Some thoughts about supplementary progesterone

D.R was was on another forum with me before I started this one. He used to seek my advice as well as others before his started his blog. Since then he seemed convinced that diet was all that was necessary.

Of course I disagree completely.

I'm more of a pro-fructose, not so much pro-cane sugar. However, both can be properly mitigated with nutrients (sulfur, selenium, iodine, magnesium). I agree with Peat about the anti-stress measures that this sweet stuff provides.
However, I think Peat's overzealous stance on PUFA's leaves out important details (such as whether they are processed, heated, exposed to oxidation or not). Because a real study on real human beings says otherwise..In the right circumstances, Omega-6 can very anti-inflammatory. And even if one were to eat only grass-fed, taking some Omega-3 is still necessary to counteract the PGD2...why? Because grass-fed contains so little fat, it's hard to get enough (if optimal health is desired). Peat fans don't understand the Omega-3, even if they are somewhat oxidized will positively reduce premature telomere shortening (aging clock).

Research began to emerged in 2006 on Prolactin. My viewpoint is pretty simple on it...correct the thyroid, and prolactin levels will normalize. Correct the thyroid and SHBG levels will normalize.

Correct other thyroid related co-factors and other problems, including polymorphorisms will normalize.

And when you balance the remaining endocrine glands, hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenals...you're completing the picture.

Iodine is one piece of that puzzle....others are other minerals.

As mentioned recently, the correct salts (especially sodium-chloride), which is often demonized as something "bad" is just the opposite when you take other supporting factors.

There's enough circumstantial evidence to support its use in reducing stress response.
I've been using this stuff for a while now. Electrolyte Concentrate

I have a little bit of contempt for various associations who are recommending anti-health measures (AMA) American Murder Association, FDA (Federal Death Association), ADA (American Death Association), AHA (Another Heart Attack), ATA (American Tachycardia Association).

These organizations are not pro-health, they are pro-industry (which means anti-health for you, high profits for them).
The advocate either poisoning your body or to take less of the very things that support health, such as saturated fat, salt, iodine, saying mercury and fluoride is "okay." FDA approving of BPA (one of the large reasons of some polymorphorisms in the USA).

I agree with some of your points, CS. While I think Peat has the right idea on many things, I don't totally follow all of his recommendations to a t. The fatty acids are one of those. I am certainly not getting under 5 grams PUFA a day, but while I do try to minimize it, I find that I cannot leave animal meats out of my diet. They make it difficult to keep PUFA to a true minimum, so where I do stray from Peat's recommendations there, I use omega-3 to at least balance my FA intake so that the ratio is around 4:1 n-6:n-3.

I also agree that the thyroid is the crux of this. If the thyroid is functioning it is the choir director, when it isn't the H-P-A axis is rather than the HPT axis.

On the subject of sugars, I think it all depends on where your metabolism is at currently. If you have blood sugar handling problems or insulin resistance as it stands, I think fructose can be beneficial to you in small amounts because it is able to get into the cell without a chaperone. But too much is only going to exacerbate your problems. If the metabolism is healthy, I think sucrose has its merits. And the type of activity I'm doing effects this too. After heavy resistance training, I'd actually rather focus on glucose.

I agree with your points. Handling sugar or fructose in other forms largely does depend on your ability to handle this stuff (metabolically speaking). It's been proven since the '60's that knowing how your blood chemistry balances work out on triglycerides, glucose, phosphorous and other measures can help determine if we are not handling sugars properly.

However, nutrients will allow us to handle it better. For me, lipoic acid and ALC is the "secret" weapon to handle/metabolize sugars that would otherwise cause metabolic chaos.

Throw in some active (non-synthetic-based) B-complex and you have more to work with.

I think the most important thing I've learned this year (Most of the credit goes to Xenon) is the sweating relationship and hair loss. I'm more or less convinced at this point that adding sufficient salt, especially if one is very active, or using a sauna, etc should go heavy on electrolyte replenishment (going on salt heavy). This is electron transport and mineralocorticoid balance.

Adrenals need salt and more is also good...table salt contains some bad stuff, so the link I provided earlier is much preferred. I've been using this stuff for several months. Before that another product, but very similar. I think it has benefited me (I've had about a year to evaluate it).

Here's an older article I wrote on salt, which shows some of it's other benefits.
http://web.archive.org/web/20120426190352/http://healthyfixx.com/39/low-salt-diets-can-kill

The discussion on sweating lead me to looking more in depth into salt...I had already obsessed with other minerals and other factors involved in glucocorticoid balance in the past. When I looked at some research on how much minerals we lose when we sweat....salt was by far, eliminated in the largest quantity...iodine also (at least proportionately to its typical dietary intake, was quite high also).

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3219166/#!po=96.8750

The Skin as a Peripheral Endocrine Organ

GC synthesis and release is subjected to a tight neuro-endocrine control through the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis.28 Under stress, the hypothalamus produces corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) that stimulates the release of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) from the pituitary gland. Subsequently, the adrenal cortex synthesizes GCs that are released into the bloodstream and distributed throughout the organism to maintain tissue homeostasis.28

It is well established that the skin synthesizes vitamin D, retinoids, estrogens and progesterone, hormones that have a profound impact on skin pathophysiology.3 It was also shown that the skin is also able to synthesize cholesterol, the precursor of steroid hormones, as well as different components along the GC synthetic pathway such as CRH and ACTH.29,30 The observation that HFs can synthesize and secrete cortisol and modulate the production of other hormones by feedback mechanisms demonstrated that the skin itself acts as a peripheral endocrine organ.31 Very recently, it was reported that epidermal keratinocytes can synthesize de novo cortisol, both in vitro and in vivo, as well as the enzymes steroid 11b-hydroxylase (CYP11B1) and 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 2 (11βHSD2).32 These enzymes catalyze the interconversion of active cortisol and inactive cortisone in humans (corticosterone and dehydrocorticosterone in rodents), thus controlling the biological availability of active hormone.29,30

Neuroendocrinology. 2012;95(3):179-86. doi: 10.1159/000329846. Epub 2011 Nov 8.
Glucocorticoid sensitivity in mood disorders.
Spijker AT, van Rossum EF.

Department of Mood Disorders, PsyQ The Hague, The Netherlands. a.spijker@psyq.nl

In this review, we provide an overview of recent literature on glucocorticoid (GC) sensitivity in mood disorders. Assessing GC sensitivity is often performed by measuring the cortisol awakening rise (CAR), by challenging the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis using a dexamethasone suppression test (DST) or a dexamethasone/cortisol-releasing hormone test (DEX/CRH); more recently by measuring cortisol as a retrospective calendar in scalp hair. The main findings in mood disorders are higher mean cortisol levels in hair samples and a higher CAR, showing a hyperactivity of the HPA axis. This is in line with the mild resistance for GCs previously observed in challenge tests during mood episodes. GC sensitivity is partly determined by polymorphisms in the genes encoding receptors and other proteins involved in the regulation of the HPA axis. We shortly discuss the glucocorticoid receptor, as well as the mineralocorticoid receptor, the cortisol-releasing hormone receptor-1, and the glucocorticoid receptor co-chaperone FKBP5. Data clearly indicate genetic changes, along with epigenetic changes which influence the set-point and regulation of the HPA axis. Early trauma, as well as influences in utero, appears to be important. Future research is necessary to further clarify the biological background and consequences of an individual's cortisol exposure in relation to mood.

Full study: http://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/329846

Maybe there are just several pathways to the stress response... like serotonin can trigger the hormonal chain but so can other things, which would explain why not everyone seems to have the same exact health issues.

Were we saying that ACTH is probably the one that increases the key enzymes?

ACTH more than likely increases levels of these enzymes in the adrenal glands. Whether or not it does in the skin is something that would be worth figuring out.

anthonyspencer54 wrote:ACTH more than likely increases levels of these enzymes in the adrenal glands. Whether or not it does in the skin is something that would be worth figuring out.

Probably it's either ACTH or a hormone ACTH triggers I guess.

Both CRH and serotonin stimulate ACTH release I think.

Hm, a whole bunch of things apparently lower ACTH like magnesium, ginger, phosphatidyl or phosphorylated serine, glucocorticoids (and possibly other corticosteroids) etc.

I wonder if anything is strong enough and safe enough to warrant an experiment?

At the very least, magnesium and ginger are safe to take at least to a reasonable dose