You hear all around you that if you want to get pregnant you need to eat healthily, workout, not smoke nor drink alcohol, avoid stress and mental strain. Is there something more you can do for yourself before you decide to visit a doctor? Try to balance your sex hormones, the fertility hormones: estrogen and progesterone.
Estrogen and progesterone: hormones affecting your body and mind.
Estrogen and progesterone, these two most important chemicals secreted in female’s body and created mostly in ovaries, have a big influence on your psychological and physiological state. Both hormones (each one of them fulfil a different task) need to be in balance and work synchronously, so your body could be in harmony.
Your menstrual cycle, so as the production of sex hormones, is controlled by the basic female hormone estrogen. This hormone cares also for your female body shape, attractive breasts, round hips and prepares your uterus every month for implantation of a fertilized egg.
Progesterone represents a hormone that triggers ovulation during your menstrual cycle. And together with estrogen prepares your uterus for successful implantation of an egg. If the egg is not fertilized, the creation of progesterone stops and menstruation begins. In case the egg is fertilized, the corpus luteum continues in the production of progesterone till the 12th week of pregnancy. During the pregnancy the placenta continues in its production.
Age and hormones.
If you are 35 and more the production of both these hormones begin to decrease. The level of progesterone often decreases faster than the level of estrogen (estrogen dominance). This estrogen dominance can cause for example fatigue, mood swings, weight gain (mostly in the abdominal area) and, of course, health complications such as ovarian cysts, premenstrual syndrome, oncological diseases, miscarriages or even infertility.
How can I balance estrogen and progesterone?
Not only the age but also stress and environment we live in can affect fundamentally the balance of these hormones.
For the proper function it is important to enrich your diet with the right antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and trace elements. Often treat fish, legumes, cereals, soybeans, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, spinach, black currant, dates, watermelon, raspberries, cranberries, rice, lean beef and pork or beef liver. On the other hand, eliminate fats, sweet food and alcohol, drugs and cigarettes; with its consummation you prevent the absorption of important minerals and vitamins into your body. Try also hormonal yoga therapy that regenerates and rejuvenates your organism.
If you ever feel irritated and moody before your menstruation, it is caused by low level of estrogen and progesterone. In this case herbs like St John’s wort or Alchemilla can help.