ALL ABOUT PROGESTERONE
always get questions about increasing progesterone levels naturally or if someone should be using a topical progesterone cream. The first step anyone should be taking to improving progesterone levels is to eat enough and get certain micronutrients in.
We have to address food first. Micronutrients are the nutrients we need in small amounts and they are important for our overall health.
There are nutrients that actually make up the backbone of progesterone, which is why it is important to make sure you are eating enough nutrient-dense foods.
These are the building blocks of progesterone:
* Cholesterol: Eggs and meat from grass-fed and pasture-raised animals
* Sulfur and L-arginine: Protein-rich foods, shrimp, and oysters
* Vitamin B6: Animal protein, carrots, sweet potatoes, liver
* Selenium: Organ meats, oysters, shrimp, wild fish
* Vitamin A: Liver, cod liver oil, seafood, grass-fed butter, egg yolks
* Vitamin C: Broccoli/broccoli sprouts, citrus, acerola cherries, and raw fruits & veggies in general
* Vitamin E: Sunflower seeds, almonds, spinach, avocado, squash, kiwi, shrimp, goat’s dairy
* Zinc: Animal proteins, liver, shellfish
* Magnesium: cacao, avocado, nuts, legumes, seeds, leafy greens
I encourage you all to stop trying to take one supplement to increase your progesterone or balance out your hormones. Nutrient-dense foods are more powerful than you think. Look at what you are eating first and let me know how much better you feel!
*This is not medical advice.
The following photo & caption are from @kittyblomfieldl.
I remember when I first read Katherina Dalton’s work (her book ‘Once a Month’ is totally worth the read👌), this quote really stood out to me.
Progesterone isn’t just a hormone you need to worry about during pregnancy or when you’re trying to get pregnant.
It actually plays a huge role when it comes to our mood, cardiovascular health, immunity, breast health, bone density, liver and kidney health, and more.
Now… I know I harp on about balancing blood sugar a ton.
Like Katherina says "Progesterone receptors do not bind to molecules of progesterone in the presence of adrenaline, which is released when the blood glucose level is low".
This is why eating a balanced meal of carbs, protein, and fats every 3-4 hours is so important, as well as reducing stress in your life.
When you don’t eat for many hours, your blood sugar levels drop. In response, the body increases the stress hormones to create glucose, which raises blood sugar levels back to a balanced state.
The stress hormone, adrenalin, blocks progesterone, meaning your body can’t respond to it accordingly. You end up having a shit mood, potentially an increased risk of infection, and if this goes on for too long… it can begin to have harder-to-reverse side effects (such as those impacting your cardiovascular system, liver, kidney, breast health, and immunity).
I’ve seen many women get incredible results in our program by simply doing the most basic stuff (like eating nutrient dense pro-metabolic foods every 3-4 hours, consuming the daily carrot salad, getting enough salt, eating liver and oysters, reducing stress etc).
Your body needs energy for optimal hormonal health and for you to feel good.
Restriction only adds layers of stress which interfere with hormones like progesterone.
Remember this when you’re deciding whether you should try that next quick-fix, restrictive diet or not.
From my perspective, it’s just really not worth it. Take the long term sustainable approach of fuelling your body and strength training 🙌
The following photos & caption are from @sustainablehealthwithsara.
SO many messages from women who suspect they have been struggling with low progesterone and want to know about supplementation. I fully believe there is a time and place for progesterone supplementation if warranted BUT the root cause of that need also should be addressed!
I’m going to break it down here ⬇️
Pregnenolone ➡️ progesterone ➡️ cortisol
Cortisol is created as a healthy response to stress (emotional, physical, psychological, etc.). When the stress is overlooked or unaddressed, cortisol will stay high because your body is still responding to an ongoing stressor. This mechanism is in place so that your body can create enough energy it’s requiring of you to deal with the stress.
Your body has a hierarchy of needs and therefore when you have energy needs that need to focus on a stressor, your body is less likely to route energy to things like fertility. Biologically it doesn’t make sense for the body to get pregnant when in a state of fight or flight. Basically, your body goes into self-preservation and prioritizes defense. Since progesterone (the “pro-gestation” hormone) is the precursor to cortisol production, your body will “steal” progesterone to make cortisol.
Elevated cortisol also has the potential to interfere directly with ovarian hormone production.
Where does progesterone supplementation come into play? ➡️ Hormones are driven by neurological processes so if we don’t change the system by reducing stressors and eliminating the burden on the adrenal glands the body will continue to compensate and supplemental progesterone added in will continue to be “stolen” to make more cortisol.
If we want to have a healthy menstrual cycle and adequate progesterone production, we have to address the ongoing burden we’re placing on our adrenal glands. I will share some tips on how to reduce cortisol naturally in stories today. Questions? ⬇️ drop them here!
*not to be considered as or substituted for medical advice*
The following photo & caption are from @preventionpharmacist.
Estrogen dominance is a term thrown around by the functional medical community constantly- but what does that mean?
It simply means that our body shows to be dominant (over loaded) in estrogen (relative to progesterone). You can see this with DUTCH testing. But the real question is- are we experiencing symptoms associated with estrogen dominance because of the higher level of estrogen, or because we tend to be low in progesterone, to oppose said estrogen?
Progesterone is important…but when we are in constant stress our body will make cortisol versus progesterone. Progesterone is suppressed when there is too much estrogen.
What can you do to boost progesterone?
Make sure you are eating enough (including fat soluble vitamins) , getting adequate rest and it’s so critical to manage stress.
The following photo & caption are from @larabriden.
Progesterone lightens periods, reduces inflammation, regulates immune function, and supports healthy thyroid, brain, bones, and breasts.
Do you make enough?
4 signs of progesterone deficiency include:
1) short luteal phase or no luteal phase,
2) low temperatures in the luteal phase,
3) fertile mucus in the luteal phase, and
4) spotting in the luteal phase.
You can also test progesterone with a blood test.
Read my blog post "Roadmap to progesterone." Link in my bio @larabriden and ask me in the comments.
The following photos & caption are from @meg_langston.
The hormone progesterone is one of the most important hormones for women and many times women are low or imbalanced to estrogen.
This is because our bodies are under stress.
This stress can be from blood sugar regulation because we don’t properly balance our meals with protein, we skip meals, over exercises, under exercise and more.. our body is stressed.
When our body is stressed, it produces stress hormones like cortisol.
Progesterone and cortisol have such a synergistic relationship and when there is an overabundance of cortisol in the body, progesterone levels will lower.
-The adrenal glands use progesterone as their anti-stress hormone
-When there’s two little progesterone, we produce too much cortisol.
-Progesterone the most protective hormone the body produces!
As a result, lowered progesterone will
greatly impacts our cycle, thyroid, metabolism and hormone health.
This looks like in the body: Spotting, feeling anxious, estrogen dominant symptoms (heavy bleeding, cramping, clotting etc) low thyroid function, hair thinning, hard to lose weight and feelings of anxious and worrisome thoughts.
The most supportive you can do for your hormones is to make sure you’re pairing your foods with a protein. Most women needing to aim for no less than 100g per day!
If you are struggling with symptoms of hormonal imbalance such as PMS, acne, tender breasts around ovulation and luteal, hair loss, fatigue, or anxiety - chances are that your progesterone is low.
Unfortunately, this is one of the most common of all hormone imbalances due to the amount of stress, environmental toxins, and birth control that is pushed in our society.
Here are 7 tips to start your journey to balancing progesterone naturally. 👉🏻👉🏻👉🏻
If you are looking for deeper support, DM me RESTORE to learn about my 1:1 mentorship & work together!
Sending you so much love.
From my heart to yours,
Rae 💋
We're a generation deprived of progesterone 👇
and boy can we feel it, right?
the symptomatic cycles
the anxiety
the tension
the fertility struggles
the thyroid issues
the feeling that something is "off" or you're not quite feeling like yourself
In addition to the many important physical and neurological effects of progesterone, progesterone helps us feel in balance and in harmony with life.
Something that I know we could all use a little more of.
and since progesterone is only produced IF ovulation happened, your progesterone levels are really like a report card on your health & stress of the last ~100 days
(this is how long it takes for a follicle to mature and reach ovulation).
From what I see clinically and navigating this personally years ago, there are three main ways we've been robbed of our progesterone:
1️⃣lack of nourishment
2️⃣mismatch between our physiology and our lifestyle
3️⃣chemical suppression from hormonal birth control
The good news is we can support better progesterone production through helping our body feel safe 🙏
Simple, not easy.
Swipe through for a checklist!
If you're looking to dive a little deeper into the magic of progesterone, PMID 34681696 is a pretty solid overview and 31156378 gets into all the cool, non-reproductive health benefits of progesterone 🤓
I would love to know if this resonated with you! 👇
Progesterone is important not just to ovulation + pregnancy, but also our ability to handle stress, our sleep, and our mood. It's an incredibly protective and metabolically supportive.
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If you are in a season of wanting to have a baby in the next 2-ish years, it's never to early to think about optimizing your health prior to conceiving. This leaves time for you to address symptoms that you're experiencing, identify areas where you may be deficient, optimimize your nutrition, and create an optimal environment to nourish and grow a tiny human. Not only that, but preparing your body ahead of time will benefit you immensely in the postpartum period as you recover and adjust to life with a new baby.
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Come join us for A Nourished Motherhood where we will learn to leverage the power of optimal health in preparation for pregnancy + beyond. We start September 19th and would love to have you as part of our community! Details can be found in my "Group Coaching' highlight.