Often overshadowed by its hormonal counterpart, estrogen, progesterone may be the unsung hero of women’s health.
The Interplay of Estrogen and Progesterone
Progesterone was initially named due to its prevalence during pregnancy because it supports gestation, helping the fertilized egg implant in the uterus, creating a receptive uterine lining for the embryo, and strengthening the pelvic wall muscles. However, that is not the hormone’s only function. One of the primary roles of progesterone is to modulate the mitogenic or proliferative effects of estrogen. Estrogen is responsible for cellular division and growth, which accounts for the development of a young woman’s body as she undergoes puberty, such as widening hips, breast development, and the triggering of menstruation. But too much of it can wreak havoc on a woman’s hormonal balance, resulting in everything from breast cancer to hair loss to acne.Some experts say that estrogen is the gas pedal and progesterone the brakes. Estrogen is like the lion and progesterone the lion tamer, mainly because without the regulation of progesterone, estrogen can indeed run rampant, with deleterious effects, Kitty Martone, holistic health practitioner and CEO of Ona’s Natural, a company that provides bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (HRT), told The Epoch Times.
Symptoms of excess estrogen include leg cramps, uterine and breast fibroids, accumulation of fat in the hips, thighs, and back of arms, and vaginal bleeding. Progesterone keeps estrogen from going rogue and growing things when it shouldn’t.
“Progesterone and estrogen do this dance together,” Martone said. “It’s really important that no matter what estrogen is doing, progesterone is there to support and regulate it.
“Estrogen dominance, therefore, is not just a case of excess estrogen, but estrogen unregulated by progesterone. No matter how much or how little estrogen a woman produces, unmitigated estrogen can cause this hormonal imbalance.”
Factors such as excess weight, hormonal contraceptives, stress, and lack of sleep can increase estrogen production, making it even more difficult to maintain the balance between progesterone and estrogen. Xenoestrogens, or substances that mimic the effects of estrogen, such as glyphosate, pesticides, and parabens, can also contribute to elevated estrogen levels.
Progesterone Versus Progestin
Many doctors have taken a cautious approach to prescribing progesterone due to studies linking excess progesterone to blood clots and thrombosis. Carol Petersen, a registered pharmacist and certified nutritional practitioner, emphasized to The Epoch Times the difference between bioidentical progesterone and its synthetic version, progestin, which is usually prescribed alongside estrogen in HRT.Many women go through life with progesterone deficiency, Petersen told The Epoch Times. She said there is “a lot of ignorance about what a progesterone deficiency looks like” among both practitioners and their patients.
Still, Martone said she continues to see a stigma against progesterone among the medical community given its conflation with progestin and emphasizes the small but crucial difference: Progestins are one molecule off, which can make a difference between breast cancer and no breast cancer.
How Much Progesterone Is Enough?
According to Petersen, progesterone receptors are all over the body, and it’s a crucial hormone that performs many different functions that create a high demand for it. Therefore, she advises against the orthodoxy of starting with a lower dosage and incrementally increasing it. She often recommends her patients “start high and go higher” until symptoms find resolution. If progesterone is underdosed, she said, patients could be in a worse situation than when they started.Unlike estrogen, Petersen said, one could “literally bathe in progesterone” with no serious side effects. Women often have to experiment with various methods of intake, including oral, transdermal, and suppository, to find the dosage and delivery method that works best for them to alleviate symptoms.
“Sometimes it can take hundreds of milligrams for patients to reach calm,” she said.
How to Boost Production of Progesterone
Progesterone is synthesized from a chemical called diosgenin, which comes from wild yam or soy. However, the human body cannot make progesterone from diosgenin, so eating wild yam or soy will not boost progesterone levels. Zinc-rich foods such as oysters, beef, egg yolks, liver, nuts, and seeds can help increase progesterone production.A healthy diet, exercise regimen, proper sleep hygiene, and stress management also keep hormone balance in check. Martone often recommends supplementing with magnesium, as its deficiency can disrupt hormone balance and reduce progesterone production.
Most women, however, require supplemental progesterone to boost levels, and both Petersen and Martone recommend bioidentical progesterone over its synthetic counterpart.
Many of Martone’s and Petersen’s patients have found relief with the types of protocols they suggest. Both recommend seeking a doctor, most likely a functional medicine doctor or specialist, who uses accurate testing methodologies and understands the complexity of hormonal fluctuations and how to prescribe bioidentical replacement therapies to maintain hormonal balance.
Petersen noted that progesterone can help a woman who feels like a victim of unknown forces to regain control of her life.
“She’s got the knowledge and she’s got the tools to bring her to calm and to bring back her normal personality,” she said.
This is a promising and hopeful message for women who often feel like their bodies are subject to the daily tribulations of fluctuating hormones.