Let’s Talk About Period Blood
It gets said in the world of menstrual health that if your period blood is bright cranberry red than your hormones are in balance.
There’s a lot more to it.
The color, consistency, and even smell of our menstrual blood is determined by a few factors. One being our constitutional make up, called Dosha in Ayurveda, which is our unique combination of innate qualities on all levels. The other factor is our general state of health and hormone balance, which in Ayurveda is attributed to the the state of that doshic balance. Another big piece, which falls under the umbrella of doshic balance and overall health, is our food and nutrition.
What and how we eat determines in large part the quality of the blood in our body, which is what builds and becomes the uterine lining. This is what will either become the placenta in pregnancy, or the menstrual blood that we shed during our period. Everything is very connected. The Ayurvedic perspective on menstruation is that each dosha has an innate characteristic way that the cycle, and menstruation specifically, shows up. This perspective is more nuanced and layered than a standard, albeit holistic, medical view.
In Ayurveda- an ancient life science originating in India- there are three main Doshas, each made up of specific elements in Nature. These elements and accompanying characteristics manifest physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually . Each season has a corresponding Dosha and food, herbs, spices, and activities, emotions, ways of being, and colors all exist on a spectrum of balance and aggravation for the different Doshas. It’s a lot at first and, everything follows Nature. In Ayurveda opposites balance and similarities aggravate. So cool balances hot, hot imbalances hot, slow contributes to heavy, and calm and quite helps racing or over stimulation.
I’m going to give a brief overview of the Doshas for context when talking about periods.
The Three Doshas:
Vata is made of air and ether. It governs movements in the body such as blood flow, respiration, and elimination.
Pitta is made of fire and water. It governs the metabolic system, digestion, and temperature in the body
Kapha is made of earth and water. It governs structure in the body, lubrication, and stamina.
Vata Dosha has the qualities of being dry, light, rough, airy, brittle, mobile, and ethereal. Individuals with predominant Vata characteristics tend to be naturally thin, or smaller in stature, may have more delicate features, can have thinner hair, and are more airy and mobile in their temperament as well. When balanced it can look like strong intuition and spiritual connection, strength and mobility. When imbalanced it can look like flightiness, being ungrounded, being underweight, very dry inside and out, insomnia or trouble sleeping, racing mind, & anxiety or being manic. Vata is the dosha that goes out of balance first, think of how movable air is. It’s the first Dosha that we need to calm and balance because the other ones follow it. Vata also pushes other doshas out of balance. Think of wind pushing fire and water around.
Pitta Dosha has the qualities of being hot, sharp, light, bitter, and spreading. People who have strong Pitta characteristics tend to be medium in build and stature with sharp minds and a lot of drive and ambition. People can have a pink or rosey hue to skin and burn easily in the sun. When in balance Pitta Dosha is driven, great at leadership, has a strong moral center and focus, has strong digestion and a steady appetite. When out of balance things can get fiery. In the emotions, in digestion, and in the rest of the body. Think crankiness, anger, rage, over stimulation of the mind, over achieving, dry inflamed skin, and a lot of pushing and impatience. Things can over heat and there can be inflammation related problems.
Kapha Dosha has the qualities of being slow, heavy, cool, dense, soft, liquid, and smooth. People with more predominate Kapha Dosha can have more full figures and statutes, soft, thick, wavey or curly hair, naturally glowing more dewey skin, and are naturally internally lubricated. When in balance Kapha is loyal, calm, grounded, content, forgiving, steady, & has good stamina and endurance. When out of balance things get heavy. Think lethargy, depressed mood, bogged down in emotions, slow or stagnant digestion, weight gain, and lack of circulation.
Every person has all three of these in some unique combination. We need all three for healthy function of our physiological systems and for balance on the non-physical levels. Thee best way to find out your Dosha is to either take very comprehensive test, I like Banyan Botanicals for this, or have a consult with an Ayurvedic practitioner or health counselor. Be prepared to answer a lot of questions :)
The nature elements point to what the qualities: mental, emotional, spiritual and physical are. Most people have two Doshas that are more obvious and pronounced, and sometimes one that is much more predominant. It also needs to be said that anyone can, and does, experience other doshic qualities. For example, someone who is predominantly Pitta and Kapha, can be experiencing very Vata like symptoms or have that come up or get triggered in a given situation. All the Doshas are healthy and natural and wonderful. And like everything in this world, can be in a state of harmony or disharmony. Each Dosha has its qualities of balance and imbalance. For the sake of understanding and trendy quizzes, the Doshas tend to get over simplified and very fixed. We all want to KNOW what category we fit into and stick to it. There’s nuance. The whole point is that we all have all three, and even that combination can shift at different phases of life.
in relation to the menstrual cycle
People who have a more predominant Vata constitution tend to have a shorter cycle, maybe 23-26 days and a shorter period, maybe 3-4 days. Flow is naturally lighter and menstrual blood is a lighter red, tending towards pink as the flow eases off. You need a certain body weight percentage to menstruate- around 17-22% body fat depending on height. People who have a more Vata tending constitution may start their periods later than other people. And this lightness in body weight and fat percentage also contributes to a different hormone make up leading to lighter periods. Estrogen is stored in fat cells. The tendency when imbalanced is for the bleeding to become very light, or only present for a few days. There may be tension headaches or migraines, vertigo, a feeling of disconnection from self, and pelvic pain. If someone becomes severely underweight or Vata dosha is high, it can let itself to absent periods or loss of periods. For someone who is more Vata like in their constitution, bright red blood isn’t a very accurate measure.
Someone who has more of a predominant Pitta Dosha will naturally tend towards this bright red cranberry blood. It may also naturally smell stronger and more pungent. The key is that that slight pungency doesn’t turn into a more fetid quality which is a sign of Pitta being high and out of balance with the other Doshas. Pitta dosha lends itself to a more medium length cycle like 26-29 days and a bleed time of 5-6 days. Due to inflammation and a tendency towards being sharp and hot, signs of Pitta imbalance can look like sharp cramps, diarrhea, headache, hot flashes, emotional highs and lows, anger, and heavy bleeding. Cravings may be for saltier and sour things. Think sea salt and vinegar potato chips. My mouth waters just thinking about them. Giving myself away.
Someone with a predominant Kapha dosha can have naturally darker menstrual blood, like red wine, and have a slightly longer cycle and bleed time. It can be anywhere from 29-35 days and bleed for 6-7. Kapha dosha imbalance will lend itself to duller cramps and either constipation or diarrhea depending on the individual. There can be intense fatigue and the feeling of just wanting to sleep all day, emotional lethargy and heaviness, sadness, despondency, heavy bleeding, darker blood tending towards brown, dull throbbing headaches, swelling breasts, and premenstrual weight gain. All things that come from stagnation and therefore build up.
Within the message of “there are multiple colors of healthy menstrual blood” it’s important to say that if you have brown, dark brown blood that is a sign of more severe stagnation causing the full uterine lining to not shed, which means at your next period there is old blood coming out. If you have black blood that is a sign of a possible infection or something more serious happening in the uterus and needs to be addressed asap by a medical professional. I’d personally find a female nurse practitioner, gynocologist, midwife md, or obgyn. My lean is towards women in the medical field who are immersed in, and open to the female experience.
It’s important to say that just because someone has a predominance in their constitution it doesn’t mean they will only experience that. These are guide posts. For instance, I am mainly a Pitta/Kapha type. In winter my imbalances tend much more towards Kapha, and in summer i have to be aware of keeping Pitta calm and cool. If I started having more Vata like symptoms in my cycle, which I have experienced, such as shorter cycles, it would point to me having some Vata aggravation or imbalance that needed to be addressed. I also know when I start having symptoms more in line with Pitta and Kapha imbalances, that I need to address those areas.
Within the nuance of the cycle there is even more! This is all in service of understanding that there is not one picture of menstrual health. There is no one way that things are in balance. Balance for me looks slightly different from balance for you. So when someone says the sign of all hormone balance is bright red menstrual blood and you don’t have that, look a little deeper. Is that because something is out of balance or because you are naturally not built that way? We have to be very aware of where we are getting information from and how we are then relating it to ourselves. We are not all the same. No two cycles are the same. The point is to know ourselves, be educated about our bodies, and then marry those two things to understand how things apply to us.