Low Vitamin D Linked to Uterine Fibroids

Inadequate levels of vitamin D may increase the risk for uterine fibroids, a new study reports.

Vitamin D has been associated with reduced risk for various diseases (cancer included) but this is the first to examine the connection to fibroids.

Researchers randomly selected 620 black and 410 white women, ages 35 to 49, and determined their vitamin D levels with blood tests and their health status with questionnaires. Their analysis appears in the May issue of Epidemiology.

About two-thirds of the women had fibroid tumours. In the entire group, only 10 percent of the black women and 50 percent of white women had vitamin D levels above 20 nanograms per milliliter, generally considered an adequate level.

After adjusting for age, physical activity, sun exposure and other variables, they found that having a vitamin D level above 20 decreased the risk for fibroids by 32 percent, and that each increase of 10 nanograms per milliliter in vitamin D was associated with a 20 percent lower risk of having a fibroid tumour.

The lead author, Donna Day Baird, an epidemiologist with the National Institutes of Health, cautioned that this was only one epidemiological study and needed to be replicated. Still, she said ...'sufficient levels of vitamin D are probably good for several health outcomes and fibroids may be one of them'.

Whilst technically not a vitamin but rather a sun hormone vitamin D is an essential requirement by the body for the proper absorption of calcium, bone development, control of cell growth, neuromuscular functioning, proper immune functioning, and alleviation of inflammation.

Inflammation is one of the driving forces behind fibroid growth

Vitamin D is oil soluble, which means you need to eat fat to absorb it. It is naturally found mainly in fish oils, fatty fish (sardines, mackerel, wild salmon etc) and to a lesser extent in beef liver, cheese, egg yolks and certain mushrooms.

Vitamin D is also naturally made by your body when you expose your skin to the sun - hence it is often referred to as the sun-shine vitamin.

If you are interested in finding out to how to expose your skin safely in the sun then read this article (see link below), it contains a wealth of technical as well as interesting information - did you know that D3 that is formed on the surface of your skin does not immediately penetrate into your bloodstream? and that if you wash your skin with soap within that 48 hour window you you will simply wash away much of the vitamin D3 your skin has generated!

Little Sunshine Mistakes that Can Give You Cancer Instead of Vitamin D

What causes fibroids to develop and grow?

Trawl the internet, flip through self help books and chances are you wont find a definitive answer.

Whilst many scientists and doctors now believe fibroid growth is fueled by excess estrogen and probably progesterone (or the lack of it) no one really knows what kick starts the disease process in the first place.

I’m firmly of the belief that we reap what we sow! and I can certainly hold my hand up to the fact that in my late 20’s early 30’s I lead a less than healthy lifestyle.

I smoked, I drank alcohol, I worked hard and I played hard and stress through work was off the richter scale.  My diet was chronic and exercise simply didn’t register on my radar.  Frankly I was lucky that I only developed fibroids!

Fibroids, endometriosis, PMS, ovarian cysts, fibrocystic breast disease are all symptoms of inflammation and today I can look back over the years and see how and why I developed fibroids.  Quite simply I had set the stage for chronic inflammation.

Inflammation is normal and beneficial to our health and we need a certain amount of it to stay healthy.   It is only when inflammation gets out of control is it detrimental to our health.

But controlling inflammation is also incredibly important to our health as excess inflammation in our body can fester silently for years until a disease or symptom develops such as fibroids.

Some scientists believe that low grade or chronic inflammation is associated with everything from heart disease, diabetes to alzheimer’s and arthritus!

Both excess insulin and excess estrogen in our bodies are highly inflammatory molecules and are strongly implicated in the growth of fibroids.  The good news is that both insulin and estrogen can be successfully controlled through exercise and diet.

The following conditions can increase your risk of chronic inflammation

• Being overweight
• Eating a poor diet
• Being insulin resistant
• Leading a sedentary lifestyle
• Smoking
• Poor immune system
• Stress

Lifestyle changes that can help reduce chronic inflammation in your body

• Avoid pro-inflammatory foods such as trans-fats, all processed foods, fast foods, fried foods, foods high in sugar and fructose
• Eat a moderate amount of fish. The omega-3 fats in fish can help reduce inflammation. 
• Learn to optimise your insulin levels - have your GP or doctor test your fasting blood glucose levels
• Exercise - regular exercise will get excess glucose and insulin out of your system faster - doing less damage to your body
• Improve your immune system - one method is to improve your gut flora, consider taking probiotics
• Take steps to reduce your levels of stress, stress causes the release of your ‘stress hormone’ cortisol.  Your body makes cortisol from progesterone the most fundamental hormone needed to help balance estrogen within your body.  Prolonged bouts of stress will deplete your body’s reserves of progesterone.

One such herb which helps reduce inflammation in our bodies is ginger.  Fresh ginger from the root, widely available in most supermarkets, is wonderful grated over a salad or grated and steeped in boiling water as in a cup of green tea.

Turmeric, used in curries, is a potent natural anti-inflammatory that works as well as many anti-inflammatory drugs but without the side effects!  Aside from its uses as a culinary herb it is also available as a health supplement. 

Interestingly turmeric is a member of the ginger family!

Can green tea help shrink fibroids?

According to a study published in 2010 in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology a substance in green tea appears to significantly shrink the size of uterine fibroids.

Green tea extract can kill human leiomyoma (fibroid) cells in tissue cultures and can eradicate fibroid lesions in lab animals, according to Dr. Ayman Al-Hendy, director of clinical research at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn and colleagues - as published January 14th 2010 in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Green tea comes from the same plant as black tea however green tea is made from the unfermented leaves and black tea from the fermented leaves.  After harvest green tea does not go through any processes of fermentation and therefore contains or rather retains relatively high amounts of a substance called polyphenols which have anti-oxidant properties helping to combat cell damaging molecules called free radicals.  

The most biologically active polyphenol in green tea is called epigallocatechin gallate or EGCG.

In the 2010 study published by the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology varying  doses of green tea derived EGCG were introduced into test tubes that contained cells of uterine fibroid tumours.  They also gave mice oral doses of EGCG.  Within as little as 24 hours the EGCG was shown to slow tumour growth and when fibroid tumours were measured at 4 - 8 week intervals they showed a medically significant decrease in both their weight and overall volume. 

The study concluded that EGCG can effectively halt fibroid growth and trigger the death of fibroid cells in a test tube and in live animals.

Although these exciting study results came from tests on animals, clinical studies will soon be underway in human trials.

Liver toxicity

Concerns have been raised as to green tea’s toxic effect on the liver.  A study published in The Journal of Nutrition in January 2009 found that consumption of high levels of green tea extracts did not affect markers of liver function in healthy men. 

However the National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine states that green tea extracts that contain EGCG or other active substances can potentially increase your risks for liver problems.

The green tea extract consumed in the 2010 study was approximately equivalent to consuming between 6 and 8 cups of green tea per day. Although a few previous studies using mice and isolated case studies suggested that green tea might increase the risk for liver problems.  The study authors noted that it is likely these adverse liver reactions were at least partly due to other, unrelated factors, such as genetics or other health problems, and not simply green tea consumption.

Other studies suggest that green tea may even help to prevent liver damage.  However, these benefits may only apply to the brewed drink form of green tea. Some evidence points to green tea extract supplements having a negative effect on the liver. 

A 2006 review published in Liver Transplantation noted that commercially available green tea supplements may trigger acute liver toxicity. However, the report doesn't list doses or supplement concentrations.

So my advice would be to stick to drinking cups of brewed green tea and avoid the supplements as brewed green tea does appear to offer health benefits to the liver and potentially fibroids.  

It is also important to note that tea (as well as coffee!) are heavily sprayed crops so try and buy organic green tea as this will help reduce your exposure to endocrine disrupting herbicides and pesticides.

Green tea also contains caffeine just like its black tea counterpart so consumption should be restricted to no more than 5 cups per day.

Preliminary research shows green tea may also lower your risk for certain types of cancer, lower your cholesterol and reduce your risk for Parkinson's disease, according to MedlinePlus.

Other potential benefits include reducing inflammation in inflammatory bowel disease, lowering your risk for diabetes and helping with weight loss, notes the University of Maryland Medical Center.

If you are pregnant or suffer from anemia, heart conditions, bleeding disorders, anxiety, osteoporosis, glaucoma or diarrhea, you should limit your consumption of green tea even further, since caffeine can worsen these conditions. Green tea may also interfere with certain medications, so you should speak to your doctor before taking green tea extract or drinking large amounts of green tea.