Menstruation Problems
What is menstruation?
Symptoms of menstruation problems
Causes of menstruation problems
Prevention/remedies/treatment of menstruation problems
What is menstruation?
Menstruation is when the uterus expels its lining during a menstrual cycle. Menstruation is triggered by a variety of hormones, and an imbalance of these hormones causes several menstrual problems, including abnormally heavy or light periods, pain and cramps, breast pain, endometriosis, adenomyosis, uterine fibroids and pelvic inflammatory disease.
A normal menstrual cycle is 21-35 days in duration. Bleeding in a woman's reproductive cycle usually lasts for 3 to 5 days, but 2 to 7 days is considered normal. The average blood loss during menstruation is 35 ml, with a range of 15-80 ml considered normal. Some women notice the endometrium lining mixed with the blood.
Women have a higher dietary need for iron than men, because of the iron lost in their menstruation each month.
Symptoms of menstruation problems
- Painful periods are most common in younger women (teens to late 20's), and often become less severe as they age or after childbirth. (In contrast, the incidence of PMS increases with age until menopause).
- Period pain, menstrual cramps, uterine cramps (dysmenorrhea) are common. They usually occur a few days before or at the start of menses. The pain can range from dull, throbbing or aching pain in the lower abdomen, back or thighs, to severe or sharp pain. It usually starts before menstruation and continues through the menstruation. Menstrual cramps can range from mere discomfort or annoyance through to severe cramping that interferes with everyday activities.
- Headaches, fainting, nausea/vomiting, dizziness, disorientation, hypersensitivity to light, sound, smell or touch, fatigue, and diarrhoea or constipation are other complaints commonly associated with menstrual pain.
- Premenstrual syndrome (PMS).
- Heavy menstrual bleeding (menorrhagia, hypermenorrhea). Heavy menstrual bleeding is when menstrual blood flow exceeds 80ml per cycle, soaking a pad/tampon at least every two hours and requiring changing pad/tampon in the middle of the night, or bleeding lasting for more than seven days. About 10% of women world-wide suffer from severe menstrual bleeding; in Australia the rate is a little over 5%. The excessive blood loss can cause iron deficiency anaemia.
- Inflammation.
- Endometriosis.
- Polycystic ovary syndrome.
Causes of menstruation problems
- Cholesterol deficiency.
- Vitamin D deficiency.
- Stress and tension.
- Insufficient Omega-3 essential fatty acids in the diet. Omega-6 polyunsaturated oils too high.
- Deficiency of Zinc, magnesium, vitamin E, and vitamin B6 and B complex in general.
- Sexually transmitted disease.
- Cancer.
- See also causes of PMS.
Prevention/remedies/treatment of menstruation problems
- First and foremost. A diet that gets your fats right, especially cholesterol. This will usually correct any imbalance of other hormones like estrogen, progesterone and testosterone.
- Eliminate sugar and sweet foods. Adopting a no-sugar diet will also help get the hormones back under control. A healthy diet should be delicious and sustaining, able to sustain you all day without hunger pangs or mood or energy swings. With such a diet it is also easy to lose weight and stay that way for the rest of your life. This is the kind of diet I detail in Grow Youthful. It eliminates sugar and sweet foods, avoids or reduces starches, avoids wheat and everything made from it, and is low in all other grains.
- Vitamin D from sunlight. Get out in the sunshine. The advice to avoid sun is one of the greatest public health mistakes of the century. Your health care provider should monitor your vitamin D level and ensure that it is at least 70 ng/ml (175 nmol/L). If you can't get sufficient sunlight in the winter take 40,000 IU of vitamin D3 supplement and make sure to also take 500 mg to 1000 mg of magnesium (on the skin) and 150 mcg of vitamin K2 (not K1) per day. They are important cofactors for optimising vitamin D3 supplementation.
- Zinc supplementation or zinc-rich foods.
- Get sufficient magnesium and B vitamins. The best food source of B vitamins is nutritional yeast.
- Iodine sufficiency.
- Apple cider vinegar.