8 Herbs for Heavy Periods
Heavy periods, also called menorrhagia, can be a significant burden on your daily life and can make the time of month very stressful. Intense menstrual cramps can usually accompany the heavy flow and make your period even more of a dreaded time. Heavy periods may be common, but they are not normal and shouldn’t be ignored. As a rule of thumb, any uncomfortable symptoms you experience during your cycle is a sign that you may have hormonal imbalances that need to be dealt with.
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These hormone imbalances are what drive the heavy flow. Heavy periods are caused by polyps which are when there is an enlarged tissue growth in the endometrial cavity. Estrogen functions to build up the endometrial wall for menstruation, so heavy menstrual bleeding can be caused by estrogen dominance. Luckily, there are many foods and herbs for heavy periods that can lighten your menstruation and balance out hormones, but first, it is essential to know what is a heavy period.
A heavy period is defined with these symptoms:
-A period lasting longer than 7 days
-Losing more than 80 mL of blood per cycle (or 16 regular tampons or pads)
-Changing tampons or pads every hour or two
-Needing to double up on period protection products
-Having to wake up to change your tampon or pad in the night
-Planning activities around your heavy period
-Blood clots the size of a quarter or bigger
Here are 8 herbs for heavy periods:
1. Turmeric
Turmeric is one of the herbs for heavy periods because it contains a bioactive ingredient called curcumin which is the compound best known for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. It helps to reduce inflammation and scavenges free radicals that can damage cells. Moderate or severe cramping along with heavy periods can be an indication of inflammation in the body. The antioxidant effects are beneficial to reduce the internal stress response which can balance out progesterone and estrogen, which results in decreased inflammation.
Curcumin is not absorbed well in the bloodstream. Combining turmeric with black pepper or looking for curcumin supplement formation with black pepper or piperine can enhance curcumin absorption. Piperine is the bioactive compound found in black pepper that has been shown to increase the absorption of curcumin
2. Cinnamon
Cinnamon is another one of the herbs for heavy periods. This is because cinnamon has been shown to increase progesterone levels and also improve menstrual cyclicity. Many times heavy periods are associated with painful cramps. A study that looked at the effect of cinnamon on relieving period pain found that cinnamon can reduce the severity of symptoms. Participants took 1000 mg of cinnamon during the first three days of their menstrual cycle for two consecutive cycles and symptoms were significantly reduced compared to the control group.
Source: 30396627, 24813595, 20423713
3. Ginger
Another one of the herbs for heavy periods is ginger due to its anti-inflammatory properties. As mentioned, heavy periods are usually accompanied by painful cramps and ginger has been shown to relieve pain as much as common NSAID medications. Ginger also reduces the production of prostaglandins which are hormone-like compounds that can cause hormone imbalances in estrogen and progesterone. Specifically, prostaglandins increase estrogen levels which can lead to heavy periods.
4. Yarrow
Yarrow is an herb of the Asteraceae (Compositae) family which is the largest family of vascular plants found in the desert parts of the world. The plant has flat furry leaves with small flowers blossoming out of the stem. Yarrow is another one of the herbs for heavy periods because of its estrogenic activity. Luteolin V and apigenin are the two compounds in yarrow that contain this characteristic. The estrogenic activity means that it can help increase levels when they are too low and decrease them when they are too high. This component of yarrow will help balance hormones and reduce heavy periods.
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5. Goldenseal
Goldenseal orangeroot or yellow puccoon has been used medicinally for many years and is originated in southeastern Canada and the eastern US. It is a flat leaf-like plant with a small flower in the center. This herb is not as well researched as some of the others, but it may be one of the herbs for heavy periods due to the flavonoid components. These flavonoids have antioxidant properties that fight inflammation and can reduce heavy periods.
Source: NIH
6. Red Raspberry Leaf
Red raspberry leaf is beneficial to drink in tea form because it is one of the herbs for heavy periods. Raspberry leaf tea benefits hormones from the compounds it contains like tannins and ellagic acid which are phytochemicals. Additionally, the iron content in the raspberry leaf also supplies a good source of the recommended daily intake. This is important because women with heavy flow end up losing a lot of blood during menstruation so the raspberry leaf tea can support stable iron levels.
7. Shepherd’s Purse
Shepherd’s purse is a plant that grows little triangular fruits that look like a purse, hence the name. The plant is in the mustard family and originates in the European and west Atlantic regions. Shepherd’s purse is one of the herbs for heavy periods due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects from the polyphenol content. Polyphenols have been shown to provide many health benefits to the body from their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. These properties reduce inflammation and stress in the body which promote hormone balance and regulation.
Source: 30733853
8. Cranesbill
Cranesbills or geraniums are a group of over 400 species of flowers native to the eastern parts of the Mediterranean. Cranesbill is also one of the herbs for heavy periods because they contain flavonoids that have antioxidant properties that fight inflammation and balance out hormones. In addition, research has found that cranesbill has a beneficial impact on patients with dysmenorrhea or extremely painful periods. As mentioned, many times those with painful cramps, also have heavy periods because they both are caused by high estrogen levels.
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