Progesterone has been both ignored and mistakenly blamed for side effects it does not cause. How did that happen?
For one thing, progesterone was discovered shortly after estrogen. Thus missing out on the tidy hormone dichotomy of “testosterone for men and estrogen for women.” Also, progesterone could not (at first) be made into a medication that could be absorbed orally.
👉🏽 Did you know? Early preparations of testosterone (testosterone propionate, 1940s) and estrogen (estradiol valerate, 1960s) were body-identical or real hormones. However, body-identical progesterone didn’t become available until the 1990s.
Back before progesterone could be made into a medication, it was replaced by synthetic progestins in research and treatment. Unfortunately, progestins have different (and sometimes opposite) effects than progesterone, and (sadly) many of the side effects and risks of progestins have been mistakenly attributed to progesterone. For example, progestins increase the risk of breast cancer, but progesterone reduces the risk.
By the time progesterone could be made into a medication (with the invention of oral micronized progesterone), it was too late; progesterone was left behind.
After decades of dismissing it, experts now agree: body-identical progesterone is safer than progestins.
The evidence was always there.
Estrogen and progesterone work together to build long-term health
It’s time to bring real progesterone (not progestins) back into the conversation because estrogen and progesterone together work as a team. For example, the pre-ovulatory surge of estrogen (estradiol) is necessary for ovulation and the manufacture of progesterone. Estrogen also upregulates progesterone receptors.
In turn, progesterone counterbalances estrogen in all parts of the body, including:
- the uterus, where progesterone thins the lining while estrogen thickens it
- the brain, where progesterone is calming while estrogen is stimulating
- the breasts, where progesterone helps to slow cell division, while estrogen increases cell division.
Progesterone also provides important hormonal feedback to the brain, which can help to promote regular ovulation.
👉🏽 Did you know? On a blood test, a good peak luteal phase progesterone level is 80 nmol/L, 100 times more than an average peak estradiol level of 800 pmol/L (0.8 nmol/L).
Together, estrogen and progesterone promote the long-term health of the brain, bones, and cardiovascular system. In the words of Professor Prior, “Ovulatory cycles across a woman’s long reproductive life span are needed to prevent osteoporosis and fracture, heart attacks, and breast and endometrial cancers during women’s older years.“
Every ovulatory cycle is like a deposit into the bank account of long-term health.
Do you make progesterone?
A regular ovulatory menstrual cycle is the only way to make progesterone.
Definition: An ovulatory cycle is a menstrual cycle in which basal body temperatures go up with ovulation and stay up for at least eleven days, indicating a healthy luteal phase.
A cycle without ovulation or progesterone is called an anovulatory cycle and is common. Read Ovulation is the main event of the menstrual cycle.
👉🏽Tip: Knowing if and when you ovulate is called body literacy.
For more, see:
- My books Period Repair Manual and Hormone Repair Manual
- A safer type of hormone therapy
- The right way to test progesterone
- Roadmap to progesterone
- Guide to using progesterone for women’s health
