This is not a short, but it’s good!

Excerpt Taken from “Taming the Dragon Within, How to Balance Women’s Hormones with Essential Oils” book!

“When we speak of women’s hormones, we are referring primarily to estrogen & progesterone. Generally speaking, the majority of women have an excess of estrogen and a serious deficiency in progesterone.

I want to address the role of progesterone first. A woman needs progesterone to get pregnant and stay pregnant. It PRO-motes GES-tation. PROGES-terone.

If the progesterone level in the body is too low, either the ovaries will not release their eggs or the egg when fertilized cannot attach correctly to the lining of the uterus. A natural progesterone serum such as Progessence Plus from Young Living may help boost progesterone to normal levels.

Progesterone is produced in the ovaries (in the corpus luteum, following ovulation), the adrenal glands and, during pregnancy, in the placenta. Progesterone is also stored in adipose (fat) tissue.

Let me explain why progesterone is so critically important in the female body, even for women who are menopausal, or don’t have periods, or who even have had a hysterectomy.

Exciting discoveries have recently shown that progesterone is necessary for all women and even some young girls, because there are hormone receptors on individual cells, maybe all cells, throughout the body, acting as gateways for progesterone to enter the cell. This is especially true for ‘female’ areas of the body.

Progesterone is also a neurosteroid, meaning that it is produced and used in the nervous system in addition to the reproductive system.

It has been found the neurosteroids such as progesterone affect the synaptic functioning and the myelination of the nerves – in other words, the ability of nerves to carry signals. And progesterone is a significant actor in the brain. As a matter of fact one study found that fully a third of the women who have epileptic seizures had low levels of progesterone. Epileptic drugs didn’t help control their seizures but an increase of progesterone did.

Progesterone may also play an important role in memory and cognitive ability, raising the possibility that some women with Alzheimer’s may simply have low levels of progesterone.

PROGESTERONE POST BABY

Progesterone is called a sex hormone not because it increases sexual pleasure or plays a role in reproduction, but because it is prominent in the female gender. Yes, even women over 60 do still need progesterone.

Females need progesterone without regard to their reproductive status; it’s part of their female nature.Turning now to the reproductive system, though, we find that after birth the body suddenly goes from a high estrogen state, which was necessary for delivery, to a more balanced state. Failure to increase the level of progesterone can lead to post-partum blues and also low milk supply. I am aware that some doctors say that progesterone as well as estrogen must drop to a low level after delivery, but my experience says that women often need more progesterone. Progesterone supplementation will not harm the baby, before or after birth, and in fact is critical to the health of the embryo. Progesterone also just might increase your milk supply! The breast is full of progesterone receptors!

PROGESTERONE + ESTROGEN HAVE TO BE TOGETHER AT THE SAME TIME

I want to say a little bit about progesterone receptors. As noted above, a receptor is a gateway for something to enter the cell. It is protein based. It needs what is called a ligand to hold the hormone or the mineral or other nutrient to enter the cell.

• In the case of progesterone receptors, first estrogen has to attach to the receptor.
• Then, progesterone attaches to the estrogen.
• Then the chemical reaction can take place in the cell that the hormones were sent to start.

If progesterone isn’t there, the estrogen will inhibit the chemical process, and if it stays there long enough without the progesterone attaching, it can incite the cell to mutate, causing cancer or tumors.

This is why progesterone has to ‘oppose’ or ‘contest’ estrogen. It means they have to work together! It isn’t one or the other in the body at once; it is both at the same time, in proper balance.

ESTROGEN

Now, let’s turn to the subject of estrogen. Estrogen is just as vital for a woman as progesterone, but the tendency among American women nowadays is toward a state of excess estrogen, so it has acquired a reputation as a troublemaker.

Estrogen is responsible for ‘feminizing’ women’s bodies,

• for preparing the uterus for pregnancy,
• for maintaining skin, blood vessels and bones
• as well as genitourinary tissues and
• for various other functions throughout the body, including memory.
• It also increases fat storage and water retention.
• At elevated levels, estrogen exaggerates its normal effects, for example, making you too fat, or making lumpy or fibrocystic breasts or even causing breast cancer. (The great majority of breast cancers need estrogen to grow.).
• It makes you crave sweets.
• It can cause migraines and insomnia,
• weaken libido,
• inhibit orgasm and
• depress the thyroid (leading to tiredness and a lack of energy),
• and it can promote nervousness and jitters.
• And if that weren’t enough, it stores in body fat.

The question is why people today have excessive amounts of estrogen.

A significant reason comes from outside of the endocrine system. An unfortunate fact of modern life is our constant exposure to XENO-estrogens in our food and environment.

Though derived from petroleum in laboratories, they are similar enough in structure to human estrogen to interfere with normal biological functions. Petroleum is not alive, and things made from petroleum are not alive, so why would we want them contaminating our bodies?

XENOESTROGENS

Xenoestrogens are present in some

• additives,
• hormones fed to animals that we later eat,
• insecticides,
• weed killers,
• plastics,
• shampoos,
• lining of canned food and drinks (BPA),
• cosmetics,
• detergents,
• and a host of other chemicals.

Hormone replacement treatments and oral contraceptives made from horse urine are another class of xenoestrogens.

Being fat-soluble like natural estrogens and steroids, xenoestrogens are readily stored in fatty tissues of the body.

Note: This is also why YL Sulfurzyme is SO incredible for intra-cellular detox, it makes fat soluble ‘junk’ water soluble and flush out of your system and why some folks have a detox reaction at first.

Also, why the petro-chemical (petroleum and plastics) detox is so incredible for our bodies!

Following their original use for whatever purpose like plastics, xenoestrogens typically end up polluting our water, where they are picked up by fish and wildlife – and people and includes that portion of food additives and contraceptives (and other pharmaceuticals) we ingest and don’t metabolize. Thus almost everyone is exposed to these artificial substances ‘the second time around,’ even if conscientiously trying to avoid them.

Xenoestrogens can attach to the estrogen receptor sites on cells, causing tumor formation and preventing progesterone from being able to attach properly.

Xenoestrogens also directly impact the reproductive system (in males as well as females) and probably the developing fetus. Obviously, it is vitally important to avoid them in our food and in our environment and to cleanse the body of toxins.

BREAST CANCER

In the breast, xenoestrogens (like natural estrogens) cause cell division, enlarging the breasts.

Too many xenoestrogens mean that when the pituitary sends out its monthly signal to increase estrogen, helping prepare the breasts for lactation, excessive cell division can cause lumps fibrocystic disease or cancer.

If you have a history of estrogen-related cancers (xenoestrogens have been implicated in ovarian cancer as well as breast cancer) it is crucial to take progesterone supplements to assist the body in clearing toxins.

PROBLEM SOLVING XENOESTROGENS

Avoid them!!!

• Ditch all plastics in your house
• NEVER microwave in plastic
• Don’t eat food or store food in plastic containers
• Xenoestrogens are found in the lining of almost all canned foods in the U.S., (look for BPA-free lining at the very least), as well as plastic bottles stamped 3 and 7 on the bottom and things made of polycarbonate plastic.
• Stay far away from weed killers that contain atrazine and insecticides
• Avoid thermal paper receipts and carbonless copy paper
• Watch out for propyl gallate, used as an antioxidant in food products
• Eat real food, nothing processed as much as possible and lots of broccoli that can help lower xenoestrogens in the body
• Wash fruits & veggies before consuming. Use YL’s Thieves fruit & veggie soak.
• Buy a water filter, and make sure it filters out thyroid disrupting fluoride, pharmaceuticals, pesticides and heavy metals found in tap water. Yep. Gross.
• Use progesterone supplements to balance and remove xenoestrogens and excess estrogen from the body. Progesterone can not only restore balance but can also coax excess estrogens and xenoestrogens from fatty tissue. When both are present in excess, the liver will get rid of them.
• Do an annual liver & colon cleanse.”

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