Lara Briden - The Period Revolutionary

Lara Briden - The Period Revolutionary ♀️ Clinician & author
30+ years curious about female biology
Periods • hormones • metabolism (explained simply)
🔸Feel better. DM for links

I'm a naturopathic doctor, women’s health activist, and the author of the books Period Repair Manual, Hormone Repair Manual, and Metabolism Repair for Women.

Of course, endometriosis is strongly affected by estrogen, even normal levels of estrogen.But it’s not caused by hormona...
15/08/2026

Of course, endometriosis is strongly affected by estrogen, even normal levels of estrogen.

But it’s not caused by hormonal abnormalities such as high estrogen or low progesterone.

Instead, endometriosis is fibrotic, immune, and possibly bacterial.

And, big picture, there are rumblings of a fast-approaching paradigm shift around how we diagnose, understand, and treat this enigmatic condition.

Link to my article/podcast, "The hidden story of endometriosis": https://www.larabriden.com/the-hidden-story-of-endometriosis-pain-lesions-and-the-microbiome/

And stay tuned for more in my upcoming period book.

I've always felt heartbroken when a woman would come to me for help with fertility, but everything seemed fine with her....
11/08/2026

I've always felt heartbroken when a woman would come to me for help with fertility, but everything seemed fine with her.

“I think we’re trying to treat the wrong person,” I’d say. Because I strongly suspected the problem was on the male side, despite the assurance that his “s***m looks good enough.”

There is A LOT more to male fertility than s***m count, motility and morphology.

For example, semen has a microbiome.

A new Lancet study has found that an imbalance in that microbiome can strongly impact not only the chance of conception, but also of holding and maintaining a healthy pregnancy.

Links to the study: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanogw/article/PIIS3050-5038(26)00213-X/fulltext
and an article about it: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-08-bacterial-imbalance-men-semen-chances.html

And chime in with your questions and knowledge.

A major UK clinical trial has just completed recruitment, with hundreds of women agreeing to undergo keyhole surgery for...
03/08/2026

A major UK clinical trial has just completed recruitment, with hundreds of women agreeing to undergo keyhole surgery for pelvic pain.

The women knew that if the surgeon found only superficial endometriosis, they would be randomly assigned to either:
• have the lesions removed
• have the lesions left in place, after undergoing only diagnostic laparoscopy

The women were told what had been found, but neither they nor the clinicians caring for them afterwards knew whether the lesions had been removed until 12 months later.

That is an extraordinary gift to science.

For decades, it's been assumed that removing superficial endometriosis lesions would relieve pain. But, until now, that had never been properly tested.

These women volunteered so that future patients can have better answers than: “This is just what we’ve always done.”

Link to the clinical trial: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37349849/

And stay tuned for my new book about periods. I’m really (really!) hoping these trial results become available in time to be included.

Surprisingly, scientists don’t yet understand exactly how much of menstrual fluid is blood compared to other components ...
30/07/2026

Surprisingly, scientists don’t yet understand exactly how much of menstrual fluid is blood compared to other components (uterine lining, mucus, vaginal secretions, and the fluid released as the lining breaks down).

Blood may account for roughly half, but the proportion can be much higher or lower depending on flow rate and other factors. In one small study, blood content ranged from 1.6 to 81.7%! 😲 

That can make it tricky to determine if you're losing more than the acceptable 80 mL of blood. Factoring in non-blood components, you might (in theory) be able to lose up to 150 mL of menstrual fluid and still be okay, so long as you're eating enough iron. 

If in doubt, see your doctor and check your iron.

Please share your thoughts, knowledge, and questions. 👇🏼

Many modern diagnoses are essentially descriptions of symptoms or clinical features. That means they can be surprisingly...
27/07/2026

Many modern diagnoses are essentially descriptions of symptoms or clinical features. That means they can be surprisingly open to interpretation.

Descriptive diagnoses can also be temporary. You could quite feasibly reach a point when a particular label no longer applies because you no longer have the symptoms (or meet the criteria) that led to it.

Possible examples include ADHD, PMDD, PCOS, perimenopause, and even, in some cases, endometriosis.

Such labels can, of course, be helpful if they guide you towards a reality-based understanding of what is happening and treatments that actually work.

They are far less helpful if they become an ongoing story or identity that does not lead to ways of feeling better. In that case, it might be time to look beyond the label.

Links to some discussions of the modern labelling problem:
• my peer-reviewed article: Beyond the label: A patient-centred approach to PCOS: https://candjournal.ca/index.php/candj/article/view/114
• my recent episode: The hidden story of endometriosis: https://www.larabriden.com/the-hidden-story-of-endometriosis-pain-lesions-and-the-microbiome/
• Suzanne O'Sullivan's book: The age of diagnosis: How our obsession with medical labels is making us sicker: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/214986203-the-age-of-diagnosis

👇🏽 And share your thoughts.

I love discoveries like this. Potentially groundbreaking but also fairly logical when you think about it. That whole fam...
20/07/2026

I love discoveries like this. Potentially groundbreaking but also fairly logical when you think about it.

That whole family of viruses (Epstein–Barr and its horrid herpesvirus cousins) have long been suspected of driving inflammation, autoimmunity (e.g., MS and Hashimoto's), some cancers, and even neurodegenerative diseases like dementia.

I'm all for finding new ways to combat and suppress them!

Link to the New Scientist article: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2579595-best-treatment-for-multiple-sclerosis-may-be-anti-virals/

"The biological dogma that women don’t make new eggs after birth may be wrong" is the title of a recent Scientific Ameri...
15/07/2026

"The biological dogma that women don’t make new eggs after birth may be wrong" is the title of a recent Scientific American article.

Through my biologist lens, the whole "women run out of eggs" narrative just never made sense. That's why two of my books quote ovarian stem cell researcher Jonathan Tilly, who is featured in this article.

And big picture, I'm increasingly interested in how medical narratives or dogmas are constructed. For example, the narrative that ovaries have no capacity to generate new oocytes stems primarily from just one 1951 study!

Clearly, ovarian follicles and female fertility do dramatically decline with age. That is not in dispute. Instead, what research like this provides is greater precision in how we understand and describe female biology. And a willingness to dismantle dogmas when the evidence suggests they deserve to be dismantled.

Link to the Scientific American article: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-biological-dogma-that-women-dont-make-new-eggs-after-birth-may-be-wrong/

A new clinical trial will test whether heavy menstrual bleeding can be reduced by stimulating the vagus nerve to boost a...
01/07/2026

A new clinical trial will test whether heavy menstrual bleeding can be reduced by stimulating the vagus nerve to boost acetylcholine and increase platelet activity.

In itself, that’s interesting. But it also opens the door to a broader conversation about the roles of the nervous and immune systems in menstrual health, including the autonomic nervous system, mast cells, platelets, histamine, and the gut.

That neuroimmune connection is why periods can be improved through strategies like diet changes, gut treatments, breathwork, yoga, and more!

The future of women's health is systems biology.

Link to the trial: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07326722

The image is by artist Sonia Alins from her 'Water Women' series. Shared with her permission.

Goodness, there’s so much more to ovarian biology than we ever imagined.A new study suggests that postmenopausal ovaries...
26/06/2026

Goodness, there’s so much more to ovarian biology than we ever imagined.

A new study suggests that postmenopausal ovaries may not simply “shut down.” Instead, they shift to a more immune-active state. Which could be negative if it contributes to chronic inflammation. It could also (in theory) be positive if it promotes tissue repair, antimicrobial defence, and even anticancer activity.

As a biologist, I find this fascinating. And humbling.

Link to the Science article: https://www.science.org/content/article/after-menopause-ovaries-may-transform-organs-immune-powers

No wonder hormone therapy feels so confusing.I love journalist Ann Marie McQueen’s breakdown of the different hormone th...
26/06/2026

No wonder hormone therapy feels so confusing.

I love journalist Ann Marie McQueen’s breakdown of the different hormone therapy “belief systems” currently shaping the conversation around perimenopause and menopause.

From estrogen maximalism to progesterone-forward approaches, rhythmic physiologic dosing, “hormones not required,” and everything in between. It really helps to see the full landscape laid out like this,

For more, check out her digital guide: Hot Truth About Hormone Therapy: A Journalist’s No-BS Guide to the Lay of the Land (in Under 3 Hours). Intro price $47 for a combination of videos and PDFs (no app required).

Link: https://go.hotflashinc.com/hottruth?am_id=larabriden8004

Use discount code LARA10

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