The ovarian hormones estradiol and progesterone are highly beneficial for general health, and the only way to make them is with regular ovulation.
Benefits of ovulation
Every monthly dose of estradiol promotes healthier muscle, brain, bones, and cardiovascular system.
Every monthly dose of progesterone reduces inflammation, regulates immune function, and supports the thyroid, brain, bones, and breasts.
Together, these ovarian hormones provide short-term resilience and long-term metabolic reserve. In the words of Canadian endocrinology professor Jerilynn Prior, “Women benefit from 35 to 40 years of ovulatory cycles, not just for fertility but also to prevent osteoporosis, stroke, dementia, heart disease, and breast cancer.”
In that sense, regular ovulation is a creator of good health. It’s also an indicator because when we’re healthy, ovulation arrives smoothly and regularly. But when we’re unhealthy in some way, the resulting lack of ovulation can tell the story.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) agrees. In 2015, together with the American Academy of Pediatrics, they quietly issued a radical statement called Menstruation in Girls and Adolescents: Using the Menstrual Cycle as a Vital Sign. In it, they state that doctors should always ask patients about menstruation and advise girls to chart their cycles. By doing so, they say, “doctors will demonstrate to patients that menstruation is an important reflection of their overall health.”
Learning to observe, chart, and interpret an ovulatory cycle is called body literacy, a term coined by menstrual activist Laura Wershler.
I invite you to think of ovulation as a valuable, health-giving event. I would go so far as to say that if you’re not thinking about ovulation, you’re not thinking about health.
💡Tip: Men make their hormone (testosterone) daily, but we make ours monthly.
Obstacles to ovulation
Hormonal birth control
Hormonal birth control stops ovulation, which is, of course, its purpose. By doing so, it switches off ovarian hormones and replaces them with contraceptive drugs like ethinylestradiol and levonorgestrel, which do not have the same benefits.
💡Tip: There’s no progesterone in any type of birth control.
The difference between real hormones and the contraceptive drugs of birth control affects every system in the body. For example, women who take contraceptive drugs have altered brain structure and a greater risk of depression and autoimmune disease compared to women who cycle naturally.
Undereating and undereating carbs
Losing ovulation to undereating is called hypothalamic amenorrhea. It’s not exactly a disorder but rather an adaptive decision by the brain to pause reproduction while there’s not enough food to safely make a baby. Read Are you eating enough to get a period?
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
The hormonal state of excess androgens or testosterone can cause anovulatory cycles (cycles with no ovulation) and insulin resistance. Reversing insulin resistance with diet, exercise, and natural supplements such as inositol can help restore ovulation.
💡Tip: Don’t rely solely on ultrasound or AMH blood tests to diagnose PCOS—they’re not reliable. You could end up being told you have PCOS when you actually have hypothalamic amenorrhea. Read PCOS cannot be diagnosed by ultrasound.
In conclusion, regular ovulation is important for women. And not just to make a baby.
Gloria Steinem said that if men could menstruate, menstruation “would become an enviable, worthy, masculine event: Men would brag about how long and how much.” I’d take it further: if men had to ovulate to make testosterone, they would never stop talking about it.
