Lara Briden - The Period Revolutionary
Leading the change to better periods and hormones
Endometriosis is a disease of immune dysfunction that is affected by estrogen. Conventionally, it is treated with surgical removal of the lesions and suppression of the menstrual cycle. The lifestyle approach is to address a possible underlying problem with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) contamination and to modulate immune function with nutrients such as zinc and selenium.
Iodine can relieve breast pain, ovulation pain, premenstrual mood symptoms and help to prevent ovarian cysts. It works by promoting healthy estrogen metabolism, down-regulating estrogen receptors, and stabilizing estrogen-sensitive tissue in the breasts, uterus, ovaries, and brain. As one paper says, iodine has “a net anti-estrogenic effect.”
Iodine’s anti-estrogen effect makes it one of the best treatments for estrogen excess or “estrogen dominance”—although I don’t use that term.
Want a simple solution for period and hormone problems? Consider the humble mineral zinc.
According to the 2020 paper, The Role of Zinc in Selected Female Reproductive System Disorders, zinc can be an effective treatment for many women’s health conditions, including PCOS, period pain, endometriosis, and the vaginal dryness of menopause.
Hormonal IUDs are different from all types of hormonal birth control in that they do not suppress ovulation and can, therefore, permit natural cycling.
Other benefits of hormonal IUDs are that they are convenient and a highly effective method of birth control. They can also dramatically reduce menstrual flow and relieve pain and other symptoms of endometriosis. Hormonal IUDs also have some downsides.
Endometriosis is an inflammatory disease that’s affected by hormones but is not caused by hormones. Instead, endometriosis is, at least in part, a disease of immune dysfunction.
In episode 4 of my podcast/YouTube video (released in March 2022), I discuss some of the new endometriosis research, including the link with genes that increase the risk of autoimmune disease, the role of a bacterial toxin called lipopolysaccharide or LPS, and new targets for natural immune-modulating treatment.