Did you know that about 20% to 80% of women develop fibroids before they turn 50? It’s important to keep these weird growths away by doing all you can. First stop – improving your diet. Here’s a list of 7 foods to avoid if you have fibroids to help get rid of them faster, while preventing more from developing!
What are Fibroids & their Symptoms?
Fibroids, also known as uterine fibroids are benign muscle tumors that can develop in the uterus. Women who get fibroids are usually in their middle to late reproductive years. Most fibroids do not cause symptoms however, some may cause pain as well as heavy and prolonged bleeding.
If a fibroid(s) is large enough, it can push against the bladder and cause frequent urination. Other symptoms of uterine fibroids include pain during sexual intercourse and lower back pain. Infertility may be caused by fibroids in some women but this is uncommon.
What Causes Fibroids to Form?
Women can get one fibroid or many of them in their uterus. But the exact reason why fibroids grow in the first place is unclear. However, patterns show that fibroids run in families and are affected by hormone levels in the body.
Some of the risk factors of fibroids include obesity and too much consumption of red meat! This is why diet is so important in getting rid of fibroids. In fact, many reproductive problems including ovarian cysts, heavy periods, PCOS and infertility are brought about by unwanted weight gain, being overweight and obesity.
Below, let us look at a list of foods to avoid if you have fibroids. Simply avoiding these foods
List of Foods to Avoid if you Have Fibroids
1. Red Meat
As mentioned above, one of the biggest risk factors for developing fibroids is high consumption of red meat. Meat that is red when raw is called red meat. This includes all meat from four-legged animals such as beef, pork and lamb, etc. This kind of meat should be avoided because they are high in added hormones including estrogen that raise your hormone levels and cause uterine growths such as fibroids and also ovarian cysts.
Instead of red meat, eat white meat which is poultry and fish. Avoid chicken that is raised in factories and try to eat organic pasture-raised ones.
2. High-Fat Dairy
Another one on the list of foods to avoid if you have fibroids is high-fat dairy. This includes whole milk/full-fat milk, butter and cream. Why? It has the same concept as eating red meat – dairy is one of the foods that contains a significant amount of added hormones which are injected into the cows to make them grow quickly and increase their milk production. We have already seen that excess hormones play a big part in causing fibroids. So these added hormones in dairy can feed your fibroids, making them larger, preventing them from dissolving or forming new ones.
If you cannot avoid dairy, then please try to consume organic milk from farms that produce milk from free-range or pasture-raised cows.
3. Foods Rich in Saturated Fats
Nowadays, most processed foods such as cookies, sweets, pastries, potato chips and other packaged products are consumed on a daily basis by everyone. Most of us reach for a bag of potato chips or a bar of chocolate when we are in our periods as comfort food. But the truth is, these foods are rich in saturated fats that can raise the estrogen level, allowing fibroids to grow larger in size. Not to mention, packaged foods offer little to no nutrition value!
Women with fibroids should avoid these foods and opt for healthier options in moderate amounts instead, such as nuts that contain healthy fats.
4. Caffeine
Are you suffering with painful, large or several fibroids on your uterus? Then please, it’s time to cut down on caffeine. Caffeine laden beverages are on the list of foods to avoid if you have fibroids. This includes coffee, chocolate, soft drinks and also tea. Why? Because they contain a high level of methylanthins, which cause a high level of biochemicals in the body that can form tumors in the body such as uterine fibroids.
5. Highly Salted Foods
You know these – that pack of instant noodles, chicken stock, pickles, jerky, potato chips, etc. High salted foods can be hard on the liver which is the organ that helps remove toxins in the body as well as balance hormones. Also, highly salted foods make you dehydrated. Dehydration causes too much acidity in the body, which is one of the top causes of disorders in the body, including reproductive disorders such as benign growths, polyps, fibroids and ovarian cysts.
Drink enough water to flush out excess salt from the body when you feel you’ve had too much salt.
6. White Bread, Rice & Pasta
When you have fibroids, there are some foods you just have to sacrifice in order to get better. This includes white bread, rice and pasta. These foods are easy to digest, which means they quickly get digested and move into the blood stream, which causes a spike in insulin. High estrogen in the body, which is one of the risk factors of fibroids causes insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is the body’s resistance to the hormone insulin which causes an increase in blood sugar. This causes excess weight gain, obesity and inflammation in the body, hence leading to growth of fibroids among many other problems.
Avoid white bread, rice and pasta – replacing them with the brown versions such as brown bread, brown rice and brown pasta. Try to eat whole wheat versions of products and skip refined wheat foods.
7. Alcohol
Excessive consumption of alcohol is very bad for your health, as you already know. But it also has a negative impact on fibroids, making them worse and increasing the risk of more of them developing. Alcohol causes high inflammation in the body which is why it is one of the worst foods to avoid if you have fibroids.
I hope you have got an idea of which foods to avoid if you have fibroids! Which foods have you eliminated or reduced in your diet to improve your fibroids? Please share in the comments below!
Need help in getting rid of my fibroid
Good day
I need help to get rid of fibroids I went to see the Gynaecologist he find out I have a fibroid cyst its 4,7 cm by 5.0 cm . It’s not the 1st time to have cysts they grow and I have done a surgery to remove the fibroids in my uterus in 2018 and I also had ovarian cyst in my fallopian cube and my bowels had cyst as well.
My life is depressed with these cysts .My worry they carry on growing again.
What can I do to shrink the fibroids that I have now and to prevent them to grow again.
Cysts have ruled my chances of falling pregnant I’m 44yrs old still praying and hoping that 1 day I will hold my 1st baby
Your help will mean a lot to me and my husband.
Thank you
Kind regards,
Nonkie
Hello
I need your help .I have fibroids and would to get read of it
I’m 41 and would like to have a baby
I have a 7×8 fibroid and still conceived naturally at 43 years old and had a healthy baby at 44 with no issues.
Need help to get ride of mine plz…
It’s very uncomfortable and pains like hell
I need some relief please
Go see your Doctor first. And avoid those food.
Hello
i am 33 years old and unmarried . i have pcos and fibroid uterus . Hoping for your suggestion.
I discovered that I have fibroids after a multiple miscarriages until I decided to go on a diet everytym before trying for a baby. I’m now 40 yrs old and had 3 miscarriages and 3 kids. So I believe that with these food to avoid ull definitely fall pregnant. By the way my doctor told me I had fibroids as big a grapefruit and its a couple of them.
Hello can I have surgery to get rid of my fibroids?
I’d like to recommend Black Seed Oil and Sea Moss (do some research and check for contraindications with any medication you’re on). I’m using both of these and have noticed a definite improvement in my fibroid pains and associated symptoms.