Unfortunately, heavy periods are a way of life for some. While some people have light bleeding for a few days, with barely any pain, others suffer from heavy cramps and bad bleeding. For a small percentage, it can even go beyond that. According to Natural Womanhood, “the most far-reaching women’s health literacy program,” over 10% of people with periods have “anemia-driven fatigue and other health issues,” resulting from a too-heavy menstrual cycle. But that doesn’t have to be the case.
Here we’re talking about possible causes of heavy periods, and showing you how to stop heavy periods with the proper supplements. (1)
What Causes Heavy Periods And How To Stop Them
Scientifically, the name for these super-heavy periods is menorrhagia. If you’re unsure how to diagnose, Johns Hopkins Medicine has the warning criteria. “If you have to change your pad or tampon every 1 to 2 hours because it is soaked, or bleed longer than 7 days,” it’s quite likely your heavy period is menorrhagia. “Spotting or bleeding between periods is also a sign of a problem.” So, it’s important to try to stop your heavy periods from becoming a problem. However, you may wonder what, if anything, you can do. Luckily, there are some natural supplements that could help stop your heavy period. (2)
Magnesium Supplements for Heavy Periods
In 2017, a group of Italian scientists noticed that “evidence suggests that magnesium deficiency may play an important role in several clinical conditions concerning women[‘s] health . . . A number of studies highlighted a positive correlation between magnesium administration and relief or prevention of these symptoms.”
However, they noticed no one was doing very many studies on magnesium to stop heavy periods. Conducting their own data review, they found significant evidence that magnesium was just as important as their initial hypothesis assumed.
Alison Cullen, a nutritionist specializing in menopause, agrees. “Magnesium is excellent for heavy periods,” she confirms. “It acts as a gentle muscle relaxant so it can help take the edge off very strong contractions of the uterus which can give rise to very heavy periods.
A magnesium supplement really can make all the difference in the quest to stop heavy periods. (3, 4)
Additional Benefits For Magnesium and Your Period
Did you know, magnesium is a great choice for period supplements because it helps with more than just heavy periods? Women’s health expert Dr. Carolyn Dean, explains why: “During the second half of the menstrual cycle, when both estrogen and progesterone are elevated, magnesium plummets,” she says. “Increasing dietary and supplemental magnesium can help relieve PMS-related cramping as well as low blood sugar, dizziness, fluid retention, and sugar cravings.”
Furthermore, an Iranian study said that “premenstrual syndrome (PMS) can cause suicide, dissociation of familial relationships, abnormalities in the daily work and inter-personal relationships in the patients, and bring about direct and indirect economic burden for the society.”
Therefore, they actually studied the effect of magnesium on symptoms of periods, to see if magnesium could actually put a stop to them. Interestingly, they discovered that while “the effect of pure Mg supplement on treatment of PMS symptoms has been confirmed in different studies, it seems that better results can be achieved by combination of Mg and vitamins.”
Here at Natural Health Resources we are very aware of what vitamins can do to stop heavy periods! In fact, below, I have one of the best vitamins to help stop your heavy periods. (5, 6)
Vitamin K To Stop Heavy Periods
Although you may not be familiar, vitamin K can have profound effects on helping to stop heavy periods. In fact, Marilyn Shannon, author of Fertility, Cycles & Nutrition, and expert in women’s reproductive health, made a point of recommending it. Since, “Vitamin K has long been known to promote blood coagulation” in patients, it works to help slow and regulate your heavy periods.
One case study, from 2017, looked at a young woman with no previous gynecological problems, who developed severe menorrhagia. Researchers found that because her diet was high in energy drinks and because she wasn’t receiving adequate supply of vitamin K, this led to her developing these excessively heavy periods.
If her vitamin K deficiency was not addressed, researchers felt there was a good chance it “may lead to continued menorrhagia and diminished quality of life due to unnecessary gynecologic surgical interventions.” Interestingly enough, it wasn’t just the lack of vitamin K; “We also suggest further research on contents of commercial energy drinks,” advises the research team, “which affect acquired VKD.” So, it’s so important to keep your vitamin K levels where they should be – you never know what in your diet could be exploiting a deficiency and making things even worse!
Luckily, I am able to introduce you to a wonderful vitamin K supplement which should help to stop your heavy periods. I recommend a Full Spectrum Vitamin K2, at 100mg/day. (1, 7)
Further Health Help
If you experience heavy periods, there can be a lot of reasons for this common hormonal imbalance. It is very important that you get your hormones and assorted nutritional values tested to zero in on addressing the root cause. If you are not quite sure where to start I invite you into my Hormone Mastery Class – this is a very indepth 80min masterclass that helps you address assorted hormonal imbalances and provides you with a plan of attack to immediately implement. Click on the image below to enroll.
Additionally, you can always subscribe to my monthly newsletter. This is an easy way to stay up to date on all the new and exciting natural remedies I can introduce you to. That link is here.
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Sources
- https://naturalwomanhood.org/green-medicine-for-heavy-periods/
- https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/menorrhagia#:~:text=Key%20points-,Menorrhagia%20is%20heavy%20or%20prolonged%20menstrual%20bleeding.,test%2C%20and%20sometimes%20a%20biopsy.
- https://www.jle.com/fr/revues/mrh/e-docs/magnesium_in_the_gynecological_practice_a_literature_review_309489/article.phtml
- https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/health/how-stop-heavy-periods-causes-13539586
- https://www.thelist.com/41451/period-reveals-health/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3208934/
- https://www.hindawi.com/journals/criog/2017/4239148/#discussion
