Heavy periods are a health risk over the long term that most women do not realize can frequently be resolved with dietary intervention. Try this approach first before resorting to surgery or drugs to address the problem!
Heavy periods, or menorrhagia, is a common problem for women particularly as they approach menopause. It is also a problem for women with endometriosis.
This problem has also emerged as a common side effect of vaccination for coronavirus. Post-menopausal women are even experiencing breakthrough bleeding. (1)
Excess estrogen can frequently be a cause too. Estrogen dominance is a real threat in our modern environment loaded with estrogen-mimicking chemicals like BPA and pesticides seemingly everywhere.
In addition, estrogenic foods like soy are an ingredient in a majority of processed foods.
Be aware that soy protein and soya milk can trigger similar effects as edamame or other whole forms of soy.
Heavy periods put a woman at risk for anemia, infertility, weakness, and persistent fatigue if not corrected.
Unfortunately, conventional treatments for this condition involve only drugs and surgery. Options include the birth control pill, hormone-releasing IUDs, hysterectomy, or a more recent technique called endometrial ablation.
I know several women who have undergone endometrial ablation in recent months to combat heavy periods.
This surgical technique involves the destruction of the uterine lining either with a laser, radiofrequency or microwaves, or heated water.
The ladies I know who have had this procedure swear by it and were very happy with the results. However, this approach is not an option for younger women who want to have children.
It is also best to avoid a surgical procedure unless absolutely necessary. Complications are always possible such as infection of the bladder or damage to the womb or large intestine.
Nutritional Intervention for Menorrhagia
The good news is that heavy and/or irregular periods frequently respond well to simple nutritional support.
This approach also helps significantly with cramping. Heavy cycles are frequently painful ones as well.
Natural Vitamin A
Vitamin A is known to help with excess estrogen so a simple increase in the amount of natural Vitamin A in the diet can help reduce heavy cyclical bleeding.
The Vitamin A must be natural and not synthetic. Excess intake of synthetic Vitamin A can produce deleterious effects.
In fact, some researchers believe that synthetic vitamin A interferes with the proper utilization of natural vitamin A from food. Thus, avoidance of the many synthetically fortified foods on the market is important as well. (2)
Plant-based Sources Ineffective
It is important to note that beta carotene will not help here! The source must be true vitamin A best found in ideal doses in high vitamin cod liver oil.
According to a case study written about in the book Eat Fat, Lose Fat, 2 tablespoons of high vitamin cod liver oil per day supplying about 60,000 IU of Vitamin A for 3 days in a row eliminated this debilitating problem for one woman who had been suffering from what she called a “never-ending period” for 4 years. (3)
Ongoing Supplementation
Note that a daily maintenance dose of high vitamin unheated cod liver oil (1 tsp per day) after that was sufficient to keep the problem of heavy periods from returning.
This brand is what my family takes.
Cod Liver Oil for Heavy Periods Before Drugs or Surgery
Do you suffer from heavy periods and have reached the end of your rope? If you are considering surgery, why not try this simple remedy to see if it might work for you?
Be sure to use ONLY high vitamin cod liver oil that contains natural Vitamin A. I recommend Dropi cod liver oil.
Most of the brands on the market today use synthetic Vitamin A instead of the real thing.
Worse, it is not clearly labeled.
Using cod liver oil with synthetic A or supplements containing beta carotene will not be helpful for resolving heavy periods.
For vetted and tested sources of high vitamin cod liver oil that use only natural Vitamin A and no synthetics, check my Resources page.
References
(1) Post-vaccine menorrhagia, metrorrhagia or postmenopausal bleeding
(2) Vitamin A Saga
(2) Eat Fat, Lose Fat
Wish I had known about this when I was menstruating. I will pass the message on though. 🙂 thanks for sharing this.
In her DVD presentation Nourishing Traditional Diets, Sally Fallon says that there have been fantastic reports of recovery from various hormonal issues — from fibroid tumors to endometriosis to heavy, painful periods — with high dose natural vitamin A found in high vitamin/fermented cod liver oil. It’s also found in abundance in liver and other organ meats. Yet again, here’s an example of heeding the advice of our great grandmothers and their great grandmothers – take your cod liver oil and eat your liver!
Heehee, maybe it would be best to eat somebody else’s liver?
LOL!
: ) Indeed! Ha-ha. Of course, what was meant was eat the liver served to you.
By the way, as Sarah has noted in the past, steer clear of synthetic vitamin A. True vitamin A from sources like CLO and liver is not to be confused with synthetic vitamin A found in vitamin pills. True vitamin A is safe, and synthetic can be harmful.
I’m so happy you wrote about this as I’ve recently began having this issue in the past few months. I will definitely try this out.
Is there a Cod Liver Oil that any of you or your readers recommend? It would be highly appreciated. Thank you.
The one and only Green Pastures fermented cod liver oil. Nothing else compares!
This is great news. I’ve had heavy, painful periods ever since I came off birth control about 4-5 years ago (thank goodness for my acupuncturist for that wisdom) and its been really difficult to deal with I’m only 25 and dont look forward to dealing with this intensity for the next 20-30 years. Eat Fat to Loose Fat has been on my list of books to purchase, I’m going to get it right now. I’ve recently cut out sugar and carbohydrates and make sure to get plenty of well sourced fat and take a fermented CLO/Butter combo in a capsuel. I cant take the stuff by the spoonfull. So far no change in the pain. I am taking two capsuels daily, should I up this intake during painful periods? If an increase in CLO will help with the pain and bleeding I’ll take more!
If you are using the Green Pasture FCLO/Butter combo capsule, I think the normal dose is 2 capsules. In a post above, they were talking about taking a 6x dose (12 capsules) daily for three days before decreasing to a maintenance dose.
The vitamin A is supposed to help with the bleeding, but I don’t know about the pain. I find calcium/magnesium (bone broth) to help with painful menstrual cramping for myself. It is generally recognized as helpful for any muscle cramping. However, you do need the vitamin A, vitamin D, and vitamin K2 (all from the FCLO/B) in order to make use of the minerals.
The Green Pasture FCLO capsules are 500mg. I’ve measured (by squeezing out the capsules) about 1/8 tsp of FCLO per 2 capsules. To get 1 tsp of FCLO you would have to take 16 capsules. To get 1 Tablespoon, you would have to take 48 capsules. For 2 Tablespoons, 96 capsules per day! So it’s much better to take the liquid. Same amount with the FCLO/BO capsules because 2/3 of the 750mg capsule is FCLO. You get some Vitamin A with the butter oil, but not nearly like with the cod liver oil.
Thanks for breaking this down! I take the FCLO/BO gel, but my husband takes the capsules. People keep asking me how many you need. Now I know. 🙂
I’m 30, but have had painful heavy periods for about 2 years. I finally saw a naturopath doctor about it. She has me taking a supplement, vitex (also known as chaste tree), to increase my progesterone (it is very low). For me, being younger, I don’t have higher estrogen before an onset of menopause, but I have had symptoms of high estrogen since my progesterone was so low. I’m on my 3rd or 4th month of taking it, and it is slowly but surely helping. I hope this makes sense! Overall – I’d look into vitex if I were you.
Heather, how much did the Vitex help? What was your dosage/frequency? I’m 33, thin, healthy, but have had to leave work several times due to how weak I get due to the heavy heavy bleeding. 🙁 Nobody has mentioned Vitex to me before. (I am on a progesterone cream my naturopath gave me but so far no decrease in flow or length).
Hi,
I had to go on a low histamine diet due to horrible symptoms relating to my body not being able to tolerate and/or process anything more than low doses of histamine since I was 45. I had had really painful periods all my life but within a couple of months of the low histamine diet I went from taking max recommended doses of ibuprofen and paracetamol to not having to take anything! No pain or other horrible associated stuff (feeling heaviness, tired, sickey, etc).
Annoyingly, though, my periods got very heavy, almost too much to be able to cope with. I’ve only recently found out that ibuprofen can be very effective at reducing flow so have just started taking a small dose throughout the first day and it’s really helping a lot.
Thank you for this – i have never heard this before and am currently using flower essences to try and work with the issue. I will add this to my regimen
Do you know how it was determined that the vitamin A in cod liver oil was the significant factor? I am wondering if it is the vitamin A or possibly the role of omega three fatty acids.
Most of my clients find dysmennorhea (painful periods with or without excessive, bloating, bleeding and other symptoms) respond well to a diet that calms insulin resistance. Efforts to eat more whole foods, less refined sugar and starch (and sometimes much less carbohydrate–even of the healthy stuff) are a few cornerstones of the dietary approach.
As for estrogen dominance, I am not so sure. Is it possible that the body burden of manufactured estrogenic chemicals actually don’t so much contribute to an overload, but may actually interfere with the function of our own estrogen. Ironically not enough bio-active estrogen may be at play.
Given that in nature nutrients are actually complexes and don’t occur in isolation, it would be simple to give quality cod liver oil a try first and not worry whether what constiuent in the oil is responsible, given that we have evidence that the increased Vit A levels are helpful.
Polyunsaturated oils are estrogenic, and this product doesn’t have much/any protein (to help the liver deactivate estrogens). physiologists determined long ago that Vitamin E and Vitamin A have anti-estrogen actions.
Estrogenic substances decrease available oxygen levels, through various mechanisms. Antioxidants like Vitamin E and Vitamin A help prevent reactive materials (like Omega 3 PUFA) from reacting with oxygen.
Estrogen is estrogen, and bodies usually know how to make all they need.
“Estrogen is estrogen, and bodies usually know how to make all they need.”
Yes, our bodies are incredibly intelligent systems that (usually, barring some genetic defect) are fully equipped to function perfectly. And if we didn’t intervene constantly with poor food, dangerous pharmaceuticals, and estrogen-mimicking chemicals, this may actually remain the case for most of us.
Estrogen-dominance is very common, I have it myself and it is slowly coming back to normal after over a year of following a traditional diet and taking my FCLO and of course, going off the pill. It is a lot more complicated than our bodies’ “knowing how to make all they need”, because we constantly mute, disrupt, or interfere with our bodies’ intelligence. Also, it is not simply a matter of “making” estrogen, but how it is stored, broken down, and eliminated that comes into play.
I am currently studying natural medicine and I have found that another important factor in helping combat estrogen dominance is supporting the liver, which is the organ that actually breaks down our excess hormones. Estrogen dominance often signifies a poorly functioning liver. Brassica concentrates such as raw brocolli sprout powder can be excellent for healing the liver, as can a number of other food-based supplements (not synthetic vitamins or other such garbage).
It’s also interesting that many traditional cultures believed that you must eat of the organ you are having difficulty with, so perhaps the FCLO is also helpful because it is made from liver, and thus giving our own livers the necessary support to break down the excess estrogen.
I have had heavy periods my whole life until a few months ago when we started following the ‘Eat Fat, Lose Fat diet’. We have taken FCLO for a few years, but it didn’t seem to help (I wasn’t taking a TBL though). It really wasn’t until we started the ‘diet’ that it changed. I’m still shocked by the fact that it’s so much lighter now! Hooray for food healing our bodies!
Unfortunately, I hear so many women who have not been made aware of this dietary avenue exclaime how “they tried everything” prior to surgery. This information really needs to get out.
Also check out:
http://uterinearteryembolization.org/
http://hersfoundation.org/
Also I highly recommend:
http://uterinearteryembolization.org/
http://hersfoundation.org/
Yes it does! Let’s share it to the moon and back (hence the picture in the post coincidentally). Such a simple fix and it works!!!!!!
I’ve been struggling with this for years. I was scheduled to have an ablation done, but they couldn’t do it due to endometriosis and fibroids. Now we’re trying a new medication (shot every 3 months), but obviously, I’d love to not have to do that either.
Question though – above, you say 2 Tbl of high vitamin cod liver oil has 60,000 IU of vitamin A. But when I look at the nutritional information on the high vitamin cod liver oil at the links from your resources page, it shows only 3,750 IU per dose. So…. how does that work?
I think its the difference between a tsp (teaspoon) and a TBL (tablespoon). I think the normal dose is 1 tsp, not 1 TBL (or 2).
Yes, that’s it. Thankyou Amy. 1 TBL is 3 tsp. Actually I think the dosage is 1/2 tsp come to think of it so a TBL would be 6 times that.
I have been wondering about this. If the normal dosage is 1/2 tsp, isn’t it half that or 1/4 tsp if you use the fermented cod liver oil? Thanks, Teresa
I believe the “normal” dosage for fermented cod liver oil is 1/2 tsp and non-fermented is 1 tsp. That being said here is David Wetzel’s take on it (in the context of Vit D qty):
“When discussing drugs and other supplements I understand why one would be most concerned with iu’s of these ADDED bare ingredients. All other supplements/drugs treat A/D etc as ingredients. I think it is important to understand added ingredients in products and drugs/supplements, but a real food as such, just take the fclo. Take extra when under stress. I know some that take 3 tablespoons per day, others do well at 1/2 tsp. All people are different in
needs and function.”
http://www.greenpasture.org/utility/showArticle/?ObjectID=7505&find=how%20much&happ=siteAdministrator
I suffered from this condition until I started taking 2 tablespoons of high vitamin Cod liver oil per day. It really works. If I backed off from the clo, it started again, but three days of the clo and the bleeding stopped. (I would bleed for weeks, and I did become low in iron.) I am now through menopause without having any medical procedures.