In order to increase the production of progesterone, you need to ovulate (hormonal birth control stops this)
Why would you want to increase progesterone you might ask?
Even if you are not planning to get pregnant, ovulating is vital for a woman’s health. Progesterone elevates mood, regulates blood pressure, improves sleep, eases anxiety, promotes memory, and can reduce overgrowth of certain cells that can be correlated with ca**er.
How to increase progesterone and promote ovulation.
- Eat foods high in vitamin C, zinc, magnesium, and B6
- Support the liver with dark leafy greens, cruciferous veggies, and dandelion root
- Eat healthy fats and especially high in Omega 3 (flax seed, walnuts, salmon, oysters)
- Remove xenoestrogens (plastics, pesticides, glyphosate, perfume etc)
- Avoid over-exercising or HIIT styles workouts
- Sleep 7-9 hours a night
- Reduce refines sugars, processed foods, and refined oils (balance blood sugar)
- Reduce or eliminate alcohol
- Maintain a healthy weight
REASONS FOR LOW PROGESTERONE
Chronic stress: mental, emotional and physical (eating low calorie, over exercising, overweight, caffeine on empty belly)
Excess estrogen: progesterone helps to balance estrogen. If there is too much estrogen circulating it will drive progesterone down
Low thyroid: you need enough thyroid hormone to produce progesterone. If TSH is low, this can reduce progesterone.
Identifying and addressing the root cause of hormonal imbalances is the key to a healthy system.Â
