How to Naturally Boost Progesterone and Detox Estrogen Without Medications

Have you ever spent the night staring at the ceiling, heart racing, mind spinning, tears flowing, or maybe yelling in frustration, only to feel guilty afterward?

These aren’t just signs of being “overwhelmed” or “emotional”. These could be signs of estrogen dominance and low progesterone, a hormonal imbalance that affects many women, especially postpartum or during perimenopause.

If you’re dealing with tender breasts, bloating, anxiety, insomnia, or the dreaded “week before your period” meltdown, you’re not alone. These symptoms often become especially obvious after weaning your baby and may return in the perimenopausal years.

So, no matter your age, let’s talk about how to metabolise oestrogen, naturally raise progesterone, and finally sleep better, feel calmer, and stop the hormone-fuelled rage that sometimes comes with motherhood.

Four Natural Ways to Balance Your Hormones

These four steps are my go-to method for helping women feel more like themselves again, without medications, just with food, herbs, and lifestyle changes.

1. Start With Your Diet: Support Detox & Eliminate Inflammatory Foods

When it comes to balancing hormones naturally, nutrition is the foundation.

Eating a variety of whole foods in all the colours of the rainbow helps your body get the vitamins and minerals (like magnesium and vitamin C) it needs to flush out excess estrogen and support progesterone.

But you also need to be pooping, yes, pooping daily. Your bowel movements are one of the primary ways your body eliminates excess estrogen. If you're constipated, you’re recycling old hormones, and that contributes to mood swings, bloating, anxiety, and even depression.

==Discover tips to reduce constipation here: https://www.taragregorio.com/blog/10-ways-to-reduce-constipation

Top Foods to Avoid Temporarily:

• Cow’s milk: Especially A1 casein found in most dairy products, which can trigger inflammation.

• Gluten/wheat: Linked to leaky gut and hormone issues in sensitive individuals.

• Soy products: Can mimic estrogen in the body and make estrogen dominance worse.
  

Try eliminating these for two weeks and see if your energy levels, sleep, or mood improve. You may reintroduce them later, but for now, give your body a break to heal.

2. Support Estrogen Detox with High-Quality Supplements

Next up: supplements for hormone balance.

Be mindful of the quality of your supplements. Many over-the-counter multivitamins contain synthetic ingredients like folic acid (instead of folate) or cheap vitamin D that aren’t easily absorbed and may even harm you, especially if you have the MTHFR gene mutation.

Helpful supplements for estrogen metabolism:

• DIM (Diindolylmethane): Helps detoxify estrogen and push it down safer metabolic pathways (shown on a DUTCH hormone test).

  • But note: DIM can sometimes lower serotonin, so use it based on your symptoms.

• Zinc: Supports hormone production and works synergistically with DIM.

• B vitamins: Especially B6, B12, and folate (not folic acid).

• High-quality vitamin D:, preferably D3 paired with K2.
  

⚠️ Listen to your body. Don’t take supplements daily unless needed. Track your cycle symptoms and adjust accordingly.

3. Use Herbs to Support Your Liver and Boost Progesterone

Herbs are powerful, but they’re not a one-size-fits-all. Some are best for detoxifying estrogen, others help support your liver, and some raise progesterone naturally.

Liver-supporting herbs:

• Milk Thistle

• TUDCA

• Dandelion Root

Progesterone-supporting herbs:

• Vitex (Chasteberry) – Be cautious: if you have low estrogen, this may worsen your mood.

• Maca is adaptogenic and can gently balance estrogen and progesterone.
  

You may also benefit from blended botanical formulas that include herbs for liver support, hormone balance, and nervous system regulation.

Example: I’ve been using a blend called Estro-cort, which combines key herbs and supplements that help me feel calm, clear-headed, and less overwhelmed.

4. Reduce Stress and Cortisol to Protect Progesterone

Chronic stress raises cortisol, which steals progesterone, a key hormone that helps you feel calm, sleep deeply, and reduce irritability.

Start with one habit: stop drinking coffee on an empty stomach. Even just a bite of food before caffeine can reduce the cortisol spike that throws off your hormones.

Other supportive habits:

• Go outside in the morning and look at the sky (circadian rhythm reset).

• Skip scrolling on your phone first thing.

• Eat real meals at regular times.

• Breathe deeply, move your body, and rest when you can.
  

These small changes can retrain your nervous system, balance cortisol, and protect your hormone health, especially postpartum or during perimenopause.

xo

Tara

Final Thoughts: You Can Feel Balanced Again

If you’ve been feeling anxious, irritable, tired-but-wired, or like you’re losing your mind, know this: there’s a root cause, and it can often be traced back to estrogen dominance and low progesterone.

You don’t have to live like this. With food, herbs, supplements, and smarter stress strategies, you can get your life back.