How does progesterone affect fat deposits?

Progesterone and obesity

A woman of 50 years of age turned to a woman's consultation, complaining of excessive completeness. And she gained a lot of extra weight - more than two tens of kilograms for only two years. At the same time the patient led a healthy lifestyle, practiced sports and did not even eat meat.

The patient desperately did not understand what was happening to her. She cared for her health more than anyone else. In her diet were only useful foods and vitamins prescribed by a doctor. Nevertheless, the climacterium caught her by surprise. There began incomprehensible hot flushes, weakness, mood swings, although the monthly ones were still there. True, not as abundant and regular as before. For all these signs, the woman concluded that her condition was associated with menopause.

The patient turned to the doctor for explanations: most of all she was frightened of overweight.

What is the reason?

The doctor asked the patient carefully to find out what the pre-menopausal condition and excessiveness might have been caused. It turned out that the lady was very disciplined: she did not drink any medications without consulting a doctor, did not use hormones and did not use oral contraceptive pills.

But it turned out one fact that shed light on all the changes in the patient's body. It was 2 years ago when she began to recover, a woman was prescribed a cream to relieve the appearance of premenstrual syndrome. In the cream in large doses contained a hormone progesterone.

Not having taken an interest neither diploma, nor a doctor's qualification, the woman began to apply this cream 2 times a day for several months with time intervals every other day.

How did progesterone affect the weight and well-being of the lady?

The most irreversible way. The woman was glad that the symptoms of PMS at first weakened. She had a more even mood, there was no longer any feeling of aggression towards others. Painful sensations during menstruation did not become. And the lady thought that the cream is just magic. Therefore I applied it for a long period, as the "specialist" advised.

The woman remembered when it was already incredibly difficult to lose weight, and the symptoms of PMS were felt. That is, her condition, instead of improving, over time only worsened.

To control weight, she ate less, constantly practiced sports, took a vitamin complex, but felt worse and worse. Lethargy, weakness, increased fatigue did not allow either full-fledged work, nor lead a normal personal life.

After blood tests, the patient found that, in addition to all these symptoms, her blood sugar level increased. Especially high, he became two weeks before menstruation. The woman became worried, suspecting her penchant for diabetes. Was it all about progesterone?

What hormonal tests have shown

When a woman passed a test for hormones, that's what turned out. Her body was too low level of estradiol. On the 20th day of the menstrual cycle, it was only 70 pg / ml - at a normal level of at least 200 pg / ml.

But the level of the hormone progesterone in the woman's blood was a record high - 24 pg / ml. Even for the ovulation cycle, when the level of progesterone is extremely high, it was very much. Doctors determined that the reason for this is the use of a cream with progesterone.

Due to the fact that the woman used this cream often and regularly, the ratio of hormones in the body was disrupted. The ratio of estradiol and progesterone was such that the second suppressed the production of the first. As a result, obesity and poor health.

Negative effect of progesterone

This hormone, predominant in the blood, slowly translated the patient's body into a mode such as during pregnancy. That is, the reserves of adipose tissue became more and more, the resistance of the body to taking sugars declined every day, which provoked the development of diabetes.

For the treatment and restoration of the hormonal balance, the woman needed neither much nor little - as much as 2 years. But the normalization of weight took even more time - it turned out to be a very difficult job.

What threatens progesterone overfeeding

Many pharmacies and doctors advertise creams containing progesterone as a means, magically helping to alleviate the symptoms of PMS. Progesterone is also credited with the properties of improving the condition of bone tissue, preventing such dangerous and unpleasant diseases as osteoporosis, obesity, as well as cardiomyopathy.

In practice, this is not entirely true. Progesterone can really help a woman get rid of many of her problems. But only if you use it in the right doses, and not in excessive.

Other hormones with which progesterone interacts may increase or decrease in doses. And this can affect the body of a woman not in the best way. And then you have to solve those problems that are described above in a patient with excess weight.

How does progesterone work?

This hormone causes a slowdown in metabolism and sets up the body as if it were working during pregnancy. That is, accumulating supplies of nutrients for both mother and future child. And this is the risk of obesity for a not pregnant woman.

An interesting fact: during the gestation of a child progesterone in the body becomes 15 times more than a woman who does not expect a child.

How does the level of progesterone vary in the body?

• The first half of the menstrual phase (when follicles are formed) - progesterone from 0.3 to 0.9 ng / ml.
• 2nd phase: - during ovulation (at this time, the process of isolation of the egg, which begins to secrete progesterone) - 15-30 ng / ml.

Do simple math: during the second phase, the level of progesterone in the body is 30 times higher than in the first phase of the menstrual cycle.

How does progesterone affect weight?

So, during the second phase of pregnancy, progesterone becomes much more. At the physiological level, this dramatically changes the functioning of the organism. The walls of the uterus become thicker to enable protection of the ovum, which is already fertilized.

The woman's placenta at this time begins to produce progesterone intensely. Its elevated rates make a whole revolution in the body in the form of increased fat deposits and, of course, weight gain. Why does a woman need fat? To improve the ability to multiply, because it is the fat tissue that produces sex hormones for better conception and bearing of the fetus.

In addition, fatty tissue is a whole klondike of useful substances, which are necessary both for supporting the mother and for the development of the child. Thanks to progesterone, the maximum amount of useful substances is extracted from adipose tissue, even if there are not very many of them. Progesterone also has the property of exciting appetite. In particular, to flour and sweet. Naturally, it does not add harmony.

Progesterone, launched into the body of a woman artificially, that is, in the form of a cream or pill, has the same effect as a natural hormone during pregnancy. Draw conclusions.

How does progesterone affect the stomach?

He has the ability to work on the muscles of the intestines, relaxing them. Then the stomach can hold more food. In addition, intestinal muscles become less elastic, and food passes through it much more slowly than usual.

It is absorbed better, giving away all its useful substances. For the body of a pregnant woman, this is good because it provides nutrition to both the baby and the mother.

But for a woman who is not pregnant, it threatens to increase in weight, because useful substances accumulate in her body for two. Another relaxation of the smooth muscles of the gastrointestinal tract for a woman who does not expect a child is the risk of swelling, accumulation of gases and constipation. That is, the state of health will worsen.

In addition, if there is a large amount of progesterone in the body, the risk of kidney stones and gallstones will increase, as the work of the internal organs slows down. This risk increases doubly if a woman excludes from her diet fiber, which has the ability to remove toxins from the body. Or uses it too little.

What is the difference between the work of progestin and progesterone?

Hormones are biochemical substances that consist of a chain of molecules. Even a small change in the molecule can change the properties of the hormone and convert it to another hormone. Which acts on the human body either positively or negatively. What is the difference between progestin and progesterone?

What is progestogen?

This term denotes a biochemical substance that helps a woman to bear a child. Doctors call this property of the hormone progestational

What is progesterone?

It is a hormone with a progestational property (that is, a property that helps to bear the child). He is in the body of women, and men, and even animals that have a spine.

Progesterone in a woman's body produces a yellow body after ovulation has occurred. It is produced by the placenta (during the bearing of the child). Another source of progesterone - the ovaries and adrenal glands during the preparation of the body for pregnancy.

What are progestins?

These are special molecules whose action is identical to that of progesterone. Only it is more powerful and strong.

The most striking representative of the negative progestin is medroxyprogesterone acetate (deciphered as MPA). He - the reason for weight gain in a woman. Promotes the accumulation of fatty deposits.

It is very important to consider the ratio of progestins and other hormones. It depends on this, how they will act on the woman's body - positively or negatively.

If the progestins act in relation to estrogens and androgens, all organs and systems work normally. If progestins are used without estrogens, the consequences can be the most sad - a set of excess weight, poor health. It is necessary especially to monitor the balance of these hormones with hormone therapy.

Why take hormones in pills?

Very often, in order to adjust the work of the female body, which itself can not accumulate and produce progestins, the patients are prescribed these hormones in capsules, that is, synthetic. For some women, with normal doses of drugs, treatment is normal, with no side effects. But for many patients hormone therapy with artificial, and not naturally produced progestins, ends pitifully.

Appears overweight, hot flashes, like with menopause, and other unpleasant symptoms of hormonal imbalance. In order not to have an increased sense of hunger, brutal appetite and excess weight as a consequence, together with the progestin, a woman can be prescribed norethindrone. This substance is sometimes used in contraceptives. It reduces the feeling of hunger, and the risk of fatty deposits decreases.

How is the figure formed using progesterone?

This hormone can change the outline of the figure and weight. Let's look at how. First of all, progesterone affects the metabolism, used in large doses, slows it down. During the menstrual cycle, the level of hormones in the body has the property of changing - increasing or decreasing. And this shift is quite fast.

In particular, the ratio of testosterone and estradiol varies. These hormones affect the speed and thickness of fat deposits, the speed of absorption and assimilation of food, the level of insulin in the blood, as well as the stress hormone cortisol. The correct ratio of testosterone to estradiol has the ability to influence how quickly the stomach is emptied, how fast the caffeine splits and whether the resistance of the immune system to various infections is great.

The ratio of estradiol and progesterone helps maintain, reduce or increase the body fat reserves in the female body. Hence - the shape of the figure. Will they be elegant or plump, blurred? Depends on the correct ratio of these hormones.

These norms, ratios will be determined by a doctor-endocrinologist.

The balance of estradiol and progesterone also affects the activity of the enzyme, which helps to divide the fat cells (lipase). If the cells divide slowly, the person recovers too slowly. Hormones play different roles in this process.

Estradiol helps fat accumulate less (cells divide more slowly), and progesterone - on the contrary - helps fat accumulate faster (cells divide and multiply faster). Because of this, a woman is much harder to lose weight than a man.