Progesterone is a steroid hormone of the class of hormones called progestogens. This hormone occurs naturally in the human body. It plays a role in the female menstrual cycle and gestation in pregnancy, as well as taking part in the fertilization of the egg and embryo development during pregnancy. Other roles of progesterone include acting as an anti inflammatory agent, regulating the immune response, normalizing blood clotting, and preventing endometrial cancer by regulating the effects of estrogen in the female body. If the human body does not produce enough progesterone in the female on its own, there are some effects. For example, progesterone helps to lower estrogen levels, so too low progesterone levels can lead to increased PMS symptoms and difficult periods for women. The woman may also experience mood swings and irritability. This article will explore how to increase progesterone levels naturally.
Realize that there are no known ways to date to stimulate the body to make its own progesterone beyond what it already is making. What this means is that you'll have to actually take some kind of supplement, natural or synthetic, to increase your level of progesterone.
Find out if your progesterone levels are actually too low. Make a trip to the doctor to determine this through testing of your hormone levels. You don't want to start taking natural progesterone supplements if you don't need to, because there are also negative effects for too high levels of progesterone in the body. Also, even natural supplements can have side effects.
Determine what your body needs. Your doctor will let you know how low your progesterone levels are, thus helping you decide what supplements you need. Natural supplements come generally from plant sources, such as soy and yam roots, and come in the form of injectable products, intravaginal, intradermal and oral formulas. The natural oral progesterone is only available by prescription from your doctor.
Find natural progesterone supplements to purchase. Natural progesterone supplements are available over the counter except for the oral formula. You can find these on the internet. One product available on the internet is Natural Progesterone cream, developed by a company called Source Naturals, site listed in the resources.
Use natural alternatives to progesterone that have the same or similar effects. One such natural alternative is pregnenolone, which is sold over the counter. Pregnenolone is found in the human body, and the body converts it to progesterone. So, taking pregnenolone can help increase your levels of progesterone.
Take a nonsteroidal supplement that helps deal with a specific issue caused by low progesterone levels instead of one that covers all areas. For example, if you take Mind Power Rx, it helps with mental sharpness (something that progesterone increases in the body on its own when in the correct levels.)
Continue to visit your doctor to monitor and check your progesterone levels. You don't want to let your progesterone levels get too high by taking nonprescription progesterone and allowing the levels to go unchecked!
Tip
Progesterone replacement therapy can help maintain the levels of progesterone in the body. Although synthetic progesterone is only available through a prescription, you can find alternatives like pregnenolone and natural progesterone over the counter.
Warning
By menopause, a woman's progesterone levels fall to nearly zero. You don't want to increase your progesterone levels too high, as there are adverse effects felt with too high progesterone levels as well! Synthetic progesterone, in the form of progestins, has many adverse side effects. This is what makes natural progesterone desirable. Progesterone supplements are hard to absorb in the body. The supplement needs to be in an oil to help absorption, such as peanut oil.