Is it just me, or do you feel as though you have spent half your life having a period but not really knowing what the heck is going on? It’s as though we are groomed to believe that talking about our menstrual cycle is taboo and unladylike. Our body sends us a handful of symptoms, and these symptoms are a report card for what is going on inside. Many of us have come to expect and accept obvious signs of hormonal imbalances as “normal” because we have not been taught otherwise. Rates of infertility, miscarriage, reproductive disorders (i.e. PCOS, endometriosis, etc.), adult-onset acne, and hormonal imbalances are higher than ever. All the while, the symptoms are bodies are screaming to us have fallen on deaf ears because they have probably been masked with some sort of pill that never really solves the problem.
I’ll admit, I never really understood (nor cared about) the complex orchestra that is the female hormonal cycle until taking a Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) class right before my husband and I got married. It was amazing how acknowledging and understanding signs and symptoms that my body naturally provided could either help me or prevent me from getting pregnant. In addition, identifying potential underlying issues based on irregularities in my menstrual cycle connected me deeply to my body and made me achieve a sense of belonging to an ancient sisterhood. I no longer feel like a foreigner in my own skin since learning how to read my body’s cues through the course of the month. It has been liberating and empowering to pinpoint and translate specific symptoms into practical solutions. Learning about my body and the natural processes it goes through has helped me, and several of my clients, work with their bodies to regain their woman-hood.
I respect that there is a time and place for birth control pills and that FAM is not for everyone, but I also strongly believe that as women, we should arm ourselves with knowledge about our own hormones and bodies to, at the very least, reduce our risk of reproductive disorders, infertility, and certain cancers. We all deserve the chance to make informed decisions about our care and not be funneled into the pharmaceutical treatment model right away.
During this series of blog posts, my goal is to provide you a tangible and easy to understand explanation of women’s hormones, the menstrual cycle, fertility awareness methods, reproductive disorders, and real-food strategies you can incorporate to better manage your health.
If you’ve ever thought to yourself:
…then this series is for you!
In Part 1, Women’s Hormones 101, I am going to introduce you to the stars of the female menstrual cycle: estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. It is a beautiful symphony of hormones that all must be finely tuned and orchestrated, and when one is out of whack, the entire ensemble is affected.
Estrogen is what makes a woman a woman. It tells the body to develop breasts, widen hips, add mass to your booty, and make fertility possible. “Estrogen” is a broad term for hormones within the estrogen family (estradiol, estriol, estrone) that helps to build the uterine lining to prepare for pregnancy, keeps a woman’s body lubricated (think joints and vagina), and induces menstruation.
Estrogen has over 400 other functions in the body including:
Symptoms of EXCESS Estrogen:
Symptoms of LOW Estrogen:
Optimizing estrogen levels with real-food:
Progesterone is the “checks and balances” to estrogen that is derived from a pre-hormone, “pregnenalone”. While estrogen is working to build up the lining of the uterus, progesterone steps in to make sure the lining doesn’t get too thick. Progesterone, or “pro-gestation”, is the hormone that remains elevated all during pregnancy. It is part of the mineral-corticoid family, meaning it affects salt and water ratios in the body. Progesterone balance with the other sex hormones, namely estrogen, is critical for menstrual regularity and reproduction. It is a delicate dance that can be easily and negatively influenced by outside factors. Progesterone is not only important as a gestational support, but it is required for keeping your body temperature up, helps your thyroid function optimally, and is a natural diuretic. It also enhances your sense of well-being, has a “calming” effect on the body, and helps you get better sleep.
Stress is the #1 Cause of Low Progesterone
While the majority of circulating progesterone is produced by the ovaries, a large portion is also made in the adrenal glands. The adrenal glands walnut-sized glands that sit on our kidneys and are responsible for the secretion of stress hormones (cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine). These stress hormones are very important as they give us the focus, energy, and “get-up-and-go” that we need to escape danger. Cortisol production in the body is a necessity as it is a survival mechanism. Cortisol and progesterone are alike in that they are both produced from the mother hormone pregnenalone. Pregnenalone is the mother of progesterone, and progesterone is a precursor hormone to cortisol.
Pregnenalone → Progesterone→ Cortisol (when stressed)
Under times of chronic stress, the body demands more and more cortisol production. Because progesterone is the pre-hormone to cortisol, the body utilizes that progesterone to continue making cortisol to meet the demand. Pregnenalone, or the mother hormone to progesterone, is also stolen away and bypasses making progesterone and goes straight into cortisol production. Not only does this deplete progesterone levels, when the body senses stress, it blocks progesterone receptors entirely. Progesterone and cortisol compete for the receptor sites, and cortisol usually wins. This is a protective mechanism in our body so that we do not become pregnant during a time that would be potentially dangerous for a baby.
When your is in “fight or flight” versus “rest, digest, and reproduce”, you will feel anxiousness, mood swings, poor stress adaptation, reacting irrationally to certain situations, fluid retention (as progesterone is a natural diuretic), breast tenderness, and possibly infertility.
Improving Progesterone Levels with Real-Food:
Testosterone is mostly known as the “male hormone”, but the truth is that females have testosterone floating around their bodies too! Testosterone in women is produced in the ovaries and adrenal glands and is responsible for peaking sexual interest. About half of a woman’s testosterone can be produced from other types of androgens (male hormones) like DHEA and androstenedione in the skin and fat tissues. Women peak their testosterone levels in their mid-20’s and gradually decline from there. Testosterone helps to maintain muscle mass, provide a sense of well-being, keeps skin from sagging, maintains bones, and maintains memory. Testosterone peaks right before ovulation which induces a higher urge for sexual intercourse, which if you haven’t caught on by now, is your instinctual signal to make a baby!
Three types of Androgens (“male” hormones):
Some women have issues with their testosterone being too elevated in cases such as PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome). When this happens, a woman may experience:
Causes of elevated testosterone:
Managing optimal testosterone levels and insulin resistance:
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