Ever heard of a health condition called fibroids or uterine myomas? Basically, they both indicate an abnormal mass growth inside or outside a woman's uterus, and the disorder can occur as long as a woman is still fertile. Although considered harmless and almost impossible to develop into a more serious disease, fibroid growth can cause pain and discomfort to the sufferer. Therefore, if you experience heavy bleeding during your period or bleeding outside your period, feel pressure or pain in your pelvis, and/or urinate constantly, seek medical attention immediately! Your doctor can confirm or rule out a diagnosis of fibroids, and will most likely ask you to first observe for any other negative symptoms that follow. If you want to shrink fibroids using natural methods, try reading this article for more information. While results may vary from person to person, there's nothing wrong with trying one or more of the recommended methods and observing how they affect your condition.
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Method 1 of 3: Changing Your Diet
You certainly agree that a person's daily diet has an impact on the quality of his overall health. In particular, the right diet can also help shrink fibroids and prevent them from forming again, you know! That's why, from now on you need to avoid foods that have the potential to increase the risk of fibroid growth, and increase the number of foods that have the opposite effect. While changing your diet alone won't necessarily reduce the size of fibroids, at least doing so can prevent new fibroids from forming and prevent existing fibroids from getting bigger.
Step 1. Eat more fruits and vegetables every day
Basically, eating more fruits and green vegetables can reduce the risk of fibroid growth and may shrink fibroids that have already formed. Therefore, try to do it and observe the benefits for your body.
- In general, it is recommended that everyone consumes 300-450 grams of fruits and 300-450 grams of vegetables every day. Follow these guidelines to ensure your daily intake of fruits and vegetables is adequate.
- In particular, citrus fruits have been shown to reduce the risk of fibroid growth. Therefore, try to eat more oranges, grapefruit, lemons, limes, and tangerines every day.
Step 2. Increase the intake of dairy products to increase the amount of vitamin D, calcium, and magnesium in the body
Several studies have shown that dairy products can treat fibroids, mainly because the vitamin D, calcium, and magnesium content in them can speed up the body's ability to recover. That's why, you can start consuming more milk, cheese, and yogurt to feel the benefits.
It's best to consume low-fat or fat-free dairy products to reduce daily fat levels and prevent weight gain afterward
Step 3. Drink green tea to increase antioxidant levels in the body
Although all types of tea contain antioxidants, green tea has been shown to treat fibroids. In addition, a small amount of caffeine in green tea can increase your energy levels after consuming it. Try consuming a few glasses of green tea per day and observe the effect it has on your fibroid condition.
- Green tea is generally safe to consume as long as the amount is not excessive. In particular, the recommended daily dose of green tea is 2-3 cups, although you can still consume up to 5 cups per day.
- Because green tea contains caffeine, you should not consume it at night so that your sleep quality is not disturbed afterwards.
Step 4. Reduce your intake of red meat
Basically, a diet rich in red meat, including ham, can increase a woman's risk of developing fibroids. If you've been eating red meat quite often in a week, try reducing it. Although it may not reduce the size of the fibroids, at least doing so can suppress the growth of fibroids and prevent the growth of new fibroids.
- White poultry and fish are perfect options to replace red meat.
- The daily recommendation for those of you who want to avoid the risk of heart disease and cancer is to consume less than 3 servings of red meat per day. To find out which recommendations are most appropriate for your condition, try asking your doctor.
Step 5. Limit your intake of sweets and desserts
Although it's not easy to resist the temptation, understand that eating processed foods is at risk of worsening your fibroid condition, most likely because the sugar content in it can increase the circulation of insulin and estrogen in your body. That's why, try reducing your daily sugar intake to suppress fibroid growth.
- Desserts and fizzy drinks are huge sources of sugar intake. However, understand that added sugar is not only contained in these two types of snacks. Try checking the nutritional information listed on food packaging and rest assured that you will be surprised at the amount of added sugar it contains!
- Women are recommended not to consume more than 25 grams of added sugar per day. Therefore, try to keep your daily sugar intake below that number.
Method 2 of 3: Changing Your Lifestyle
In addition to diet, an inappropriate lifestyle can also increase the risk of fibroid growth. Therefore, do not hesitate to make some changes to reduce your risk. Even if the results are not significant for shrinking fibroids, having a healthier lifestyle can provide long-term positive benefits for your body and mind, you know!
Step 1. Keep your body active to reduce the risk of fibroid growth
Did you know that women who are athletic are less likely to develop fibroid growth than women who are lazy to exercise? If you are currently still in the second group, try increasing the frequency of exercising every day. Since the human body releases pain-relieving hormones when exercising, doing it regularly is guaranteed to bring positive benefits to you.
- In general, everyone is advised to exercise for 150 minutes each week. You can divide this target into 30 minutes of exercise every day, for 5-7 days per week.
- Nothing forces you to exercise too intensely, really. Basically, just walking or cleaning the yard every day can have a significant positive impact on your health!
Step 2. Lose your weight, if necessary
In fact, overweight women are 2-3 times more likely to develop fibroid growths. In addition, excess weight will also make the pain caused by the appearance of fibroids worse. That's why, you should consult your doctor's ideal body weight, then design the right diet and exercise to achieve that target.
Don't try to lose weight too quickly or adopt an extreme diet. Both are dangerous activities and do not have a positive long-term impact, especially since most people gain weight again after quitting the diet
Step 3. Manage stress to avoid the emergence of other diseases
Although it does not directly contribute to fibroid growth, stress can trigger weight gain and stimulate the production of the hormone cortisol; both are triggers for the appearance of fibroids. If stress is your daily diet, try taking more time to relax to suppress the growth of fibroids.
- Some types of exercise that can support maximum body and mind health are yoga, meditation, and deep breathing exercises. In addition, all three are effective in reducing stress levels in the body! Just set aside 15-20 minutes per day to do one of these three activities, and feel the positive benefits!
- Doing fun activities can also reduce stress, you know! Therefore, always make time to accommodate your hobbies and interests every day.
Step 4. Limit alcohol consumption
Alcoholic beverages, especially beer, can increase the risk of fibroid growth! In particular, it is not recommended that you consume more than one drink of alcohol per day and should not drink alcohol every day.
Method 3 of 3: Doing Alternative Medicine
Today, there are several types of herbal treatment methods that are claimed to be able to help treat fibroids. However, please understand that while they have a fairly good potential for success at preventing fibroid formation and/or shrinking their size, the methods listed below have not been thoroughly tested. In addition, the effectiveness for each person may be different. If you want to try one or more of them, don't forget to consult your doctor first, OK!
Step 1. Take a vitamin D supplement to help shrink fibroids
Several studies have shown that high doses of vitamin D can help reduce the size of fibroids. Although it is still a preliminary study, these results show that vitamin D has positive potential to be used as a method of treating fibroids. Therefore, try taking a daily vitamin D supplement and observe the effects.
- In fact, the body needs very high doses of vitamin D to shrink fibroids. Since the recommended daily dose of vitamins is only 15 mcg, don't forget to consult your doctor if you want to increase the dose.
- Vitamin D levels in the body can also be increased through daily food intake.
Step 2. Do the treatment using green tea extract
In addition to consuming it in the form of tea, actually the same benefits can also be obtained by consuming green tea extract as a supplement, you know. Most importantly, make sure the concentration of green tea extract in the selected supplement product is sufficiently concentrated, which is around 800 mg per day, which can be consumed for 3-4 months.
- Remember, green tea extract also contains caffeine so you should only consume it in the morning and afternoon, rather than before bed at night.
- Since green tea extract can interact negatively with blood-thinning and beta-blocking medications, don't forget to talk to your doctor about these options before trying them!
Step 3. Identify the effectiveness of Chinese herbal medicines
So far, Chinese herbal medicines, especially the Guizhi Fuling formula, have proven to be quite effective in shrinking fibroids. Several small-scale studies also state the same conclusion, you know! Therefore, there is no harm in trying it.
Since the effectiveness of Chinese herbal medicines has only been confirmed by small-scale studies with inconsistent testing methods, please understand that their legitimacy has not been proven so you must first consult your doctor before trying it
Step 4. Reduce estrogen levels in the body with the help of chasteberry
Remember, estrogen levels that are too high can trigger fibroid growth! To lower estrogen levels and prevent the formation of fibroids, you can try taking chasteberry supplements, either in pill or liquid form.
Each supplement brand recommends a different dosage. But generally, supplements in tablet form recommend a dose of 20-40 mg per day, while supplements in liquid form recommend a dose of 40 drops or about 2 ml per day
Step 5. Perform acupuncture therapy to relieve pain that appears
Although acupuncture techniques have not been proven effective for treating fibroids, many people still do it and find it beneficial for pain relief. Therefore, please try it if the pain or discomfort due to the growth of fibroids is getting more and more annoying.
Always visit an experienced and licensed acupuncturist to ensure the quality and safety of your treatment
Medical Overview
Although fibroid growths can be painful or uncomfortable, they are actually harmless to your body. However, treating and/or preventing it from happening again is a very natural reaction, especially if the sensation bothers you. Although their effectiveness varies and is not guaranteed, there is nothing to stop you from trying various natural treatment methods to shrink fibroids. If the pain and discomfort do not go away after that, please consult a doctor for appropriate treatment recommendations. Chances are, the doctor will prescribe medication or perform minor surgical procedures if natural treatment methods prove unsuccessful.
Tips
- If fibroid growth is causing problems, one of the most common treatment methods is to regulate hormone levels in your body. In particular, you can take GnRH to suppress the body's production of the hormones estrogen and progesterone, or you can take progestins to increase levels of both. So far, this method is quite effective for shrinking fibroids.
- Your doctor may also perform minor surgical procedures to remove larger fibroids. Don't worry, most of these procedures have very minimal impact and don't require very long recovery times.
