Green Tea Extract And Vitamin D To Treat Fibroids

Fibroids or fibroids are benign growths in the uterus tissue, which usually develop between the ages of 35 and 50.

In many women, fibroids don’t cause any symptoms, so they don’t even realize they have them. However, a third of affected women experience discomfort, depending on the location of the fibroids.

Pain or heavy menstrual bleeding often occurs. If the fibroid presses on the bladder, frequent bladder infections can occur. For the same reason, it can cause kidney problems or constipation. Fibroids can even cause back pain if they put pressure on nerves.

Conventional treatment of fibroids

Conventional medicine treats fibroids with drugs or surgery. The medications used can have numerous (even serious) side effects, so there is great interest in gentle but effective alternatives.

For some years now, natural medicine research has focused, among other things, on green tea extract and vitamin D. In studies, both agents could independently inhibit the development of fibroids and shrink existing fibroids.

Vitamin D in fibroid therapy

A study published in the journal Medicine has shown that administering vitamin D to deficient women could inhibit the growth of existing fibroids.

Previous studies had indicated that vitamin deficiency was related to an increased risk of developing fibroids or accelerating the growth of existing ones.

Green tea extract as a natural remedy for fibroids

In the first study on green tea extract in fibroids therapy, 33 patients took daily a placebo or 800 mg of green tea extract with an EGCG (epigallocatechin-3-gallate) content of 45 percent (equivalent to 360 mg EGCG ) daily for four months.

EGCG is the main active compound in green tea. It is a powerful antioxidant plant substance with a cancer-inhibiting effect, which can also be of great help in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, and also in the treatment of fibroids.

In the placebo group, fibroids grew by an average of 24.3%, while fibroids in the green tea extract group shrunk by an average of 32.6%.

The women’s quality of life also improved: they had less pain, their menstrual blood loss was lower, and anemia decreased, which was not the case in the placebo group. The green tea extract had no negative side effects.

How to Increase the Bioavailability of Green Tea Extract

From time to time it is read that the bioavailability of EGCG is very low and therefore cannot have a great effect. However, it is known that absorption can be increased by combining it with piperine (active ingredient in black pepper) and vitamin C.

If you also take omega-3 fatty acids as a dietary supplement , you can take them together with green tea extract, as the fatty acids also increase their bioavailability. In addition, you can choose soft water, that is, low in minerals, since the simultaneous intake of minerals such as calcium and magnesium would reduce bioavailability.

Green tea extract with vitamins

In autumn 2020, a study was published for the first time in which both natural substances (green tea extract and vitamin D) were combined .

In addition, vitamin B6 was added, which can contribute to the breakdown of excess estrogen, the female hormone that promotes fibroids.

The research appeared in the European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences and was conducted by researchers at the University of Messina.

Participants in the study were 30 women, averaging 37 years of age, with symptomatic fibroids. They were larger than 2 cubic centimeters and caused increased menstrual bleeding, abdominal pain, and fatigue.

The women were divided into two groups. Group 1 functioned as a control, that is, they did not take anything, while group 2 received two tablets a day for four months, each containing 1,000 IU of vitamin D, 150 mg of EGCG and 5 mg of vitamin B6.

At the end of the study, the size of the fibroids in group 2 had reduced by 34.7%. The symptoms subsided and the quality of life of these women improved accordingly. There was no longer any heavy bleeding and 7 out of 8 women who had previously had abdominal pain now had almost no pain. In the control group, however, fibroids increased 6.9%.

The combined administration of green tea extract with vitamins D and B6 seems to be a highly recommended naturopathic measure that can be integrated into any therapy for fibroids.

Regarding vitamin D, it is convenient to carry out an analysis depending on the personal level to determine the dose to be taken.

Scientific references:

• Roshdy E et al. Treatment of symptomatic uterine fibroids with green tea extract: a pilot randomized controlled clinical study. International Journal of Women’s Health.
• Porcaro G et al. Vitamin D plus epigallocatechin gallate: a novel promising approach for uterine myomas. European Review for Medical and Pharmacological Sciences.
• Ciavattini, et al. Hypovitaminosis D and small burden uterine fibroids: Opportunity for a vitamin D supplementation. Medicine.