It’s been a few weeks in-between the Healthy Hormone Series (because we’ve been preoccupied launching tours and giveaways and getting ourselves Christmas READY!!) – but I’m back today with another hormone to add to your belt – Progesterone!  You might have heard me (and many others) speak about progesterone as the hormone that kicks in when we ovulate.   It’s known as the calming hormone and we all could do with ensuring it’s in balance to get the most out of our health and quite possibly your secret metabolism boosting weapon.

Produced by your ovaries as well as by your placenta during pregnancy whilst known as a ‘calming’ hormone it is energetically a ‘yang’ hormone – in that it is very active and raises your metabolic rate, hence raising your temperature in the later stages of your cycle as well as during pregnancy.

Progesterone also has an affect on your thyroid, enhancing it’s hormone effects which is how it aids in boosting your metabolism and aids in eliminating excess body fluid as well as having an impact on your insulin levels, keeping them in check.  There’s a lot to love about progesterone. Your secret little weapon to a happier and more balanced, lighter you.

Here’s where progesterone takes things to the next level.

It goes to work to boost your happy hormones, helping your brain along to make more off the good stuff like dopamine and serotonin. Hence why it is also a key player in helping you sleep better (cue serotonin – remember that helps you to feel sleepy).  Progesterone assists in relieving depression for this very reason.  If you notice you are suffering from the blues later in your cycle, it could be a little clue that your progesterone is suffering (alongside other cues like PMS symptoms, mood changes, spotting and sore breasts).

Progesterone is also called upon to help with the production of the stress hormone cortisol. The very necessary hormone that helps us in times of stress.  Whilst we see cortisol as the ‘bad guy’ it really is there to help us survive and without it, we’d be in a world of trouble.  Taming cortisol and using it to your advantage is where it’s at.  I talk about it a lot in Debunking Stress.

But progesterone doesn’t just work alone…

Since your hormones are always aiming for the best balance possible, often in times of high oestrogen (most women are oestrogen dominant due to our modern living), progesterone suffers.  Western medicine can take the approach of supplementing progesterone in these instances, which may assist in treating symptoms but doesn’t really address high oestrogen.  This can be a disaster long-term since excess oestrogen is linked with a host of health consequences.  The reality is, we must get oestrogen to behave and progesterone will follow in the same direction.  It is in these times when oestrogen is high that progesterone will stay low.  Rather than supplementing progesterone which doesn’t do anything to address oestrogen, adapting strategies to tame the excess hormone will have a long lasting and profound effect.

Low progesterone can also see a host of symptoms, including poor sleep/insomnia, weight gain, water retention and bloating, emotional issues including anxiety as well as impact your thyroid’s potential to work to it’s best ability.  Perhaps if you’re nodding your head to these symptoms you might like to consider where your hormones are at.

Always here to lend a helping hand, I more than anything want to help you to understand your body better.  We can read loads of information on the internet, chat with others and obtain so many clues, the trick is piecing it all together to make it all work for YOU.  Of course the membership is one place you can gather with like minded women & myself and Dr Shawn to really make some solid headway on your health like many women have done already.  Join the amazing community of women, chat with us regularly to really get not only to the bottom of your issues (we all want answers but that doesn’t solve the problem until we action a different path).  Let’s motion the right change and take your health to where it deserves to be asap! No new years resolution needed, this stuff can happen as of now.