Boost Progesterone for Fertility
Progesterone is a key hormone for cycle health, balancing estrogen, reducing inflammation & calming the nervous system to support stress management and mood. Progesterone’s biggest job is nourishing a pregnancy.
Step 1 to making ANY progesterone is ovulation. After ovulation, the follicle that released the egg turns into the corpus luteum & releases progesterone. The quality of your corpus luteum is influenced by your nutrition & lifestyle during the 100 days before ovulation.
Progesterone helps support estrogen. If you are concerned about estrogen dominance symptoms like breast tenderness, period pain, heavy periods, bloating etc, it’s important to think about progesterone. If we aren’t making enough progesterone, estrogen will feel high even though it’s really a low progesterone issue.
Yes, estrogen can be high even when we are making enough progesterone. Both estrogen & progesterone can also be in normal ranges and you can have high estrogen symptoms. How? Poor estrogen metabolism drives estrogen down inflammatory pathways painting a high estrogen picture.
This is why testing is SO helpful. Setting a foundation for happy estrogen balance is step 1. If you are still struggling with symptoms, the right testing can help you learn why and learn how to support your body in the way it needs to be supported.
A blood test won’t give you all the answers. I dive deeper with my clients to see what’s going on with estrogen metabolism with a DUTCH test, which is dried urine.
Signs of Low Progesterone
Heavy, prolonged periods
Irritable mood
Luteal phase of less than 10 days
Painful periods
Poor sleep
Spotting before period
Do you have any of these signs?
More progesterone means less PMS and easier periods by balancing estrogen, reducing inflammation, promoting sleep, and even calming our nervous system for a happier mood!
Who doesn’t want more of that!?
Progesterone levels can be tested in blood or urine, but it must be tested at the right time in your cycle to be accurate. Ideally, you want to test progesterone in the middle of your luteal phase (5-7 days after ovulation). If your cycle is text-book this would be about day 21. If you have an irregular cycle, testing progesterone on day 21 means nothing because you may not have ovulated yet. This is where tracking your cycle, specifically your basal body temperature (BBT) comes in handy. An Ovulation Predictor Kit (OPK) can be helpful, but still won’t confirm ovulation (only BBT can do that). Remember, OPK’s test LH surge, which is a predictor of ovulation but does not guarantee it.
4 Tips for Boosting Progesterone
Support gut health by including probiotic foods like sauerkraut, yogurt, kimchi and prebiotic foods like onions, garlic and flaxseed.
Load up on antioxidants by including lots of color in your diet. Antioxidants help protect ovarian follicles, setting the stage for ovulation & healthy progesterone.
Reduce stress by practicing daily stress management strategies. Stress uses up the building blocks that make progesterone.
Get to the root of any symptoms! Nutrients and antioxidants will be shuttled away from improving follicle development if they are needed somewhere else in the body.
In order to make any progesterone, we have to ovulate! Tips to make ovulation happen include eating enough and sending consistent messages that the body is safe enough to reproduce.
Even if we are ovulating, we may not be making enough progesterone to support a pregnancy or have a healthy luteal phase.
Remember, it takes 3-4 months to impact egg quality. During this same time-frame, the stage is being set for healthy ovulation which will result in more progesterone.
You see, we need healthy ovarian follicles for healthy ovulation and a healthy corpus luteum. Once we ovulate, the follicle transforms into the corpus luteum to make progesterone throughout the luteal phase. A healthy corpus luteum will produce progesterone for 10-16 days, which will be seen as high temperature days if you’re tracking BBT.
Learning WHY your progesterone is low goes a long way in increasing it naturally. Sure we can throw supplements at it, but this isn’t fixing the problem! Gut health sets the foundation for healthy hormones. If you suspect low progesterone, don’t forget about supporting your gut!
Top Foods for Supporting Progesterone Production
Cruciferous veggies
Vitamin C rich foods like kiwi, strawberries, citrus and bell peppers
Foods with vibrant colors like beets and purple cabbage
Fiber from seeds and root vegetables like carrots
Nutrient dense proteins like salmon, whole eggs and organ meats
Healthy fats from avocado, nuts and olive oil
NOTE: food is powerful but not magical .... Naturally boosting progesterone requires a strong foundation of gut health, happy liver/detox system, sleep quality and stress management. This is discussed in detail in my group and private coaching programs!
Many of us need a little support in getting rid of excess estrogen so progesterone can really shine. Our cruciferous veggies like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, and bok choy support the liver in detoxing estrogen so we can eliminate it efficiently.
Fat provides building blocks to make progesterone while other foods support progesterone by blocking excess estrogen and providing nutrients for hormone detoxification like sesame seeds and sunflower seeds!
Investigating WHY progesterone is low is key. Targeted nutrition & lifestyle can support your body in creating quality follicles & ovulation so you can create a healthy corpus luteum (formed after ovulation) and boost your progesterone production.
If you are looking for a roadmap with tried and true strategies to support your progesterone & overall fertility, be the first to hear when the Foundations for Optimizing Fertility (GROUP) program opens!
Looking for 1:1 private coaching?! There’s a waitlist for that too!