How does progesterone affect fat deposits?

The ability to gain weight without any reason can be caused by a hormone that seems to be beneficial for the body – progesterone. It is responsible for the ability to get pregnant. But it turns out that progesterone can provoke obesity. How does this happen and what can you do to avoid gaining weight?

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Progesterone and Obesity

A 50-year-old patient came to the women's clinic complaining of being overweight. Moreover, she had gained a lot of excess weight - more than twenty kilograms over the course of just two years. At the same time, the patient led a healthy lifestyle, played sports and did not even eat meat.

The patient desperately did not understand what was happening to her. She cared about her health more than anyone else. Her diet consisted only of healthy foods and vitamins prescribed by the doctor. However, menopause took her by surprise. Incomprehensible hot flashes, weakness, mood swings began, although her periods were still there. True, not as heavy and regular as before. Based on all these signs, the woman concluded that her condition was related to menopause.

The patient turned to the doctor for an explanation: what scared her most was her excess weight.

What is the reason?

The doctor carefully questioned the patient to figure out what could have caused the pre-menopausal state and excess weight. It turned out that the lady was very disciplined: she did not take any medications without consulting a doctor, did not use hormones and did not use oral contraceptive pills.

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

Without asking about the doctor's diploma or qualifications, the woman began to use this cream twice a day for several months with time intervals every other day.

How did progesterone affect a woman's weight and well-being?

In the most irreversible way. The woman was glad that the PMS symptoms had initially weakened. She had a more even mood, no longer felt aggression towards others. There were no more painful sensations during menstruation. And the lady thought that the cream was simply magical. Therefore, she used it for a long period, as the "specialist" advised.

The woman came to her senses when it was already incredibly difficult to lose weight, and the symptoms of PMS were making themselves known in full force. That is, her condition, instead of improving, only worsened over time.

To control her weight, she ate less, exercised constantly, took a vitamin complex, but she felt worse and worse. Lethargy, exhaustion, increased fatigue did not allow her to work fully or lead a normal personal life.

After conducting blood tests, the patient discovered that, in addition to all these symptoms, her blood sugar level had increased. It became especially high two weeks before her period. The woman became concerned, suspecting that she had a tendency towards diabetes. Was progesterone to blame for everything?

What did the hormonal tests show?

When the woman took a hormone test, this is what was revealed. Her estradiol levels were too low. On day 20 of her menstrual cycle, they were only 70 pg/ml – with a normal level of at least 200 pg/ml.

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

Because the woman used this cream frequently and regularly, the hormone balance in the body was disrupted. The balance of estradiol and progesterone became such that the latter suppressed the production of the former. The result was obesity and poor health.

Negative effects of progesterone

This hormone, dominating in the blood, gradually transferred the patient's body to a regimen similar to pregnancy. That is, the reserves of fatty tissue became larger and larger, the body's resistance to sugar intake decreased with each passing day, which provoked the development of diabetes.

It took no less than 2 years to treat and restore the woman's hormonal balance. But it took even more time to normalize her weight - it turned out to be very difficult work.

What are the dangers of progesterone overfeeding?

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

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

Other hormones that progesterone interacts with may increase or decrease in doses. And this may not have the best effect on a woman's body. And then you have to solve the problems described above for a patient with excess weight.

How does progesterone work?

This hormone slows down the metabolism and adjusts the body as if it were acting during pregnancy. That is, accumulating reserves of nutrients for both the mother and the future child. And this is the risk of obesity for a non-pregnant woman.

Interesting fact: during pregnancy, the level of progesterone in the body becomes 15 times higher than in a woman who is not expecting a child.

How does progesterone level change in the body?

• 1st 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 releasing the egg occurs, which begins to secrete progesterone) – 15-30 ng/ml.

Do some 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 higher. On a physiological level, this radically changes the functioning of the body. The walls of the uterus become thicker to make it possible to protect the egg that has already been fertilized.

At this time, the woman's placenta begins to intensively produce progesterone. Its increased levels make a whole revolution in the body in the form of an increase in fat deposits and, of course, an increase in weight. Why does a woman need fat? To improve the ability to reproduce, because it is the fatty tissue that produces sex hormones for better conception and bearing of the fetus.

In addition, adipose tissue is a whole Klondike of useful substances 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 many of them. Progesterone also has the property of stimulating appetite. In particular, to flour and sweets. Naturally, this does not add to slimness.

Progesterone introduced into a woman's body artificially, that is, in the form of a cream or pills, has the same effect as the natural hormone during pregnancy. Draw your own conclusions.

How does progesterone affect the stomach?

It has the ability to affect the intestinal muscles, relaxing them. Then the stomach can accommodate more food. In addition, the intestinal muscles become less elastic, and food passes through it much more slowly than usual.

It is absorbed better, giving all its useful substances. This is good for the body of a pregnant woman, since it provides nutrition for both the child and the mother.

But for a woman who is not pregnant, this threatens weight gain, because the nutrients accumulate in her body for two. Also, the relaxation of the smooth muscles of the gastrointestinal tract for a woman who is not expecting a child is a risk of bloating, gas accumulation and constipation. That is, her health will deteriorate.

In addition, if there is a large amount of progesterone in the body, the risk of kidney and gallstones will increase, since the work of the internal organs slows down. This risk increases twofold if a woman excludes fiber from her diet, which has the property of removing toxins from the body. Or consumes too little of it.

What is the difference between how progestin and progesterone work?

Hormones are biochemical substances that consist of a chain of molecules. Even a small change in a molecule can change the properties of a hormone and transform it into another hormone. Which affects the human body either positively or negatively. How is progestin different from progesterone?

What is progestogen?

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

What is progesterone?

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

Progesterone in a woman's body is produced by the corpus luteum after ovulation has occurred. It is also produced by the placenta (during pregnancy). Another source of progesterone is the ovaries and adrenal glands during the body's preparation 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 prominent representative of a negative progestin is medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA). It is the cause of weight gain in women. It promotes the accumulation of fat deposits.

It is very important to consider the ratio of progestins and other hormones. This determines how they will affect the woman's body - positively or negatively.

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

Why take hormones in pill form?

Very often, in order to improve the functioning of the female body, which can no longer accumulate and produce progestins on its own, patients are prescribed these hormones in capsules, i.e. synthetic ones. For some women, with normal doses of drugs, the treatment goes well, without side effects. But for many patients, hormonal therapy with artificial, and not naturally produced progestins, ends badly.

Excess weight, hot flashes and ebbs of heat, as in menopause, and other unpleasant symptoms of hormonal imbalance appear. To avoid increased hunger, ravenous appetite and excess weight as a result, a woman may be prescribed norethindrone along with progestin. This substance is sometimes used in contraceptives. It reduces the feeling of hunger, and the risk of fat deposits is reduced.

How is the figure formed with the help of progesterone?

This hormone can change the shape of the figure and weight. Let's consider how. First of all, progesterone affects metabolism, taken in large doses, slows it down. During the menstrual cycle, the level of hormones in the body tends to change - increase or decrease. Moreover, this change occurs quite quickly.

In particular, the ratio of testosterone and estradiol changes. 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 and estradiol has the ability to affect how quickly the stomach empties, how fast caffeine is broken down, and how resistant the immune system is to various infections.

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

These norms and ratios will be determined by an endocrinologist.

The balance of estradiol and progesterone also affects the activity of the enzyme that helps fat cells divide (lipase). If the cells divide slowly, a person gains weight more slowly. Hormones play different roles in this process.

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