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Raw Foods Eliminated My Menstrual Pain

Okay so I’ve been doing 50% raw for the last two months. I mostly eat raw in the form of smoothies, specifically green smoothies that have one green vegetable, any other sweet veg that is lying around, some ground flaxseed, berries, apple and whatever other fruit is lying around. I eat a shake or two every day and also eat some fruit and some cooked vegan food. I also take calcium supplements because my mother has osteoporosis.

My last two periods have been pain free! For all my adult life (20 years of menstruation) I’ve had knock-me-out blinding pain every month until now!

It’s a revelation. I also get about an hour less sleep a day. That’s kind of cool too. Anyway, thought I would share.

Comments

  • hi choctastic,
    great to hear, makes me want to eat more raw when i hear about pain free periods. I try to eat at least one full meal raw and all snacks raw. I sometimes have raw breakfasts or dinners as well (usually all the food at lunch at work is raw). I was thinking that perhaps considering how much green smoothies you consume you probably don’t need to be taking a calcium supplement, green food is great for this.

  • CarmentinaCarmentina Raw Newbie

    Choctastic, one of the greatest benefits of eating RAW and healthy in general is improving health – maybe even where you weren’t expecting it. If you had painful periods it could be something like endometriosis. I had terrible pain and it DISAPPEARED withing days after beginning a specific diet that was mostly RAW, no dairy, no sugar, no caffeine, no alcohol, no meat but lots of fish.
    :)

  • germin8germin8 Raw Master

    That is great to hear choctastic. I used to get (minor) physical signs I was just about to start my cycle… and in 2000, when I drank 64 oz of water a day, they went away.

  • Wonderful!

    I had horrible perimenopause symptoms for the last couple years. Since starting raw last summer, my hormones are now balanced and my menstruation has been back to normal, clot-free and pain-free! =D

  • Being raw made my period go away altogether – and I’m not at too low a bodyfat level, so it’s not due to that. I love not having a period!

  • I have been eating maybe 80-90% raw a day for the past two months and just had my period with practically no cramps. Pretty amazing.

  • RawVoiceRawVoice Raw Newbie

    choctastic, I’m so glad to hear it. I wish I had discovered raw when I was younger. I’m in my mid-forties, and now I’m going through menopause, so I don’t have periods any more, but when I did, they were just as you described, sheer, unbearable pain. I bet I wouldn’t have had to suffer that pain if I had known about raw food.The good news about being raw during menopause is that it made my hot flashes go away (except when I vary away from raw and have something cooked.)

  • ilovesnowie—I had exactly the same experience (I’m 46). I’m happy and amazed.

  • Since being raw, not only have my menstral pains almost completely vanished, but they are a lot shorter! The last perod I had lasted only a day. And one month, I went through my entire period without noticing because it lasted for only a few hours!

  • I’m pretty new to raw & I noticed that the past 2 months my periods are much lighter ( pretty much clot free ) ..no cramps. it’s amazing. does anyone know how raw makes this happen? I’m curious.

  • lzhptlzhpt Raw Newbie

    I can’t say they’re shorter for me. At 44, I’m still going strong, but lighter and no clots also.

  • MeditatingMeditating Raw Newbie

    I have periods from HELL and, as strange as this sounds, I often think about stabbing people when I am on my period. It isn’t that I want to hurt anyone, I just feel like I’m being stabbed the entire time so I want to co-miserate. I’ll be at work and someone will start talking to me and I’m having those stabbing pains and then I think to myself,”I bet she would shut up if I stabbed her.” No thoughts of shooting or clubbing, just always stabbing. I still have to take hydrocodone most months during my period or I can’t be human. Once the pain stops, I don’t have any stabbing pains or desires.

    I used to imagine I would be in the jury with a female defendant on trial for stabbing someone and she was using a menstrual cramps defense. I would be the lone holdout and, when my fellow jurors would scream that the defense was absurd, I would tell them they were going to find out how absurd it was if we didn’t have a verdict or mistrial by the time my period came around.

    Okay, now that my sanity is no longer an issue, raw food sites are replete with stories of how the diet lessens menstrual cramps. While I never remember a doctor telling me that diet could affect my cramps, it turns out there is actually a nutritional link, which is the inclusion of fresh fruits and vegetables and the absence of high amounts of protein and processed foods. Here are a few non-raw site links:

    Nutritional Factors in Menstrual Pain and Premenstrual Syndrome

    Natural cures for Menstrual Cramps

    How Eating Whole, Natural Foods Can Help You Minimize Menstrual Cramps

  • jenny2052jenny2052 Raw Newbie

    I think I posted this on another topic a while back, but I’ve had knock-me-out-for-a-week periods and cramping since my period started at the ripe old age of 10. But when I got my IUD 4 years ago, they became utterly crippling. I tried every natural remedy with no success. Every month, I would take 6 advil every 3 hours for 5-8 days, and many times, even on that insane dose, I was still lying in bed with a heating pad for 2-3 days. It was horrible. Worst of all was weaning myself off the advil each month, because I’d have wretched withdrawal symptoms.

    Until a naturopath suggested liver cleansing. I never understood exactly why, but it was supposed to help. I did a liver detox and saw some improvement (though I was still on pretty ridiculous doses of advil). I went high raw about a year ago and again saw some improvement – I’ve been gradually tapering off my doses ever since. But last month I did a 2-week juice fast and have been much more attentive to my diet since. Lots of green juices and smoothies in particular, and I eat 2-3 lemons a day (also very liver-friendly).

    And I just had the best period of my life! I’m still a little hesitant to jinx myself (I’m on day 5), but I took 2 doses of 2 advil on day 1 and that was it! Honestly, I probably wouldn’t even have taken those if I hadn’t have been away at an event where I needed to be very “on,” and I was so used to the first cramps being just the “warning signs.” This month, the first cramps were the only ones I had! So that is really, really incredible for me. My flow is still pretty heavy, but it does seem lighter than it has been in the past. Most of all, I was able to keep up with a very vigorous yoga practice even on days 1-3. Usually I’d be out for the whole week. While I hope to see continued improvement, there is no doubt that these results are simply miraculous for me!

  • thanks dain5000 for those links. I found them very helpful. ( i like to keep links like that on hand for my skeptical family )

    Jenny: wow, I am so happy for you. I too suffered most of my life with horrible cramps ( they lessened after each of my pregnancies ..and slowly got worse again ( my kids are 10 years apart ).. It seemed like whenever I gave birth or had a D&C ( lost a baby) .. that my periods got better? probably from removal of excess ‘stuff’ in my uterus during delivery?

  • Right before I went raw I started having a lot of pain and my pain is gone as well.

    Also right before going raw I found out I have PCOS but with Raw I’ve had a lot of success regarding my menstral cycle.

  • blujett8blujett8 Raw Newbie

    going raw has really helped me here too. I’m regular for the first time in my life and also no cramps at all! a miracle since I used to get knocked out for two or three days with intense pain

    : )

  • That is so awesome!!! :-) YAY!!! That is very inspiring! So many women suffer needlessly from incredibly painful periods for NO reason!

    Thanks so much for sharing!

    Blessings,

    Audret

  • I agree that it is an unblievable relief and unforeseen benefit of going raw. Who would have know that aleve wasn't the only cure-and much more effective.

  • thanks meditating for the links!

    i'm not 100& raw, but my eating habits have changed for the better (no precessed foods, white sugar,...) and I've experienced a drastic improvement concerning menstrual pain. My period is lighter and nearly painfree (NEVER been before) at 60% raw. I wonder if it's being raw, or something I eat now I haven't eaten before or even something I cut out...

  • luxdivonluxdivon Raw Newbie

    so it's interesting to read... my mentrual cycle has actually has more cramps, leads me to more discomfort, but the same amount of bleeding. I almost always MUST find something warm to place around my belly because it is so cold. I've been mostly raw for 6 months. It is very possible when I have been having my cycles, my system has been healing/fixing. I had precanceorus cells in my uterus so the only thing i can figure is that it is working to clear out, heal and replace, and with that comes some discomfort & cramps. Before raw, I had absolutely no issues, normal flow, easy 5 day no cramp period. So yea, i guess i'm on the other end of that one, strangely. f.y.i. I am not 100%, more around 75%..

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