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This article is worth reading. From a nutritional standpoint...
Quote:
Patients who eat a lot of meat, saturated fat, dairy products, alcohol, sugar, caffeine, salt or chocolate may also be at higher risk. Diets that include a high proportion of saturated fats from meats and dairy, as well as sugar and alcohol, can put extra stress on the liver, making it less effective in its other work, which includes breaking down hormones in the body so that their levels do not become dangerous. One of the hormones the liver is responsible for breaking down is estrogen, and an excess of estrogen in the body can trigger the growth of fibroid tumors.
Some health professionals and nutritionists believe that foods containing phytoestrogens, a weak estrogen source found in nature, can actually protect the body from the effects of excess estrogen. They recommend eating whole grains, including buckwheat, oats, millet and brown rice; foods with essential fatty acids, such as fish, nuts, flax seeds, fruits and vegetables are also good helpers; soy and non-dairy milk provide calcium, which can also be helpful.
Doctors Note Diet May be a Risk Factor in Uterine Fibroids
The first link is about an anti-fibroid diet. It is written by a nutritionist who says that she herself suffered from fibroids. You will see that the recommendations agree with what I posted previously. The foods that are recommended will help to maintain a low acid, high alkaline state in the body and thereby minimize damage to organs and tissues. Check out both these links:
Ladies, although google comes up with a lot of sites that recommend diets to shrink fibroids, I cannot find a single scientific study that addresses the issue.
The biggest factor in making fibriods grow is estrogen, so avoiding hormones can make a difference. I just do not know whether there is enough estrogen in meat to make a difference. You could reasonably choose organic beef, but the problem is making sure it is really hormone free, unless you know the grower.
What little I can find appears to relate to body weight --- heavier women being more likely to develop fibroids. Eating foods with a high glycemic index may also be a factor.
What I cannot find is any evidence that altering diet after fibroids have already grown will do anything.
Testimonials are not science, so you really have to take all those reports that dietary changes made fibroids go away with a grain of salt.
Many of the sites I checked are selling something or want you to register and give them your email address. I will not go there!
Nezlie's link to the fibroids1.com site is OK, but I take issue with the comments about overburdening the liver. Unless you have liver failure,dietary nutrients are not going to significantly interfere with the function of the liver. If you do take estrogen ,then there can be interactions with other medications that influence how fast the estrogen or the other drug is eliminated.
The anti-fibroid link describes dietary recommendations without really documenting that they do any good.
The acid-base part of it is, pardon me, nothing but hogwash. No matter whether the foods you eat are alkaline or acidic, your kidneys and lungs adjust things to keep blood pH in a very narrow range. There is no need to try to measure salivary or urinary pH and try to choose "alkaline" foods. The impled physiology does not make sense.
Botoom line: eat a good, well balanced diet. If you are overweight, try to lose the excess pounds. Do not take estrogen, and I would really be leery of supplements. They may be spiked with estrogen and you would never know it.
I am really dubious that any of you with fibroids of significant size are going to be able to shrink them with diet. If it happens, good, but do not be disappointed if it does not work.
I learned about the importance of the acid/base metabolism a few years ago from an elderly relative during her treatment for osteo. This was new to me too when her physician explained the importance of maintaining a metabolically alkaline system to manage her osteo. She has since then, at age 82, become more aware of her nutrition intake. The normal pH range for humans is 7.35 - 7.45, or slightly alkaline. But just a slight dip below the low end of the range can place a person in a condition of acidosis.
It is not surprising to me that metabolic acidosis is now being implicated with a variety of diseases other than osteo (incuding fibroids as mentioned previously). This is an interesting Journal of Nutrition abstract from a symposium that was held in Germany in 2008. From the Introduction.....
"Acid-base status is becoming increasingly important in nutritional medicine. The regulation of the pH inside and outside of the cells is essential for enzyme-controlled metabolic processes of the human body. The hydrogen ion concentrations also determine the structure and function of proteins, permeability of cell membranes, distribution of electrolytes, and structure of connective tissue. By excreting the surplus of acid or base equivalents through the kidney and using the ion-binding properties of connective tissue and the minerals of bone as additional buffer systems (1), nearly stable tissue-specific hydrogen ion levels are achieved. During human evolution, the usual diets, even those including abundant animal protein, mostly contained a surplus of base equivalents (2,3). However, after the invention of agriculture and animal husbandry, particularly alkali-rich fruits and vegetables were more and more replaced by net acid-producing animal foods and cereal grains. Therefore, daily net-acid loads of current western diets average 50–100 mEq/d (4,5). As a consequence, conditions of chronic, low-grade metabolic acidosis can develop, which, in the long term, could considerably contribute to impairments of numerous body functions, the best studied of which is the maintenance of bone function (1,6,7). Because the skeleton represents a large but not endless alkaline reservoir, even mild forms of long-term low-grade metabolic acidosis can impair skeletal architecture and stability. The importance of acid-base balance for several physiological functions, the risk of osteoporosis, the aging organism, and hormonal interactions with diet have been discussed as well as epidemiological strategies to monitor acid-base status or emerging difficulties in determining dietary acidity."
Age, race, lifestyle and genetics may play a part in the development of fibroids. Here are the few known risk factors:
Having a family member with fibroids increases the risk. If a woman's mother had fibroids, her risk of having fibroids is about 3 times higher than average.
African-Americans are 2-3 times more likely to present with symptomatic (problems such as pain or bleeding) uterine fibroids and will often develop fibroids at a younger age than the rest of the population of women with uterine fibroids.
Asian women have a lower incidence of symptomatic uterine fibroids.
Obesity is associated with uterine fibroids. The risk of obese women developing fibroids is 2-3 times greater than women of average weight.
Eating beef, red meat (other than beef), and ham has been linked with having uterine fibroids, while eating green vegetables seems to protect women from developing fibroids.
We know that Asian women tend to eat foods that are low in saturated fats and animal protein in comparison to their counterparts in the West. That fits in with the last recommendation given above.
I learned about the importance of the acid/base metabolism a few years ago from an elderly relative during her treatment for osteo. This was new to me too when her physician explained the importance of maintaining a metabolically alkaline system to manage her osteo. She has since then, at age 82, become more aware of her nutrition intake. The normal pH range for humans is 7.35 - 7.45, or slightly alkaline. But just a slight dip below the low end of the range can place a person in a condition of acidosis.
It is not surprising to me that metabolic acidosis is now being implicated with a variety of diseases other than osteo (incuding fibroids as mentioned previously). This is an interesting Journal of Nutrition abstract from a symposium that was held in Germany in 2008. From the Introduction.....
"Acid-base status is becoming increasingly important in nutritional medicine. The regulation of the pH inside and outside of the cells is essential for enzyme-controlled metabolic processes of the human body. The hydrogen ion concentrations also determine the structure and function of proteins, permeability of cell membranes, distribution of electrolytes, and structure of connective tissue. By excreting the surplus of acid or base equivalents through the kidney and using the ion-binding properties of connective tissue and the minerals of bone as additional buffer systems (1), nearly stable tissue-specific hydrogen ion levels are achieved. During human evolution, the usual diets, even those including abundant animal protein, mostly contained a surplus of base equivalents (2,3). However, after the invention of agriculture and animal husbandry, particularly alkali-rich fruits and vegetables were more and more replaced by net acid-producing animal foods and cereal grains. Therefore, daily net-acid loads of current western diets average 50–100 mEq/d (4,5). As a consequence, conditions of chronic, low-grade metabolic acidosis can develop, which, in the long term, could considerably contribute to impairments of numerous body functions, the best studied of which is the maintenance of bone function (1,6,7). Because the skeleton represents a large but not endless alkaline reservoir, even mild forms of long-term low-grade metabolic acidosis can impair skeletal architecture and stability. The importance of acid-base balance for several physiological functions, the risk of osteoporosis, the aging organism, and hormonal interactions with diet have been discussed as well as epidemiological strategies to monitor acid-base status or emerging difficulties in determining dietary acidity."
I am not saying that there are not conditions in which there are abnormalities in acid base balance. However, for an individual to control the diet to a degree that would make a difference would be extremely difficult. In the absence of significant impairment of kidney function, it is probably not necessary to try to do it. I just question how many otherwise healthy premenopausal women have "long term low grade metabolic acidosis." To have people checking their urinary pH and trying to change their diet to maintain a certain value for that is not supported by science, in my view. In practical terms, the same foods could vary greatly in acidity, depending on variety and soil conditions. The article is interesting but a bit speculative and hard to put into clinical context. Trying to remove foods from the diet based on perceived acidity might have unintended nutritional consequences and do more harm than good.
I think it will be a very long time before I am testing the pH of a pot of beans before I serve them! And I am not giving up my tomatoes!
Age, race, lifestyle and genetics may play a part in the development of fibroids. Here are the few known risk factors:
Having a family member with fibroids increases the risk. If a woman's mother had fibroids, her risk of having fibroids is about 3 times higher than average.
African-Americans are 2-3 times more likely to present with symptomatic (problems such as pain or bleeding) uterine fibroids and will often develop fibroids at a younger age than the rest of the population of women with uterine fibroids.
Asian women have a lower incidence of symptomatic uterine fibroids.
Obesity is associated with uterine fibroids. The risk of obese women developing fibroids is 2-3 times greater than women of average weight.
Eating beef, red meat (other than beef), and ham has been linked with having uterine fibroids, while eating green vegetables seems to protect women from developing fibroids.
We know that Asian women tend to eat foods that are low in saturated fats and animal protein in comparison to their counterparts in the West. That fits in with the last recommendation given above.
But these are risk factors for developing fibroids. What I cannot find is any objective evidence that losing weight or switching to a vegetarian diet will cause them to decrease in size. All I can find is testimonials, and I do not put much stock in those.
I had an ablation done, I will let you know how it is going...I did it Friday. The procedure was done in the office. I feel fine. My periods were so heavy it was unbearable.
I had a myomectomy many years ago. I would never recommend it. It caused adhesions that would bind everything inside me together. I went for ten years having horrible twisting and blockage of my intestines. Finally they operated, which caused more horrible problems. No one told me at the time that myomectomies cause more adhesions than hysterectomies. At the time those were the only two options available to me and no one explained the consequences to me.
I had a myomectomy many years ago. I would never recommend it. It caused adhesions that would bind everything inside me together. I went for ten years having horrible twisting and blockage of my intestines. Finally they operated, which caused more horrible problems. No one told me at the time that myomectomies cause more adhesions than hysterectomies. At the time those were the only two options available to me and no one explained the consequences to me.
So sorry to hear of your bad experience.
Unfortunately, any surgery can sometimes cause severe internal scarring --- adhesions.
Individual response seems to be the biggest factor. For example, people who make keloids --- thick scars --- on the skin may be at higher risk.
Surgical technique and choice of suture materials can play a part, and researchers continue to work on ways to prevent this problem.
It is probably not true that myomectomies cause more scarring than hysterectomies.
Last edited by suzy_q2010; 10-30-2010 at 11:55 AM..
Reason: fix typo
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