Cholesterol and Natural Progesterone

There is a common myth that eating cholesterol causes cholesterol levels to rise, but the truth is that eating too many refined carbohydrates such as sugar and white flour can cause cholesterol to rise. Some 75 percent of our total cholesterol is made from these foods rather than from cholesterol intake per se.

A rise in cholesterol levels has more to do with how much sugar and refined start we eat, whether we’re getting enough fiber, vitamins, and minerals in our diet, how much we exercise, and what our stress levels are. Genetics also play a large part in cholesterol levels.

The body uses cholesterol to assist in the manufacture of hormones or vitamin D and to build cell walls and to produce bile, which breaks down other fats. It is carried through the bloodstream by lipoproteins. Lipoproteins are proteins that wrap around both cholesterol and other fatty materials and transport them through the bloodstream.

High-Density Lipoproteins ( HDL )

"Good" cholesterol moves easily through the blood and are actually beneficial to the body. They are stable and do not stick to artery walls. They help to prevent heart disease carrying cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver where the process of their removal from the body begins.

Low-Density Lipoproteins ( LDL )

" Bad" cholesterol, LDLs contain more fat and less protein than HDLs. LDLs are unstable; they tend to fall apart. Rather than being removed from the body by the liver, they stick to artery walls and contribute to plaque build-up. This can eventually lead to hardened arteries (atherosclerosis) or coronary artery disease. Therefore high levels of LDLs are strongly associated with increased risk for heart disease.

Smaller amounts of cholesterol may travel in very low-density lipoproteins or another type of lipoprotein called chylomicrons ( which are rich in triglycerides ). Many people with high levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol also have high triglycerides levels because both types of fats have similar risk factors ( e.g. obesity and diabetes).

Cholesterol makes progesterone

Progesterone is made from the sterol pregnenolone, which is in turn made from cholesterol, which is made from acetate, a product of the breakdown of sugar and fat in the body.

Progesterone is needed for the appropriate and balanced supply of all the steroid hormones. From progesterone are derived not only the other sex hormones, including the estrogens, but also the corticosteroids which are essential for stress response, sugar and electrolyte balance, and blood presure, not to mention survival.

Too much estrogen (estrogen dominance) in our body will cause the retention of fluid made up of sodium and water, and the subsequent loss of potassium and magnesium. Hypertension or high blood pressure is the end product.

Progesterone supplementation can help eliminate this sodium and water influx into cells (intracellular edema or water retention). In other words, when progesterone is introduced into the body, weight goes down (excess water is excreted), and blood pressure returns to normal.

Progesterone also exerts an anti-spasmodic influence of blood vessels.

In fact, progesterone appears to have a protective effect against hypertension.

Blood clots and heart attacks

Postmenopausal women have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and heart disease is the leading cause of death in postmenopausal American.

Some GPs get bioidentical progesterone confused with artificial progestins, and will tell you that human-identical progesterone causes blood clots and heart attacks. This is far from the truth.

Artificial progestins are synthetic chemical analogs of progesterone, meaning they imitate some progesterone-like effects however, make no mistake, they are NOT equal to progesterone.

Artificial progestins have become widely used in birth control pills and in conventional hormone replacement therapy (HRT). In fact, conventional hormone replacement therapy has been shown to result in an increase in thrombotic events in large prospective clinical trials including HERS I, and the recently halted Women’s Health Initiative.

Natural progesterone manufactured in the laboratory to match that made by our ovaries has a completely different molecular structure that of medroxyprogesterone acetate (Provera), or 19-nortestosterone (a common progestin synthesized from testosterone) used in birth control pills.

Here is a list of some of the side effects of artificial progestins:

• Increased sodium and water in body cells
• Causes loss of mineral electrolytes from cells
• Causes intracellular edema
• Causes depression
• Increases birth defect risks
• Causes facial hirsutism, loss of scalp hair
• Causes thrombophlebitis, embolism risk
• Decreased glucose tolerance
• Causes allergic reations
• Increases risk for cholestatic jaundice
• Causes acne, skin rashes
• Increases risk of coronary vasospasm

Natural progesterone does NOT cause these side effects and, by all accounts, confers protection against estrogen-induced strokes and cardiovascular disease.

A research paper concluded that topical progesterone cream does not increase thrombotic and inflammatory factors in postmenopausal women. The outcome of this research proved that topical progesterone cream administered in a daily dose of 20 mg. significantly relieved menopausal symptoms in postmenopausal women without altering prothrombotic potential.

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