Natural + Effective Ways To Boost Your Progesterone Levels

Contributors To Low Progesterone

While everyone is different, there are seven main factors that I’ve found may contribute to low progesterone:

• Stress: Chronic stress is the underlying trigger of multiple different health problems, from autoimmune conditions to elevated cortisol levels. Cortisol (the stress hormone) blocks progesterone receptors, so your body won’t be able to use the progesterone you are producing.
• Estrogen dominance: This estrogen imbalance may lead to low progesterone symptoms because your body isn’t producing extra progesterone to compensate for the overload of estrogen hormones.
• Age: As you age, progesterone levels naturally decrease, typically starting in your mid-30’s. Thankfully, you can keep your progesterone levels balanced with exercise, diet, determination, and good advice.
• Lack of ovulation: Ovulation is your body’s signal to increase progesterone production, preparing your body for pregnancy. However, if you don’t ovulate, this can lead to insufficient progesterone levels. PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome), perimenopause, and menopause symptoms may include preventing ovulation even when you’re having your period.
• High prolactin: Prolactin is a hormone responsible for triggering lactation after pregnancy. However, it can become elevated in non-lactating women due to poor diet or stress, and high prolactin levels can inhibit ovulation and progesterone production.
• Thyroid problems: In order to produce progesterone, your body first needs to make the hormone pregnenolone. But for those with thyroid problems like hypothyroidism, your body won’t be able to produce enough pregnenolone to make enough progesterone.
• Nutrient deficiencies: Certain fats, vitamins, and micronutrients facilitate healthy hormone production. If you aren’t getting enough of these specific nutrients, it can inhibit your progesterone production.

To diagnose progesterone problems, I recommend urine and saliva hormone labs that can give a hormonal overview, examining sex hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, as well as cortisol levels and your HPA-axis function. (1)

READ NEXT: Feeling Off Postpartum? Here’s How To Balance Hormones After Pregnancy

How To Increase Progesterone Naturally

Thankfully, there are many natural ways to naturally increase progesterone. Below are my favorite tips that you can easily incorporate into your daily routine.

Eat Healthy Fats

Dietary healthy fats can help support healthy progesterone levels. Fats are necessary for all aspects of your health, but especially when it comes to hormones. In fact, regular consumption of healthy fats can increase progesterone levels and improve ovulation rates. (2)

I often tell my patients to throw out the notion that eating low-fat is the healthiest option. Instead, add in more of these healthy fats:

• Grass-fed beef
• Wild-caught fish
• Coconut oil
• Olives
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Avocado
• Eggs
• Certain cheeses

READ NEXT: The Best PCOS Diet Plan With Food List And Grocery Shopping Tips

Reduce Stress

Chronic stress causes high cortisol levels, which inhibit progesterone production. Therefore, you should do your best to make lifestyle changes that help manage your daily stress levels and support healthy progesterone production.

Here are some of my favorite stress reduction tips:

• Try mindfulness practices, like meditation and breathwork
• Get a healthy 7-8 hours of sleep every night
• Leave your work at work – don’t bring it home if you don’t have to
• Find reasons to smile and laugh
• Exercise regularly but not intensely
• Spend more time outside (3)

Zinc

You may be familiar with zinc for its incredible ability to help fight off sicknesses. However, zinc is a micronutrient that also increases your follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), which promotes ovulation and, in turn, progesterone production.

Even though you can get zinc in supplement form, increasing your intake of zinc-rich foods can be a great way to get more bioavailable zinc. Check out these zinc-rich foods that I love:

• Oysters
• Brazil nuts
• Pumpkin seeds
• Beef
• Egg yolks
• Liver
• Whole grains

Magnesium

Magnesium is involved in over 300 biochemical reactions in your body, including regulating hormone production. One study found that increased magnesium intake resulted in lower estrogen levels. (4)

If you are struggling with estrogen dominance-related low progesterone, upping your magnesium intake through a high-quality supplement or foods like dark leafy greens and nuts can help support progesterone production.

READ MORE: 14 Signs of Magnesium Deficiency

Vitamin B6

I’ve often seen vitamin B6 depleted in patients who have cases of estrogen dominance. This vitamin is critical in many processes, including hormonal production, metabolism, immune function, and more.

Vitamin B6 is necessary for estrogen metabolism and keeping progesterone levels balanced. A B-vitamin complex, like my supplement The Methylator that contains activated forms of B6 to increase bioavailability, may support healthy progesterone production.

You may also consume foods rich in B vitamins, such as whole grains, leafy greens, and lean proteins, to support the healthy production of progesterone.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C has been shown to increase progesterone levels, with one study showing that those who took 750mg of vitamin C daily increased their progesterone levels by 77%. (5)

This antioxidant vitamin has many benefits, including when it comes to hormone health. If you’re open to using supplements, consider a “liposomal” vitamin C. You can also add vitamin C to your diet by eating the following:

• Citrus fruits
• Peppers
• Dark green leafy vegetables

Chaste Tree Berry

Also known as Vitex agnus-castus or simply “chaste berry,” the chaste tree berry has helped some of my clients with adrenal gland health problems.

I frequently recommend chasteberry supplementation in my telehealth functional medicine clinic because it can boost progesterone production and keep prolactin levels in check. (6) Ask your doctor about whether chaste tree berries are right for you and your unique situation.

Limit Caffeine

Caffeine may increase stress and cortisol levels, which affect progesterone. Consuming caffeine within eight hours of bedtime can reduce sleep quality and may increase cortisol. For both these reasons, I recommend regulating caffeine, which may sometimes offer a few health benefits.

Caffeine also impacts estrogen metabolism, with studies showing a correlation between reduced caffeine intake and improved progesterone levels. (7)

READ NEXT: The Surprising Link Between Caffeine & Inflammation

Try Seed Cycling

Seed cycling has been rising in popularity as a natural tool to keep your hormones balanced. A few studies have actually identified normalized progesterone as a seed cycling benefit. (8)

By incorporating certain seeds at specific times in your cycle, you may be able to rebalance hormones that have gone astray due to the seeds’ specific amounts of healthy fats, vitamins, and nutrients.

Balance Blood Sugar

When one physiological factor is off, it impacts the balance of your whole body. Blood sugar is not something we necessarily always associate with our sex hormones, but I have seen firsthand that high blood sugar can play a role in low progesterone.

Incorporating healthy fats into your diet helps stabilize your blood sugar levels while also fueling healthy hormone production.

Seeking Help From A Functional Medicine Expert

Once you start noticing symptoms, such as headaches, mood swings, or irregular periods, seek out help from your healthcare provider right away. By addressing your symptoms as soon as possible, your doctor can provide you with easier solutions to get your hormones back on track.

Often, in conventional medicine, doctors opt to alleviate symptoms with side effect-laden medication or hormone replacement therapy rather than treating the underlying cause of your symptoms. In functional medicine, we always aim to identify and address the root cause of your hormone imbalance with natural solutions.

Since everyone’s biochemistry is different, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to hormone health. A functional medicine practitioner will work with you to determine your specific triggers and develop a practical action plan to best address these triggers naturally.

If you believe low progesterone is a factor in your health, schedule a consultation at our telehealth functional medicine clinic. We’re here to walk alongside you while finding answers and facilitating your healing journey.