Up to 70 percent of women are plagued with uterine fibroids. Fortunately, for most, the condition is asymptomatic. But for many other it means dealing with pelvic pain, heavy bleeding, exhaustion and bladder pressure.
Uterine fibroids are non-cancerous tumors that develop from the muscle in the uterus, typically in women of child-bearing age. The condition usually stabilizes, and symptoms lessen or go away on their own once a woman goes through menopause when her hormones decline.
But till then?
Well, there haven’t been a lot of choices, especially if you don’t’ want to undergo surgery that can affect fertility.
Now, however, thanks to the culmination of multiple scientific studies, women suffering from uterine fibroids symptoms may finally have a natural way to get their life back…
Treatment options for uterine fibroids
When you go to your doctor for help with uterine fibroids, there are only a few options they can reach for to help you.
Sometimes hormone therapy may be used. Excess estrogen can cause estrogen dominance. Estrogen stimulates the growth of fibroids, and lack of estrogen causes them to atrophy — which is why women who suffer with them find relief with menopause.
Depending on the severity of symptoms, surgery is an option, including a hysterectomy.
However, there are some surgical options that are considered “safer and less permanent,” such as uterine artery embolization and radiofrequency thermal ablation.
Unfortunately, there is no drug approved in the U. S. that helps. One, called Esmya, was approved for use in the European Union which reduced heavy bleeding. However, it caused severe side effects, including liver damage, and that approval was revoked.
A natural, safe, surgery-free option
Researchers may have found the answer in two natural sources: Vitamin D and a green tea extract, known as epigallocatechin gallate or EGCG.
At first, they tested the two supplements separately.
One found that while vitamin D may stop the growth of uterine fibroids, it wouldn’t reverse them – still pretty good if you ask me.
A second discovered that the sunshine vitamin could slow the progression to “extensive disease.”
And a third linked low vitamin D levels to more severe uterine fibroids.
Finally, clinical research found evidence that EGCG is capable of reducing uterine fibroid volume and the severity of symptoms.
A powerful combination
After testing the supplements separately, the researchers decided to see how they would work in synergy to fight fibroids...
After giving women who suffered from at least one fibroid a combo of vitamin D, EGCG and vitamin B6 twice a day for four months:
- Total fibroid volume decreased by 34.7 percent in the treatment group, compared to a 6.9 percent increase in the control group.
- For the 53 percent of women in the treatment group who initially suffered from heavy bleeding, the problem was completely eliminated after four months of treatment.
- Similarly, steep declines in the incidence of fatigue and pelvic pain were seen.
On the other hand, no reductions in the incidence of symptoms were seen in the control group.
Getting EGCG into your diet is as easy as a cup or two of green tea a day, and of course, upping your vitamin D is easy peasy too. Here’s how to boost your levels:
- Diet: foods rich in vitamin D are fish oils, cold-water fish, dairy products and butter. There is only one vegetable that has vitamin D, and that’s the mushroom at 114 IU per cup.
- Sun exposure to your skin: 20 minutes of sunshine daily (I recommend you sunscreen your face with a paraben-free sunscreen) will convert vitamin D in your skin to its activated form (D3) and maintain optimal levels.
- Supplementation: 1,000 International Units (IU) daily or 5,000 IU twice weekly of vitamin D is typically all you need to boost and maintain your levels adequately.
Sources:
Vitamin D and EGCG: A safe, effective approach for the management of uterine fibroids – NUTRAingredients.com