“…The male is not like the female…” {Surah ‘Imran: 36}. Muslims hold this as sacred wisdom. Deep, penetrating. Where beauty and pain; strength and frailty; and nurturing love and sharp intuition meet deep within to fashion the feminine mystique, the exhausted mom, the wise elder woman, the precious and precocious girl. The female, who as some would have us believe, are but helpless bystanders to their hormones.

Ever just wake up in a rage? Or in utter despair, despite the relative calm, or even joy, the night before? The easy thing to do is blame our hormones. Kind of like this: Hormones are why we’re a mess. Hormones are why menstrual cramps leave many women in excruciating, heart-attack-like pain. (Goldhill, 2016) Hormones are why we bleed so heavily for days and days on end. Hormones are why we don’t bleed much, if at all. Hormones are why we have fibroids, and endometriosis; and also why we have ovarian cysts and polycystic ovarian syndrome. Hormones are why we’re so fertile. And, also hormones are why we’re experiencing infertility. And a physician can diagnose all these things and recommend all sorts of modern medical interventions: chemicals, surgeries, devices, more chemicals, more surgeries, other devices.

But, I have yet to meet a woman who enthusiastically wants to (A) be on a prescribed pharmaceutical drug; (B) opt for surgery; or (C) have a device implanted in her uterus or under the skin of her arm. And I haven’t yet met a woman who didn’t regret having had to opt for any of those other medical options. (*There are certain times when modern medicine is everything we need it to be.)

So then, what’s left? The women that reach out to me for advice sound a lot like this: My period is so heavy…I want to get pregnant…I need help with vaginal dryness…I want something natural. Can you help? These courageous women, fed-up women, insightful women are all clear about one thing: they want to be in control of their health. For the woman who believes her reproductive health is beyond the reach of conventional medicine, she’s got to dig deep and uncover her determination, fortitude, and commitment to another way. That’s why I love working with them. They’re not experts (and they don’t need to be) but what they are is curious, and that spark is just enough to fuel a healing transformation.  

Effective natural medicine for healthy periods, fertility, and menopause simply comes down to diet and lifestyle shifts that offer relief and address the root cause. Often, the root cause is related to eating too many wrong foods (or drinking wrong drinks), not exercising enough or getting fresh air and sunshine, resting too much, not prioritizing our social and spiritual health. Though genetics plays a role too, lifestyle and diet are still even powerful players here. All of these things affect the health of a woman’s microbiomes, the incredible system of billions or trillions of microflora that are not just bacteria but also fungi, yeasts, and others that reside within us, symbiotically, in more than one area of the body. (iHMP, 2019)

Dysbiosis: In the Gut and the Vagina

Research indicates an imbalance in the gut microbiome (dysbiosis) affects women’s reproductive health. Gut dysbiosis, which refers to an imbalance of harmful bacteria over beneficial bacteria, reduces the gut barrier and increases leaky gut, heightening the immune and stress responses in the body. Inflammation, elevated cortisol levels, and disruption of the gut’s proper microbiotic balance can affect reproductive health and the health of the vaginal and uterine microbiomes. Healing the gut by strengthening the gut barrier (sealing up the leak), and recolonizing the gut microflora’s diversity should improve overall health. That's why changing the diet and making certain lifestyle shifts marks a dramatic improvement for many women, because the gut finally regains the right mix of flora.

But, it’s not just the gut microbiome. A woman’s vaginal microbiome and uterine (endometrial) microbiome are seen to be significant factors in her reproductive health too (Lehtoranta, 2022). Throughout our lives, in key phases of menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause, a woman’s reproductive microbiome changes significantly. Some of the more common issues like bacterial vaginosis, pelvic inflammation, and infertility have been linked to these specific microbiome (Chen, 2021). 

Vaginal dysbiosis is another vital target for better periods, fertility, and menopause (including perimenopause). Bacterial vaginosis commonly affects about one-third of women worldwide, and correcting it to restore a healthy vaginal microbiome is important to women’s fertility health. Testing is one way to determine the state of your vaginal microbiome’s health. Another way is to pay attention to the vaginal discharge: e.g. color and consistency. The conventional therapies include treatment with antibiotics. But the danger to overusing antibiotics is something commonly understood to harm our body’s microbiome health and is a leading reason for drug-resistant bacterial infections.

The Rihla Wellness Approach to Healthy Periods, Fertility, and Menopause

So to restore a woman’s hormonal balance, her microbiome balance, and her reproductive health, what can be done? Herbal medicine has given natural healers thousands of years of experience in women’s health, with herbs that support healthy microbiome flora, hormone production and elimination, and organ health. Let’s consider what Islamic Herbal Medicine can offer for vibrant women’ health.

Women’s Herbal Healing Overview

The foundation of herbal wellness starts with several key lifestyle factors including diet and gut health, movement and sleep hygiene, and social and spiritual connection. Nutrient-dense meals paired with complementary herbal health measures honors the traditional healing practices that herbalists use. 

Diet and lifestyle shifts like the ones outlined below are most effective when a total reset takes place. Read through the lifestyle factors below and consider what needs a reset to improve your health. Or, download this detailed guide to women’s reproductive health.

Diet

-consider a whole-foods plant-based diet based around dark-leafy greens, vegetables, fruits (especially flavonoid-rich berries and fiber-rich fruits), beans/lentils, whole grains, seeds, nuts, monounsaturated fats, some saturated fats, some animal products, all natural, unprocessed whole foods sweeteners (like honey)

-nourishing tonic herbs like irish sea moss, oatstraw, alfalfa, stinging nettles, and dandelion root are essential

Elimination

-support colon & liver health with foods like Dates, goji berries 

-and herbs like chia seeds, senna, licorice rt, barberry, cascara sagrada, buckthorn

Activity

-fresh air/sunshine exercise (15-30 minutes)

-doing the right intensity at the right time (according to your Fertility Cycle phases and seasons: Menstrual, Follicular, Ovulation, and Luteal)

Rest

-adequate quality sleep (7-8 hrs); with a mid-day nap if possible to help fulfill those minimum hours

-daily mindful quiet time

Social Engagement

-prioritize high dose relationships, spending time with those lovely people you can never get enough of

Spiritual Connection

-mindful spiritual practice: reading Qur’an, dhkir, sunnah prayers, mindful istighfaar

Women’s Herbal Healing Protocols

Start by laying a solid foundation of the lifestyle factors of diet, elimination, activity, rest, social connection, and spiritual engagement. Then you give yourself the best chance at success with specific herbal protocols for menstrual, fertility, and menopause health. Diet therapy and plant medicine are the cornerstones of Islamic herbal medicine, and this is especially true for balancing women’s hormones.

PERIODS

For a healthy period, the herbal protocol centers around cooling the estrogen dominance, supporting the gut and vaginal microbiome, and shoring up the liver and colon. An easy period begins with important changes to lifestyle factors like diet and stress management. Maintaining a good meal routine that is deeply nourishing while also paying attention to your body’s needs in its follicular and luteal phases have helped women transform their health and how they feel during their periods. Including medicinal foods like flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, and sesame seeds has helped women dealing with hormonal imbalances. Seed Cycling, or using these seeds at certain times during the Fertility Cycle, and even during the transition to menopause, is beneficial. Herbs can support healthy periods by addressing a few areas of imbalance like inflammation, mood upset, pain, heavy bleeding, etc. Working with herbs like raspberry, vitex, blessed thistle, yarrow, ginger, barberry, and crampbark can help nourish and nurture uterine health.

The women I’ve worked with have healed their periods so that their cycles are pain-free and peaceful. They’ve even seen their cycle length balance out to an average 28- or 29-day cycle. Read a powerful testimony of one woman’s remarkable transformation from years of dysmenorrhea and painful agonizing periods.

FERTILITY

The herbal strategy for fertility health targets supporting proper levels of key hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and insulin along with supporting the overall health of the reproductive system (ovaries, uterus, etc.). The complexity of fertility gets simpler with cleansing, detoxing, nourishing, and healing the body. Herbs like black cohosh, red raspberry, vitex berries, black seed, and blessed thistle help support proper hormone balance. Many of these same herbs also support proper ovarian function too. But the gut and vaginal microbiomes can be supported with herbs like goldenseal, barberry, turmeric, and black seed. Including herbs that support these microbiomes can help restore the right balance of good bacteria like Lactobacillus that have been associated with fertility health.

MENOPAUSE (and Peri-Menopause, too)

For a comfortable transition to menopause, the herbal protocol involves supporting estrogen and progesterone levels and nourishing the reproductive system to maintain a proper balance of internal heat and moisture. It’s support from phytoestrogen herbs like red raspberry, red clover blossoms, and tonic herbs like blessed thistle that can strengthen hormonal health and the physical complaints during peri-menopause, menopause, and post-menopause. These can be potent allies in the transition into menopause. Also, including alterative herbs like barberry or goldenseal and sarsaparilla will help round out an herbal strategy for a smooth shift into menopause.

HEALTHY LIBIDO

Your natural spark for physical intimacy can be regained, giving relief from low libido and vaginal dryness. Are there herbs for low libido? Absolutely. The smart approach does more than offer up some aphrodisiac herbs like damiana, saffron, or horny goat weed. Rather, women who experience real improvement in their libido have had breakthroughs in their stress management, diet and gut health, and hormone health. Whether you’re menopausal or not, low libido affects women of all ages and stages of life. Helping improve your estrogen levels in the right way can bring relief to vaginal dryness, physical intimacy, and even urinary tract infections (UTIs).

MOOD HEALTH

The best herbal approach to healthy moods, breaking through depression and anxiety, and soothing stress and overwhelm includes supporting both adrenal and nervous system health. Adaptogenic herbs like ginseng, ashwagandha, rhodiola along with nervines like sage and florals like camomile, linden, st. John's wort, and saffron.

STRESS & ENERGY SUPPORT

A smart natural approach to stress management should help you focus and feel energized. Along with following a nutrient-dense diet, there are herbs that support adrenal health and fill in nutritional gaps. Nourishing tonic herbs like goji berries, mullein, irish sea moss, and bladderwrack will help while a good liver herb like barberry can support rebalancing unhealthy elevated cortisol levels. Then, bring in adaptogens such as ginseng, ashwagandha, or licorice.

Conclusion

A healing herbal health journey has supported women on the wellness path for thousands of years. The natural health tradition found in Islamic Herbal Medicine offers herbal strategies that connect us to our Muslim heritage beginning with the herbalism practiced by the earliest Muslims.

Confidently walk this path and take charge of your health with smart changes to your current diet and lifestyle habits. Reset your eating habits and try a new recipe, an herbal remedy, or even a cleanse. Women who’ve taken this holistic approach have experienced tremendous health. For more information on how to put this into practice for you, contact Rihla Wellness to discover comprehensive diet, herb, and lifestyle shifts for all natural health.

Notes

Goldhill, J. (February 15, 2016). Period pain can be “almost as bad as a heart attack.” Why aren’t we researching how to treat it? Quartz.

The Integrative Human Microbiome Project Research Consortium (iHMP). (2019). The Integrative Human Microbiome Project. Nature.

Lehtoranta, L., et al. (2022). Healthy Vaginal Microbiota and Influence of Probiotics Across the Female Life Span. Frontiers in Microbiology.

Chen, X., et al. (2021). The Female Vaginal Microbiome in Vaginal Health and Bacterial Vaginosis. Frontiers in Microbiology.

Women’s Health Frequently Asked Questions