the power of progesterone
Often overshadowed by its more famous counterpart, estrogen, progesterone is a powerhouse hormone that's essential for women's well-being. From regulating menstrual cycles to supporting pregnancy and beyond, understanding progesterone is so important, especially when dealing with hormonal issues like irregular periods, difficulty conceiving, etc. In this post, I’ll explore what it is, why it's crucial for women's health, symptoms of low progesterone, factors influencing its levels, and lifestyle and nutrition recommendations to promote healthy levels.
WHAT IS PROGESTERONE?
Before I get into my recommendations, it’s important to understand what progesterone is exactly and why it’s so crucial for women's health. Progesterone, alongside estrogen, is a female sex hormone produced primarily in the ovaries following ovulation and in smaller amounts by the adrenal glands. It plays a pivotal role in preparing the uterine lining for implantation during the second half of the menstrual cycle, supporting pregnancy, and regulating various processes within the body.
WHY BALANCED PROGESTERONE KEY TO WOMEN’S HEALTH
Progesterone is crucial to reproductive health, working in harmony with estrogen to regulate the menstrual cycle, promote ovulation, and maintain a healthy uterine lining. During pregnancy, progesterone helps prevent miscarriage by supporting the growth of the placenta and preventing contractions that could lead to premature labour. Beyond reproduction, progesterone also influences mood, bone health, and cardiovascular function and is key to our overall well-being. As you can see, it’s super important!
THE PROGESTERONE/ESTROGEN CONNECTION
The female sex hormones estrogen and progesterone are in delicate balance with each other, and when this balance off it can lead to estrogen dominance.
Estrogen dominance is when estrogen levels outweigh those of progesterone, which can be caused by excess circulating estrogen. But it can also be caused by low progesterone levels in comparison to estrogen.
Progesterone is estrogen’s trusty sidekick—it helps to balance out estrogen’s effects and keep things in check. But when it dips, whether because of stress, poor diet, or other factors (more on that below), estrogen can become dominant, causing all sorts of chaos. That’s why we need to pay attention to progesterone when dealing with estrogen dominance.
HOW DO YOU KNOW IF PROGESTERONE IS LOW?
Unlike estrogen, high progesterone isn’t as common of an issue. However, when our progesterone is low, our body will let us know through uncomfortable symptoms such as:
Irregular menstrual cycles
Heavy or painful periods
Difficulty getting pregnant or recurrent miscarriages
Mood swings, anxiety, or depression
Low libido
Bloating
Fatigue and low energy levels Insomnia or disrupted sleep patterns
Breast pain/tenderness leading up to menstruation
Thyroid issues
FACTORS THAT CAN INFLUENCE OUR PROGESTERONE LEVELS
Female sex hormones are incredibly sensitive to the smallest nutrition and/or lifestyle changes. A few factors that can affect progesterone levels in women include:
Stress: I put this one first because managing stress is SO important for increasing progesterone levels because cortisol (stress hormone) and progesterone are made using the same precursor hormone, pregnenolone. Since cortisol is essential to survival, our bodies will prioritize making stress hormones over progesterone when we're in a chronic state of stress (whether the threat is real or perceived), leaving little left to support progesterone production.
Diet & Nutrition: Everything in our body relies on a steady stream of nutrients to function/run optimally, including our hormones (nutrition is like…really important!). Nutritional deficiencies, particularly of vitamins and minerals essential for hormone synthesis, can impact progesterone levels (see my recos below).
Environmental Toxins: Exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in plastics, pesticides, and personal care products can interfere with our hormone production (thinking of writing a blog post on some of my favourite clean beauty/body care products).
Age: Progesterone levels naturally decline with age, particularly during perimenopause and menopause.
LIFESTYLE & NUTRITION RECOMMENDATIONS
Load up on these progesterone-stimulating foods:
Beans
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Kale
Nuts
Pumpkin
Spinach
Whole grains
Manage stress: Try relaxation techniques such as meditation, yoga, or deep breathing exercises (read this blog post for more on managing stress!)
Limit caffeine: As mentioned above, keeping our cortisol in check is crucial for healthy progesterone levels, so we want to be mindful of stimulants like coffee. Everyone's tolerance is different, but if coffee makes you jittery, try keeping it to a small cup or switch to decaf.
Limit exposure to environmental toxins: Try (when possible) choosing organic foods, using natural household and personal care products, and avoiding plastics. That said, I never want this to be something that further stresses out my clients—it’s not about perfection, but choosing cleaner options when possible.
Choose balanced movement: Incorporate regular physical activity into your routine, which can help regulate hormone levels and reduce stress. The key here is to choose workouts that feel good—it doesn’t have to be extreme! In fact, over-exercising can be incredibly stressful (you can learn more on this topic here) so it’s important to listen to our body to determine how much we can handle; everyone is different!
Supplement with these nutrients to fill any nutritional gaps:
Omega-3 fatty acids
Vitamin C (has been shown to raise progesterone at a dose of 750 mg/day)
Magnesium powder (especially if you’re dealing with a lot of stress. I love taking Natural Calm before bed)
Women's multivitamin (I always recommend that my clients take a multivitamin as insurance to prevent deficiencies)
As you can see, progesterone is a cornerstone of women’s health, and supporting its production through nutrition and lifestyle habits can make a world of difference in supporting happy hormones and general health and well-being at every stage of life.
Struggling with hormonal imbalance? Book a 1:1 nutrition counselling appointment with me for personalized nutrition, lifestyle & mindset recommendations to support happy hormones.
If you have questions about my services or fees you can reach me at info@maggimichellenutrition.com.
