice, I just want you to be fully informed so you can make the best decision that feels right for you (whatever that may be).

Additionally, I’ve kept the cacao and dark chocolate amounts within low FODMAP servings sizes. If you want to go higher, you can, for a richer taste, just be aware it may cause more bloating (though you might be fine, everyone is different!).

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.

Ingredients:

For the brownies:

1 UK cup cooked and cooled rice, ideally refrigerated overnight (increases the resistant starch content). Packed rice that’s precooked is fine, but stick it in the fridge overnight before using.

3/4 UK cup oat bran or rolled oats

1 tin of canned red kidney beans

60g smooth almond butter

30g - 60g chia seeds (read the blood sugar modifications for why you may want to go higher), pre-ground in a spice grinder if possible

6 deglet noor dates, softened for 10 mins in hot water

Good pinch of vanilla powder or a tsp vanilla extract

Frosting, two ways:

With cacao -

50g low FODMAP yoghurt (like lactose free)

6g cacao powder

Optional: 1-2 tsp odourless coconut oil if you want a frosting that sets a bit more

With dark choc -

50g 90% dark chocolate

50g low FODMAP yoghurt (like lactose free)

prep Time: 30 mins

Servings: 8

Method:

Pulse all the brownie ingredients except for the almond butter in a food processor. You might find it easier to do this a few ingredients at a time.

Once well mixed and starting to get smooth, add the almond butter and blend. This mix is STICKY. You will need a good food processor or if not, add some olive oil or coconut oil to help it blend, just note that the coconut oil will firm up the mix once refrigerated and I haven’t tested or tasted the recipe with the added oils.

Press into a brownie pan (any size is fine, just be sure to cut into 8 to keep it low FODMAP), and refrigerate for at least two hours, but ideally overnight for best texture.

Once the brownies are nearly at 2 hours, prepare your frosting.

For cacao version -

Combined yoghurt and cacao with 1-2 tsps of melted (but not hot) coconut oil, combine well until totally smooth.

For dark chocolate version -

Remove 50g yoghurt from the fridge for at least an hour, to reach room temp. This will help prevent the chocolate from seizing when you add the yoghurt to it.

Whilst it warms, melt the dark chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan with simmering water (make sure the water is not touching the bowl). Once melted, leave to cool.

When the yoghurt is room temp and the chocolate is cool (but not hard, still liquid), gently combine by adding a little yoghurt to the chocolate, a tsp at a time, and stirring to combine. If it starts to seize, don’t worry too much - it’ll still spread on the brownies, but if you want it to be softer and it has seized, try adding a little melted coconut oil and stirring. You can also try putting over a warm bowl of water and stirring.

Remove the brownies from the tray, place on a plate and cover with frosting, then refrigerate again until the frosting is firm or ideally, overnight.

These will keep covered and refrigerated for three days, but it is yoghurt, so always checked for mould/smell as yoghurt can turn quickly. You can freeze as well.