7 Things you can do to increase your progesterone
Progesterone is a hormone that is produced in the ovaries. It is responsible for bone health, proper ovulation and menstrual cycle health, mood regulation, as well as pregnancy and fertility to name a few. And yet, so many women find themselves with low progesterone. No wonder anxiety and mood disorders are so prevalent today. If you are a woman that wants to ditch the moodiness and anxiety, it just might be time to get your hormones checked.
Signs of low progesterone:
tender breasts, fibrocystic breasts
mood swings and irritability
anxiety and depression
uterine fibroids
weight gain
low libido
changes in bleeding or menstrual cycle
water retention in belly area and face
If you are dealing with any of these symptoms, it may be time to get your hormones checked and get your progesterone levels back up.
When estrogen is higher than progsterone, we are typically dealing with estrogen dominance. This is responsible for almost all health problems in women, and can cause peri/menopausal women to suffer from a multitude of symptoms during this change in life. This is also a large cause of infertility, PCOS, and endometriosis in women. When progesterone is low, women also find they are not able to keep a lean body mass, build muscle, and manage their weight. Low progesterone has even been linked to cancer in women. This is often due to long-term hormonal imbalance.
What you can do today to balance progesterone levels :
Add whole food vitamin C
Try lemon juice in the morning with tea or in water throughout the day. Or you can try acerola cherry. A highly available form of vitamin C with a multitude of health benefits.
AVOID: ascorbic acid since it is synthetic and not bioavailable/absorbable in the body
Talk to me about supplementing with herbs
Black cohosh, vitex or chaste tree, ginseng, red clover, and wild yam have been very successful in balancing progesterone levels in women.
Go to bed a decent hour (10-10:30)
Going to bed on time and getting enough high quality sleep is the game changer you probably need. This is a huge key to balanced cortisol levels. When cortisol is high, progesterone production takes a halt.
Eat within 30-60 minutes upon waking
Another trick for balanced hormones and cortisol. When you fast in the morning, your body is running on fumes. Cortisol fumes. And this causes our hormone levels to become out of whack. Instead, eat within an hour of waking, reducing blood sugar and cortisol spikes. If you do not feel like eating in the morning, try drinking bone broth or my bone broth hot chocolate recipe.
Vitamin B6
Get those vitamin B6 rich foods in your diet. Bananas, salmon, potatoes. Or try taking a P5P supplement instead. Book a consultation with me if you are unsure about your levels.
Make sure to load up on the healthy fats
Forget what they told you about diets high in fat and an increase in cholesterol. Your brain is made up of mostly cholesterol, therefore, you need healthy fats such as avocado, coconut oil, olive oil, beef tallow, grass-fed butter, omega 3’s, etc. for proper brain function, progesterone levels, and pretty much to be a human being. Don’t feat the fat, embrace them!
Balance your cortisol levels
Every woman should know their cortisol and hormone levels. And these should be checked regularly. Not only does a salivary hormone and cortisol panel give us a more targeted approach for better health, but when it comes to every day function, fertility, pregnancy, and menopause, you will want to make sure these are always on track. Book a free consultation with me to test for cortisol patterns and hormone levels! It just might be what you need.
It is so important to make sure that your progesterone levels are where they need to be. But it can be so easy to get these levels back up naturally! Just make sure that is what you need.
