Balancing Female Hormones and Optimizing Fertility

Balancing Hormones

Estrogen and progesterone are the 2 main female hormones. Both play a major role in regulating a women’s cycle and fertility.

Estrogen causes sexual and reproductive development in women; triggers ovulation; protects bone health; controls lactation; causes women to store fat in the breasts, hips, and legs; and more. (1)

Progesterone prepares the lining of the uterus for a fertilized egg, supports pregnancy, suppresses estrogen production after ovulation, stimulates thyroid function, and more. (2, 3)

Keeping these hormones in the right balance with each other is key for women’s health and fertility.

But isn’t optimizing fertility just for women who are trying to conceive?

No! It’s important for all women of reproduction age!

Why? Because fertility is an important indicator of overall health. Whether you want to or not, post-puberty to pre-menopausal women are designed to bear children and continue the human race.

Poor fertility often indicates a sub-optimal environment for the growth of a child. Typically this is from nutrient deficiency, too low of body fat, excess stress, and/or imbalanced hormones. Avoiding these things is not only important for fertility, but it’s important for your overall health as well.  

According to the Ayurvedic 7 tissues principal, your reproductive system is the last priority for receiving nutrients. Therefore if there are insufficient nutrients available, your reproductive system is the first to suffer. (4)

This makes it a great indicator of health. Since your reproductive system is last priority, if you get that working well, chances are your other 6 tissues (plasma, white blood cells, and lymphatic system; red blood cells; muscle; fat; bones and cartilage; and bone marrow, nerve tissue, and connective tissue) are also properly nourished and functioning well. (4)

So what does healthy fertility look like?

• Strong libido (especially during your fertile window)
• Minimal to no PMS
• Regular cycles lasting between 25-35 days
• Bright red period blood free of clumps
• Medium flow (this varies, you just want to avoid super light or super heavy)
• Can get pregnant, if trying
• Painless ovulation
• Good amount of cervical fluid leading up to and during ovulation
• Curvier body type

(3, 5)

How To Optimize Fertility

1) Eat Enough

If you restrict Calories for too long or simply don’t get enough to eat on a regular basis, your fertility can suffer and you may lose your period altogether. Inadequate Caloric intake is stressful on the body, this stress can tell your body it’s a bad time to have a baby due to perceived food scarcity.

In the absence of enough nutrients your reproductive system is the first to feel the effects. Another problem can be low estrogen due to too low of body fat. A body fat around 20% is typically good for optimizing fertility.

2) Eat Cholesterol

Cholesterol is the precursor to sex hormones like estrogen and progesterone. And although we make some cholesterol, most of us don’t make enough and need to get some through our diet as well. Good sources of dietary cholesterol are fatty animal products.

Quick side note, I didn’t have a period the entire 1 year and 10 months I was vegan (and a vegan diet has no cholesterol). One month after reintroducing animal products like eggs, milk, and cheese (all of which are rich in cholesterol), I got my period back. I was pretty amazed!

If you’re worried about potential health consequences from cholesterol check out this article on lies you are told about cholesterol and fat.

3) Avoid Hormonal Birth Control

Hormonal birth controls are typically high in estrogen which throws off your hormonal balance; and leads to estrogen dominance. Many forms of birth control prevent ovulation thus prevent the production of progesterone and further worsen estrogen dominance. (3)

On top of this hormonal birth control depletes your body of the very nutrients you need for fertility. And many women have a hard time getting pregnant after coming off hormonal birth control (especially the pill).

I know this is a really hard one, hormonal birth control is very convenient. However non-hormonal methods like fertility awareness are likely much safer. If you do try fertility awareness be sure to do a lot of research first. It only works if done right.

4) Avoid Xenoestrogens

Like I’ve talked about before, xenoestrogens mimic estrogen and can lead to estrogen dominance. Thus they throw off hormonal balance.

They’re in things like plastic, soy, peanuts, cleaners, receipts, nonstick cookware, beauty products, pesticides, herbicides, and hormonal birth control. Avoiding these as much as possible and eating raw carrots to detoxify the body of xenoestrogens is the best way to combat this.

For more info on xenoestrogens, check out this post.

5) Decrease Stress

Progesterone is a precursor to cortisol, when stressed the body will prioritize cortisol, turning lots of progesterone into cortisol. Chronic stress can therefore lead to low progesterone.

Aside from mental stress, things like over exercising, fasting too much, and very low carb intake can also cause stress.

6) Balance Blood Sugar

Dr. Katharina Dalton says “…progesterone receptors do not transport progesterone molecules into the nucleus of cells if adrenaline is present. This is most likely to happen in everyday life when we miss a meal and our blood sugar level drops.” (3) This can also happen with excess stress like stated above.

To balance blood sugar avoid sugar, processed and refined foods, and vegetable oils. The inclusion of some carbs (10-25% Calories from carbs like fruit, honey, dairy, and some cooked or fermented veggies) may be helpful. Experiment to find your carb sweet spot. Including more carbs can also decrease stress on the body. (6)

7) Get Sun

The rhythm of your hormones is linked with the rhythm of the sun. Getting sun regularly is important for hormonal health. Red light can also help with progesterone production. (3)

8) Get Adequate Nutrients:

Pretty much every nutrient is needed for healthy fertility, you use about 10% of your nutrient stores to make a baby after all. (3) So regularly eating nutrient rich foods is important for reproductive health. Even though practically all nutrients are needed, here are some of the key most important nutrients for fertility:

• Retinol Vitamin A
• B Vitamins
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin D
• Vitamin E
• Vitamin K2
• Copper
• Zinc
• Selenium
• Iodine
• Magnesium
• Choline
• Omega 3
• Protein
• Iron
• Calcium
• Collagen

(3)

(Good sources of these nutrients are listed below)

Works Cited

1. Bradford, Akina. “What is Estrogen?” Live Science. Accessed 5 May 2021. https://www.livescience.com/38324-what-is-estrogen.html

2. Pietrangelo, Ann. “How Do Female Sex Hormones Affect Menstruation, Pregnancy, and Other Functions?” Healthline. 5 April 2019. https://www.healthline.com/health/female-sex-hormones#signs-of-imbalance

3. Loren. Innate Functional Nutrition. https://www.instagram.com/innatefunctionalnutrition/

4. Deola. “Key principles of Ayurveda: Dhatus (Tissues) and Srotas (Channels).” Deola Ayurveda Yoga. 7 July 2019. https://www.deolaayurvedayoga.com/post/2018/01/09/key-principles-of-ayurveda-dhatus-tissues-and-srotas-channels

5. Jardim, Nicole. “5 Signs You Have A Healthy Menstrual Cycle.” Mind Body Green. 29 January 2020. https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-16043/5-signs-you-have-a-healthy-menstrual-cycle.html

6. Alba Arcadia. https://www.instagram.com/alba.arcadia/