Alcohol and Fibroids: What's the Impact on Your Health?

The relationship between alcohol and fibroids could negatively impact your health. Recently, we've seen increasing evidence that consuming alcohol with fibroids can lead to increased tumor fibroid risk. If you don't yet have fibroids, drinking alcohol could increase your risk for these tumors. Lifestyle modifications and other fibroid treatments can help offset these risks.

Alcohol and Fibroids: Understanding the Relationship

We still don't know exactly why fibroids develop, or how consuming alcohol can affect their growth. But here's what we know about the impact of alcohol and fibroids when it comes to:

1. Your Hormones

Consuming alcohol can increase estrogen production in the body. And that could trigger new or existing fibroid growth, since excess amounts of this hormone have been linked to fibroid risk. Even worse? The effect could be magnified because alcohol also impacts the liver’s ability to metabolize the hormone.

2.  Chronic Inflammation

Unfortunately, consuming alcohol increases inflammation, and that inflammation could become chronic if you consume in excess. Now, inflammation can cause problems in several ways. First, it can amplify fibroid symptoms such as pelvic pain. Then, it can also increase prostaglandin production in your body, promoting both fibroid growth as well as increasing your risk for other tumors.

3. Your Weight

Your favorite cocktail could be hiding lots of calories, and all those calories could lead to weight gain. But what does that have to do with your fibroid risk? Well, being overweight increases your fibroid risk because having extra fat tissue leads to higher estrogen levels in your body. And, as we've already reviewed, higher estrogen levels have been linked to an increased fibroid risk.

4. Your Menstrual Cycle

Both alcohol and fibroids can impact your menstrual cycle. With fibroids, you could experience irregular, long or periods marked by heavy bleeding. Similarly, consuming lots of alcohol can lead to menstrual cycle disruptions.

Does Drinking Alcohol Make Fibroids Worse?

When you drink alcohol, you may be more likely to develop fibroids or to experience fibroid growth if you already have these uterine tumors. Additionally, some of your fibroid symptoms may worsen, causing you to experience:

• Painful menstrual cramps
• More bleeding during your period
• Worsening pelvic pain
• Increased frequency of urination

Treating Fibroids for Symptom Relief

Your lifestyle can help you manage certain fibroid symptoms. Specifically, following a fibroid diet can help reduce many painful symptoms. And avoiding alcohol can also help you reduce your risk for tumor growth. However, lifestyle measures alone won't always shrink your fibroids. Instead, you may wish to explore non-surgical treatments like Uterine Fibroid Embolization. You can request an appointment to learn more about this minimally invasive procedure.