The ovarian hormones estradiol and progesterone are beneficial for general health. That means natural ovulatory menstrual cycles are beneficial because ovulation is how women make those hormones.
body literacy
Body literacy is learning to observe, chart, and interpret an ovulatory menstrual cycle.
How Science Got It Wrong About Progesterone
Progesterone has been both ignored and mistakenly blamed for side effects it does not cause. How did that happen?
For one thing, progesterone was discovered shortly after estrogen. Thus missing out on the tidy hormone dichotomy of “testosterone for men and estrogen for women.” Also, progesterone could not (at first) be made into a medication that could be absorbed orally.
Do Women Need Periods?
With the 2019 news that women don’t need pill bleeds came the assurance that “women don’t need periods.” But is that accurate?
It’s true that women don’t need monthly pill withdrawal bleeds because they’re not periods, but women do need (or at least benefit from) monthly natural menstrual cycles because natural ovulatory cycles are how women make the hormones estradiol and progesterone.
Pill Bleeds Are Not Periods
The pill is commonly prescribed to “regulate periods,” but it can’t actually do that because withdrawal bleeds from contraceptive drugs are not real menstrual cycles.
In episode one of my podcast/YouTube video, I discuss real periods versus pill bleeds and why there’s no medical reason to bleed monthly on the pill.
I also look at the difference between contraceptive drugs and real hormones.