Food to Increase Progesterone; The 6+ best foods to boost progesterone levels for a healthy pregnancy 

Although you probably didn’t hear much about progesterone until you started trying to conceive (TTC), you’re now learning that it plays a crucial role in your cycle health, fertility and supporting a healthy pregnancy. 

While various factors influence hormone levels, overall diet and food choices are your first step to promote healthy progesterone levels. 

Below you’ll find everything you need to know about why progesterone is so critical when TTC, how to know if your progesterone levels are low, how to use food to increase progesterone, and the six best foods to increase progesterone, and so much more. 

What is progesterone and what does it do? 

Progesterone is a sex hormone produced mainly in the ovaries. 

It all starts with an ovary releasing an egg into the fallopian tube (a process called ovulation). After ovulation, the remaining follicle turns into a new organ, called the corpus luteum, which  is responsible for making most of your progesterone.

Progesterone is critical for both getting and staying pregnant. After ovulation, progesterone levels rise to ensure that the endometrium (a.k.a. the uterine lining) is thick and receptive, allowing a fertilized egg to implant successfully. 

Once implantation occurs, progesterone prevents the uterine lining from shedding and supports the growth of the embryo.

While essential for a healthy pregnancy, progesterone is also a key part of overall health. It helps you regulate your mood, supports immune function, and promotes deep sleep.

If you get pregnant, the corpus luteum continues making progesterone for about 12-13 weeks, at which point the placenta takes over. 

If you don’t conceive, the corpus luteum dies off in a week or two, and stops producing progesterone. At this point, your body realizes it’s not pregnant and sheds the uterine lining – i.e. you get your period, beginning your menstrual cycle anew. 

What is low progesterone and why does it matter? 

Low progesterone is generally defined as progesterone too low to support reproduction. 

This can be identified by testing (more about testing below), and finding that serum progesterone levels are less than 10 ng/mL. 

Low progesterone can also be identified by tracking your cycle and finding that your luteal phase (the number of days from ovulation to your next period) is less than 10 days. 

Why is low progesterone a problem? 

Low levels of progesterone can cause irregular menstrual cycles, a thin uterine lining that can’t support implantation, and increased risk of miscarriage.

Ultimately, this means a longer, harder time getting pregnant, and then increased risk of early loss increases. Not what anyone wants. 

How common is low progesterone? 

According to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, an estimated 8.2% of women, with regular cycles, have low progesterone. 

Note that this estimates women with regular menstrual cycles. The prevalence of low progesterone levels are likely much higher if women with irregular cycles or missing periods were also considered.

How do I know if my progesterone levels are too low? 

Low progesterone levels can present with various signs and symptoms that can overlap with other hormone imbalances, like excess estrogen. 

Testing for low progesterone levels

To accurately determine if your progesterone levels are low, tests are the most reliable method. This can be done in two ways: 

1. Blood test. You can test progesterone levels in your serum. If you go this route, be sure to test as close to 7 days after ovulation as possible.
   • Advocate for yourself! Providers routinely test progesterone on cycle day 21, assuming you ovulate on cycle day 14 of a 28-day cycle. However, few of us have such textbook – regular cycles. You could easily ovulate as on cycle day 20, for example, in which case a cycle day 21 blood draw would miss your peak progesterone. 
   • Be sure to track your ovulation so you know when you’re 7 days past and can advocate for accurate testing. 
2. You can also test progesterone metabolites in the urine. There are a few options for this – for a DIY method, I highly recommend the Mira Starter Kit* for at-home progesterone testing.  

Signs and symptoms of low progesterone 

Common cycle-signs of low progesterone include: 

• Irregular or missing periods
• Spotting between periods or 
• Short menstrual cycles (< 26 days in cycle length)

These symptoms suggest that the luteal phase — the second half of the menstrual cycle (after ovulation), is too short, possibly due to low progesterone.

Other potential signs of low progesterone could include: 

• PMS 
• mood swings and anxiety 
• headaches 
• bloating
• poor sleep
• fatigue

Ultimately, do not try to self-diagnose low-progesterone. Consulting with a healthcare provider is essential for proper diagnosis and to discuss appropriate treatment options, if needed.

What causes low progesterone? 

Low progesterone levels can result from a variety of underlying causes. 

Anovulation 

One of the primary reasons for low progesterone is anovulation, when you don’t ovulate for one or more cycles. As explained above, without ovulation, there is no corpus luteum to produce progesterone.  

Medical conditions 

Before jumping into the lifestyle causes of low progesterone levels, it’s important to rule out medical conditions, such as: 

• Thyroid dysfunction
• Pituitary gland dysfunction 
• High prolactin hormone levels 
• Excess androgen hormone levels (often associated with PCOS). 

Be sure to consult with your doctor to rule out these conditions as your first step to figuring out low progesterone. 

Lifestyle factors

Anovulation and subsequent low progesterone is often caused lifestyle factors, including:

• Uncontrolled stress
• Over-exercising
• Rapid weight loss 
• Under-eating
• Poor sleep 
• Inflammation or chronic infections 

All of the above can disrupt hormone balance, preventing ovulation and thus causing low progesterone levels. 

How do you increase progesterone?

Once you’ve ruled out the need for medical treatment, you can often boost progesterone with a strategic combination of lifestyle and nutrition. 

This includes: stress management, maintaining a healthy body weight, and ensuring adequate (quality!) sleep to support ovulation and naturally improve progesterone production. 

A nutrient-dense diet full of the right food to increase progesterone is a critical step to healthy progesterone levels, so let’s dive in.

Food to increase progesterone; is it possible? 

If you asked your doctor about increasing progesterone so you can get pregnant, you probably heard some variation of either:

1. It’s all hype, don’t worry about your progesterone; or
2. Just take this progesterone pill. 

This leaves you on your own to figure out what other options are out there. And there ARE other options without first jumping to medications. 

So let’s clear the air: YES! It is possible to use food to increase progesterone.

Even though your doctor neglected to mention the power of nutrition, you deserve to know that the right food can promote the body’s natural production of progesterone and support overall hormone balance for better fertility. 

That said, know that no single food contains progesterone itself. 

Instead, foods rich in specific nutrients can aid the processes involved in progesterone production. Nutrients such as vitamin C, vitamin B6, magnesium, and healthy fats are particularly beneficial. 

How to use food to increase progesterone 

When using food to increase progesterone, I recommend a 3-step process. Here’s what you do:

Step #1. Make sure you’re eating enough in total 

First things first when it comes to food to increase progesterone: eat enough! 

Under-eating is a well-documented cause of anovulation, and with ovulation goes your progesterone. Research clearly shows us that eating below your daily needs can lower progesterone levels. 

Here’s why:

1. If your body doesn’t have enough consistent energy (i.e. food), it diverts energy and resources to more “essential” functions, like breathing and circulating blood. The result: bye, bye ovulation and hello plummeting progesterone levels.  
2. Your body needs the energy from food to literally make hormones, as well as to undergo physically demanding processes like ovulation. 
3. Eating enough is critical to a healthy metabolism, and a healthy stress response, both of which are necessary for hormone balance. 

What’s particularly tricky about this is that most women that come to me struggling with low progesterone have no idea that they’re under-eating. 

In fact, they often THINK they’re eating too much. 

That’s why our first step in working together is to make sure you are eating enough for healthy hormones and making a healthy baby. 

Read more: Am I Eating Enough to Get Pregnant? 

Step #2. Make sure you’re eating enough of each macronutrient: protein, carbohydrate and fats

When it comes to food to increase progesterone, getting the right balance of macronutrients is your second step. 

What are macronutrients? 

Macronutrients—proteins, carbohydrates, and fats—are the nutrients that provide the body with energy. Each macronutrient plays a unique role in overall health and hormonal balance. 

Protein is essential for building and repairing tissues, and making enzymes and hormones. That’s why eating enough protein ensures the body can produce the hormones needed for ovulation, and then make healthy amounts of progesterone.

High protein foods to support healthy progesterone levels: 

• Meat, fish, poultry
• Greek yogurt and cottage cheese
• Eggs 
• Tofu, tempeh and edamame 

Carbohydrates are your body’s main energy source, and despite their bad rap, they’re equally important for hormone balance. Eating enough carbs keeps your body feeling safe, preventing an exaggerated stress response that can suppress progesterone. 

Carbohydrate foods to support healthy progesterone levels: 

• Fruit
• Winter squash and pumpkin
• Potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams 
• Beans and lentils 
• Whole grains like brown rice, oats, quinoa and wheat berries
• Starchy vegetables like corn and peas 

Healthy fats are equally vital, as they provide cholesterol, the primary building block needed for making progesterone. Low fat diets lower overall sex hormone levels, including progesterone. 

Healthy high-fat foods to support healthy progesterone levels: 

• Fatty fish like salmon 
• Nuts, seeds and nut butters
• Avocado and avocado oil 
• Olive oil 
• Coconut and coconut oil 

When any of these three macronutrients, proteins, carbs or fats, are in short supply, the body struggles with hormone balance, leading to irregular cycles, anovulation and low progesterone. 

Step #3. Make sure you’re eating enough of the critical nutrients 

Now that you’re sure you’re eating enough in total and of each macronutrient, let’s get into the best food to increase progesterone. 

No single food contains progesterone. However, certain foods support the body’s natural production with essential nutrients needed for ovulation, and for healthy ovaries that can pump out progesterone. 

Here are the six top foods to increase progesterone levels: 

Egg Yolks

While egg whites provide protein, the egg yolk provides a rich source of nutrients hard to get elsewhere in the typical American diet – like choline, preformed vitamin A and vitamin D.

When it comes to increasing progesterone egg yolks give you: 

Cholesterol

Yes, this is a good thing! Cholesterol is the literal building block of progesterone and if you’re not eating enough of it, you won’t have the materials needed to make progesterone. 

Vitamin A 

While fruits and vegetables like pumpkin, cantaloupe, carrots, etc. provide beta-carotene, a precursor to vitamin A, egg yolks provide the already-formed version of vitamin A, called retinol. 

It’s this pre-formed vitamin A that is required to convert cholesterol into estrogen and progesterone. Studies have linked retinol deficiency to irregular ovulation and lower progesterone levels. 

Lutein 

Lutein is one of the antioxidants found in egg yolks – giving them their yellow hue. 

Lutein is the root word in both Luteinizing Hormone (which triggers ovulation), luteal phase (when progesterone is produced), and corpus luteum (the organ that makes progesterone). 

The corpus luteum is made up of lutein, explaining why they both have a yellow-color. 

Whole Milk Dairy 

Despite decades of demonizing saturated fats in whole-milk dairy, we now know that whole-milk dairy is a win for female fertility. 

One reason is because it provides butyric acid, a kind of fat that has been shown to specifically support healthy progesterone levels. 

Whole milk dairy is also a good source of vitamin D, another needed ingredient for making progesterone. 

So, fill your plate with whole-milk yogurt (choose Greek for extra protein), cottage cheese, sour cream, cream cheese, cheeses, and even pour yourself a glass of milk! 

Salmon

One of the many reasons that salmon (particularly wild-caught) deserves its health halo is because of the omega-3 fats (DHA and EPA).

These omega-3 fats have been shown to:

• Improve egg quality, which in turn improves the health of the corpus luteum that makes progesterone
• Reduce the risk of anovulatory cycles 
• Increase progesterone levels in the luteal phase. 

Salmon is not the only source of DHA and EPA – you could dine on other cold-water fatty fish like sardines, mackerel or anchovies to reap similar progesterone and fertility-benefits.

Chickpeas

Chickpeas, a.k.a. Garbanzo beans are one of the richest sources of vitamin B6, along with meat, poultry, tuna, salmon, etc. 

Vitamin B6 acts as a cofactor for enzymes involved in making progesterone. This makes eating high vitamin B6 foods a critical step to support progesterone levels. 

Research also suggests that vitamin B6 helps balance estrogen with progesterone levels, ensuring that estrogen does not become disproportionately dominant, which can weaken progesterone activity. 

Leafy Greens  

Dark leafy greens like arugula, kale, spinach, Swiss chard and Bok choy are great sources of the mineral, magnesium. 

Magnesium is a key player in the secretion of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) from the pituitary gland, both of which are critical for triggering ovulation, and thus for progesterone production. 

Chronic stress can lead to elevated cortisol levels, which in turn can prevent the production of progesterone. By supporting stress reduction and overall calm, magnesium indirectly supports progesterone levels. 

Bell Peppers, tomatoes and citrus fruits 

What do bell peppers, tomatoes and citrus fruits all have in common? They’re all rich sources of vitamin C. 

Vitamin C accumulates in the ovaries where it literally helps the corpus luteum to secrete progesterone. 

With antioxidant activity, vitamin C also protects ovarian cells from oxidative stress. This creates an overall healthier corpus luteum that can produce more progesterone after ovulation. 

In summary, here’s your list of 6+ foods to increase progesterone: 

• Eggs (with the yolk)
• Whole-milk dairy products
• Salmon, anchovies, sardines & mackerel 
• Chickpeas
• Dark leafy greens like spinach, Swiss chard, kale, collard greens & Bok choy
• Bell peppers, tomatoes and citrus fruits 

CONCLUSION 

While no single food contains progesterone, certain foods support the body’s natural production of this hormone by providing the essential nutrients. When using food to increase progesterone, focus on real, whole foods that are nutrient dense. 

For example, a day of progesterone-boosting food could look like this: 

• Breakfast: 3 eggs scrambled with spinach and tomato and orange wedges on the side 
• Lunch: Chicken salad made with tomato & bell peppers on a bed of dark leafy greens like arugula 
• Dinner: Salmon with a side of chickpeas and sauteed kale 
• Snacks: Whole milk yogurt or cottage cheese 

Get more recipes & foods to boost progesterone, egg quality and overall fertility with this 2-week *free* Ultimate Fertility Meal Plan.