Let’s get real about our flow ladies.
It‘s incredible to think that every month we have a powerful diagnostic tool in our hands yet we are conditioned to hide it or dismiss it's vital importance.
Our menstrual cycle is rightfully considered our fifth vital sign and in the practice of natural medicine, it's descriptive qualities are essential to a holistic health evaluation. Through the act of biofeedback, this vital sign can testify the state of your hormones, the condition of your endocrine and reproductive systems and your overall health.
So what's happening with your flow? Let's have a look at some possible explanations.
Watery, thin and light coloured blood.
Usually this is indicative of hormone imbalance and most likely low oestrogen. Especially if your flow duration is less than a few days in length. Poor diet choices or extreme dieting are often causal here as the foods we eat are the building blocks to healthy hormones. Other contenders include stress, possible adrenal issues, a lack of sleep or an excessive exercise regime. An assessment of your diet and lifestyle is considered here with a focus on blood enriching herbs and foods.
Heavy, thick and dark coloured brown or black blood.
Characteristic of a sluggish flow, this is likely old blood from your previous cycle and is often indicative of low progesterone levels. It can also reflect a weak uterus which you need to tonify (see Clots below). Low progesterone can indicate you are not ovulating, therefore the bleeding isn't actually a true menstrual bleed and with progesterone's key role in pregnancy, it is likely that you are not able to conceive or maintain a pregnancy. A health regime which restores balance is important here.
Bright red blood (or sometimes deep dark blood).
Indicative of a normal period, especially when combined with a flow that lasts 5 - 7 days and is steady with a medium viscosity and an absence of clots. This would reflect a diet and lifestyle which is in sync with your infradian rhythm and which is providing you with the nutrients you need as vital building blocks to healthy hormone production. Keep it up!
Clots.
Generally a result of excessive flow where your anti-clotting factors are insufficient to maintain their role. It suggests a need for uterine tonics to further strengthen your uterus and thereby regulate a more consistent and stable flow. It is largely common in today's consumption of a western diet that we are missing foods which served to tonify all organs by keeping our muscular contractions tight and regulated. This is where herbal medicine and a more diverse diet can come to the rescue.
This is really the surface to the depth of understanding your flow. Finding personalised dietary and lifestyle plans is crucial and I suggest getting in touch if you have noticed your flow to be out of whack and you are keen to understand the ways to rebalance and regulate.
Jess xx
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