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
Mine was cured when I switched to cloth pads.
I’m not heavy (anymore–was excessively heavy for YEARS)…BUT…my period lasts half a month or longer. I just read through ALL of the above comments and everyone mentions long periods in conjuction with heavy ones. Does anyone have ANY thoughts for this? I’ve had 3 kids and I’m 35 years old, and these forever-periods are really taking a toll.
This is fantastic news! Thank you so much!! I have been begging my mom for a hysterectomy since I was 12.
Real food, real frugal ( sorry, I don’t know your actual name)- I was just recently diagnosed with a good sized fibroid. After doing research, basically what I found was to eat whole, nutrient rich foods, staying away from all dairy for at least 3 months ( I’ve opted to just eat a strict paleo diet), using maca root, acv and cod liver oil. I found a great article on balancing hormones that I will try to post. I also read up with Christiane Northrups book Women bodies, Womens wisdom. She recommends eating soy, but I stay away from it. I continue to research both balancing hormones and making my body more alkaline.
I’ve paused my ad blocker’s for your page but still no results. Would definitely like to get recommendations on cod liver oil.
I’m 26 and have been having my period since I was 9…during my JH/HS years my period would last for 2 weeks and was extreamly heavy. I’ve now had 4 babies and it has slowed down a little, but my first few days are horrible. I’ve been having a period for over half my life…I am SOOO ready to be done with it! I talked with my doctor about ablation and he was a little hesitant about it…didn’t seem too excited about doing that for me. But, I don’t just want my period to lighten up…I want it GONE!! Do you have any suggestions for making your period vanish? 😀
I’ve been having heavy bleeding from what I believe are uterine fibroids. What are some natural ways to shrink and/or treat uterine fibroids? I believe that I am estrogen dominant (entering peri-menopause at 43) and have been using progesterone cream, but for the last several months I’ve been having severe symptoms which point to uterine fibroids (including the heavy bleeding) I would LOVE to treat this naturally, because from what I’ve read of current medical treatment, I have the choice of living with the pain, synthetic medications, or having a hysterectomy. None of these options sound reasonable to me. I’d much rather use some sort of natural option. Any help would be appreciated!
This is one area where I can say, for sure, I’m really glad I went extreme. I had a horrible time for nearly 2 decades. Granted, I never wanted children, so preserving that ability did not matter at all. Preserving hormones, well, that was better. So after years of really suffering I had a partial hysterectomy. I wish I’d done it when I was 20 rather than waiting until I was 31. My wish would be for people to be more accepting that women can, and have the right, to decide NOT to have children – without hearing “oh you’ll change you’re mind.”
What about drinking Red Raspberry Leaf Tea? I don’t have said condition but I hear that it is good for the uterus.
What about drinking Red Raspberry Leaf Tea? I don’t have said condition but I hear that it is good for the uterus.
I am extremely irregular (I’m quite thin). I started drink RRLT, and the DAY AFTER I had my period. Now, I drink it every day. Just recently, I stopped drinking it for 3 months, and my periods were irregular again. But yesterday I finally drank a cup, and I started bleeding hours later! So… it definitely has some powerful effects! I’ve hunted or some nutrition data on the web, and though there aren’t many sources, I did see one that showed a really nice ratio of calcium and megnesium.
Fortunately, I live in raspberry country, so there’s always local leaves available. But you can also get the cheapest organic leaves (or non organic) at FrontierHerbs.com. Get the loose leaf, it’s so potent. Drink two large mugs a day. I double brew my daily handful of leaves (a small handful that is). Just let it steep for a good 15min, strain, and drink. Goes well with some lemon.