Menstrual Cramps Relief With A Whole Food Plant Based Diet
Eat A Plant Based Diet For Menstrual Cramps Relief?
Menstrual cramps relief with a whole food plant based diet? I usually write about subjects I have first hand experience with, but I can say I have no first hand experience with this subject.
I wrote this article about menstrual cramps relief because I found an interesting video by Michael Greger M.D. which covered the issue of easing menstruation pain with a plant based diet.
The conclusion seemed obvious to me but there is no way for me to test the idea on myself since I am a man, and I wondered what women would think of the idea? I also wondered how many women even knew that they could seek menstrual cramps relief with a plant based diet, and since there are many women who have converted to a vegetarian and vegan diet, did they notice menstrual cramps relief?
Menstrual Cramps: Dysmenorrhea
This is what I have learned. Dysmenorrhea is the medical term for painful periods, which affects half of menstruating women. When I heard this, the gears in my head started to turn. I thought, “Was this half of the women in the world, or half of the women in the US, or half the women in industrialized nations? Why didn’t the other half experience the severe menstrual cramps?” Does the environment and food affect the levels of women’s menstrual cramps differently in different parts of the world? I am still researching this.
Dr. Greger pointed out that few women will seek treatment for painful menstrual cramps because they believe it will not help. I wondered if most women do not seek treatment because they believed the pain was just part of the natural process.
Menstrual Cramps Relief: Medical Treatment
Dr. Greger does point out the different treatments, with a bit of sarcastic humor. It seemed like the more difficult treatments were examined first before the simplest. This may be because the more difficult and destructive treatments were the quickest treatments for severe menstrual cramps relief, while the simpler treatments took more time and discipline.
Treatments ranged from surgically cutting the nerves leading to the uterus, performing a hysterectomy and completely removing the uterus, and hormone therapy to suppress the menstrual cycle all together.
I found it interesting to learn that menstrual cramps is caused by inflammation. A lightbulb went off in my head! Anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen provide menstrual cramps relief in two thirds of women, but women need to be aware of the adverse drug side effects.
Natural Relief For Menstrual Cramps
There are non-drug, non-surgical treatments like acupuncture, and behavioral therapies that provide menstrual cramps relief but their effect is generally weak. So is there any help in sight?
Menstrual Cramps Relief: Vitamin D
It appears that a single high dose of vitamin D can provide menstrual cramps relief. It a test, all of the women who took vitamin D felt better compared to none of the women feeling better who were given a placebo.
Menstrual Cramps Relief: Plant Based Diet
Now back to my “Ah-ha” moment. Menstrual cramps are caused by inflammation. Lightbulb! What is a natural and best way to reduce overall inflammation in the body? A plant based diet is.
Women were put on an anti-inflammatory diet, a whole food plant based diet, for two menstrual cycles. These women experienced significant pain relief for menstrual cramps which included reduction in pain duration and pain intensity.
This was a cross over study so the women were supposed to return to their regular diets after the two cycles were up. Several of the women said no because they felt so much better, even though they were required to do so by the conditions of the study.
A plant based diet provides menstrual cramps relief and is also an excellent way to reduce overall inflammation and diseases caused by inflammation, which is an excellent way to provide you with healthy living.
Tags: gallbladder, how to reduce menstrual cramps, menstrual cramps relief, menstruation pain, painful periods
