Ray Peat on Progesterone

SSRIs, serotonin myths, and the synthesis of allopregnanolone in the brain

"Since it was not possible to provide evidence supporting the assumption that serotonin is a mood-enhancing happiness hormone, the industry looked for another explanation for the claimed therapeutic benefit. Generally, it has been agreed that SSRIs increase the synthesis of the progesterone metabolite allopregnanolone in the brain after several weeks of use. This does happen, but the formation of these protective steroids is also increased by any form of brain injury."

September 2019 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Cholesterol's role in progesterone production

"The increase in cholesterol had a protective function. For example, when the amount of cholesterol flowing into an ovarian artery was increased, the amount of progesterone exiting an ovarian vein increased proportionally, as the raw material was converted into the end product."

September 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Reversing liver degeneration through diet

"A lifelong accumulation of PUFA gradually impairs the liver's protective functions. However, these functions can be gradually restored when carbohydrates and saturated fats are supplied without polyunsaturated fatty acids, along with some of the factors lost together with free cholesterol, especially pregnenolone and progesterone."

September 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Milk components support efficient energy use

"Milk provides lactose, which is quickly metabolized into glucose, as well as small amounts of other substances, including progesterone and thyroid hormone, which promote their efficient use."

September 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Progesterone as the predominant female hormone with benefits for brain structure and function

"In terms of quantity, progesterone is the most important female hormone, and progesterone improves the structure and function of the brain."

Nutrition For Women

Testosterone: Stability and low adaptability in men

"The primary male hormone, testosterone, has chemical and functional properties of both estrogen and progesterone. This combined function gives men short-term stability (less goiter, migraine, etc.) but lower adaptability in the long term (higher mortality in infancy and old age)."

Nutrition For Women

Substances that counteract estrogen in cancer therapy

“Anything that causes tissue atrophy tends to produce cancer. The important question is: What can induce differentiation and useful functions in cancer cells? There are many substances that promote differentiation and counteract the effects of estrogen, and some of these have proven useful in cancer therapy. Substances that counteract estrogen include dopamine and nickel, prolactin inhibitors; chalones, the tissue-specific proteins that inhibit cell division (and possibly temporarily also the peptides of memory); the aprotic solvents DMF and possibly DMSO; progesterone and testosterone; thyroxine and iodine; magnesium-ATP, the stable form of the biological energy molecule; vitamin A, a protein-sparing nutrient that promotes differentiation, as well as vitamin E (and the closely related coenzyme Q or ubiquinone).”

Nutrition For Women

Increase of estrogen due to stress and effects on male behavior

“Stress leads to an increase in estrogen and a loss of anti-estrogens such as thyroid, progesterone, and (in men) testosterone. Male monkeys that are bullied show reduced testosterone levels, and this effect persists even after their environment improves. The stress of submission seems to lead to an adaptation through passivity. Their passivity prevents further injury, but we do not know how stressful their ongoing subordination is.”

Nutrition For Women

Metabolic inefficiency in the estrogen-dominant state compared to the oxidative state

“Energetically, the estrogen-dominant metabolic state is less efficient than the oxidative state dominated by thyroid and progesterone (or testosterone). The estrogen state is, similar to the state of learned helplessness in rats, parasympathetic, as many chemical balances have shifted away from the mobilized sympathetic or adrenergic state. For example, the estrogen state lowers blood sugar, while the mobilized state conserves glucose by oxidizing fat.”

Nutrition For Women

Personal and observed experiences on the effects of thyroid and progesterone on mood

“The first time I took enough dried thyroid to noticeably get a faster heartbeat, I felt a pleasure that pushed up from my stomach through my chest and made me smile and laugh. When I have observed suicidal women taking thyroid or progesterone, a transformation appears (within an hour with progesterone, several hours or longer with thyroid) from crying to smiling and laughing; they report that unbearable pain is replaced by pleasure.”

Nutrition For Women

Hormonal support for maternal and fetal health in nutritionally stressed situations

"Furthermore, if the mother's overall health is so poor that nutrition alone during pregnancy cannot compensate for lifelong deficiency, the use of hormones could keep the mother in good health during pregnancy and act as a buffer between the fetus and the mother's metabolic instability. In some regions, thyroid hormone would be critical. In all regions, progesterone can improve pregnancy in a large percentage of women."

Nutrition For Women

The effects of progesterone supplementation on fetal development and potential societal benefits

"During pregnancy, progesterone would cost between 2 and 15 dollars. The difference between a passive person with an IQ of 85 and an independent person with an IQ of 130 is very large; if all children in a village could be that healthy, many aspects of society would change."

Nutrition For Women

Progesterone's antagonistic effect on estrogen and tumor regression

"Progesterone is a direct antagonist of estrogen; Lipschuts (and Korenchevsky) have shown that progesterone causes the regression of tumors triggered by estrogen."

Nutrition For Women

The role of the liver in estrogen metabolism and effects on libido

"Normally, the liver treats estrogen like a toxin and removes it immediately from the body. If the liver becomes sluggish due to malnutrition, too much estrogen, or other damage, the hormone can rise to very high levels. Since estrogen acts metabolically antagonistic to progesterone and testosterone, I think the pill could reduce libido by neutralizing these other hormones."

Nutrition For Women

The connection between estrogen dominance and infertility in mice through oxygen availability

"Infertility in mice is also linked to an increased ratio of estrogen to progesterone. My research showed that the likely mechanism by which excess estrogen causes infertility lies in restricting oxygen availability."

Nutrition For Women

The role of progesterone therapy in preventing brain damage and potentially increasing IQ

"In my opinion, the most urgent need for progesterone therapy is to prevent a persistent epidemic of brain damage. Furthermore, many studies have shown that the use of natural progesterone typically increases a child's IQ by about 35 points (although there are reports of consistently 200 IQ) and produces personalities that are more independent, individualistic, confident, self-reliant, and sensitive."

Nutrition For Women

The opposing dynamics between estrogen and progesterone and their biochemical interactions

"This polar opposition of estrogen and progesterone also includes the polar antagonistic effect of cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP as well as, to some extent, a related antagonistic effect on various prostaglandins (it has been suggested that this affects different populations of lysosomes, but I suspect it is related to the superoxide dismutase enzyme system and its inhibition or activation, since one of my tests to determine the effect of estrogen turns out to be an inverse indicator of S.O.D. activity)."

Nutrition For Women

Different effects of progesterone and cortisone on blood sugar, brain stability, and brain aging

"Although both progesterone and cortisone raise blood sugar and stabilize lysosomes, their effects on the brain are very different: in large doses, progesterone acts as a sedative and anesthetic, while cortisone is stimulating and causes brain changes resembling aging."

Nutrition For Women

Modulation of dopamine-serotonin antagonism by progesterone, thyroid, and other factors

"The dopamine-serotonin antagonism (e.g., in the control of prolactin secretion) can be influenced by progesterone, thyroid, and other factors."

Nutrition For Women

Glucose and hormones relieve symptoms of schizophrenia

"Pfeiffer studied the connection of porphyria with certain forms of schizophrenia, but to my knowledge, he did not mention that a good dose of glucose or an anti-estrogen hormone, such as testosterone or progesterone, can make the symptoms disappear."

Nutrition For Women

Biochemical overlaps between lithium and progesterone in thyroid function

"Much of the known biochemistry of lithium overlaps with the effects of progesterone, e.g., aldosterone antagonism. However, while lithium has an anti-thyroid effect, progesterone supports thyroxine secretion and apparently inhibits the formation of reverse T3, which blocks the action of thyroid hormone."

Nutrition For Women

The role of progesterone in various medical conditions

"Although progesterone seems to heal almost everything, we should be cautious and only use it when the biochemical mechanism is quite clear. A progesterone deficiency can be misdiagnosed, for example as epilepsy, Bright's disease, multiple sclerosis, or even estrogen deficiency (as in menopause). It can influence susceptibility to many conditions, including herpes infections, dizziness, perceptual disorders, varicose veins, mastitis, fibroids, and endometriosis. Cyclic edema, depression, and migraines are, in my experience, always stopped by progesterone."

Nutrition For Women

Progesterone therapy in male infertility and athlete infertility

"Progesterone is the precursor (after acetate and cholesterol) of all other steroid hormones, so it can be used in men. It (or its precursor, pregnenolone) has been used for prostatitis, arthritis, and male infertility. However, large amounts would likely suppress LH and reduce testosterone synthesis, while a smaller amount (especially in older men) apparently increases sperm count and motility. In male and female athletes who become infertile, it seems to be the appropriate therapy, usually in combination with thyroid."

Nutrition For Women

Challenges in adequate dosing of Progesterone treatments

"I have distributed about 25,000 doses of Progesterone, and not using sufficient amounts was the most common problem."

Nutrition For Women

Guidelines for the use of Progesterone for symptom treatment and menstrual cycles

"Since Progesterone, aside from altering the menstrual cycle and producing euphoria (up to doses of several grams per day, at which its anesthetic effect occurs), has no known side effects, the basic principle should be to use it in sufficient amounts to make symptoms disappear and to time the application so that menstrual cycles are not disrupted."

Nutrition For Women

The complex role of the estrogen/Progesterone ratio in health

"An excessive estrogen/Progesterone ratio is more generally involved than either a simple estrogen excess or a Progesterone deficiency, yet even this ratio is influenced by other factors including age, diet, other steroids, thyroid, and other hormones."

Nutrition For Women

Stress, seasons, and hormone levels in humans

"Excessive stress (through increased estrogen and/or decreased Progesterone, etc.) can trigger symptoms in someone who never had them before. A summer stay in Alaska with unusually long days can relieve symptoms in a chronic sufferer. Dark, cloudy winters in England or the Pacific Northwest are strong stress factors and lead to lower Progesterone in women and testosterone in men."

Nutrition For Women

Biochemical similarities of Lithium to Progesterone and its effects

"Several of the known biochemical effects of Lithium resemble those of Progesterone, including aldosterone antagonism, modification of serotonin metabolism, increased nerve thresholds, and facilitated excretion of ammonia."

Nutrition For Women

Psychoactive overlaps of Progesterone with DOPA and Bromocriptin

"Other psychoactive substances that have certain overlaps with Progesterone are DOPA and Bromocriptin."

Nutrition For Women

Effects of Progesterone Treatment on Veins and Suicidal Depression

"Just as the veins in the forehead immediately shrink when a large amount of sugar is consumed during a migraine, I have observed that veins (on the back of the hand) disappear with progesterone treatment, exactly at the moment a suicidal depression eases. This suggests that there may be a migraine condition in the blood vessels of the brain's limbic system, but there are also very rapid shifts in brain chemistry."

Nutrition For Women

Effects of Stress on Thyroid and Hormones

"Stress inhibits the thyroid and can lower progesterone (and/or testosterone) while estrogen rises. Recent work by Siiteri and his team shows hormonal involvement in various autoimmune diseases. Women are significantly more susceptible to these diseases than men."

Nutrition For Women

Dalton's Findings on Menopause and Hormonal Imbalance

"Katharina Dalton found that premenstrual symptoms resulting from a relative estrogen excess and progesterone deficiency often persist during menopause as well."

Nutrition For Women

Menopausal Symptoms and Progesterone Deficiency

"Strickler found that only 10% of his patients with menopausal symptoms like hot flashes actually felt an effect from estrogen and benefited when it was given alternately with a placebo. These studies and several dozen others have convinced me that menopausal symptoms mainly result from a progesterone deficiency relative to estrogens. The 10% who truly feel better from estrogen may have an estrogen deficiency, but this was not established, and several other factors could explain the perceived effect. For example, a healthy thyroid responds to increased estrogen with enhanced thyroxine release, which could at least create a different bodily sensation and increase blood sugar, alertness, etc."

Nutrition For Women

Cardiac Effects of Progesterone Comparable to Digitalis

"Digitalis and progesterone have very similar effects on the heart (Szent-Gyorgyi, Muscle Contraction). Digitalis can raise blood pressure and increase urine production, apparently by increasing the tone of the arterioles (Abram, 1910). If the effect of progesterone on muscles includes such an effect on arterioles, the mystery of menopausal – and premenopausal – hot flashes is not a mystery but merely a symptom of progesterone deficiency relative to estrogen."

Nutrition For Women

Nutritional Needs for Regulating Estrogen and Thyroid Function

"In addition to the nutrients needed to regulate estrogen levels (protein and B vitamins) and the nutrients the thyroid needs (e.g., iodine, manganese, and cobalt), special attention should be given to the anti-stress vitamins involved in progesterone synthesis (vitamin A, pantothenic acid, vitamin C, vitamin E), as well as the nutrients known to be depleted by excess estrogen: especially folic acid, zinc, and vitamin B6."

Nutrition For Women

Connection between high cholesterol, hypothyroidism, and heart attacks

"High cholesterol usually indicates low thyroid function. With low thyroid, cholesterol is not efficiently converted into progesterone. The actual cause of heart attacks seems to be hypothyroidism and its consequences, including magnesium loss."

Nutrition For Women

Anti-estrogenic activities of testosterone and progesterone

"Both testosterone and progesterone have direct anti-estrogenic effects."

Nutrition For Women

The role of progesterone in reversing age-related collagen changes

"It has been found that progesterone can reverse the chemical changes in collagen that occur with age."

Nutrition For Women

Normalization of the immune system through testosterone and progesterone

"Some age-related changes are probably related to autoimmune reactions in which the body attacks itself; both testosterone and progesterone normalize the immune system and suppress autoimmune problems."

Nutrition For Women

Dietary habits to promote progesterone formation and thyroid health

"There are several dietary practices that promote the formation of progesterone, but the most effective is to eat liver once a week, use eggs daily, and avoid foods that inhibit the thyroid, such as raw cabbage and broccoli. Butter contains some progesterone."

Nutrition For Women

Protective role of vitamin E for progesterone stability and blood pressure

"One theory about the effect of vitamin E is that it protects progesterone. A recent discovery shows that a prostaglandin (a hormone made from fatty acids) regulates blood pressure through the kidneys – vitamin E protects the fatty acids."

Nutrition For Women

Treatment of stress diseases with progesterone and vitamins instead of cortisone

"Stress diseases typically have a dominant allergic aspect and respond to steroids. Cortisone is used medically but has side effects that could be avoided by progesterone (although medical progesterone usually contains allergy-triggering solvents and preservatives like phenol). Niacin, vitamin A, vitamin C, etc., help in the production of progesterone and therefore often support stress diseases, even though the substances produced themselves can be slightly allergenic."

Nutrition For Women

Normalization of the immune system through steroids and thyroid hormones

"Polyunsaturated oils suppress the immune system and probably suppress symptoms. Steroids (e.g., progesterone) and thyroid hormones normalize the immune system when present in normal amounts."

Nutrition For Women

Effects of thyroid and progesterone on protein synthesis and lactate oxidation

"The relevant effects of the thyroid (especially together with progesterone to promote tissue response to thyroid and block cortisone production) consist of stimulating protein synthesis and preventing lactate formation – or promoting its oxidation, either by the tumor itself or by other tissues, to prevent its entry into the Cori cycle for gluconeogenesis."

Nutrition For Women

Nutritional therapy and hormonal support for abnormal Pap smears

"Many women with abnormal Pap smears, even with a biopsy showing so-called carcinoma in situ, normalized within just two months with a diet that included: 90 g protein, 500 mg magnesium as chloride, 100,000 units vitamin A, 400 units vitamin E, 5 mg folic acid, 100 mg pantothenic acid, 100 mg B6, 100 mg niacinamide, and 500 mg vitamin C, supplemented as needed with thyroid and progesterone. Liver should be eaten twice a week. Some women apply vitamin A directly to the cervix."

Nutrition For Women

Reducing excess prolactin with B6, thyroid, and progesterone

"All effects of excess prolactin (including amenorrhea) that respond to an increase in the DOPA/serotonin ratio can, to some extent, also be achieved by other more readily available means. Vitamin B6, thyroid, and progesterone all have this effect."

Nutrition For Women

The connection between tryptophan, serotonin, prolactin, and acne

"Since tryptophan promotes the formation of serotonin, which stimulates the release of prolactin, and prolactin activates the production of sebum (oil) by the skin, large amounts of milk could promote acne, especially with a deficiency in B6, thyroid, progesterone, etc."

Nutrition For Women

Central regulation of estrogen and its connection with key body factors

"Estrogen is centrally or critically regulated – by the liver. Estrogen, progesterone, iodine, sugar, and stress are closely interconnected."

Nutrition For Women

Unique ability of progesterone to regenerate the thymus

"Progesterone is the only steroid hormone I know of that promotes thymus regeneration."

Nutrition For Women

How stress consumes progesterone and affects the menstrual cycle

"Stress consumes progesterone and can cause menstruation to stop."

Nutrition For Women

Cortisol levels and inflammation after menopause

“Suddenly beginning around the time of menopause, cortisol is elevated, probably as a compensation for the lost stabilizing effects of Progesterone and the increased inflammatory processes caused by the lower body temperature.”

November 2020 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Aromatase Activity and Hormonal Effects in Menopause

“Aromatase, the enzyme that produces estrogen, is present in muscles, fat, blood vessels, and many other tissues. Its activity is increased by cortisol and decreased by Progesterone. The altered activity of these two steroids during menopause may explain the sudden rise in degenerative diseases, inflammation, depression, etc.”

November 2020 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Effects of Menopause on Respiratory and Circulatory Health

“Respiratory and circulatory problems increase with menopause, which is associated with rising inflammatory cytokines and cortisol as well as declining Progesterone and thyroid hormone levels. Both thyroid and Progesterone are thermogenic and lower estrogen levels.”

November 2020 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Standard Treatment of Atrial Fibrillation versus Thermogenic Agents

“The standard treatment for atrial fibrillation involves destroying part of the heart’s conduction system, called ablation, which costs more than $25,000 in the USA and leads to heart failure in a very high percentage of cases. Correcting the problematic prolonged QT interval with thermogenic agents like Progesterone, thyroid, and aspirin (Korkmaz-Icéz, et al., 2016) receives no interest in the professional community.”

November 2020 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Dietary Thermogenesis and Endogenous Energy Regulation

“Dietary thermogenic factors include sodium, calcium, Vitamin D, carbohydrates, especially sugar, and protein, which interact with our endogenous energy regulatory factors, especially thyroid and Progesterone.”

November 2020 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Reversing Age-Related Changes Through Deep Slow-Wave Sleep

“Many of the changes caused by daily stress are reversed during deep slow-wave sleep. The amount of slow-wave sleep decreases with age. Some animal studies have shown that artificially extended sleep phases can reverse some of the biggest problems of aging. Progesterone can increase the amount of slow-wave sleep, probably due to its effect on body temperature.”

November 2020 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Old Skin, Progesterone, and Vitamin D

“It has been known for several decades that the production of Progesterone and DHEA steadily decreases with age, and in recent years it has been observed that aged skin produces only half as much Vitamin D in sunlight as young skin. Old skin contains about half as much cholesterol as young skin, so it is not surprising that the substances derived from it are also reduced.”

November 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Synergy of Cholesterol and Progesterone

"The functions of cholesterol resemble those of progesterone in many ways. For example, in the pregnant uterus, the relaxing effect of progesterone is supported by cholesterol (Smith, et al., 2005). In the brain, nerve excitation by glutamic acid is controlled by the uptake protein that binds this neurotransmitter, and the function of this protein depends on cholesterol; a reduction in cholesterol prolongs nerve excitation."

November 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Methods to Reduce Cholesterol Ester Formation

"In addition to eliminating polyunsaturated fats (n‑3 and n‑6) from the diet to reduce the formation of cholesterol esters and lessen the decline in cholesterol synthesis with age, supplementation with progesterone is one way to reduce ester formation (Synouri‑Vrettakou and Mitropoulos, 1983; Miller and Melnykovych, 1984; Jeng and Klem, 1984; Mulas, et al., 2011; Anchisi, et al., 2012). Lidocaine is another inhibitor of cholesterol ester formation (Bell, 1981; Bell, et al., 1982), which is probably useful in some degenerative diseases."

November 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Prenatal Influences on Brain Development and Adaptability

"Experiments over the last 60 years have shown that more or less glucose, carbon dioxide, heat, and progesterone during embryonic and fetal development can influence brain growth as well as how the brain controls future development and adaptability."

November 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Compounds That Mitigate the Harmful Effects of Carbon Monoxide

"Safe agents that reduce carbon monoxide or protect against its effects include methylene blue, caffeine, aspirin, progesterone, and red light."

November 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Understanding the Antagonistic Effect of Progesterone

"In the 1970s, after I learned to view progesterone as an antagonist of estrogen,"

November 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Stress Affects Estrogen and Progesterone

"Ovarian injuries or systemic stress tend to reduce progesterone production while the body's estrogen production increases."

November 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Thymus Gland Atrophy: Causes and Restorative Agents

"Factors that cause atrophy of the thymus gland include cortisol and other glucocorticoid hormones, estrogen, prostaglandins, polyunsaturated fatty acids, lipid peroxidation, nitric oxide, endotoxin, hypoglycemia, and ionizing radiation. Progesterone and thyroid hormone support the restoration of the thymus gland and provide protection by counteracting all these atrophy factors. Increasing sugar content in the diet can correct some of the metabolic changes of aging."

November 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Importance of Various Orthomolecules for Maintaining Cell and Protein Stability

“Other orthomolecules besides niacin would be potassium, vitamin E (improves oxygen supply, facilitates cellular storage of proteins), inositol (stabilizer of cells and proteins against denaturation or dehydration, Webb, 1965), the other B vitamins, vitamin C, anabolic steroids (for example androgens and progesterone, ginseng, eleutherococcus), to promote protein synthesis and the storage of potassium, creatine, and ATP.”

Mind And Tissue – Russian Research Perspectives on the Human Brain

Stress-Induced Exosome Production and Protective Factors

“Exosome production during stress is part of the body's normal regenerative function (Zhang, et al., 2017); only when protective factors like progesterone and carbon dioxide are lacking does their production become counterproductive.”

May 2020 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

The Role of Progesterone as a Calcium Channel Blocker

“Progesterone and its neuroactive metabolites, including tetrahydroprogesterone or allopregnanolone, are very effective calcium channel blockers (Todorovic, et al., 2004; Pathirathna, et al., 2005; Hu, et al., 2007). A main function of progesterone is the inactivation of the estrogen receptor; estrogen and its receptor are strong activators of cellular calcium uptake.”

May 2020 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Progesterone and Vitamin D in Nerve Function Recovery

“Studies on the effects of progesterone on nerve function recovery after traumatic brain injury have shown that vitamin D enhances its effectiveness. By improving calcium homeostasis and counteracting the effects of parathyroid hormone, which activates calcium channels, vitamin D (25-hydroxycholecalciferol) is increasingly considered a neurosteroid (Groves, et al., 2014; Gezen-Ak and Dursun, 2019) and is also an essential factor for the immune system.”

May 2020 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Effect of Progesterone on Allopregnanolone Levels in the Brain

“Taking progesterone reliably increases allopregnanolone levels in the brain, with a small oral dose of progesterone tripling the concentration of allopregnanolone (196% increase) (Andréen, et al., 2006). Supplementation with pregnenolone also increases allopregnanolone.”

May 2019 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

CRH, Aromatase, and Hormonal Interactions

“CRH activates aromatase and creates a potential vicious cycle, but progesterone can prevent this effect (Roy, et al., 1999). CRH inhibits progesterone production while simultaneously increasing estrogen.”

May 2019 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Estrogen, Progesterone, and Animal Connective Tissue

“A.V. Everitt reviewed studies on rabbits that showed endogenous estrogen increased the stiffness of their connective tissue during pregnancy, but the continued elevated progesterone production between litters reversed this effect. It was found that the connective tissue of animals that had many litters appeared younger than the tissue of age-matched animals that had never been bred.”

May 2019 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Progesterone Levels After Birth and Brain Recovery

“In healthy women, progesterone is significantly higher after birth than before pregnancy – seven times higher in plasma, three times higher in cerebrospinal fluid (Datta, et al., 1986). This corresponds to the phase of brain restoration.”

May 2019 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Positive influence of progesterone on brain development

“Many studies over the past 60 years have shown the positive effects of progesterone on brain development – it enlarges the brain, thickens the cerebral cortex, increases resilience to injury, and improves functional quality.”

May 2019 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

The role of cholesterol in neurosteroid production

“Cholesterol is the precursor of pregnenolone, progesterone, and other neurosteroids, and its own properties include stabilizing effects similar to those of progesterone.”

May 2019 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Progesterone after birth and brain health

“With insufficient cholesterol, it is unlikely that the normally high progesterone concentrations after birth will be maintained, and instead of brain restoration, the various proinflammatory effects of serotonin and estrogen will dominate, with effects such as depression, joint pain, anxiety, and brain edema.”

May 2019 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Factors for healthier pregnancies and life after birth

“The main factors that can be optimized with existing means. Healthier pregnancies lead to a healthier and happier life after birth. Some of these factors are sunlight, vitamin D, milk, cheese, eggs, fruit, and well-cooked vegetables, fiber-rich foods, as well as optimizing thyroid function and pregnenolone and progesterone (which support mitochondrial function, provide protection against aldosterone, parathyroid hormone, excess serotonin, CRK, and cortisol, and additionally increase allopregnanolone), as well as the use of the safest anti-inflammatory and antiserotonergic medications, such as aspirin and cyproheptadine, when needed.”

May 2019 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Environmental factors that may contribute to autism

“Among the environmental factors or substances produced in response to environmental stress that could cause autism are prenatal and neonatal radiation exposure, including isotopes from the energy industry, bomb tests, Chernobyl, and Fukushima; exposure to air pollution, including nitrogen oxides, ozone, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and particulates (Jung, et al., 2013); aluminum (Mold, et al., 2018), lead, mercury, manganese, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, manganese, and nickel (Windham, et al., 2006); acetaminophen, infections, endotoxin, exogenous and endogenous estrogens, hypothyroidism, progesterone deficiency, agmatine deficiency, serotonin excess, endogenous nitric oxide (Sweeten, et al., 2004), and vitamin D deficiency.”

May 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Antiexcitotoxic substances and the significance of the CO2/lactate ratio

"Antiexcitotoxic substances include progesterone, memantine, minocycline, and agmatine. A high ratio of CO2 to lactate, which lowers intracellular pH, is important to prevent excessive excitability. Thyroid hormone not only directly increases energy and the CO2/lactate ratio but also tends to raise brain temperature and increase the ratio of progesterone to estrogen."

May 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Oxidative processes and factors of enzyme regulation

"The oxidative processes that support the targeted, creative functioning of the organism optimize CO2 by inhibiting carbonic anhydrase; this enzyme is inhibited by thyroid hormone T3, progesterone, urea, caffeine, antipsychotic drugs, and aspirin. Substances that tend to revert to primitive anaerobic energy production activate the enzyme – for example serotonin, tryptophan, cysteine, histamine, estrogen, aldosterone, HIF, SSRIs, angiotensin, and parathyroid hormone."

March 2020 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Beneficial effects of various substances in healthcare

"Like intracellular ATP, an adequate amount of progesterone, T3, urea, and carbon dioxide each have a variety of beneficial effects, both individually and in combination. Together with their synergistic nutritional, botanical, and pharmacological substances, their use could fundamentally change the nature of healthcare."

March 2020 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Fundamental substance combinations instead of specific drugs

"Combinations of substances such as CO2, progesterone, angiotensin receptor blockers, acetazolamide, and aspirin, which influence fundamental properties of the organism, are suitable for a variety of problems currently treated with drugs considered specific to certain diseases. The goal should be to support the patient's recovery, not to eliminate a disease."

March 2020 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Role of aspirin and progesterone in combating insomnia

"Taking aspirin before bedtime to inhibit prostaglandin synthesis is probably helpful for age-related insomnia. Progesterone and vitamin E act in different ways to prevent excessive stimulation by prostaglandins."

March 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Age-related changes in the brain intensified by estrogen

"With age, iron and polyunsaturated fats accumulate in the brain. Estrogen slows the removal of dopamine, thereby increasing the possibility that it reacts toxically with iron and highly unsaturated fats, especially arachidonic acid and DHA; it also promotes the formation of prostaglandins and nitric oxide. The opposing effects of progesterone likely explain the lower incidence of Parkinson's disease in women compared to men."

March 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Protective factors in Parkinson's generally act against estrogen

“Factors likely to protect against Parkinson’s disease include those that generally protect against estrogen and inflammatory-degenerative processes: progesterone, minocycline and other anti-inflammatory antibiotics, agmatine, aspirin, coffee, niacinamide, citrus flavonoids, vitamin D, ACE inhibitors, as well as fiber-rich, antiseptic foods.”

March 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Protective Effect of Progesterone on the Brain

“Animal studies since the 1950s have clearly shown the protective, stabilizing, and regenerative effects of progesterone on the brain, and the direct effects of progesterone on brain cells have been demonstrated in vitro.”

March 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Progesterone Protects Organs

“All organs affected by brain injuries – kidneys, lungs, gut, heart, liver, blood vessels, thymus, bones and bone marrow, endocrine glands – are protected by progesterone.”

March 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Oral Progesterone: Appropriate Response to Severe Stress

“Oral administration of progesterone seems sensible in severe stress, as the gut quickly becomes an amplifier of inflammatory responses.”

March 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Protective Role of Progesterone

“Progesterone (and its metabolites, including allopregnanolone) protects against the harmful changes caused by brain injury.”

March 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Serotonin, MAO, and Hormonal Effects on the Lungs

“If something (like smoking, very high oxygen concentration, or a hormonal imbalance) inhibits MAO activity, the high local serotonin activity can cause pulmonary edema, reduced blood oxygenation, lung fibrosis, and pulmonary arterial hypertension. Estrogen is an important inhibitor of MAO in the vascular endothelium; progesterone has the opposite effect and increases MAO activity.”

July 2019 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Aspirin, Vitamin E, and Progesterone as Anti-Estrogens

“Aspirin, vitamin E, and progesterone can partly be understood as anti-estrogenic substances.”

July 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Protective Effects of Various Substances Against Estrogen Effects

“Aspirin, vitamin E, and progesterone protect against a wide range of harmful factors, in addition to their various antagonistic effects on the estrogen system itself. One of the main effects of progesterone is the suppression or breakdown of the estrogen receptor.”

July 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Common Inhibitors of the Enzyme Carbonic Anhydrase

“Common inhibitors of carbonic anhydrase include mildly oxidizing flavonoids such as apigenin and fisetin, some polyphenols, vitamin B1, vitamin D (Mras, et al., 2012), progesterone (partly by blocking activation by estrogen and aldosterone), and emodin.”

July 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Divergent Metabolic Effects of Estrogen and Progesterone

“Estrogen is stimulating, comparable to excessive temperature increase, and shifts energy production toward glycolysis as well as cell functions toward dedifferentiation and cancer metabolism, while progesterone has opposite effects: it reduces excitation, lowers energy demand, shifts energy production away from inefficient glycolysis; it can restore normal differentiation and reverse cancer characteristics.”

January 2021 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Balancing Heat to Promote Metabolism and Sleep

“Before bedtime, a mild warm bath can compensate for low internal heat production, boost metabolism, increase glycogen stores, and raise progesterone levels, enabling deeper, restorative sleep. However, if the bath is too hot or too long, or if the influence of estrogen is too strong, the increased metabolic rate can further worsen inefficient metabolism, deplete energy reserves, and lead to higher stress hormones. Additional carbohydrates before and during the warm bath improve its therapeutic effect and reduce the risk of heat shock.”

January 2021 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Nutritional Strategies to Preserve Energy Efficiency

“Maintaining high energy efficiency while reducing wasteful excitations has a long tradition in health optimization. Avoiding excessive polyunsaturated fats and phosphates in the diet and regularly supplying the essential nutrients to maintain thyroid and progesterone production is simple. Choosing foods that contain substances protecting against the many known proinflammatory, aging-accelerating processes is relatively easy—for example, citrus fruits contain a wide variety of substances such as nobiletin, naringin, fisetin, and quercetin.”

January 2021 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Independent Progesterone Synthesis and Function in the Brain

“Progesterone is an essential factor for nerve growth, and since the 1990s it has been known that the brain synthesizes it itself and maintains a local progesterone concentration higher than the concentration in the bloodstream.”

January 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

The Role of Progesterone in Energy Processes in the Brain

“It seems likely that a fundamental part of progesterone’s ability to protect the brain from stress is its support of the high-energy mitochondrial oxidation of glucose to carbon dioxide.”

January 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Influence of Metabolism on Time Perception and Behavior

“The experience of time determines our behavior, and our metabolism determines how we experience time. Progesterone, as a central neurosteroid, is a crucial part of our metabolism that shapes our consciousness as it projects itself into time.”

January 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Protective Roles of Progesterone in Energy-Intensive States

"During constructive exploration, energy is abundant, and cells with the highest energy demand are protected by progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, and other steroids."

January 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Progesterone stabilizes cells and improves metabolic functions

"In addition to directly stabilizing internal cell structures, progesterone increases ATP concentration and oxygen consumption, reduces excitatory systems and numerous inflammation-related processes, lowers intracellular calcium concentration, and enhances glucose utilization, leading to increased carbon dioxide production, as well as regulating respiration and pH."

January 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Self-stimulating process of progesterone in ovarian activation

"The presence of progesterone activated the synthetic apparatus of the ovary in a self-stimulating process. (The idea of negative feedback from cybernetics has been largely misinterpreted in endocrinology.)"

January 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Effect of progesterone on the reticular activating system

"The brainstem reticular activating system, responsible for alertness and muscle relaxation, is central to the orienting reflex and responds to progesterone."

January 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Progesterone increases REM sleep and indicates continuous orienting

"It has been suggested (Sanford, et al., 1993) that the presence of these waves in REM sleep indicates that the brain is in a state of more or less continuous orienting. When progesterone is administered during sleep, it increases the duration of REM sleep."

January 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Enriched environments and progesterone act additively

"The pro-cognitive effects of an enriched environment and progesterone can partially substitute for each other and act additively."

January 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Environmental enrichment lowers estrogen and glucocorticoids

"Both estrogen and stress-induced elevated glucocorticoids are reduced by environmental enrichment, allowing progesterone to act with less interference."

January 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Protective substances against the effects of impaired glucose oxidation

"Other substances that protect against the effects of hypoglycemia or impaired glucose oxidation include progesterone, caffeine, certain anesthetics including xenon, niacinamide, agmatine, and carbon dioxide."

January 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Defense mechanisms against nitric oxide: the nutritional approach

"Among the most important defense mechanisms against nitric oxide are progesterone, vitamin E, vitamin K, vitamin A, niacinamide, coffee, aspirin, as well as foods containing flavonoids, terpenoids, polyphenols, and sterols. Milk from grass-fed animals contains a variety of polyphenols. Citrus fruits, many tropical fruits (e.g., guavas, longans, and lychees), as well as cooked mushrooms, are good sources of apigenin, naringenin, and related substances."

January 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Non-suppressive effect of progesterone on its own synthesis

"The fact that progesterone (and probably pregnenolone) stimulates its own synthesis means that taking it does not suppress the body's ability to produce it, as is the case with cortisol. Sometimes a single dose or a few doses can restore the body's ability to produce enough on its own."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

Progesterone improves thyroid function against estrogen

"Progesterone also enables the thyroid to secrete its hormones, especially when thyroid function has been inhibited by estrogen."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

The fundamental role of progesterone and DHEA

"Progesterone and DHEA are the precursors of other, more specialized steroid hormones, including cortisol, aldosterone (the sodium-retaining hormone), estrogen, and testosterone."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

Significant function of progesterone during pregnancy

"Very large amounts of progesterone are produced during pregnancy. It practically protects and stabilizes all functions of both the mother and the fetus."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

The role of progesterone in calming cells and preventing seizures

"Part of progesterone's protective effect is based on its calming effect on cells. For example, it tends to prevent seizure activity in brain cells. During birth, its normal function is to act as an anesthetic."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

Higher brain levels of certain hormones decrease with age

"The brain contains significantly more pregnenolone, DHEA, and progesterone than other organs or the blood, and these levels progressively decrease with age."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

Reversal of age-related skin changes and restoration of hair growth by steroids

"Researchers studying the effects of steroids on aging skin found that those steroids that reversed structural age-related changes in the skin (progesterone, testosterone, pregnenolone) also restored hair growth in some cases."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

Understanding hormones for the organism's resilience in the 1930s

"As early as the 1930s, it was well established that the organism's resilience depends on the energy produced through respiration under the influence of the thyroid gland as well as on adrenal hormones, and that pregnancy hormones (especially progesterone) can replace adrenal hormones."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

Effects of stress on hormone production and deficiency conditions

"The stress that can cause a cortisone deficiency is even more likely to disrupt the production of progesterone and thyroid hormone. Therefore, the fact that cortisone can relieve symptoms does not mean that the underlying problem has been resolved."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

Concerns about administering DHEA without hormonal balance

"Since DHEA can easily be converted into testosterone (for example, through the skin) and into estrogen, I consider it problematic to ever administer it alone without an approximately natural balance of pregnenolone and progesterone."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

Pregnenolone as a Precursor and Its Importance for DHEA

"Pregnenolone is the material the body uses to form either progesterone or DHEA. Other natural hormones, including DHEA, have not been studied as long, but the high levels normally present in healthy people suggest that replacement doses to restore these normal levels are unlikely to cause toxic side effects."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

Youthful Appearance and Continued Menstruation Through Progesterone

"A gynecologist I knew gave his wife progesterone from about age 40, and at 60 she looked youthful and was still menstruating."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

Importance of Thyroid, Pregnenolone, and Vitamin E for Fertility

"Thyroid, pregnenolone, and vitamin E are as important for male fertility as thyroid, progesterone, and vitamin E are for female fertility. (For example, additional thyroid hormone and pregnenolone can increase a man's sperm count by overcoming the effects of stress.)"

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

Positive Influence of Progesterone on Brain Growth

"Marion Diamond, who studied the effects of stimulation on rat brain development, found that pregnancy or progesterone treatment—as well as freedom and stimulation—caused brain growth, while estrogen—similar to stress—led to brain shrinkage."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

The Role of Progesterone in Human Evolutionary Traits

"If a particular substance, like progesterone, closely reflects the quality of environmental support and is directly involved in realizing and maintaining our most characteristic human evolutionary traits, we should not diminish its importance just because it is more important for women than for men."

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

Personal Experience: Effects of Progesterone and DHEA on Melanomas

"Years ago, I had some probable melanomas and found that progesterone, DHEA, and increased thyroid function caused them to disappear quickly."

Email Response from Ray Peat

Insufficiently Researched Potential Cancer-Inhibiting Properties of Progesterone

"Progesterone has a broad spectrum of cancer-inhibiting activity, but as far as I know, only synthetic progestins have been used medically. Although I have used it myself on things that looked like very active melanomas, I generally recommend a slightly hyperthyroid state to help with control."

Email Response from Ray Peat

Estrogen Levels and Anti-Estrogenic Factors in Reproduction

"The actual estrogen level rises throughout the reproductive years, and during menopause, the decrease of antiestrogenic factors such as progesterone, thyroid, and DHEA leads to enhanced effects of estrogen."

February 2001

Natural Antagonists in the Treatment of Degenerative Brain Diseases

"Antiendorphins, antiexcitotoxic, anticholinergic, antiserotonergic, antiprostaglandin, and antiglucocorticoid drugs have been used with good effect in various degenerative nervous diseases, but all so-called anti-drugs are imprecise antagonists and have many side effects. Natural antagonists and nutrients are generally helpful. Protein, sodium, magnesium, carbon dioxide/bicarbonate, progesterone, thyroid, vitamins, etc. can have healing effects in many brain diseases."

February 2001

Progesterone as a Defense Against Estrogen

"By reducing the cell's ability to bind estrogen, progesterone acts as a defense against estrogen."

March 2000

Diverse Reactions of Antiestrogenic Systems in the Organism

"There are many antiestrogenic systems (thyroid, progesterone, testosterone, sulfation, methylation, glucuronidation, anti-inflammatory factors, etc.), and the diverse, specific nature of the organism's response to stimulation is probably sufficient to explain different outcomes such as masculinity or femininity, swelling or growth, alertness or mania."

March 2000

Diverse Health Effects and Functions of Progesterone

"The functions of progesterone include antitoxic or katatoxic effects, decongestant and anti-inflammatory effects, as well as antiglucocorticoid and antiprostaglandin actions. When progesterone alleviates a problem, it does not mean that the problem was caused by a progesterone deficiency."

March 2000

Definition of Benevolent Stimulation in Biological Systems

"Broadly outlined, a benevolent stimulation is one that can be met with sufficient energy, good mood, and an adequate amount of progesterone as well as related chemical resources."

March 2000

Dynamics of Estrogen and Progesterone in Imbalances within the Organism

"All the information accumulated over the last century about estrogen leads to the view that it serves the organism to create a temporary and local imbalance and to drive cells into activity. An important factor for integrating this temporary imbalance into the life of the organism is the way destabilizing excitation and the restoration of stability – for example through the production of estrogen and progesterone – relate to each other. Estrogen stimulates the formation of progesterone, and progesterone lowers the concentration of estrogen."

March 2000

Antiestrogens and their protection against tissue stress

"If estrogen can cause edema in any tissue, then antiestrogens like progesterone can probably protect against stress in any tissue."

January 2000 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

The role of the thyroid in sleep and energy production

"Since I started taking thyroid hormone, I immediately became a good sleeper, and I had seen that thyroid alone could cure insomnia in most people (sometimes, as a doctor described his experience, better than morphine). So I began to understand that the adrenaline disrupting sleep was a sign of poor energy production and that the things restoring sleep – for example thyroid, salt, sugar, protein, and progesterone – directly affected the cells' energy production."

January 2000 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Natural factors for correcting edema and cell function

"Thyroid, protein, sodium, and magnesium correct most edema. Progesterone acts on mitochondria by increasing respiratory efficiency, and on structural proteins by altering their ion affinities. This synergizes with other natural factors to normalize permeability and water regulation."

January 2000 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

The role of progesterone in kidney blood flow and mineral regulation

"Besides its ability to increase blood flow to the kidneys (and other organs), progesterone plays an important role in mineral regulation, as it acts as a weak aldosterone and protects against both deficiency and excess of this adrenal hormone."

January 2000 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Neuroprotection against excitotoxicity and excess intracellular calcium

"The neuroprotective steroids progesterone and pregnenolone, as well as magnesium and carbon dioxide, protect against excitotoxicity and the associated excess of intracellular calcium, while simultaneously promoting normal calcification."

December 1999 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Sodium, Progesterone, and Glucose in Brain Development

"In the fetus and newborn, sodium promotes growth. Progesterone, sodium, and glucose are often limiting factors for the growth of the baby's brain; when they are missing, cells die instead of growing."

1998 – Ray Peat's Newsletter - 4

Estrogen production in adipose tissue and age-related increase

"Estrogen is produced in fat tissue (Stiterti and MacDonald, 1973; Vermeulen, 1976), whose proportion tends to increase with age when thyroid and progesterone are deficient."

May 1998 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Decline of Thyroid Hormone T3 and Age-Related Effects

"The active thyroid hormone T3 decreases with age, and as a result, the production of pregnenolone and progesterone inevitably declines."

May 1998 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

LH, Growth Hormone, and the Role of Prolactin in Stress and Estrogen

"LH (luteinizing hormone) rises when progesterone or testosterone are lacking, and growth hormone as well as prolactin (which are evolutionarily closely linked) increase under various stress conditions and with estrogenic stimulation."

May 1998 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Decline of Progesterone and Pregnenolone in Aging Men

"Progesterone and pregnenolone also decline in aging men."

May 1998 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Treatment of Scleroderma with Thyroid, Magnesium, and Progesterone

"Men diagnosed with scleroderma have reported to me that their symptoms improved through the use of thyroid and magnesium supplements, Epsom salt baths, as well as topical progesterone and vitamin E. I suspect that the carbon dioxide produced in the mitochondria is the main factor in removing calcium."

1997 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Normalizing Pituitary Function with Progesterone and Thyroid

"Progesterone, thyroid, bromocriptine, and other agents are available to normalize the pituitary gland when it malfunctions."

1997 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Toxicity of Plant Steroid Derivatives and Their Regulation by DHEA and Progesterone

"Digitalis and ouabain are plant steroid derivatives that are toxic to animal cells – especially heart muscle cells – by acting at a site normally regulated by substances like DHEA and progesterone."

September 1995 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Debunking Menopause Myths: Ovarian Function and Hormone Production

"Even people who claim that the ovaries do not fail during menopause describe a theory according to which menopause and its consequences result from the disappearance of eggs in the ovary. This theory is so simple that it can be described in three short sentences – none of which are true: (1) The ovary runs out of eggs; (2) ovulation produces hormones, so the end of ovulation is recognized by the fact that the ovaries no longer produce hormones; (3) menstruation stops because ovulation has stopped. Various conclusions exist around these assumptions: estrogen is the female hormone. Estrogen deficiency accelerates aging. Treatment with estrogen makes one more feminine. Progesterone deficiency is the result of anovulatory cycles."

August–September 1995 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Progesterone deficiency in aging and stress-related infertility

"It is now established that aging animals show a progesterone deficiency at the time they become infertile, while they continue to produce estrogen. Even in young individuals, stress at the time of ovulation can disrupt progesterone production and thus prevent implantation. If progesterone is deficient after embryo implantation, miscarriage occurs."

August–September 1995 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

The role of gonadotropins in ovarian and brain function during aging

"Gonadotropins are involved in the development, maintenance, and function of the ovaries, and their effects depend on their timing, their balance with each other, and the steroids the ovaries produce in response to their stimulation. Their effects are also modified by many other factors—ovarian, neural, pituitary, uterine, and immunological. In youth, this system functions in a coordinated way, with ovulation as the result. In aging, the key changes seem to lie in a reduced ability of the ovaries and brain to produce progesterone."

August–September 1995 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Progesterone as an antiandrogen and its influence on hormone development

"Progesterone is an antiandrogen and blocks the effects of testosterone. When newborn or very young rats are given testosterone, a male pattern of hormone development occurs; however, if progesterone is given simultaneously, this does not happen. Progesterone prevents differentiation from the basic female developmental pathway toward male specialization."

August–September 1995 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Progesterone deficiency and masculinizing traits in women

"Later in life, a progesterone deficiency in a woman can again lead to the masculinization of certain traits, such as muscle mass as well as facial or body hair."

August–September 1995 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Estrogen excess, androgens, and defeminization during menopause

"During menopause, an excess of estrogen combined with the absence of progesterone can promote the production of androgens, which tends to defeminize the woman. This is often a result of stress and sometimes a consequence of hypothyroidism. In such situations, it becomes clear that estrogen is not a feminizing hormone; it is unable to neutralize the male hormones the body produces in response to the estrogen excess."

August–September 1995 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Importance of anti-catabolic steroids in the brain

"The other anti-catabolic steroids, pregnenolone, progesterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), are present in larger amounts and are of more general importance than testosterone, especially in the brain, where their concentration is very high."

June 1992 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Positive effect of progesterone on heart function

"Albert Szent-Györgyi showed that the heart responds to progesterone, and recent research has provided evidence that DHEA is our endogenous digitalis."

June 1992 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Progesterone activates the respiratory center against stress

"Under stress, even the brain's respiratory center becomes underactive and tolerates a state of hypoxia. Since progesterone activates the respiratory center, the suppressed breathing during stress is consistent with a progesterone deficiency."

June 1992 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Systems that counteract the toxic effects of adrenaline

"There are several systems that counteract the toxic effects of adrenaline. GABA, dopamine, and adenosine have diverse anti-adrenergic effects. In many situations, the parasympathetic system acts protectively against adrenaline. Protective steroids also act on multiple levels. Magnesium, which is mostly retained in the cell under the influence of ATP and the thyroid, is our fundamental calcium blocker or calcium antagonist. GABA and dopamine inhibit the ACTH-glucocorticoid system and shift the steroid balance toward the protective anti-glucocorticoids progesterone, testosterone, pregnenolone, and DHEA."

June 1992 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Age-related decline of brain-stabilizing hormones

"With increasing age, pregnenolone and its derivatives, progesterone and DHEA, decline sharply. The brain, the organ with the highest concentration of these stabilizing substances, has many systems to adapt to their decreasing concentration, but the immune system is probably less able to compensate for these age-related changes."

August–September 1992 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Age-related decline of brain-stabilizing hormones

"Vitamin A regulates lysosomes, so a deficiency can promote the accumulation of intracellular waste. It is an antioxidant, which is why a deficiency tends to induce stress-hypoxia proteins, and it is widely used for steroid synthesis (for example, progesterone supplementation preserves Vitamin A). Perhaps most importantly, however, is the dedifferentiation that occurs in many cells during a Vitamin A deficiency. In the skin and mucous membranes, a Vitamin A deficiency acts like an estrogen excess and promotes keratin formation."

August–September 1992 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Age-related decline of brain-stabilizing hormones

"Progesterone has the special status of an essential nerve growth factor and generally blocks the catabolic effects of glucocorticoids and estrogen. This protects all tissues, from brain cells to white blood cells."

August–September 1992 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Calming effects of progesterone and thyroid hormone

"Both progesterone and triiodothyronine function to increase the energy supply to tissue and can have a stabilizing, calming effect in appropriate doses."

June 1991 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Treatment of stimulant withdrawal with specific substances

"Camphor, adamantanamine (amantadine, Symmetrel), and locally acting anesthetics taken systemically can help with stimulant withdrawal. The usual dose of camphor and adamantanamine (200 mg) should not be exceeded. (The hormones thyroid, progesterone, and pregnenolone alone are sometimes sufficient.)"

June 1991 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Alkaloids and hormones in the treatment of PMS symptoms

"Alkaloids are often effective in altering the water content of physical systems as well as cells. The alkaloids often used in the treatment of PMS seem to promote improved oxygen supply and the reduction of edema. I suspect that these substances, as well as the natural hormones progesterone and pregnenolone, act in the same direction as hyperosmolarity."

July 1991 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Anti-stress effects of GABA and promotion of progesterone

"The most important inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain is GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid), which is closely related to asparagine and succinic acid. GABA has many anti-stress effects in addition to its direct calming effect on the brain. For example, it causes insulin binding, which prevents some of the sugar from being converted into fat, and it promotes the production of progesterone, which protects many systems from harmful overactivity."

January 1991 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Anticholinergic drugs: Effects on brain and hormone production

"Excessive cholinergic activity can itself cause brain damage. The anticholinergic drugs amantadine (Symmetrel) and atropine (related to the substances in thorn apple/Jimson weed) have been used to treat Parkinson's disease. Atropine was previously listed as an antidote for many poisonings, probably because of its stabilizing effect on the nerves. It also promotes the production of the protective hormone progesterone."

January 1991 – Ray Peats Newsletter

Decline of Protective Hormones in the Aging Brain

"In young people, the brain contains a very high concentration of pregnenolone and its derivatives DHEA and progesterone. All these substances stabilize cells and protect against the effects of cortisol. However, with age, they drop to about 5% of their normal concentration, exposing the brain to the destructive effects of cortisol."

January 1991 – Ray Peats Newsletter

Decline of Protective Hormones in the Aging Brain

“The brain’s content of progesterone, pregnenolone, and DHEA is normally 20 to 30 times higher than the serum concentration, and these hormones protect against both estrogen and cortisone.”

April 1991 – Ray Peats Newsletter

Vitamin E Extends Fertility in Aging Hamsters

“Professor Soderwall and his students at the University of Oregon had shown that the corpora lutea (areas in the ovary that mainly produce progesterone) apparently fail in aging hamsters and that vitamin E supplements could significantly extend fertility.”

October 1990 – Ray Peats Newsletter

Oxygen Consumption and Estrogen in Aging Uterine Lining Tissue

“I found that the endometrium (the uterine lining) of older animals often consumed oxygen at a high rate and showed other signs of being under the influence of too much estrogen. As I tried to understand this, I realized that several things can contribute to high oxygen consumption. Either too much estrogen or too little progesterone can have the same effect, since the ratio between these hormones controls their effects. A vitamin E deficiency increases oxygen consumption, and too much unsaturated fat has the same effect.”

October 1990 – Ray Peats Newsletter

The Unique, Harmless Nature of Progesterone as an Anti-Stress Steroid

“(Progesterone is unusual among anti-stress steroids because it has no harmful side effects.)”

October 1990 – Ray Peats Newsletter

Treating Degenerative Diseases with Anti-Estrogen Hormones

“Many degenerative diseases arise under the influence of too much estrogen and cortisone (and as a result of the many metabolic changes that occur after exposure to these hormones). Many of these diseases – especially those that appear after puberty and are more common in women – can be very effectively treated with anti-estrogen and anti-stress hormones like progesterone.”

October 1990 – Ray Peats Newsletter

Estrogen Treatment and the Shock Phase of the Stress Response

“Hans Selye pointed out that estrogen treatment mimics the first, shock phase of the stress response. An excess of estrogen (or any stressor) causes the pituitary gland to release prolactin and ACTH, and both hormones act on the ovaries, causing progesterone production to stop.”

October 1990 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Effects of Cholesterol on the Production of Protective Hormones

“The highest cholesterol concentration in the body is found in the brain. The cholesterol level in the blood strongly influences the production of protective hormones like progesterone.”

October 1990 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Effects of Light on the Normalization of Hormone Production

"Light also increases the activity of normal respiratory enzymes and tends to normalize (or maximize) the production of hormones – including progesterone and thyroid hormones."

October 1990 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Positive feedback systems with progesterone and thyroid hormones

"The existence of some positive feedback systems (self-stimulation) suggests, however, that our fundamental structure is oriented toward expansion and upward development. Progesterone (and its precursors pregnenolone and cholesterol) as well as thyroid hormones are involved in some important positive feedback systems that affect energy production, stress resistance, and brain growth."

October 1990 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

The role of vitamin A in steroid formation and the immune system

"Although one of the important functions of vitamin A is its involvement in the formation of the steroids pregnenolone and progesterone (both of which dampen the effect of cortisol), it also has some hormone-like effects directly on immune system cells: It stimulates the production of interleukin-2, inhibits the formation of certain suppressor cells, and limits the strength of suppressor cell activation."

November 1989 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

The protective effects of pregnenolone and progesterone in autoimmune diseases

"Pregnenolone and progesterone conserve vitamin A, in addition to their direct protective effect on the thymus. They also have a very general protective effect, which Selye called 'katatoxic.' Both hormones have been effectively used to treat various autoimmune diseases. They tend to increase body temperature and metabolic rate while being antikatabolic."

November 1989 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Hormonal antagonist against the immunosuppressive effects of estrogen

"Vitamin A, thyroid hormones, progesterone, and the related steroid dehydroepiandrosterone all counteract estrogen, which has several immunosuppressive effects – including cortisol-like thymus atrophy, reduced T-cell activity, decreased production of gamma-interferon and interleukin-2, as well as reduced natural killer cell activity. It likely also plays a role in the development of some autoimmune diseases."

November 1989 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

The antiviral effect of natural anesthesia systems

"For at least 80 years, people have observed a connection between anesthesia and the elimination of viral infections. We have at least three natural anesthesia systems, namely the GABA system, endorphins, and steroids (especially progesterone). Very likely, these are just three aspects of a single system. Close analogs of the GABA system are already known to have antiviral effects."

June 1988 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Non-toxic treatments, including progesterone and dietary supplements

"Camphor, progesterone, supplements, and artificial fever have even fewer side effects than penicillin and should be tested much more widely. GABA analogs have – besides being non-toxic – the added advantage of being very cheap. In the pharmaceutical-bureaucratic world, however, this was all too often a fatal flaw."

June 1988 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Progesterone's potential to replace vitamin A

"To a very large extent, progesterone could replace vitamin A – that is, a very large portion of the vitamin A used by the body is consumed to form progesterone, from which the other steroid hormones then arise."

January 1988 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Lowering estrogen to treat leukoplakia with support from progesterone

"An optimal treatment for leukoplakia would include a program that lowers the chronically elevated baseline level of estrogen while simultaneously promoting progesterone synthesis. The body naturally moves in this direction when it receives the right support. With sufficient protein intake (e.g., eggs, milk, cheese, shellfish, liver, etc.), the liver in an otherwise healthy organism removes estrogen completely from the blood on the first pass."

January 1988 – Ray Peats Newsletter

The role of thyroid hormones in estrogen elimination and progesterone production

"While thyroid hormones promote the elimination of estrogen, they are also essential for the production of progesterone. Vitamin A (together with cholesterol) is consumed in large amounts by the corpus luteum when thyroid hormone supply is adequate."

January 1988 – Ray Peats Newsletter

Bright light supports progesterone synthesis

"A lot of bright light helps maintain progesterone synthesis."

January 1988 – Ray Peats Newsletter

Anesthetic steroids as potential antiviral agents

"The fact that the body is well supplied with substances that – at slightly higher concentrations – act as anesthetics, and that are depleted by those stresses which predispose to viral infections, suggests that they might normally have camphor-like antiviral activity. Some of these substances, the anesthetic steroids, have been described as effective in preventing certain viral infections, and they also have a broad spectrum of antitoxic effects.!® Pregnenolone, progesterone, DHEA, and pregnanediol are all good candidates as antiviral drugs, but etiocholanolone – which also causes fever! – is the most interesting within the group."

August/September 1988 – Ray Peats Newsletter

Anesthetic steroids reduce cortisol release and damage

"Anesthetic steroids, especially progesterone, usually reduce the need to release cortisol and at the same time act as a protective buffer against the harmful effects of cortisol."

August/September 1988 – Ray Peats Newsletter
Back to the blog

Supplements according to Ray Peat

1 4