Getting the Right Bioidentical Progesterone Cream
The correct progesterone cream gives you 20-60 mg/day of topical natural bioidentical progesterone.
A cream is just water and oil together. The progesterone is dissolved in the oil portion
of the cream. To keep the oil and water mixed together, an emulsifier is put into the cream.
The emulsifier is a chemical that keeps the oil and water mixed. The most non-toxic is
lecithin, but usually lecithin is derived from soy. So there is a question of whether the
lecithin still has hormone disruptive components from the soy. After the progesterone cream
is applied to the skin, the water evaporates after several minutes and just the oil that
contains the progesterone is left on the skin.
Because there is water in the cream, a preservative must be used. The most common preservatives
are parabens and phenoxyethanol. Both of these ingredients are known xenoestrogens. Germaben
and Uniphen are brand name preservatives that contain a mixture of parabens and phenoxyethanol. My
endometriosis patients have complained that these preservatives make them worse. Parabens
are not very toxic and are not very carcinogenic, but have a notable estrogen receptor stimulating
effect. Parabens mimic estrogen.
The bioidentical progesterone cream should NOT contain any mineral oil or petrolatum or mineral
oil derivatives. Mineral oil is from Oil wells that are normally deep within the earth. The
advantage of mineral oil is that it is cheap and does not go rancid. The disadvantage of mineral
oil is that it will block the absorption of progesterone from the skin. If your progesterone
cream has mineral oil in it, you will not absorb any progesterone and you are wasting your time.
The progesterone cream should contain 500-1000 mg of progesterone per ounce of cream. So that you
can receive 20-60 mg/day of progesterone. Some progesterone creams have too little progesterone
to be effective.
For some reason, many manufacturers of bioidentical progesterone cream want to be fancy and
frequently add various herbs to them. Some of these herbs can be very estrogenic. Rosemary
is a common additive that is a strong estrogen mimic. Rosemary in progesterone creams has
made many of my patient's fibroids and endometriosis worse. Rosemary is used in creams as
an antioxidant to keep the vegetable oil from going rancid. Herbs that smell nice are also
used. Lemon grass is used for a fragrance. Unfortunately, lemon grass also mimics estrogen.
Aloe is a frequent additive to progesterone creams. However, aloe is used by folk medicine
if taken in sufficient quantity to create a miscarriage in the first trimester. Progesterone
is the hormone of pregnancy and sufficient levels of progesterone are needed to maintain the
pregnancy. Aloe may go into the progesterone receptor and block out the real progesterone.
Thus, aloe is a progesterone blocker. If you are taking aloe, then progesterone supplementation
will not work well. Chamomile is also a frequent additive that is also an estrogen mimic.
Chamomile make my patients worse.
Here is a vendor for Bioidentical Progesterone Cream:
Progestelle Bioidentical Progesterone Cream
Progestelle Mirror Site Progesterone Cream