Endo Belly Friendly, Luteal Phase Superhero Chocolate Pot

I had intended to release my Endo Belly Banana Bread Breakfast Pudding today, but it’s Friday and after the past week or so, I think we could all do with a dopamine hit. You guys loved my chocolate mousse last week, but I wanted to make you something a bit more decadent and traditional, less breakfast-y and more dessert-y. Perfect for a premenstrual Friday night in.

This recipe is still anti-bloat and helps to alleviate constipation, but it also comes with some luteal phase bonuses!

This chocolate pot not only kicks luteal phase cravings, it also:

• Contains only low levels of naturally occurring sugar, and the fat from the eggs and fibre from the chia seeds slows down glucose release from the dates, to prevent blood sugar and inflammation spikes.

• Is rich in omega 3 fatty acids from chia seeds and egg yolk, helping to lower inflammation pre-period.

• Includes healthy fats from the eggs, which helps trigger large gut motility – perfect if you suffer with constipation or slow bowel movements in your luteal phase.

• Contains chia seeds, an evidenced based food for constipation – another bonus for luteal phase gut problems. You can swap for flax, which has more research behind it. Listen to podcast for how to use both of these foods for endo in a way that suits your body.

• Uses low fodmap serving sizes, so less likely to cause bloating or make pre-menstrual bloating any worse! Low FODMAP serving sizes are also safer for SIBO peeps and people with IBS (though low FODMAP is not always effective for either groups). However, you can increase serving sizes and I am not suggesting we all go low FODMAP! I’m just making this as endo belly friendly as possible.

• Contains prebiotics from the chia seeds and cacao, which feeds good gut bacteria. People with endo have been shown to have imbalances between good gut bacteria and opportunistic/pathogenic bacteria, so re-establishing balance is important.

• Is rich in polyphenols from dark chocolate, antioxidants which are fantastic for gut health and overall health.

• Is a source of potassium thanks to the dates, a nutrient shown to help bowel contractions.

• Is rich in magnesium, a nutrient which helps to lower inflammation and PMS. A luteal phase superhero.

Important notes –

The key driver behind period pain and endo pain, is inflammation. Whilst there are a few suckers responsible, inflammatory prostaglandins are at the heart of pain with endo and dysmenorrhea, being shown to be at elevated levels for both communities.

Inflammatory prostaglandins are actually essential to have a period and even to ovulate (not to mention, many other things, like healing from wounds), but they need to be counterbalanced with anti-inflammatory prostaglandins, and when we’re lacking in those or our inflammatory prostaglandins are too high, we get pain.

Omega 3 is the precursor (in short, it makes) anti-inflammatory prostaglandins, whilst omega 6 makes inflammatory ones. People with endo have been shown to have higher levels of omega 6, and lower levels of omega 3, so we want to correct that balance. And don’t worry – you don’t need to avoid healthy sources of omega 6 like nuts and seeds, we just need to get more omega 3, as many of us don’t get enough!

So, one of my key strategies with clients is to ensure their diet is rich in these good guys, and this chocolate pot will help you get there (though topping up on foods like salmon is a good shout too).

Magnesium is also a nutrient which has been shown to lower inflammation and improve period pain and PMS! Many of us who deal with chronic stress (ahem, endo) are often low in this mineral, but cacao, is a great way to boost your levels and helps you to fix those chocolate cravings.

This recipe contains raw egg yolk for protein and healthy fats, just like real chocolate mousse does. Most countries now test their eggs for salmonella, but if your country doesn’t, it would be safer to try a different recipe, like this one, which you allows you to omit the eggs.

The low FODMAP serving size for chia is 24g per person. However, I recommend my clients start lower, at 15g, as sometimes that’s all we need per day to get the bowels moving, and it may take their bodies time to adjust to the extra fibre, so we build up slowly.

Additionally, depending on your gut issues, chia may be better tolerated at lower levels. Remember, if you have SIBO, just because something is low FODMAP, does not mean it won’t trigger symptoms, so always check your tolerance levels. So, that being said, this recipe gives you 15g per serve. Many recipes for chocolate mousse use about 30g per person, this creates a very thick mousse, but personally, my gut can’t handle it!

I tend to steer clear of using lots of dates in my recipes, because dates like medjool dates are high in sugar (about 18g per date) and can cause quite big blood sugar spikes. Managing blood sugar is one of key strategies for reducing inflammation with endo. Instead, I’ve used deglet noor dates, which are much lower in sugar, at about 4-5g per date. The addition of chia will really slow down the carb content anyway, due to its fibre content. I’ve offered 4-8 dates as suggestion, so you can tailor to sweetness.

A low fodmap serving of cacao is 8g, so if you went for the upper range of cacao (32g), each person would have a low fodmap serving – however, it’s actually super rich at that level, so I found about 25g to be the sweet spot.

Always remember to drink an extra 150ml water with chia or flax, as they are both very absorbent and need water to create the slippery gel that helps with constipation. If you don’t drink much water, they can actually dry things up and worsen this gut problem.

Finally, it’s worth noting that whilst this may be the trick to get things moving again, it often takes consistent daily use of chia, fats, etc. to see a difference, and even then, if you have more going on with your gut health, you might need extra help. If you want to boost this recipe’s effectiveness, try adding a tablespoon of olive oil (fats stimulates motility) or an espresso shot, if you tolerate caffeine okay (caffeine also triggers motility).

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.