Hi everyone, can anyone suggest foods I can eat (or drink/juice) to help reduce heavy periods? I'm currently taking a herbal supplement from a naturopath which is working very well but it's quite expensive. I was wondering if there is something I can increase in my diet that would help reduce the heavy bleeding I get during my period.
Many thanks!

Juliel,

Is this a chronic problem? Is this a sign of another disorder(cancer, PCOS)? The typical viewpoint of raw foodists regarding this is that the body has more matter to clear out if there is excessive bleeding or over a longer period of time, and that the raw foods regimen itself is sufficiently cleansing, cumulatively, to correct this condition eventually.

Thanks for your message. I have had this problem since I was 15 and I'm now almost 40. There does not seem to be any underlying problems except for a strong family history of fibroids and heavy bleeding. I've only just started on the raw food regimen so hopefully I'll notice a change soon. Many thanks!

Juliel,

Ah, fibroids will do that. Keep at this dietary change, and you should see a healing. Keep us posted : )

Juliel,

I am 47 yrs old and can't remember when I became a heavy bleeder. I have been telling doctors for years to check me out, only to get the response that I am normal for me! Argggh. Anyway, I began researching this year to find out how to decrease the flow (1/2 cup +)...Beta Carotene!!! I began eating peaches, sweet potatoes, and juicing carrots, with apples, ginger, and pumpkin pie spice!! Yum!
Not only did the number of days decrease, but the flow was manageable! I read that supplementing with Vitamin A is helpful, but not to over do it since it is fat soluable. The body converts beta carotene into its on safe Vitamin A...in which case you can eat all the peaches and orange, red veggies, fruits that you like.
I hope this helps. I am sure my iron stores will go up once I stay on the Raw Diet. I am a newbie at this.
~Peace.....Marie

P.S.~ I forgot to mention that fibroids are usually present because estrogen is too high (or shall I say progesterone is too low). Once I began a progesterone supplementation the fibroids left. Too much estrogen also causes heavy bleeding.
It's tough being female.

Just want to let you know that raw foodists often stop menstrual bleeding or it gets very light. The Natural Hygienists have a hundred years of records on this, I got it from them, and it is mentioned in the book "The Live Food Factor."

It may be you are eating meats and poultry that have chemicals in them that manipulate how your body responds. Hormones, etc..so dumping those unhealthy meats and produce, and staying away for all of those including dairy,even eggs for a while you might find in a couple months that bleeding is far less.

Then if called to eat something of the above go with the cleaner ones, like free range verities and make it very small portion. Maybe only 1 x a week to start with.

As you go along on upping raw food intake you may find you don't want anything other than veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds, green juices, fresh fruit juices, and water.

Love,
Prism

No dairy.
No soy.
Stay out of the sauna/hot tub during your menses.

Raspberry leaf tea, which you can get from Mountain Rose herbs, or Traditional Medicinals tea co, is supposed to help, along with the other 'women's herbs'... (chaste berries is tapping at my mind, but I'm not sure) there are various blends of herbal teas for us ladies with out of balance cycles. I'd go to mountain rose herbs <url>[www.mountainroseherbs.com]; and look at the loose teas, as they are the most affordable, and there is an amazing variety.

I have also used progesterone cream, which has helped occasionally, but I hesitate to use it a lot, or to suggest you use it, unless you know that estrogen imbalance is the problem. I had a sonogram that identified my fibroids, and ruled out any sort of 'bad' problem.

Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much
We are all in this together!
Namasté

We are researching this very topic, and came across the following blog article which we found informative:

"Going raw is an undeniably important lifestyle change. Just be prepared for changes in your period, as in every other aspect of your life, when you go raw.

The monthly menstrual cycle begins in adolescence and continues throughout a woman’s childbearing years. Estrogen and progesterone are the two female hormones most commonly recognized. Estrogen is responsible for the development and continuous upkeep of the reproductive system, most importantly the endometrial lining of the uterus. Progesterone, released during ovulation, get the womb lining ready to receive an egg. Its most important contributions come into play just when the egg is fertilized, because it is responsible for milk production and for other steps necessary to producing a viable fetus carried to full term.

The average woman’s knowledge stops with estrogen and progesterone. Many do not grasp the importance of FSH and LH to a healthy female system. FSH causes the round follicle that contains the eggs from the ovaries to fill with fluid, maturing several eggs. LH (Luteinizing Hormone) further ripens the follicles and starts the process of ovulation. Estrogen is essential to cause the follicle to release the egg. It is also responsible for producing other hormones that will start the menstrual cycle when the egg is not fertilized.

After all this intense preparation, if a woman is not pregnant, all this hormonal hard work gets kicked to the curb. And, wow! Do we pay! Everything gets flushed out of the system in a menstrual cycle lasting 3 to 5 days, every 28 days or so, causing varying degrees of pain and suffering in most women. The number one thing for you gentlemen to understand: That suffering is real. It is quite significant in some, and can be debilitating. The days of men thinking It’s all in your head, dear should now be over.

It has a name, that pain you ladies know and some of you men haven’t considered real—dysmenorrhea. More precisely, the term dysmenorrhea, properly applied, is a severe pain associated with menstruation. Most of us women have at least once experienced enough pain to cause us to spend the day in bed clutching a hot pad. Dysmenorrhea per se, however, is pain so utterly crippling that it is considered a medical condition.

Eating a vegetarian diet has been proven to minimize regular premenstrual and menstrual symptoms. A raw diet helps to an even greater degree with mood swings and water retention, so usually eliminates entirely the problem of PMS as well as smoothing the way through the regular cycle.

Detoxification is such a familiar notion to raw foods folk that it makes sense for us to see menstruation as a detox process.

From a September 2001 interview by Paul Nison Dr. Dave Klein:
“Detox entails (1) the cells off-loading metabolic wastes and environmental toxins into the bloodstream for filtering by the liver and kidneys for elimination and (2) the organs of elimination (bowels, kidneys, lungs, skin, vagina) releasing metabolic, environmental and residual food wastes via feces, urine, sweat, breath and menses.”

“I have heard that many women’s periods diminish, become lighter, and in some cases stop temporarily or for good on the 100% raw food diet. This suggests to me that the cleaner the diet, the cleaner the body and lesser the need for detoxification.”

Some raw food promoters, past and present, have believed that the female monthly flow is unnatural. These include Arnold Ehret, Dr. David Klein, Dr. Douglas Graham, Paul Nison and Viktoras Kulvinskas. They reason periods are the result of meat eating and too many centuries of protein-rich food. An almost inevitable part of their arguments: that other animals do not have periods.

Here, Dr. Klein embarks on a controversial view. Says Klein:
“I don’t know why a perfectly healthy, completely detoxified female should bleed. Some people have suggested that it is an adaptation from humanity’s 20,000 years or so of cooked food eating…PMS and menstrual difficulties cease after one has cleaned out and adopted a healthful eating style not too high in acid-forming foods…I believe a healthy woman should not bleed at all. Only humans who eat unnaturally and their domesticated animals bleed. Every other wild thing does not bleed but still ovulates and has offspring. However, if you are eating an unnatural diet and you lose your period, this means something is wrong and not a healthy sign at all.”

Is it just my imagination, or does it just seem that everyone who says bleeding is unnatural is a man? Women whom I have interviewed and who have long term raw foods experience, such as Victoria Boutenko, Annette Larkins and Brigitte Mars, believe menstruation is natural, but in a healthy woman should be light and easy. Note that our nearest primate cousins, the apes, do exhibit menstrual cycles.

The jury is still out. I think, that first generation raw foods women will bleed at least a little. However, it is quite possible that after several generations on raw foods, women may largely cease to experience periods any more. There’s no point arguing: Right now we don’t have the kinds of subjects we need to check out this theory. Necessarily, then, I’ll concentrate on the women we do have—those who have gone raw ten years, ten months, ten days.

One explanation, given by Walter Last, author of The Natural Way to Heal, makes a good deal of sense:
Basically, the wall of the uterus[,] after shedding the endometrium is an open wound, which heals quickly and with minimal blood loss in healthy women, but which continues to bleed the longer and heavier, the more unhealthy the body is. Only when women become too anaemic does monthly bleeding stop as a self-protection measure.

Amenorrhea, caused by a hormonal balance or an unhealthy lifestyle, is often marked by a lack of periods or their cessation in a woman of child-bearing years. It often occurs in conjunction with eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia or extreme physical training such as that of Olympic medallists. Neither amenorrhea nor any marked change in menstrual patterns is a trifling issue—do consult your health care professional.

Diet can ease the trauma of menses as well as lightening the flow. It is generally agreed that certain foods are beneficial to normal flowing and relatively pain free period. Root veggies and leafy greens are especially good. Fresh fruit contributes necessary vitamins and fiber. Nuts and seeds are good sources of protein. Essential fatty acids (EFAs) are extremely important for women with menstrual pain. Sprinkling freshly ground linseed is a good source for this nutrient. Seaweed is an outstanding source for all the vitamins and minerals needed to sustain health. And the healthier you are, the better chance you have of being healthy during your periods—until you finally out last them. Look at this list—these are the very foods we eat on the raw food diet.

When you first go raw, your periods may actually become more intense and heavier. This is generally considered normal among raw foods people. It’s what happened to me. This unpleasantness lasted only a few months. After that, my periods became very light. If you don’t mind a very personal observation, note that I’ve never (since the end of that early period of heavy cycles) needed pads; ordinary toilet paper has always been sufficient.

Expect that your going raw will take as much as six months to fully impact your system. In the meantime, the effects of detoxing may alter your periods in several ways. They may become shorter, lighter, even quite pain-free. "

[www.beautifulonraw.com]

I have read that activated charcoal can help with heavy bleeding like this. It has no side effects and could be very useful to you. Do some research, give it a try for a week or 3 and see if this helps.

Love,
Prism

I am also a heavy bleeder, but the bleeding is not as much of a problem as my horrible back pain. I'm just curious, RaeVynn, why should I stay out of hot water? When my pain gets so bad that nothing helps (and I mean NOTHING. I have tried everything, yoga positions, pain killers, etc.), usually hot water does the trick to relax my muscles.

I dunno if this is an option for you, Juliel, but my doctor put me on the Nuvaring (really low level of birth control hormone) and my pain has gotten manageable and my bleeding has decreased, too.

This is just a thought, but anything which is an astringent will draw in excess moisture. From the Internets, I gleaned that pomegrantes (lots of tannins), cranberries, lemons, and persimmons are examples of this.

hi..
Am a heavy bleeder too.. for me it bleeds for more than 25 days.. its really hard to bear this.. my health adviser suggest me to take a tablet course for minimum of 6 months.. but am aware of its side effects.. it seems it would be good to go for dietary medications.. these posts are really helpful.. would you people help me out in the dietary medications ?? please let me know what all the stuffs should i eat and when to ??

thanks,
vino

vino,

If you are saying you menstruate for 25 days without stopping, you need to be under a physician's care. This is extemely abnormal and could indicate a serious underlying disorder. Hope you get this taken care of soon, and I wish you speedy healing.

thanks tamukha..

am already under a gynec's medication. i need to take the prescribed medicines continuouly.. if i stopped taking tablets, the problem starts again.

vino,

Doesn't the gyno know the cause? Perhaps you have cysts that rupture frequently, but these should be detectible through ultrasound and upticks in your estrogen levels. Maybe the tablets you are taking are hormones? How are your platelet levels?; I assume the doc has you on iron just to be safe. I hope you resolve this soon. Best wishes to you.

Tamukha,

Ya.. they are prescribing progestin tablets.. Got appointment for scan, this weekend..

Good luck, vino--hope you get some news you can act on.

For foods, I tend toward the law of signatures...

Avocados are uterus shaped. Raspberries are excellent, along with red fruits.

Seaweeds are uber rich in minerals. Pineapples and papaya are fantastically anti-inflammatory. Cacao is just... cacao. Magnesium. <3

Finally, I had periods from the devil's lair for my whole life. Even two years into raw, they were okayish, but I'd still have a few hours of lying in bed and punching the wall with cramps. I've been raw almost four years now, and finally, yes, it's very light, brief, and painless.

Raw will eventually help you, but it may take some serious time and committment... several years in my case. But even then, it was worth it.

Also, interestingly, I was fruitarian for a few months and had only spotting while eating LFRV, with confirmed ovulation still taking place. The bleeding got slightly heavier (still light, lasting 2-3 days) once I went back to more fats and dehydrated foods, but still without pain.