5 tips to support progesterone naturally

Female hormones only really get talked about when it comes to pregnancy, menopause, or when something goes wrong. But the truth is, your hormonal health influences nearly every process in your body and every aspect of life as a woman. From our first periods to menopause, most of us grow up with incomplete or misleading stories about our hormones. We’re taught to see them as unpredictable, problematic, or something to suppress, rather than the intricate system of information that reflects exactly how supported our body is. It’s a story we rarely hear, because it doesn’t fit neatly into a marketing campaign for hormone creams or quick fix pills. And it leaves generations of girls and women confused about why they feel unmoored in their own bodies.  One such source of misinformation is progesterone... It’s often overlooked or misunderstood, dismissed as simply the “pregnancy hormone” or blamed for every PMS symptom. In reality, progesterone is one of the most powerful allies we have. It calms inflammation, balances the effects of estrogen, supports thyroid function, steadies our moods, and nourishes everything from fertility to deep, restorative sleep. When progesterone is low, not because your body is broken, but because it’s underfed, overstressed, or underslept, everything feels harder... cycles become irregular, anxiety rises, digestion struggles, and the nervous system can’t find its calm. Before we dive in, consider this your invitation to settle in, perhaps make a cup of something warm, and strap in for a longer read, because female hormones are exquisitely nuanced (and never easily encapsulated in five simple steps). So let's begin, and first set the record straight about something almost no one is telling you… 1. Stop blaming progesterone for PMS You may have been told that a rise in progesterone is the cause of every miserable PMS symptom, bloating, mood swings, tender breasts, migraines, insomnia. But the reality is far simpler and much more hopeful. PMS is often not the result of too much progesterone. It’s a result of too little, or progesterone that is outmatched by persistently high estrogen. Contrary to popular cycle charts, estrogen doesn’t simply rise before ovulation and then fade away. For many women, it remains high, sometimes higher, in the luteal phase. Without enough progesterone to counterbalance it, estrogen can become inflammatory, water-retentive, and mood-disruptive. Progesterone is your body’s natural antidote: It tempers estrogen’s proliferative effects. It calms histamine and cortisol. It supports deep, restorative sleep. It nourishes the endometrium and protects fertility. If you take one thing from this guide, let it be this...progesterone is your ally, not your enemy. 2. Eat more carbs (yes, really) The modern obsession with low carb and fasting culture (and even strict carnivore) has left many women depleted, underfed, and hormonally dysregulated. When you don’t eat enough carbs, your blood glucose can drop too low, which triggers a rise in cortisol and adrenaline. These stress hormones not only leave you feeling anxious and wired, but they also block progesterone receptors. Adequate carbs also play a critical role in thyroid health. Your thyroid governs your metabolism, and thyroid hormones are essential for progesterone synthesis. When you chronically undereat carbohydrates, your thyroid slows down to conserve energy, your metabolic rate drops, and ovulation can be delayed or suppressed altogether. Your liver is another piece of this puzzle. It relies on glycogen, the storage form of carbohydrate, to power detoxification. Without steady carbohydrate intake, your liver struggles to clear excess estrogen from circulation. As estrogen accumulates, it can easily overshadow progesterone, leading to inflammation, water retention, and mood swings. To support your hormones, eat carbohydrate-rich foods regularly. Try to include some starch or fruit every 3 to 4 hours, especially during the second half of your cycle when progesterone naturally rises. Ripe fruits, cooked root vegetables, and simple staples like well-cooked white rice can be grounding, nourishing sources of energy. Make sure you eat before exercise so your body knows it’s safe and well-fed. And remember: long stretches without food send a signal of scarcity. Progesterone thrives in a body that feels resourced, not deprived. 3. Flood your diet with ancestral fats For decades, cholesterol was painted as a villain, a dangerous substance clogging arteries and silently sabotaging health. But this fear was never the whole story. It grew out of a tangle of flawed studies, industry funded narratives, and a push to replace traditional animal fats with cheap, industrial seed oils. By the mid-20th century, the rise of processed food giants coincided with an aggressive campaign to convince the public that saturated fats were deadly and that refined vegetable oils, like canola, rapeseed, sunflower and soy, were somehow better for us. These oils were promoted as “heart-healthy,” even as early evidence was emerging that they drive inflammation and oxidative stress. Lost in this messaging was a crucial truth... cholesterol isn’t simply safe, it’s essential. Every cell membrane in your body relies on cholesterol for structure and fluidity. More importantly for women’s health, cholesterol is the raw material from which all steroid hormones are built and without it, your body cannot synthesise progesterone. Beyond cholesterol, vitamins A and E play a pivotal role in hormone production. These fat-soluble nutrients are especially important for ovulation and building a strong luteal phase. They’re found in the very foods many have been taught to fear, like liver, pastured butter, and golden egg yolks. These are not incidental details... they are the wisdom of traditional diets passed down for generations. Even more remarkable, butter, especially from grass-fed cows grazing on mineral-rich pasture, contains measurable amounts of natural progesterone itself. In this way, food becomes not just a source of precursors but a direct contributor to hormone balance. To restore these ancestral fats to your daily life, bring back the richness your body recognises. Use grass-fed butter liberally, not as a garnish but as a foundational food. Include liver at least once a week for its unparalleled supply of retinol, B vitamins, and copper. Cook with tallow or ghee, and see egg yolks as a nutrient dense staple rather than something to limit. At the same time, be mindful of the fats that undermine your efforts. Seed oils damage cell membranes and disrupt hormone communication in ways we’re only beginning to understand. 4. Support estrogen detoxification Estrogen is often misunderstood as simply the “female hormone,” but it’s far more nuanced. It’s powerful, necessary, but when it lingers unopposed, it becomes pro- nflammatory and destabilising. Progesterone’s job is to rein in estrogen. But you also have to help your body clear old estrogen out, so it doesn’t keep recirculating. This can happen for a few reasons: Poor liver clearance: Your liver’s job is to break estrogen down into forms your body can eliminate. But if the liver is overloaded by alcohol, processed foods, medications, or simply lacks key nutrients (like B vitamins and choline), it can’t keep up. Estrogen stays in circulation longer than it should. Gut imbalance: Once your liver packages estrogen, it’s sent into your digestive tract to be excreted. But if your gut bacteria are out of balance (low beneficial bacteria, overgrowth of problematic strains), an enzyme called beta-glucuronidase can become elevated. This enzyme unpacks estrogen that was destined to leave the body, allowing it to be reabsorbed into your bloodstream. essentially recycling it over and over. Chronic stress: High cortisol doesn’t just steal progesterone, it also affects estrogen metabolism. Stress slows digestion, impairs liver function, and can shift your body into a state where estrogen becomes more dominant. Environmental exposures: Many modern chemicals, like plastics, pesticides, and personal care products, contain compounds known as xenoestrogens. These are synthetic molecules that mimic estrogen’s effects and add to your overall estrogen “load,” making it harder for your body to maintain balance. Low fibre intake: Without enough dietary fiber, estrogen metabolites have nothing to bind to in the gut, making it much more likely they’ll be reabsorbed instead of eliminated. In short, estrogen builds up when your elimination systems (liver and gut) are overwhelmed or undernourished, and when chronic stress or environmental toxins keep adding fuel to the fire. Supporting detoxification, eating enough fiber, and managing stress help prevent this accumulation so progesterone can do its calming work. Supporting estrogen detoxification is about tending to the organs that process and eliminate it, your liver and your gut. Start by feeding your liver the nutrients it needs to do its job...choline from pastured eggs and liver, B vitamins from organ meats and plenty of high-quality protein to fuel detox pathways. A daily raw carrot salad is a simple, powerful ally, carrots contain unique fibers that bind estrogen in the gut so it can be carried out of the body. Adding beets and bitter greens helps stimulate bile flow and phase II liver detoxification. And don’t underestimate the role of your nervous system... chronic stress slows down digestion and congests the liver. Create moments each day that pull you out of fight-or-flight. 5. Prioritise restorative sleep & sunlight Just as your cycle can move in rhythm with the moon, your hormones rise and fall with the sun. When your circadian rhythm falls out of sync, ovulation can be delayed, luteal phases shorten, and progesterone production drops. Deep, consistent sleep helps your body produce melatonin, a hormone that protects ovarian health and stabilises reproductive function. Morning sunlight is just as vital, when your skin and eyes soak up those early rays, your body makes vitamin D, an essential nutrient for progesterone synthesis. There’s also the hidden gift of rest...it tilts your nervous system away from constant vigilance. If cortisol is the accelerator keeping you stuck in overdrive, sleep is the brake that slows you back into safety. Only here, in the parasympathetic state, can your body invest in hormone creation instead of mere survival. If you want your progesterone to feel supported, think of yourself as a creature of light and darkness in equal measure. Greet the morning outdoors, 15 to 30 minutes of natural light is enough to anchor your internal clock, even if the sky is overcast. As evening arrives, protect your melatonin like something precious. Dim the lights, put your screens to bed early, and let the darkness do its quiet work. Make your bedroom feel like a retreat. Cool, dark, uncluttered. Keep familiar rituals close...a magnesium soak, a warm herbal tea, a notebook for anything your mind can’t set down.