Natural Help For Fibroids

Up to a staggering 77 percent of women have fibroids, but happily they do not have to cause difficulties and many women manage with no treatment at all. In fact a substantial number may not even realise they have them but may recognize symptoms that do significantly lower your quality of life.

What Are They?

Fibroids are small, noncancerous growths on the uterus which can cause pain, excessive bleeding and even infertility. Why they appear is not something the medical profession agree on, but what is unarguable is that they definitely grow in response to excess oestrogen - a condition the late Dr John Lee identified as oestrogen dominance.

Conventional treatment is usually first to try and shrink them with drugs that can block or suppress estrogen such as gonadotropin releasing hormone medication which cause the ovaries to stop making estrogen. The second stage is surgery - a hysterectomy - which may solve the fibroids but brings on an instant menopause without the benefit of the body having time naturally to adjust to the change.

What Can You Do to Avoid Them?

As it is excess oestrogen that promotes fibroids, you need to ensure that you have good hormone balance. This means having enough progesterone (not from synthetic progestins such as in the Pill/Coil/HRT) but from a natural form of progesterone.

Excess oestrogen is balanced by progesterone in many ways from helping to balance weight as progesterone has a diuretic effect to protecting the heart and bones. Particulalrly it helps reduce the proliferative effects of oestrogen in the womb that can lead to fibroids and endometriosis. a

Getting your hormones in balance is the first stop, next is to ensure that you have a diet that also limits your oestrogen intake.

One of the key elements is fibre from fruit and vegetables - at least 20 to 30 grams a day is ideal - and the best sources are apples, whole grains, oatmeal, nuts and seeds. This will significantly decrease your circulating estrogen levels which in turn will prevent excessive uterine growth, a cause of fibroids. Less estrogen because of diet may cause your fibroids to shrink as your estrogen levels lower, just as fibroids shrink during menopause or when taking estrogen-lowering medications.

What Can You Do To Reduce Them?

Bioidentical natural progesterone can help shrink small fibroids and curb the growth or larger fibroids in addition to helping redress the hormone imbalance that causes the condition.

Eating a vegetable-based diet is also important because plant foods contain substances called phytoestrogens, or plant oestrogens. These substances bind themselves to the same cell receptors as estrogen. This blocks oestrogen's ability to affect your cells. Without the excess estrogen causing your uterus to grow, it can shrink along with your fibroids. Foods with high amounts of phytoestrogens include soy products, nuts, seeds and ground flaxseeds.

Foods to avoid

Avoiding certain foods may also help lower oestrogen levels and the chief suspects are sugar, caffeine and saturated fat. The authors of "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Premenopause" also suggest that women with fibroids cut back on dairy products and non-organic meats to avoid contact with hormone drugs and pesticides.

Summary

If you are subject to oestrogen dominance then there are some simple steps you can take to help avoid fibroid growth. Using natural hormones and a specific diet will go a long way to preventing the condition taking over your life.