Progesterone in Perimenopause
How to boost it naturally
Oestrogen often tends to steal the limelight when it comes to talking sex hormones and menopause. However, its sister hormone progesterone gets often overlooked. Both Oestrogen and Progesterone work together in a balanced ratio, which means that when one is out of balance the other is affected. Although they both have an influence on many areas of our bodies, within the menstrual cycle they balance out each other’s effects so that our cycles work the way they are supposed to, and this is why when out of balance we can end up with PMS, Skin Breakouts, weight gain and more. Progesterone most famously plays a crucial role in enabling and maintaining pregnancy!
When we go through perimenopause, it is more often than not progesterone that’s too low, no oestrogen! Both do naturally decline as we move through perimenopause, but often oestrogen is very high and fluctuating, and progesterone is too low and declines faster, and it is this imbalance between the two that can result in some of the symptoms many women experience in perimenopause transition.
Now as I was saying earlier, there is a natural decline (not deficiency!) in both these hormones as we move into menopause. The problem is, that for many women, progesterone is already low BEFORE they enter perimenopause. This is largely due to stress, because the stress hormone cortisol is made from the same raw materials as progesterone, and the body will always choose cortisol over progesterone. (sometimes referred to as the cortisol steal) This is because saving your life is more important than making a baby! You see, that’s the thing with the modern lives we now live, we are under constant stress. And it’s not just due to work, financial or family stress. Poor diet (low in nutrient-dense whole foods, high in sugars, processed foods, refined carbs and unhealthy fats), overtraining, poor sleep, toxins in our food, water, environments, these are all stressors to our bodies, and it doesn’t differentiate between these different types of stress. When our bodies developed this protective life-saving mechanism, it was to help us run from being eaten by a lion, it was short-lived. Now all our modern-day stressors all look like lions to our bodies, resulting in 27/7 fight or flight mode, and eventually hormone imbalances such as chronically high cortisol resulting in low progesterone.
So when it comes to going through perimenopause, we are starting the journey from a glass-half-empty situation.
Now you might be saying well if it’s there to manage my cycles and maintain pregnancy why is it so important now in this phase of life? And why does it cause all these problems going through perimenopause?
Because it does have other functions in the body;
Helps produce GABA, your calming neurotransmitter, this explains why anxiety and sleep issues can occur in perimenopause
Helps us convert our thyroid hormones (thyroid is our metabolism master)
Helps with skin health via collagen production
Helps keep bones strong
Helps with new muscle growth
Brain health
And not only that, remember it works in a balanced ratio with oestrogen, so when oestrogen is initially high in perimenopause, we have a situation called oestrogen dominance – a little misleading as a phrase and I prefer the phrase unopposed oestrogen! When this happens you may end up with hot flushes, tender breasts, PMS, fibroids, endometriosis, skin breakouts, increased risk for hormones sensitive cancers, and more.
So what can we do to support progesterone production?
Stress reduction, you guessed it!
20 mins a day doing something that works for you to reduce stress, reading, deep breathing, massage, music, you know what works best for you!
Identify any hidden stressors– food sensitivities, hormone imbalances, gut issues, nutrient deficiencies (we test for all these if you want help with this)
Read my post for more tips
A healthy nutrient-dense diet- nutrients are needed to support progesterone production:
Vitamin C –We usually think of citrus fruits for vitamin C however there are many other foods, like strawberries, broccoli, cabbage, bell peppers, sweet potato and lots more veg!
Zinc – shellfish, oysters, liver meat, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, ginger.
Magnesium – almonds, cashews, eggs, green leafy veg, avocado, cacao
Vitamin E – almonds, sunflower seeds, egg yolk, hazelnuts, beef.
Vitamin B6 – wild salmon, meat, organ meat, egg yolk, avocado, walnuts, mackerel, sunflower seeds.
Reduce excess oestrogen levels
Balance blood sugar to reduce excess insulin, which can drive up oestrogen.
Reduce excess/refined carbs and sugar, alcohol, and processed foods
Minimise exposure to xenoestrogens in the environment, including BPA (plastics, some tin cans, certain till receipts, take away coffee lids), pesticides and synthetic fragrances (in most beauty care and household cleaners)
Support healthy detoxification of oestrogen with cruciferous vegetables -broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, rocket, cauliflower, collard greens, horseradish, kale, radishes, swede, turnips, watercress, wasabi.
More info here on oestrogen dominance
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