Understanding Natural Progesterone

HOW NATURAL PROGESTERONE CAN HELP

Maedy Colenso 2107 

Progesterone is a hormone found in men, women and children. Everyone needs a small amount of progesterone for good health and longevity. Women of reproductive age need (and produce) the most. Progesterone plays an essential role in a woman’s reproductive cycle and her ability to hold a pregnancy and if she does not produce enough and has low progesterone many serious problems can occur.

Men also need progesterone for good health and full sexual function.

I believe, and in my opinion, if plant based hormones are not working then natural
Progesterone should be the first hormone that women(or men) use to treat problems caused by a deficiency or imbalance of sex hormones.

Progesterone levels

Postmenopausal women and children tend to have the lowest progesterone level and often have a progesterone deficiency. Adult males have a similar progesterone level to that in women during the follicular phase of their menstrual cycle. When a woman ovulates, the level of progesterone in her blood more than doubles. During pregnancy, her progesterone level goes up by one to two hundred times.

Progesterone is not a “feminising” hormone. That reputation belongs to estrogen. Excess estrogen or estrogen-imitators (including many pollutants in the environment) cause a variety of health problems for both men and women. Hormones need to be in balance throughout our life and be in harmony. Not enough progesterone or too much estrogen can cause a condition called estrogen dominance.  – read more. Progesterone is a natural antagonist to estrogen. Progesterone helps to balance and neutralise the powerful effects of excess estrogen in both men and women.  

 

 

 

Progesterone should be produced in a woman’s body in quantities a thousand-fold greater than estrogens. Progesterone is a pivotal building block for the production of other hormones, including estrogens, glucocorticoids and corticosteroids. Without progesterone there would be no menstrual cycle or reproduction. Progesterone plays an essential role including keeping the stimulatory effects of estrogen under control.

In the 1990’s an American medical doctor, Dr. John R. Lee, pioneered the use of natural progesterone in treating breast cancer, PMS and menstrual problems. Dr Lee emphasised the use of natural progesterone with its dynamic and holistic properties and warned doctors to avoid synthetic progesterone. Dr. Lee informed they were not as effective and were dangerous in his opinion. At the time this was not believed by many doctors but now has been researched further to be true.

TYPES OF HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY

Plant Products

A number of different preparations are sold over the counter in health food stores and chemists labelled as natural hormone therapy. These are plant products that contain steroids similar to human hormones. These are “safe” in that they are part of the plant family. This is often the best and most economical way to start. If effective then stick to this.

Pharmaceutical Drugs

Most of the “hormone replacement therapy” is with manmade drugs. These are artificial substances and carry side effects.

The term hormone replacement therapy or HRT has come to mean the use of these drugs to treat the symptoms of menopause or hormonal imbalance. For some people this is o.k and often this depends on genetics. ONLY use if safe generally and it is really needed as nothing else works.

Natural Hormone Replacement Therapy

Natural hormone replacement therapy or bio-identical hormones as often called do not have the side effects of the drugs.

Bio-identical hormones are used to make you young. By returning hormone levels to that of a 25-35 year old all the positive advantages of that state are enjoyed. These are prescribed by a medical practitioner. In the future, we may learn more but to date this is what we know:

 

 

Sources of Progesterone

• Small amounts of progesterone are produced by men’s, women’s and children’s adrenal glands.
• Progesterone is made in men’s testes
• Progesterone is produced by the corpus luteum in a woman’s ovaries after ovulation.
• At about 8 to 10 weeks of pregnancy, large amounts of progesterone are produced in the placenta.
• Today, progesterone is mostly made from sigmasterol sourced from soya beans. Smaller quantities of diosgenin from yams and other plants in the tuber family are also used as a raw material. No plants contain progesterone - the steroid substrates (raw materials) in these plants have to be converted into real progesterone in a laboratory.
• Dairy products contain progesterone, because on dairy farms cows and other animals are milked during pregnancy (when the progesterone content of their milk is high).
• Progesterone used to be harvested from animal ovaries or human placentas. These sources were limited, expensive, and subject to the health of the donors.
• The human body cannot convert the diosgenin or sigmasterol from raw, unprocessed plants into progesterone. This is a point that is avoided or misrepresented by marketers of wild yam products.
• Synthetic progesterone look-alikes or analogs. These look-alikes are favorites of the pharmaceutical companies, because they are not naturally-occurring and can therefore be patented. The best-known analogs are a variety of progestins, though there are others in the progestogen family. Many doctors are not aware of this crucial difference between natural or bio-identical progesterone and the patented look-alikes. These pharmaceutical look-alikes are not nearly as effective as real progesterone, and come with nasty and serious side-effects. (22) These altered progesterone look-alikes occupy the same receptors as real progesterone, but they act differently. They are also difficult to metabolize and excrete. Side-effects of the progesterone look-alikes include going blind, birth defects, asthma, embolisms, epilepsy, fluid retention, migraines, depression, renal dysfunction, cardiac dysfunction.

Progesterone in women

Symptoms of low progesterone in women

Here are the kind of comments that women with progesterone deficiency are making to their partners, friends and doctors:

"I'm just too tired for sex"
"I sleep for 9 hours and still need more"
"Forget the sex, I just wish I had some energy"
"I love him, but I just don't have the energy for sex"
"It's all too much, I don't want to go out tonight"
"My drive and motivation have disappeared"

• Mood changes, anxiety, nervousness, irrational fears, irritability
• Depression
• Headaches, migraines
• Hot flushes (also known as hot flashes or night sweats if they occur at night)
• Low sex drive / libido
• Menstrual problems such as irregularity or heavy bleeding
• PMS
• Menopause and peri-menopause problems
• Breast disorders, pain, tenderness
• Endometriosis.
• Pyrolluria
• Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
• Postpartum depression
• Weight gain, bloating
• Infertility
• Miscarriage
• Thinning of scalp hair and yet more body hair
• Catamenial epilepsy.

Benefits of natural progesterone supplementation for women

• Helps with the common symptoms of menopause including hot flushes, mood swings, insomnia, night sweats, vaginal dryness and restlessness. Estrogen levels normally fall by 40-60% during menopause, but progesterone levels often fall to almost zero. It is a myth that menopausal symptoms is an  estrogen deficient issue. . The symptoms experienced by menopausal women are actually the symptoms of estrogen dominance. E1 goes up as progesterone goes down and this starts in peri menopausal years. The most effective and safe treatment of these menopause symptoms is to counteract the excess estrogens by using a natural progesterone.
• Relief from PMS symptoms that you "just had to put up with".
• Heavy menstrual bleeding. Using natural progesterone during the luteal phase of the cycle will usually regulate and control bleeding within two or three months. It is important that uncontrolled bleeding be fully investigated by a gynecologist to exclude serious underlying uterine disease.
• Restores libido/sex drive and function such as lubrication.
• Energy levels restored.
• Helps to burn body fat for energy.

• Normalizes insulin blood sugar control and sugar cravings.
• Anti-depressant. Depression and anxiety is on the increase, with women suffering more than men. Progesterone is calming and relaxing.
• Stimulates bone growth, protecting against osteoporosis. It also protects against arthritis, and as an anti-inflammatory, reduces arthritic pain.
• Maintains the uterine lining so prevents premenstrual spotting.
• Assists the thyroid. Progesterone therapy helps to  normalize thyroid hormone action.
• Pregnancy. Helps avoid early miscarriage (propagates an embryo). Sufficient progesterone is vital during pregnancy. Especially if you are estrogen-dominant.
• Protects against ovarian, endometrial and breast cancers.
• Protects against fibrocysts, uterine fibroids and endometriosis.

• Natural Progesterone is used for building other hormones. In particular, the adult female body can make its own testosterone from natural progesterone. This is safer, avoids all risk of testosterone overdose, and avoids the risk of side-effects from testosterone supplementation.
• Normalizes blood clotting.
• Progesterone is a diuretic, normalizing body fluid and salt levels.
• Heart disease - reduces blood clotting, reduces stress / better sleep, reduces high blood pressure by acting as a natural diuretic, improves the integrity and function of cell membranes. 

Progesterone and estrogen in men

Progesterone is known as the "source hormone" and gets converted in the male body into testosterone and other hormones. As men age, their progesterone level drops. This causes testosterone production to fall, and is one reason why older men may have a low testosterone level.

The level of estrogens, estrogen look-alikes and xenoestrogens rises in men's (and women's) bodies as the years go by. Progesterone opposes and balances excess estrogen (and xenoestrogens). It is progesterone that inhibits the harmful effects of too much estrogen (unopposed estrogen) more than anything else. So as estrogen levels rise in older men, there is no parallel rise in progesterone to balance this. A slight hormonal imbalance becomes a major imbalance - fast.

For men progesterone is anti-feminizing rather than being a "female hormone". Any adult man showing these estrogen-dominant symptoms, especially those over 50, should use a small amount of transdermal natural progesterone daily to offset the excess estrogens in his blood.

Progesterone is a powerful 5-alpha reductase inhibitor. 5-alpha reductase is an enzyme that turns beneficial testosterone into unwanted and dangerous dihydrotestosterone (DHT). High levels of DHT are associated with baldness, prostate disease, and a host of other illnesses as men age.

Progesterone raises the level of androstenedione in the prostate gland. A healthy prostate needs an abundance of androgens such as testosterone, androstenedione, and DHEA to function as well as it did in their youth.

A healthy prostate needs a small amount of progesterone, and actually has progesterone receptors. Studies on laboratory animals have reduced the weights of their prostates just by giving them natural progesterone.

Progesterone's safety for men is without question. It is now a standard treatment for traumatic brain injury, and over 70% of TBI victims are men. Progesterone is an excellent diuretic and anti-inflammatory and it's use via IV transfusion for brain trauma victims prevents oedema and inflammation that occurs after TBI injury. (24)

Symptoms of estrogen dominance / low progesterone in men

• Prostate enlargement - benign prostate hyperplasia / hypertrophy (BPH) and the risk of prostate cancer.
• Urination - difficulty, increased frequency. Constricted urethra.
• Erectile dysfunction.
• Low libido.
• Fatigue.
• Depression and anxiety.

• Adiposity (fat build-up) and the redistribution of fat.
• Muscle development reduced.
• Body hair reduced.
• Veins become less prominent.
• Baldness.
• Breast growth.
• Risk of many other cancers.
• Risk of heart and artery diseases.
• Sweat and body odour changes.
• Skin thinning.

Benefits of natural progesterone supplementation for men

Natural progesterone helps combat or even reverse the symptoms of estrogen dominance in men. As progesterone is a precursor hormone for testosterone, it is increasingly becoming the hormone used to treat prostrate problems and other male hormone imbalance symptoms.

• Protects against prostate problems. Urination is easier, stronger flow, less frequent. Bio-identical or natural progesterone is increasingly being used as an alternative to prostate surgery. There is substantial anecdotal evidence indicating that it can reduce an enlarged prostate back to normal.
• Improved libido and sex drive.
• Improved energy level.
• Feeling of wellbeing, happiness. Natural progesterone is a natural antidepressant and anxiolytic (reduces anxiety).

• Combats the build-up and redistribution of fat.
• Muscle bulk and tone improved.
• Baldness. Loss of hair on the scalp and all over the body is stopped or even reversed.
• Reduced / reversed breast growth.
• Reduced risk of prostate cancer and many other cancers. Some cases of prostate cancer have responded positively to progesterone. Who wants to go under the surgeon’s knife if they don't have to?
• Reduced risk of heart conditions.
• Improved sweat and body odour.
• Stronger, more resilient and younger skin.

Just  to clarify it is not a feminizing hormone so it will not turn you into a female and once you grasp this and the benefits of natural progesterone for a male you will no doubt embrace the alternative.

More to know about what effects your progesterone.

• Sufficient vitamin D. Please get your vitamin D level tested. Your result should be at least 30-49 ng/ml or 75-150nmol/L .. Getting a good level of vitamin D is often one of the keys to treating symptoms of low progesterone. Most people are vitamin D deficient, particularly during  winter. Vitamin D enhances the progesterone action in your bodies and without it progesterone will not work as well..
• Stress causes the progesterone level in your body to drop sharply, so symptoms can come back. When you start supplementing, it is a good idea to meditate, let go of your negative reactions to people and circumstances around you, and try to avoid stressful situations. If you are stressed, maybe talk to your practitioner about increasing your progesterone until the stress passes.
• Overeating. Large meals drop your progesterone level with an increased clearance rate of the hormone.