Hannah Aylward (00:00.034)

Progesterone is a safety hormone. And if your body does not feel safe enough, nourished, regulated, progesterone is gonna be one of the first things to go because your body’s going to produce cortisol, that stress hormone that you’re likely familiar with. You’re gonna be running on cortisol. And when you’re running on cortisol and your body is is prioritizing survival and pushing out more cortisol, it’s going to prioritize that overproducing progesterone. So you’ll end up with high cortisol and low progesterone.

Which will feel like in your body, I’m having anxiety, I’m having trouble sleeping, my periods are more painful.

Hannah Aylward (00:40.366)

Welcome to the Nutrient Dense Podcast. I’m your host, Hannah Aylward, holistic health coach, functional gut health practitioner, and the founder of Han. So many people are continuously failed by conventional and alternative health care. We are here to do it differently. Alongside my team of functional registered dietitians, I’ve helped hundreds of women around the world overcome their chronic digestive issues when nothing else worked.

I’ve learned a thing or two about what it really takes to transform your health from the inside out, and I’m here to share it all with you. Please keep in mind that this podcast is for educational purposes only and should never be used as medical advice. Now, let’s dive in. Your transformation is waiting.

Hannah Aylward (01:26.562)

Hello, hello, my dears, and welcome back to another episode of the Nutrient Dense podcast. Today we are going to be diving into all things low progesterone. I am convinced that we are living in like the generation of women struggling with low progesterone, or you could you could even call it an epidemic of women that are struggling with low progesterone. So

If you deal with PMS, if you deal with anxiety before your period, spotting before your period, heavy bleeding, poor sleep, short cycles, or you feel like a totally different person the week before your period, this episode is for you. So low progesterone is one of the more common patterns that we see in women with chronic gut issues, burnout, definitely burnout, high stress, thyroid issues, under eating, blood sugar dysregulation, and inflammation.

And you’ll really feel this in your cycle typically, right? But what I want to get across in this episode and what we’re gonna dig into is the fact that low progesterone on its own isn’t really that root problem. So if we are truly wanting to take a root cause approach to your overall health, your hormonal health, your gut health, your energy, your libido, all of that, of course, low progesterone can contribute to some of these things that you’re feeling, like, you know, the PMS, the anxiety before your period, all of that. That’s very real and valid. But

The low progesterone is really, it’s not that root problem, right? It’s a downstream sign that the body does not feel safe at its core. It’s not well nourished enough, it doesn’t feel safe enough, and it’s not regulated enough. So that’s what I want to dive into with you today. Low progesterone is rarely just a progesterone problem. So it’s really more so an ovulation problem, a stress problem, a nutrient problem, a thyroid issue, a blood sugar issue, and or a gut and inflammation issue. So today we’re gonna be breaking down

Why progesterone actually matters, the hidden signs that your progesterone may be low, the root causes that actually contribute to low progesterone, and of course diving into how gut health, stress, thyroid, and blood sugar all play a role when it comes to low progesterone levels and what you can start doing naturally to support your body’s progesterone production. So, what is progesterone in the first place? Progesterone is one of your main calming pro-metabolic hormones.

Hannah Aylward (03:43.993)

It’s the most dominant hormone in that second half of your menstrual cycle after ovulation. So just a quick breakdown of our cycle, right? We have the follicular phase. Or here, let me back that up. We have the menstrual phase, right? The bleed or period. That’s the menstrual phase. Right after that, we have the follicular phase. Then we ovulate usually somewhere midpoint of cycle. It can range, it can vary every cycle for different women.

It can vary every cycle for the same woman, right? So I could ovulate on day 14, one cycle. I could ovulate on day 18, the next cycle. This is why tracking is so helpful here, but it’s generally speaking that midpoint-ish of your cycle, right? Then you have your luteal phase at that last phase of your cycle. And progesterone is really the more dominant hormone in this second phase of your menstrual cycle after ovulation, as long as you’re ovulating, of course. So

Estrogen really helps to build that uterine lining and progesterone actually stabilizes it. And progesterone helps to support a healthy luteal phase, regular menstrual cycles, a calm mood, a good sleep quality. It heavily impacts pregnancy and implantation, balanced estrogen levels as well, healthy cervical mucus changes, a more stabilized nervous system, and reduced premenstrual inflammation. So when I am speaking to a woman,

A client and she’s telling me that she has really painful periods, her luteal phase is really rough, maybe she’s spotting before her cycle, maybe her anxiety is really bad or her sleep gets interrupted in those days right before her cycle. I’m thinking, okay, we may be looking at low progesterone here. So low progesterone, of course, can cause those things. But in order to produce adequate progesterone, we actually have to make sure that we’re ovulating consistently. So

You can bleed each and every month. You can have your your bleed. You can have your period, that menstrual phase of your cycle. And you can still not be ovulating consistently. So a having your period does not automatically mean that you have ovulated. We want to make sure that you are also ovulating. So whenever we’re looking at low progesterone, and also when we’re looking at hormone balance overall, it’s always gonna come back to this thought of like.

Hannah Aylward (05:52.293)

Does my body feel safe enough to ovulate? Because when you ovulate is when you produce progesterone. So progesterone is produced after ovulation by the corpus luteum. So if your ovulation is weak, right? If it’s delayed, if it’s skipped, if you ovulate too late in your cycle, and then you have a really short luteal phase, right? Progesterone will likely be lower in these cases. So in your follicular phase, your body prepares the egg. In that ovulation phase, that’s when you release the egg, right? That’s when you can get pregnant that midpoint of your cycle-ish.

Your luteal phase, progesterone should rise during this time. If you do not ovulate, there is no strong rise in progesterone during this time. This is going to lead to, of course, lower levels of progesterone, but it can also lead to excess estrogen in relation to progesterone, which we’re gonna get into here in a bit. I’m jumping ahead a little bit. So first and foremost, signs of low progesterone, shortened luteal phase. This is why once again tracking your cycle is so, so important.

If I’m ever working with someone once again with period pain, cramping, anything like that, anxiety at in the second half of her cycle, I want to check in and make sure she’s actually ovulating. So tracking your cycle using like a basal body thermometer, I personally use a temp drop and we can pop a code. I think I’ve got like a 10% off code for you guys if anyone’s interested. We’ll pop that in the show notes below. But that way you’re tracking your temperature each evening.

And this is when you can see that you’ve actually ovulated. Your temperature will rise and it will stay up for three days. And that’s when you can confirm ovulation. The body also does other things when you ovulate. We’ll see an increase in cervical mucus, right? The the cervix shifts a little bit as well, all to promote pregnancy and getting and actually getting pregnant, which is wild. The body’s just like doing this and we’re just moving all along throughout our days. I mean, it’s amazing, right? So tracking your cycle is a really helpful tip and tool here if you are not doing this already.

Highly, highly recommend tracking your cycle and learning the fertility awareness method. So you can kind of understand your cycle a bit better here. Cause if you aren’t doing that, then you may not really know how short your luteal phase is, if it’s short, if it’s not short, when it even is, if you’ve even ovulated, right? So we want to make sure that we are confirming ovulation. And once again, in order to ovulate, your body has to feel safe enough. So shorten luteal phase. We can see spotting before your period as well.

Hannah Aylward (08:14.267)

Irregular cycles, trouble conceiving, infertility issues, PMS, heavy, painful periods, recurrent early pregnancy loss, meaning you’re getting pregnant and then you’re losing the pregnancy, breast tenderness, mood swings, anxiety or depression before your period, poor sleep before your period, like I mentioned, low libido is a big one here too, feeling wired but tired, night sweats before your period, headaches or migraines before you actually start bleeding as well. All of these are some common signs.

Of low progesterone. So if you are feeling like when I ovulate, I feel great, right? We should feel good around ovulation. You’re like that midpoint of my cycle, I feel awesome. And then a couple days after that, it all it all starts to go downhill from there. Your luteal phase is really rough. This could be a sign, right? You may feel even more reactive, more sensitive, more overwhelmed, more easily stressed during this, during this luteal phase as well, if those, if those progesterone levels are lower.

You could also wake up between like two and four o’clock in the morning in the luteal phase. Histamine flares play into this as well because progesterone is considered mast cell stabilizing. So estrogen actually activates those mast cells to release more histamine, whereas progesterone has like a calming effect on the mast cells. So whenever we’re looking at a histamine issue, we always want to look at the gut and the liver. And then progesterone and estrogen play a big role here too, which is why if you have histamine issues,

Around that ovulation phase of your cycle, you may feel worse because estrogen is rising before it’s crashing in that second half of our cycle. So if I’m saying like for those of you that may have low progesterone, you may feel really, really good at ovulation and then you crash. For those of you that have histamine issues, you may feel like around ovulation, I actually feel really bad. My bloating’s worse. I’m I have more headaches. I have more joint pain. I’m more reactive to foods.

I’ve have like postnasal drip or like allergy stuff starts to flare during that time. And then it kind of tapers off. And then you get another kind of burst or flare right before your menstrual cycle or on your menstrual cycle. That’s a big sign of those histamine issues. And that is due to that connection with estrogen there. So having histamine flares before your period can look like excess estrogen. It can also look like lower progesterone levels too.

Hannah Aylward (10:30.91)

If your cycles are getting shorter, so maybe they used to be 29 days and now they’re 27 or 26 or whatever, that can be a sign of low progesterone as well. If your period starts with brown spotting, like we’re looking at older blood and we don’t have that fresh red blood yet, that can be a sign too. Once again, if you just feel like more easily ang like anxious and

kind of on edge and overwhelmed. That’s another sign. And then if you are tracking your cycle and your temperature’s not rising very clearly after ovulation, then we’re likely looking at lower progesterone levels there too. So I wanted to really dig into this with you guys today because I know some of you listening probably have confirmed labs. You’re like, okay, I’m low progesterone. Some of you may be listening and you’re like, I have no idea, but this sounds like me. So what do I need to do next?

And then a question that we get a lot of, and every time I talk about it, gets like a lot of engagement is this estrogen dominance picture. Now, your hormones are always, you know, doing a little dance together. They’re never quote unquote perfectly balanced, but we can have excess estrogen in comparison or in relation to progesterone. So a lot of times when we’re talking about estrogen dominance or we resonate with those signs of estrogen dominance, or maybe you think you have high estrogen or you

Or you once again resonate with that picture of estrogen dominance. Sometimes what’s happening is it’s not that estrogen is actually that high. It’s more so that your progesterone levels are low relative to estrogen. So to put it as simply as possible, your estrogen is like somewhat normal, but you are not producing adequate progesterone because you’re too stressed, basically. And we’re gonna get into that. So then your estrogen in relation to progesterone is high.

So you don’t have true estrogen dominance. You actually just have really low progesterone levels. This is very, very, very common. Yes, we can also have true estrogen dominance. We can have issues detoxifying estrogen. The gut can be playing a role in that. Yes, absolutely. And sometimes it’s a combination of both of these things, right? But you may not have excessively high estrogen. You may just simply not be producing adequate progesterone and enough progesterone to balance those estrogenic effects, right? So

Hannah Aylward (12:46.206)

These things can, when we’re looking at these pictures as well, a lot of these things will overlap. So that excess estrogen piece and that low progesterone picture have a lot of the similarities here. We’ll see heavy periods. We’ll see more rough luteal phases, right? We’ll see bloating, PMS, breast tenderness, clotting periods, potentially headaches, potentially histamine issues. A lot of these things are, we’re kind of looking at the same thing, kind of similar to similar but not similar to cortisol. Like you can have high cortisol, you can have low cortisol.

And then some of the symptoms there kind of overlap, which is why testing can be helpful to see what are you looking at? Are your levels still high or are they just like totally depleted and low at this point? I’ve personally been in both places and it’s not fun. But you can see like fatigue and you know, an ability to focus and that kind of thing. You can have it with low or high cortisol. So sometimes it can get a little confusing. That’s where testing is really helpful. But either way, once again, coming back to the progesterone and estrogen conversation, a lot of the supports here.

Are are similar as well. They’re gonna benefit you kind of regardless. And I’m gonna get into those later on in the episode here. So estrogen dominance is often not just too much estrogen, it can be too little progesterone, basically, here. So let’s get into some of these deeper root causes of low progesterone. I’ve kind of alluded to some of them already, but the biggest things that are playing a role here. So number one underlying root cause is going to be chronic stress. What a shocker. What is what a surprise for us all.

Chronic stress and nervous system dysregulation, when I, if if anyone is ever dealing with low progesterone, this is like the first thing I’m thinking about, right? Your body has to feel safe enough to ovulate. It also has to feel safe enough to digest your food efficiently, and it has to feel safe enough to repair. So if you are living in a chronic fight or flight state, if you are always overwhelmed, if you are always running out of time, if your to-do list is always growing.

If you never have enough time to repair and settle and rest, if you’re pulling away from your sleep hours to n to get in your workout, if you’re skipping meals, if you’re struggling with a lot of chronic gut and digestive issues, right? These are the kind of things that are contributing to your body not feeling safe, which will impact ovulation. So chronic stress can disrupt this hypothalamic pituitary ovarian axis, which is the communication system between the brain and the ovaries. So essentially

Hannah Aylward (15:11.009)

The communication between these ovaries goes a little haywire when you’re in that chronically stressed out state. So when you’re when your body is perceiving a threat in when you’re in that chronic stressed out state, when you’re in that chronic fight or flight state and it doesn’t feel safe enough, reproduction becomes less of a priority here. And the body’s gonna prioritize survival over ovulation. And think of it like this: if you’re ovulation is when we release an egg to get pregnant, right?

Which is a beautiful thing. If you don’t feel safe enough, your body is gonna go, Nope, not the time to bring a baby into this world. We don’t have adequate nutrients, we’re heavily inflamed, we aren’t resting enough, X, Y, Z, right? So we always have to remember that the body is going to prioritize survival over ovulation. So checking this stress piece is going to be key when we’re looking to overcome low progesterone. So if you’re someone that’s resonated with this like burnout picture and you’re like,

I’ve been burning the candle at both ends for a really long time. Work is super, super stressful. I feel like I had five calls today and everyone was like, my gosh, my job is so stressful. Work is so stressful. All my health issues ticked off when I had a really stressful year at work. And I’m like, it’s not so it’s not a surprise, right? Like the body can only take so much. So if you feel like work is consistently so stressful, if you have other huge emotional stressors, if you feel like you’re walking on eggshells in your own home, in your relationship.

If you feel like you’re walking on eggshells with your boss, if you feel like you’re overworking, you’re not sleeping enough, you’re you are people pleasing, you’re it’s it’s never enough. It’s never enough. You always have to keep going and strive and striving for more and do it right and get it perfect. It’s like it’s exhausting and it’s so incredibly draining. And you’re just living in that fight or flight state. So the emotional stress, of course, the overworking, yes. But also we have poor sleep.

Not getting enough sleep, having big sleep interruptions, going to bed too late is a huge one here. Not getting a good seven, eight hours of sleep. Don’t undermine these things. Like they’re so important. It I know it sounds so basic, but none of the other stuff can really work if you’re sleeping like three hours a night. You know what I mean? The other thing here is over-exercising and under-eating. These are big stressors on the body. The body does not feel safe when these things are going on.

Hannah Aylward (17:28.398)

If you don’t have adequate nutrients from either poor absorption due to gut issues, and or you’re just literally not eating enough food, you’re not getting in enough calories, your body is going to be in that survival state. And it can only last there for so long. Your body is so incredibly resilient and it’s always working for you. But if you’ve been under eating for five years, it’s like it’s what what can we ask it to do? You know, like we just it doesn’t have the raw materials that it actually needs to do its job. So

These are other really big stressors. Other things, blood sugar crashes, inflammation, gut infections, mold or toxin exposure can play a big role here too. Chronic dieting, under eating, like I mentioned, relying too heavily on caffeine, not having enough c recovery time. All of these things are going to contribute to chronic stress and then going to eventually contribute to low progesterone and eventually also contribute to thyroid issues and also gut issues. So

It’s all connected. So when we’re talking about stress, I know sometimes it can feel like, okay, but I’m just always stressed or like there’s no way out of it, or this can’t possibly be it. I don’t know. For some of us, I think we don’t put enough weight on this, right? It’s like, it’s okay. I’ll keep my workouts and I’ll go for my walks and I’ll eat well and I’ll do this and I’ll, you know, use toxin free mascara or whatever. But it’s like we’re living in a chronically stressed out state. That that should be one of our number one priorities is taking a look at that because of its.

wide ranging impacts on overall health, gut health, thyroid health, hormone health, everything, right? It’s going to impact everything. So the chronic stress and nervous system dysregulation plays a huge piece here. Progesterone is a safety hormone. And if your body does not feel safe enough, nourished, regulated, progesterone is gonna be one of the first things to go. You’re cut because your body’s going to produce cortisol, that stress hormone that you’re likely familiar with.

You’re gonna be running on cortisol. And when you’re running on cortisol and your body is is prioritizing survival and pushing out more cortisol, it’s going to prioritize that overproducing progesterone. So you’ll end up with high cortisol and low progesterone, which will feel like in your body, I’m having anxiety, I’m having trouble sleeping, my periods are more painful. Now I’m having more bloating. I’m feeling this like weight gain, like water, water retention in my abdomen. And then eventually your thyroid will start to take the hit too. So

Hannah Aylward (19:51.34)

Once again, this chronic stress and nervous system dysregulation piece is a really, a really important thing to touch on here.

Hannah Aylward (20:02.044)

We are big fans of eating enough protein over here on Team Han. Protein is essential for muscle repair, a strong gut lining, balanced blood sugar levels, and so much more. For most of our clients, we like recommending around 100 grams of protein per day to start, and adding in a good quality protein powder can be super helpful for hitting those numbers. It’s an easy add-in, you can throw it into a smoothie or even add it to oatmeal. Choosing the right protein powder can feel so overwhelming.

Half of them are full of fillers and crap ingredients, and the other half honestly just taste bad. Equip protein is one of my go-to recommendations for our clients and one of my personal favorites. We love it because it only has a small handful of ingredients. It’s 100% carefully sourced, real foods, no additives, allergens, chemicals, fillers, or other junk. It’s gluten-free and it contains 21 grams of protein per serving. Equip’s Prime Protein also offers

a complete amino acid profile. It’s also independently tested to make sure that the protein powder is free of harmful amounts of heavy metals and toxins like glyphosate, which is honestly super hard to find. Equip prime protein is a grass-fed beef protein. So it is animal based, but it’s dairy free, unlike whey or casein protein powders. Grass-fed beef protein is packed with collagen, gelatin, and micronutrients that your body needs.

We also see that it’s typically much better tolerated in our clients with chronic gut and digestive issues over something like a plant-based protein powder. In addition, some of their flavors do contain natural flavors, but they’re distilled vapors from natural and organic compounds or fruits like vanilla, coconut, and strawberry, and are processed without any chemicals, fillers, binders, or artificial ingredients, which once again is incredibly hard to find. Personally, I buy both the chocolate and the vanilla.

Flavors of the Equip Prime Protein, but honestly, they have like so many other incredible flavors out now. If you’re interested in trying out Equip Prime Protein, you can use the code HANNAHAYLWARDHHC at checkout for 15% off. And we’ll pop that code in the show notes of this episode for you as well. So once again, you can go to equipfoods.com, choose the flavor of protein powder that you want, and then use code HANNAHAYLWARDHHC for 15% off.

Hannah Aylward (22:19.058)

The next one I have, I’ve already kind of touched on, but the under eating piece to all of this, having poor nutrient status, low carb dieting, not eating adequate fats, not eating adequate carbohydrates, and or just like under-eating altogether. So sometimes there’s this joke in this space when I’m when I’m speaking with other practitioners and it’s like, do you have low progesterone and high cortisol, or are you just literally not eating enough?

And you are you just not eating enough carbohydrates as well? Cause your body needs these different foods. And I and I know, and and macronutrients, really. So and micronutrients all across the board, right? The body needs all of these different things to actually work properly. So we have to make sure that we are fueling efficiently. And one of the things that I see very consistently in clients is they’re just not eating enough. We’re not eating enough protein. We’re not eating eating enough carbs. And I know it can feel very difficult when you are in the thick of it with your gut issues, right? You’re like, girl.

I know, but everything I eat, I feel bloated. I’m like gassy. I’m burping. I’m waking up in the middle the night with stomach pain. I’m constipated. I’m running to the bathroom. I’m reacting to all of these foods. Like easier said than done because I’ve been there. So I understand that. Like I would just skip meals because my gut was so horrible that I was like, I feel better if I just don’t eat. So I’m just not gonna eat. And that didn’t help in the long term. So we have to address that deeper gut function, right? We have to address.

those deeper gut imbalances to get you to the point where you feel comfortable and healthy eating more food. So if you’re under eating and you’re skipping things like breakfast and you’re not eating adequate protein or you’re maybe doing something like intermittent fasting or you’re eating low carb for too long, you’re not getting adequate minerals in, this is all going to impact your body’s feeling your body actually feeling safe, which is then going to impact your ability to ovulate. And ovulation is it’s an energy,

expensive process, right? So we have to kind of flip the narrative here. I think in this health space, we’re so quick to like peel things out. And even in the functional health space as well, right? It’s I I hate to see when I’m getting on calls with women that want to work with us that they’ve been on the low FODMAP diet for three years or their functional medicine doctor told them that they should only eat 45 grams of carbs. I’m like, that’s insane. Like that is not

Hannah Aylward (24:35.282)

It’s not going to work long term. It may work for a couple months, but it’s not going to work long term. Your body needs to feel safe and it needs to be fueled properly. And we want you menstruating regularly and we want you ovulating regularly. So there are a lot of nutrients that are important for ovulation. So, you know, adequate protein, those macronutrients, right? Protein, healthy fats, adequate carbohydrates, all of these things are important. things like cholesterol, we need to.

Vitamin B6, we need magnesium, zinc, vitamin C, selenium, iron, iodine, omega-3s, B vitamins, different minerals, right? All of the the body needs all of these things to actually do its job and ovulate efficiently, which is then going to support those healthy progesterone levels. And another important thing to note here is that cholesterol is the backbone of steroid hormones. You have to make sure you are eating enough healthy fats.

Protein and micronutrients are needed for many different things, right? Like follicle development, ovulation, thyroid function. Your thyroid needs so many different nutrients. I already named some of them: B vitamins, iodine, iron, selenium, right? The thyroid needs all of these things. your body needs these different micronutrients as well to support things like detoxification. If you were to just put like Google liver detoxification, you were to actually look at the nutrients that are required for phase one and phase two.

It’s a nutrient-dependent process. It it needs a lot of nutrients to actually go through its process efficiently, right? So we want to shift this narrative from like, what do I not eat? How can I eat less? What can I not eat enough of? Or what do I make sure to not eat? Right. And more so move that into how do I support my body in doing what it needs to do? Am I eating enough fat to support steroid hormones? Am I eating enough fiber to support my gut health? Am I eating enough protein to support my blood sugar stabilization? Right.

We need to kind of flip the script here and make sure. Like I invite you to just shift this from what is is bad for me. It’s like, gluten and then dairy and then sugar and then this and then that. And it’s the list goes on and on. Then it’s lectins and it’s oxalates and it’s nightshades. And it’s it’s just exhausting. It’s exhausting. And it’s not fully true either. So that’s important to note. But instead, like flip the script to how can I nourish myself so my body actually gets in enough of what it needs.

Hannah Aylward (26:55.04)

Am I eating enough? Am I eating enough to justify my workout? Am I eating enough to support my cycle? Am I eating enough to support healthy, good sleep and radiant skin? So I just invite you once again to like flip the script there a little bit. If we’re skipping breakfast, if we’re drinking a coffee, if we’re like skipping lunch because we don’t have time, we’ve packed in too many meetings, and then maybe we’re eating a big enough dinner, or maybe you’ve got kids, you’re prepping dinner for everyone else, you don’t even have time to sit down, you’re like grabbing a bar first thing in the morning. It’s simply not.

enough. So we have to get you nourishing more efficiently. And I’ll speak to that a bit more as we continue to go through this episode. So the next thing that I want to point out here is blood sugar instability plays a huge role when it comes to overall health and like quite literally every everything skin clarity, gut function, thyroid function, hormone balance. I mean, it the list goes on and on. It impacts everything. And I have a whole episode dedicated to blood sugar.

And like my five top tips for blood sugar stabilization. So I will make sure that we link that in the show notes for you as well. But these blood sugar swings are stressful to the body. So when you skip meals, when you just drink a bunch of caffeine, whether it’s matcha or coffee, it doesn’t really, really matter. I mean, yes, they can have varying impacts on the body. And matcha does have some L-pheanine, which is great, but it’s still caffeine, right? So if we’re drinking these things, if we’re just eating simple carbohydrates, maybe you’re like, okay, I’m gonna have a piece of toast.

With some almond butter, which is like sure, a little bit of fat, but it’s not really enough. and maybe you’re grabbing a coffee or you’re going too long without eating, or you’re not eating enough protein, your body is going to start to run on these stress hormones in order to bring your blood sugar levels back up. So essentially what’s happening is if you if you go too long without eating, you practice intermittent fasting, or you just grab a coffee and it’s just kind of caffeine and there’s not really real substance to it. Or if you eat something like a

What I would call a naked carbohydrate. So like that almond, like that piece of toast, even worse if it was just piece of toast with butter. And I am not hitting on toast with butter. I love me some toast with butter, but pair it with like two eggs, pair it with a couple of eggs, pair it with a protein shake, pair it with some form of protein, right? We want to avoid eating these n what I would call naked carbs, meaning they’re just carbohydrates. So even something like a bowl of fruit first thing in the morning. there’s nothing wrong with food, fruit. You should not fear fruit, you should not fear the sugar in fruit. It’s like

Hannah Aylward (29:20.17)

totally just like clickbait in my opinion. I think it’s wonderful, but it’s just not and it’s just not enough for your body’s needs, right? So if you’re gonna eat fruit, like eat fruit with a couple eggs or like some turkey sausage or some Greek yogurt or something that has a bit more protein in it because it’s gonna be mostly carbohydrates. It does have fiber, which is awesome, which is why it doesn’t impact your blood sugar the same way as like a croissant, you know? So you’re going to have fiber that helps to slow the absorption of sugar and into the bloodstream, which is why fiber is

Amazing, one of the many, many reasons. But we want to try to avoid eating just these like naked carbs. You’d even be better off eating an apple with like almond butter or something like that, or have it with a piece of cheese or something. So you’ll get some of that fat and you’ll get some of that protein. So same thing goes for oatmeal, right? Everyone loves to hate oatmeal. I I honestly do not get it. I think it’s like once again, total clickbait. It’s oatmeal is totally fine and wonderful. And there’s like so much research behind the health benefits of oats.

They are a great source of beta glucans as well, which are great for the gut microbiome. But you do want to add kind of zhuzh it up a little bit. So you want to do like nuts and seeds, add some chia seeds, add this, add a scoop of protein powder, add a little Greek yogurt, add some berries, kind of balance it out a little bit more. So we’re not just eating a bowl of mostly carbohydrates. It does oats do have some fiber in them as well, but they have very little protein and they don’t have that much fiber, in my opinion. So we want to kind of rebalance it out a little bit.

Because if we don’t and we eat something like a naked carb, like just a bowl of oatmeal, or like just a piece of toast with butter, our blood sugar is going to spike, insulin’s going to spike. And then what happens is as a result of that, it’s gonna spike high and it’s gonna kind of crash low shortly thereafter, which is also why you could eat this piece of toast and like 30 minutes later, you’re like, I’m hungry. That wasn’t satiating, right? Cause you weren’t really balancing your blood sugar and supporting those various different hunger hormones that the body produces.

Whereas if you had the piece of toast, totally fine, with butter, I love it, and had it with a few eggs, and maybe you had it with like some avocado and some eggs and some black beans, you’re gonna be kind of setting yourself up for success more. You’re also not gonna feel starving in like 30 minutes, which is always helpful. But my point is when that blood sugar goes up, it’s gonna crash really low. And when it crashes really low, your body’s gonna secrete cortisol to raise your blood sugar levels. So you’re gonna be just cruising on these stress hormones. And when we’re cruising on stress hormones and cortisol,

Hannah Aylward (31:44.087)

Your body is not going to produce adequate progesterone because it’s going to be prioritizing survival. So even though blood sugar is kind of very food related, however, stressors in those things can absolutely impact our blood sugar. Poor sleep impacts our blood sugar. But when I’m talking about it here, I’m talking about like what to eat, right? Although it’s very nutrition-focused, it is going to impact your stress hormones. Just like your stress hormones will impact your blood sugar, basically. So we wanna make sure.

That we are balancing our blood sugar throughout the day to support healthy progesterone production. Because long story short, and I I know I’ve really went in on this topic here, but it’s so important. Long story short, balancing your blood sugar is going to support hormonal balance and gut function and thyroid function and better sleep and easier weight management and all of the things. And you’re also just gonna feel more satiated, which I think is always helpful. So you don’t feel like you’re like, my gosh, I’m trying to eat this healthy food.

And I’m freaking starving all the time. And then you just want to snack. Or then you’re like, I hate eating this way. I’m always hungry. Well, you’re probably just not eating enough. And you’re just not balancing your plate well, well enough. So then when we balance our blood sugar, we don’t end up like fighting our biology. And it’s kind of easier to cruise into that next meal with a little bit more ease and less like head space. You know, when you’re hungry and you’re creating you’re like having those cravings, it’s like you’re it’s all you can think about.

When you balance your blood sugar, a lot of that noise settles, which was very, very game changing for me personally. So the blood sugar piece is very important here because if it’s erratic, if your blood sugar is unstable throughout the day, the body is going to secrete stress hormones, cortisol, to bring those blood glucose levels up. And then that’s going to kind of take away from that progesterone production. So something to really keep in mind here. We have the chronic stress piece, that mental piece, kind of more mental.

An emotional piece, but we can also have environmental toxin exposure playing a role there. And then we have this like under-eating, not eating enough piece to this puzzle, poor new leading to poor nutrient status. And then we also have this blood sugar instability piece here. So a couple things that you can apply to support your blood sugar. I’ve kind of like through threw them in into these last few minutes here, but just so you feel like you have a more actionable list, getting in enough protein at breakfast, aiming for at least 25 grams of protein at breakfast.

Hannah Aylward (34:07.159)

If not like 30, like maybe even 40 if you can do it. But I like to say 30 is a a pretty solid spot for many people to start. You want to make sure that you’re getting protein, fiber, and fat at each and every meal. You can also experiment with things like walking after meals or like a couple of jumping jacks after meals, or there was a study that showed 10 bodyweight squats every 45 minutes had more a more positive impact on your blood sugar than going for a 10 minute walk.

So, you know, you really just want to like move a little bit to use up the that glucose that you just took in through the food that you’re eating. But I would say for most people out there, moving your body daily, prioritizing sleep, minimizing stress and eating adequate protein is going to help you feel immensely better in this department and avoiding like the caffeine on an empty stomach too much. and and snacking all the time is another big one there.

Okay, the next root cause that I want to get into here is that thyroid piece, the thyroid dysfunction piece. So thyroid and progesterone are deeply connected. So low thyroid function can actually impair ovulation, can contribute to heavier periods, it can worsen fatigue, slow down your gut motility, and also increase PMS symptoms. So oftentimes we will see women with thyroid issues. You know, you’ll all often feel like cold hands and feet. You’ll you’ll be constipated. It will cause constipation.

It’ll cause brain fog. It will cause really bad fatigue. Like you’re just totally exhausted, right? You can lose your hair. The outer third of your eyebrows can start to thin. You may have low libido, slow metabolic function. Everything will kind of slow down here. So low thyroid function directly impacts or can impair ovulation, right? Which will then impact progesterone, which is also why.

When we’re talking about this concept of like unexplained infertility or having fertility issues, we always want to dig into the gut, we always want to dig into the thyroid here, and then all of course a good extensive hormone panel as well. But I won’t jump too down that rabbit hole because that’s a whole podcast on its own. But many women with Hashimoto’s low T3, sluggish thyroid issues also struggle with that low progesterone picture. So you need adequate thyroid hormone for healthy follicle development.

Hannah Aylward (36:21.525)

And ovulation and progesterone can support thyroid hormone sensitivity and body temperature. So the thyroid is playing a role here. So if you haven’t had a full thyroid panel anytime recently, I would highly recommend that. Honestly, I was talking to someone earlier today that’s gonna work with us inside of a one-on-one program. And I was like, to be honest, like it’s good to just check it once a year. Just just check on it in on it once a year because stress loads, environmental toxin exposure, you know.

All these things that we’re like moving through in life, I don’t know, you know, work stress, whatever, like the world feeling like it’s blowing up in flames, maybe it’ll all impact our health, you know. So getting your thyroid checked once a year, I think is a really smart idea if you want to just take more preventative measures. And then of course, if you have known thyroid issues, make sure that you’re checking in on it and then really opting for that full thyroid panel as well, which is going to be more than just TSH. I will ask people if they’ve had a full thyroid panel, they’ll say, I think so.

And then they’ll send us the results. And it is not a full thyroid panel. It’s like TSH and maybe one other marker. We’ve got no antibodies, we’ve got no reverse T3. So we want to make sure that you’re running actually like a full thyroid panel to get a good look at your thyroid. Then the next underlying root cause, to no surprise at all, is your gut health and gut inflammation, gut dysbiosis, liver issues, all of that can play a role in low progesterone levels. So gut health impacts.

Everything, everything and anything, which is why I love it so much. But it’s gonna impact your hormone health through things like inflammation, right? And nutrient absorption and blood sugar regulation. Your gut microbiome impacts your blood sugar regulation, your ability to detoxify estrogen metabolism. I have a whole episode for you as well. If you want to dig in further, I have a whole episode on the gut and hormone connections, specifically how the gut impacts estrogen and thyroid hormone.

So I won’t go into it too much in this episode, but we’ll make sure to link that episode in the show notes for you below. So if you want to dive into that kind of more thoroughly, go have a listen to that episode next. But your gut health impacts all of these things. And then, you know, you have to think of like nutrient absorption. If you are someone that’s been dealing with chronic gut issues for a long time, you have bloating, you have known inflammation, maybe it’s irritable bowel disease, maybe you know you have gut infections, or maybe you’re like, I don’t know what’s going on. They tell me everything looks normal.

Hannah Aylward (38:42.652)

But I feel like crap, I’m bloated, I’m constipated, or I’m running to the bathroom and I’m reacting to a ton of foods. I’m gassy, all of that. Your nutrient absorption will be impaired in this state. Andor the supplements that you’re taking and spending good money on. So we want to optimize nutrient absorption and your stomach acid levels and your gut barrier play a big role in this. So

We will often see it is very, very common to see those with gut issues have low iron, maybe they have low ferritin, more specifically, but they’ll be told that they have low iron, maybe they have anemia. And then also they’ll have typically low B vitamin status, like so, like low B12, for example. And this is not a surprise at all because your gut is impacting nutrient absorption massively. So we have to repair your gut.

If we want your body to basically like have the nutrients that it needs to do its job, that’s kind of the simplest, simplest way to put it. So once again, like constipation, if you have known dysbiosis, if you have known SIBO, if you have known gut infections, if you have increased intestinal permeability, or the things, maybe you don’t know if you have those things, but you’re like, I am dealing with chronic digestive issues and I have for years. That’s that’s all we need to know. And then we need to kind of dig in a little bit further there.

If you have issues with bile, if you’ve had your gallbladder removed, if you’ve had anything like that, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, all of these things are gonna kind of play a role in your gut health and gut function overall. So if your gut is inflamed, that is a stressor. Your body is under stress in that state and you’re not gonna be absorbing nutrients well. And you may not have the raw materials that the body needs to actually make the hormones that you need. So the other side to this is like if you’re constipated as well, you’re gonna have poor estrogen clearance.

And that can just worsen things. So you may actually be looking at more estrogen dominance because you’re never pooping out excess estrogen. That’s like the the the less the least like what’s the word I’m looking for? Clean way to say it. Like basically you’re not pooping out excess estrogen. It’s the simplest more most to the point way. Less, less fancy, maybe is what the term I’m looking for, but you’re just not clearing it, right? So constipation is a big thing. It’s a big thing. I think people.

Hannah Aylward (40:58.254)

So many women deal with it. Every time I post about constipation, it gets so many questions and so much engagement. And I’m like, this is not okay that women are dealing with constipation to this extent. This actually very much concerns me because not only do you feel like crap, I guess no pun intended, like you just don’t feel good. But also it will lead to bigger issues down the line. That’s not to freak you out, but it’s just really to be like, okay, let’s take this more seriously. Like we’ve got to be moving the bowels.

Because stool is just excess hormones and toxins and waste. And you want to be moving that all out of the body, or else you will end up with something like estrogen dominance. And what that might also look like is like acne. You might be like, I have hormonal acne and my skin’s not responding to any of these topicals. Well, it could be coming from your gut, especially, especially, especially if you’re not pooping. So if you’re dealing with that excess estrogen, if the gut’s playing a role, if it’s not the gut, then the liver’s playing a big role there. Oftentimes it’s both.

For for most women, we have to kind of dig into both of these areas of the body. If you’re not clearing it efficiently and you also have low progesterone, I mean, it’s just going to that quote unquote balance is just gonna be even more off kilter there. So your ovaries do not exist in isolation. You know, I think when we think of like hormones, we can sometimes talk about them or think of them in a way that they’re not like connected to everything else, but it’s everything in the body is connected, right? So

Your hormones are really responding to other inputs. They’re responding to your gut, your liver, your thyroid. And of course, that is kind of like in that hormone bucket because you have thyroid hormone, but they’re responding to blood sugar. They’re responding to environmental toxin exposure and your nervous system and your stress load. So hormonal imbalances are very rarely the root cause. They become more of a root cause when we enter, you know, perimenopause and menopause because the hormones start to shift.

without us like doing anything. Like they just start to shift on us. And it’s a natural byproduct of just getting older. That is a bit in a different bucket. However, even in that case, we can still optimize a lot because you can ride through perimetopause more easily when we have, you know, everything else kind of sorted and feeling better. And the gut does start to shift in perimenopause and menopause, as if women don’t deal with enough. You know, like

Hannah Aylward (43:14.83)

my goodness. The we b we have babies and we have cycles and we have all these hormones and we deal with all of this and we feel stress more. And then we get a little older and then things start to shift without us even doing anything to to make it shift. So it’s it can be a lot sometimes, but fortunately there’s a lot, a lot, a lot of support out there. Okay, so the gut piece is obviously a big player here. And just to kind of end cap that, your hormones are

responding to other things. So even if you have estrogen dominance and you come to us, we’re gonna work on your gut and your liver, right? That’s that’s the biggest thing we’re gonna work on with you or the biggest things. If you have low progesterone, we’re gonna work on all the stuff I’m talking about. Gut, nervous system, thyroid, stress, nutrients. It’s not that we have to like give you a supplement for low progesterone. It’s more so about optimizing everything else because it is all connected and your hormones are responding to these other inputs. Which leads me into

That next root cause that I kind of just led kind of touched on, but that perimetopause and and just age-related hormone shifts, right? So progesterone will decline and sometimes it can decline earlier than estrogen because ovulation becomes less consistent as we age. So as we get older, we enter enter perimetopause. You know, we can see interruptions and cycles and things like that. Sometimes women can enter perimetopause in their late 30s. At this point, the ovaries will start to make less estrogen and progesterone.

And cycles can change in in our 40s as well and kind of continue to even before menopause. So this is more of an age-related thing. We can still bring in a lot to optimize and support the body here. But of course, as we age, we will produce less progesterone and estrogen. And this is where other supports can be really helpful, like checking, of course, all of the root-causy stuff, like the stress and the nervous system and the nutrients and the gut, and then potentially bringing in some hormonal support there.

If we need it, something like HRT or talking to your medical doctor about that can be very helpful at that phase as well. But I really do want to emphasize too that even though hormone replacement therapy I think can be very, very helpful. And I know many women on it and I plan to explore it when my time comes, it’s kind of just like icing on the cake, right? So we still need to work on all the other stuff, stress and gut health and thyroid and everything. Cause you don’t want to just use HRT and kind of put that

Hannah Aylward (45:37.665)

you know, leaky roof or or put a new roof on like a leaky foundation. We want to kind of look at it all together. So we don’t want to just not rely on it. That’s not the right word here, but kind of just like use it without doing the other stuff is basically what I’m trying to say. Cause we can impact your health positively a lot, even if you are entering perimetopause or you’re in perimetopause with all of this other stuff too. And then HRT can be like a nice addition to that in some cases. And discussing that with your doctor can be really, really supportive for many women.

Okay, so if you’re interested in testing your progesterone levels, testing usually, you know, we want to time it correctly. So progesterone should typically be checked about six to eight days after ovulation. You don’t want to go in and check your progesterone levels like day one of your cycle. So, or or also just like a random day that they tell you to do it.

They sometimes still hear day twenty one, but that would really apply if you ovulated on day fourteen. But typically we’re looking at that range, right? Like eighteen to twenty-one can be helpful, kind of that sweet spot for a lot of women. But really the best place to look and make sure you’re getting more accurate testing is to check it six to eight days after you have confirmed ovulation to get a good read on those progesterone levels. I have seen people.

bring their hormone panels to us and it’s like blood work and the doctor has checked progesterone on like day three of their cycle and I’m like, what? I don’t I don’t know why they would do that. Maybe I’m missing something. But also, you know, testing can be a little tricky because you can have a really strong rise in progesterone on the on day six after ovulation and that can crash really sharply. So there’s a bit of nuance to this testing, but you can of course check serum progesterone, which would be blood work.

Cycle tracking, so you’re getting that like in real time data on your health, I think is very helpful. It’s definitely gonna be like the cheapest way to get data on your body. You can buy a basal body thermometer and it that’s gonna cost you like 15 bucks. You can get that real data to check your temperature and see what’s going on there. And then, of course, we could run like a functional hormone panel, something like a Dutch test, which is gonna give us insight into progesterone and estrogen and cortisol and DHEA, and we’ll we get a lot of good.

Hannah Aylward (47:48.769)

Good data from a test like that. But I always say before you invest in something like that, which it can be absolutely helpful. But you know, the functional abs are just a little pricey. I have definitely had one before. that’s how I found out I had no cortisol left and I was like totally burnt out, which wasn’t surprising at that time in my life. But I’ve done it and we do run them on clients here and there. But once again, it’s like you want to work on all the foundational stuff first, in my opinion.

before you invest like three, four hundred dollars into a functional hormone panel. So I would really recommend like mineral testing if you want to do that, some blood work, blood sugar regulation, stress stuff, gut work, all of that kind of first and foremost, before I would invest in that next step personally, but if you’re like, let’s just do it all, then the Dutch test or like that Dutch hormone panel can be a great option there too. So now let’s get into some ways to support progesterone, healthy progesterone levels.

Naturally. So step number one, I’ve already said it, confirm that you are ovulating. Track your cycle, track your cervical mucus, checking the length of your luteal phase. If your luteal phase is under 10 days long, it’s too short. We ideally want it to be like 12 to 14 days. And that is how you are we’re going to naturally support that progesterone production. So it’s like your body has enough time for progesterone after you ovulate.

So you we need enough length in that luteal phase for the body to do that. So that’s gonna be number one, confirming ovulation and checking into your luteal phase. Number two is going to be eating enough food. Simple as that. So adequate protein, good blood sugar regulation here, variety in the food that we’re eating, mineral-rich foods, healthy fats, good quality carbohydrates, no intermittent fasting, no skipping foods.

Really eating enough for your body’s needs here, making sure that you are eating enough at breakfast, especially, especially because that impacts blood sugar massively throughout the rest of the day. This is gonna be really helpful here. You can also go, if you’re interested, you can go and type into Google. It’s called like T D E E calculator. So your total daily energy expenditure calculator, and you can put in your height and your weight and your activity levels, and it’ll tell you how many calories you need in a day.

Hannah Aylward (50:02.303)

And you don’t like, I’m not saying to do this from like a calorie tracking standpoint, but you may get a number there where you’re like, whoa, I need 1800 calories and I’m eating 1200 calories. It’s just not enough. Like you’re just literally not eating enough for your body’s needs. This is a very easy pattern for me to slip into, admittedly, because I’ll just like work through lunch and stuff. And then I’m like, whoa, I have not eaten enough food here. So you’d be surprised that diet culture telling us that we need to eat 1200 calories is like leading us all into

Massive burnout and gut and hormone issues. You we want to make sure that you’re eating enough for your body’s needs there. So if you are like, How much is that? What does that look like? You can plug it into that calculator. It’s a decent guess, you know. If you need way more calories than you are currently eating, just slowly work your way up. Try to add in a little bit more food and increase your calories slowly over time, probably usually like a hundred calories per week to kind of get into that sweet spot and hitting your body’s needs. When you do increase calories, you can gain weight during that process.

You may need gain weight. And or also, you know, if you increase calories from things like protein versus things like processed carbohydrates, that’s gonna have a different impact on metabolic function. That’s gonna lead to less weight gain and things like that. Just kind of a a a note on that. Cause if you do jump into eating 600 more calories a day than you have been eating, like you probably will gain weight. And maybe that’s really what you need. But if you don’t want to to gain any weight, just like slowly bring it up and focus more on things like proteins and, you know, veggies and things like that.

versus, you know, don’t add in three cookies. That’s that’s not gonna help. But that’s just a little tidbit there. Some of our clients need to gain weight. Some of our clients are trying to gain weight. Some of our clients are trying to lose weight. So it there’s there’s no like judgment attached to any of this, just kind of explaining it for you. Of course, if you increase calories, we will see weight gain take place. Sometimes, you know, not not a hundred percent of the time, but sometimes. So something to take note of there. But we have to make sure that you’re eating enough. Like it’s just a non negotiable here.

And if you are trying to get pregnant, if you’re thinking about get getting pregnant or embarking on that journey anytime soon, like please, please, please, please, please fuel your body efficiently. And at the core of it, like you just gotta eat enough. Eat enough healthy, whole foods there and really stabilize your blood sugar. So you want to build these meals around protein and healthy fat and fiber and unprocessed carbohydrates, or people kind of have lots of wording around carbs because carbs are processed and like rice is processed.

Hannah Aylward (52:27.275)

But like not ultra-processed carbohydrates like cakes and cookies, but like rice is gonna be fine, right? And don’t fast too aggressively with that. The next thing that you wanna do to support natural healthy progesterone levels is going to be to support your nervous system. So daily nervous system regulating practices. And if you are resonating with that like burnout picture or you’re like, I don’t know how to get out of this pattern. I am stuck in this stress loop and I don’t know how to break free from this stress loop.

Please go listen to the previous episode that I have. It’s a couple episodes back and it’s called Are You Addicted to Stress Hormones? And we will make sure that we put that in the show notes for you as well. Go have a listen to that. I walk you through what that looks like, why your body may be wired for that and how to break that cycle. Because we have to get you out of this pattern of existing on stress hormones if we really want to like quote unquote balance your hormones.

Or or support healthy progesterone levels. And it’s not about never feeling stressed either. So just take, you know, wanted to note on that. We all feel stressed sometimes. It’s really just about recognizing when we’re stuck in these patterns and it’s like all we know. Living in the stress is all we know. And or if it’s really hard to get out of those patterns and building in practice to support yourself on a daily basis, right? So like going to bed earlier, putting down the screens, which is just like so much harder than it should be. It’s like so stupid. Gets an eye roll for me. I’m like, okay, Hannah.

Put down your phone, girl. Put down your phone. so if you feel that way too, you’re not alone in that. I don’t think I think in this like day and age, we’re all struggling with that to some degree. So put your phone down, you know, go for a walk outside, get in your morning sunlight, bring in a breath work practice. Journaling can be really helpful here. These are some things that you can do. and just like really checking your stress, like asking yourself, how often do I feel overwhelmed?

Do I feel overwhelmed every single day? Okay, well, that’s too much. That’s like literally way too much. Way too much stress. And how long do you feel overwhelmed for? Feeling overwhelmed for like five minutes while you’re doing a couple things, sure. But if you’re living feeling overwhelmed all day, every day, like we have to, it is unsustainable if you want good health. It is just unsustainable. And I know it can feel difficult to break that pattern sometimes, but there are so many tools there. So

Hannah Aylward (54:39.593)

Once again, if that resonates, go listen to that other episode. You’re not alone in those feelings. This was a coaching. It was a the podcast episode is a recording of a coaching call that I did in my Healing Guts and Shaking Butts program because it was resonating with so many women. So you’re not alone in that. So know that everyone is dealing with their own version, own their own version of this. But there is another reality that is available to you where you feel a little less stressed and you can manage it a little better. And that’s what I want for you. And

If we want to support your overall health, support your gut health, of course, and support healthy progesterone levels, then we’ve got to do that really. There’s kind of no way around it. The next thing would be looking at your thyroid health, working with someone to check in on your thyroid function, right? So taking a look at that full thyroid panel, TSH, free T4, free T3, reverse T3 antibodies as well. So like TPO, T G A B antibodies, checking into these things to get that full thyroid panel and seeing what’s going on there.

And then there are some other nutrient markers that we can check here too. So, like iron, ferritin. We run a more thorough iron panel on my team. It’s called a full Monty iron panel. We’re looking at way more than just ferritin to get a better insight of your iron recycling system overall. But checking iron, B12, zinc, selenium, these things can be can be very helpful to look into as well. And then of course the gut piece, which is my next thing to address here if we really want to optimize progesterone and optimize thyroid function.

We’ve got to look at your gut health, no question. Of course. So if you are dealing with bloating, constipation, reflux, gas, you know, diarrhea, histamine issues, anything like that, we have to look at deeper at your gut. And we’d we’d love to help you with that, of course, if you’re looking for that. So we want to support function, digestive function, right? And then we also want to support the gut microbiome. And then we also want to support the gut barrier. And that’s what’s going to help kind of everything overall here.

And I have, of course, lots of episodes on all of that. So if you, if you want to learn more about the gut health piece, go go binge the podcast because there’s many episodes that I can’t quite summarize into like a quick two minutes here. But lots, of course, that we can do to support your gut health. The next thing too would just be to check your workouts if we want to support raising those progesterone levels. Like let’s make sure we’re not overtraining, let’s make sure we’re not doing too much hit, boot camp, crossfit classes, that kind of thing.

Hannah Aylward (56:57.739)

Focus on strength training, focus on walking, restorative yoga, getting in enough sleep, like these kinds of things we have to shift. When your body is is in a more resilient state, you can get away with some of that stuff a bit more. But if you’re like, I have, I’m burnt out, I’m exhausted, I’m feeling it in my body. I always feel tired. I feel puffy, I’m inflamed, I’m struggling with gut issues, but I’m still cranking out my intense workouts. Like it’s just not the time for that.

We your body needs to feel safe. So that’s what we need to prioritize. We still want you moving. Of course, there are massive exercise health benefits to exercise, like, no question. It just needs to be a bit more gentle. So train smarter, not harder, which I know feels like a like a quote on like old gym wall. But you know what I mean. Like that’s I that’s the truth. Like train smarter, not harder. Don’t, don’t run yourself into the ground doing this. And if you can only get in your workout.

Because you’re like waking up at four o’clock in the morning and squeezing in a boot camp class before the workday starts. It’s just, it’s just not what your body needs right now. Said with love. And while I give you a big virtual virtual audio hug here, we gotta tone it down. I would honestly rather you get more sleep than squeeze that in. It’s gonna be more supportive for your gut and hormone health. And then of course, you know, working with someone. So

If you want to dig into all of this, you want to run functional hormone panels, you want to run a full thyroid panel, you want to look at your gut health and address your deeper gut issues, a personalized protocol based on your needs. It’s what is going to be the most effective thing, no question. Right. So take some of the tips that you’re learning from this podcast episode, focus on the blood sugar piece, focus on eating enough, focus on sleep, stress management, all of that kind of stuff. And then if you want to run some of those labs and you want like a

customized one on one protocol for you, please reach out to us. The link to book a call with me is in the show notes below. You can book a strategy call with us. We can talk about your case, see how we can support you, make sure it’s a good fit and all of that. If you’re like, I don’t want to live this way anymore. I’m ready to feel better. I don’t want to deal with these gut issues anymore. I want more energy. My periods are a mess. Like I need help with all of this stuff. We can run these functional labs and also of course use our like education and knowledge and

Hannah Aylward (59:08.385)

put together very comprehensive protocols to address exactly what you need. That is going to get you feeling better faster than any anything else, because we’re using real data and of course 10 years of experience to customize for what your body needs versus just like throwing random stuff and at the wall and seeing what sticks, you know? Cause you can buy, you can go and buy different supplements and things that I named in the in the episode. And they could help maybe, but my point is is like if you want to just fast track it, if you want to just get

Start feeling better sooner, let’s get you the right support. And we would love to help you with that. If you’re already and interested in that. So the idea here, right, overall is not necessarily to just like take a supplement to support progesterone. It’s really about what’s contributing to the low progesterone levels and how can we optimize function across the board, right? How do we help the body feel safe? Are we looking at micronutrient deficiencies? Are we looking at gut inflammation? Are we looking at poor thyroid function? Are we looking at chronic nervous system dysregulation?

Are we looking at environmental toxin exposure? We gotta take a good look at all of these different facets of your health from that kind of root cause lens and then repair from there. So I hope this episode was so helpful for you. Hopefully you’ve learned a lot. You’ve taken away a lot from this episode. And I will see you again in next week’s episode. Okay, big hugs and we’ll talk soon. Bye.

Thanks for joining me for this episode of the Nutrient Dense podcast. If you found this episode valuable, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, share with a friend, and come back next week for a new episode. See you then.