Progesterone allows implantation of the embryo in the uterus and its preservation in the first weeks of pregnancy. When the egg does not fertilise, the luteolysis of corpus luteum occurs and the progesterone secretion is reduced. As a result of the rapid decline in progesterone at this phase of the menstrual cycle, controlled exfoliation of the uterine mucosa occurs, i.e. menstruation. In the event of conception, progesterone is secreted by the corpus luteum until the placenta is formed, i.e. 14-18 weeks of pregnancy, and after that time it secreted practically entirely by the placenta.

Progesterone’s indirect precursor is cholesterol synthesised from acetyl-CoA and derived from lipoprotein of low-density LDL. In the inner membrane of mitochondria, cholesterol under the influence of LH hormone is converted into pregnenolone, which is a direct precursor to progesterone.

Acquiring Natural Progesterone.

Natural progesterone is extracted from a wild yam (Dioscorea villosa) or from soybean in laboratory conditions. This process was discovered in 1930 by Professor Russell E. Marker of Pennsylvania State University, who transformed wild yam diosgenin into progesterone of the same chemical and molecular structure as that produced by the human body. The ‘natural progesterone’ name refers to products containing progesterone of the same molecular structure of the hormone as the progesterone produced by our body. The most effective form of bioidentical progesterone is known as the Micronised USP progesterone.

Despite the many advantages of natural progesterone, pharmaceutical companies and research institutions funded by pharmaceutical companies do not want to finance further research into it. This is because progesterone, as a natural compound, can not be patented. Hence pharmaceutical companies convert chemical natural progesterone to non-naturally occurring compounds. In this way they can patent them and fully benefit from their sales. Pharmaceutical companies produce synthetic hormones not because they are better than the natural ones produced by the human body, but because they want to achieve maximum profits. Synthetic hormones have toxic side effects and are more aggressive than the hormones produced by the human body. Our bodies can not properly metabolise and excrete them, therefore they stay longer in the body. They also inhibit the body’s production of its own hormones. Synthetic hormones usually differ in several atoms from natural substances and can therefore be patented. Small changes in chemical structure, however, cause quite a different action in the body.

It is very important to buy the right product containing natural progesterone (cream, treatment oil or gel). There are many different products on the market containing the wild yam extract being advertised as natural progesterone. This is very misleading, as the human body is unable to transform the diosgenin contained in such a product into progesterone. This must be done in the laboratory, as a result of a suitable process. Products containing only wild yam extract do not have the same effect as natural progesterone.

A genuine natural progesterone product contains accurate information on the amount of progesterone contained in a given cream, oil or gel. It is most commonly referred to as milligrams (mg) of progesterone per gram or ounce of cream or gel; or milligrams (mg) of progesterone per drop of treatment oil. This information is essential for correct dosage and application of the product. A genuine progesterone product also contains information on the percentage amount of natural progesterone contained in a given product. Most often it is 1.6%, 3.3%, 6%, 10% or even 20% of natural progesterone in a cream, oil or gel.