Seaweed Endometriosis Treatment

May 26, 2019

1755

Seaweed for Endometriosis?

Low risk possible anti-estrogen treatment for endo

Seaweeds, like the readily available bladderwrack, may have anti-cancer properties which may be at least partly related to anti-estrogen effects. We know that Japanese women have some of the lowest rates of breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancers. They also enjoy longer menstrual cycles (more time between bleeding) and lower estrogen levels circulating in their blood. This may explain the lower risk of cancer, but this lower estrogen may also be helpful in treating endometriosis, which is also very estrogen sensitive.

Lowering estrogen is not easy, and usually involves weight loss and things like that. However, research suggests that an average estrogen-lowering dose of seaweed might be only around five grams a day, which is NOT hard to achieve. This has not been tested as a treatment for cancers, but it has been tested in animals against endometriosis and has been reported to lower estrogen in women as well. Larger studies are required but since this is low risk, the reward of adding some common seaweed to your diet may be high!