When it comes to women’s health, hormones often don’t get the attention they deserve. But these powerful chemical messengers influence everything from how your body functions to how you feel each day. And with up to 18% of women living with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a complex endocrine condition driven by hormone imbalances, it’s even more important to tune it.
Women with PCOS often experience a wide range of uncomfortable (and sometimes debilitating) symptoms. These include weight gain, fatigue, acne, anxiety, depression, and irregular periods. One of the most impactful hormonal imbalances in PCOS is low progesterone. This hormone plays a critical role in regulating your menstrual cycle, supporting uterine health, calming the nervous system, and even influencing metabolism.
If you’ve been diagnosed with PCOS, you might be wondering how to increase progesterone levels, along with balancing the rest of your hormones. The answer is simple! Start by addressing the root cause behind the imbalance.
In this post, I’m breaking down what progesterone is and why it matters for your health. Plus, I’ll explain how PCOS affects it and the natural ways you can support healthy progesterone levels. When you start paying attention to hormone balance with PCOS, you’ll begin feeling more in control of your body and how you feel. Let’s dive in!
How to Increase Progesterone in PCOS Naturally
Balancing hormones with PCOS can feel overwhelming at first. There are so many important hormones involved, and it’s hard to know where to begin. That’s exactly why I’m taking a deep dive into progesterone and PCOS.
Understanding how this powerful hormone works—and how PCOS affects progesterone production—is the first step toward real balance. To help you get started, I’ll discuss everything you need to know about progesterone. I’ll talk about why it matters and how PCOS impacts levels.
I’ll also share practical ways you can start increasing progesterone naturally so you can start supporting internal balance and heal PCOS the right way.
What Is Progesterone and What Does Progesterone Do?
Progesterone is a natural steroid hormone made in the ovaries after ovulation, during the luteal phase of your cycle. It’s often labeled a “reproductive hormone,” but its influence goes far beyond fertility. Progesterone affects your nervous system, metabolism, and overall sense of calm.
Its primary role is to support the second half of your menstrual cycle. After an egg is released, progesterone helps prepare the uterine lining for a potential pregnancy. If pregnancy doesn’t occur, it signals the body that it’s time to shed that lining—AKA your period.
But progesterone does so much more. It supports the brain and nervous system by enhancing GABA activity, which helps reduce anxiety and irritability. It also plays a role in insulin sensitivity (a big deal for PCOS) and helps lower inflammation that can interfere with metabolism.
When PCOS enters the picture, natural progesterone production is often disrupted. Many Cysters struggle with ovulation, and without ovulation, progesterone can’t rise the way it should. Instead, levels stay low, which leads to hormone imbalances that drive many PCOS symptoms.
Understanding how your menstrual cycle works can help you fully understand how your hormones function behind the scenes. Read my guide “4 Stages of Menstrual Cycle: Why It Matters for Women with PCOS,” to get started.
Is Low Progesterone a Sign of PCOS?
Low progesterone is extremely common in women with PCOS. However, it’s not the only sign doctors look for when making a diagnosis. PCOS is identified using a specific set of criteria, which I explain in more detail in my post, “How Can PCOS Be Detected.”
That said, consistently low progesterone is one of the most telling clues that you may have PCOS.
How Does PCOS Affect Progesterone Levels?
Irregular or Anovulation
Up to 75% of women with PCOS experience irregular or anovulation, meaning the ovaries don’t release an egg. And as I’ve discussed, ovulation is what triggers progesterone production. Without it, progesterone levels remain low. This sets the stage for ongoing hormone imbalances and side effects that many Cysters experience.
Insulin Resistance
Insulin resistance, which affects up to 80% of women with PCOS, is a major driver behind chronically low progesterone levels. When insulin stays elevated, it signals the ovaries to produce more androgens (AKA male hormones like testosterone).
Those excess androgens interfere with normal follicle development. It also disrupts the delicate balance of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) needed for ovulation. Without ovulation, progesterone simply can’t rise the way it’s supposed to.
This is why improving insulin sensitivity is such a crucial step in restoring progesterone levels and supporting true hormone balance with PCOS. You can check out my podcast episode, “Reversing Insulin Resistance with PCOS,” to learn more about how insulin resistance affects your body when you have PCOS.
Elevated Androgen Levels
I just mentioned how insulin levels can lead to increased testosterone production in the ovaries. This is exactly how progesterone levels end up staying low.
This is also where you can really see how interconnected your hormones are. Insulin resistance drives up androgens; elevated androgens interfere with ovulation; and without ovulation, progesterone never gets a chance to rise. It’s a hormone domino effect.
But the good news? When you address insulin resistance, the whole system can start to rebalance.
High Cortisol Levels
Many women with PCOS also struggle with elevated cortisol, your body’s main stress hormone. When cortisol stays high, your body can feel like it’s stuck in fight-or-flight mode. In that state, ovulation tends to take a back seat.
While stress isn’t a direct cause of low progesterone, chronically high cortisol can suppress ovulation and compete with progesterone production. That’s why calming the nervous system and managing stress is such an important (and often overlooked) part of restoring hormone balance in PCOS.
Chronic Low-Grade Inflammation
One of the biggest root issues behind PCOS is chronic low-grade inflammation. This ongoing inflammation can worsen insulin resistance and keep cortisol levels high—two major disruptors of hormone balance.
When inflammation is high, it disrupts healthy ovarian signaling. This can reduce the quality of your luteal phase (even when ovulation occurs). And when the luteal phase isn’t strong enough, progesterone levels struggle to rise and stay low.
Why Is Progesterone Low in PCOS?
The biggest reason progesterone stays low in women with PCOS is irregular ovulation—or no ovulation at all. The body only produces progesterone after ovulation. So if you aren’t ovulating consistently, progesterone levels don’t get the chance to rise during the luteal phase.
PCOS creates the perfect storm of hormone imbalances that disrupts ovulation in the first place. And when ovulation is thrown off, progesterone stays low—continuing the cycle of irregular periods and lingering symptoms.
How Does Progesterone Help PCOS?
Protects the Uterine Lining
Progesterone plays a crucial role in PCOS by protecting the uterine lining and preparing it for either pregnancy or a healthy period. When progesterone is low, estrogen goes unchecked. This can lead to infrequent cycles and heavy or irregular bleeding.
For Cysters who want to get pregnant, supporting healthy progesterone levels is essential. Focusing on fertility now helps create a hormone environment that supports ovulation, implantation, and a healthy cycle overall.
Calms the Nervous System
Raising progesterone levels naturally has a calming effect. And for Cysters, who often deal with higher stress levels, this can make a huge difference in how they feel.
One of the first benefits women with PCOS notice when boosting progesterone levels is feeling calmer and sleeping better. When paired with simple, consistent stress management, it helps keep progesterone steady and cortisol in check.
Helps Balance Estrogen Levels
Many Cysters struggle with estrogen dominance, which happens when estrogen outweighs other key sex hormones, like progesterone. When estrogen runs the show, symptoms like bloating, headaches, breast tenderness, and increased inflammation are common.
But when estrogen and progesterone work together in harmony, everything feels easier. Periods tend to be less painful, mood swings calm down, and water retention decreases. These all make a noticeable difference in how you feel throughout your cycle.
Supports Healthier Menstrual Cycles
When progesterone is properly supported and balanced, your menstrual cycle becomes more regular and predictable. This is important for Cysters in general. However, it’s especially important if you’re on a fertility journey or trying to conceive.
Healthy progesterone levels strengthen the luteal phase, support consistent cycles, and create the hormonal environment your body needs for ovulation and fertility success.
How to Improve Progesterone Levels in PCOS
Stabilize blood sugar with a gluten- and dairy-free anti-inflammatory diet.
One of the most effective ways to boost progesterone levels is by improving insulin sensitivity—starting with what you eat. Following a gluten- and dairy-free anti-inflammatory diet that prioritizes lean protein, fiber, and healthy fats helps stabilize blood sugar.
And here’s the magic connection: when insulin comes down, ovarian testosterone drops too. That allows follicles to mature and ovulate properly, which is exactly how progesterone rises. See? It’s all connected!
If you’re not sure what a PCOS-diet actually looks like, The Cysterhood app makes it easy. You’ll find hundreds of simple, delicious recipes with whole ingredients that work with your body, not against it.
To take things a step further, pair your meals with Ovafit’s Crave Control Protein. Each serving delivers 20 grams of protein plus natural GLP-1 support from DygloFit®, a clinically studied fruit extract shown to boost GLP-1 by up to 61%. That means better appetite control, steadier insulin levels, and stronger hormone balance.
Practice low-impact workouts 2-3x per week.
Did you know that low-impact workouts done just two or three times per week can make a big difference in progesterone levels? Gentle movement helps balance hormones, lower inflammation, reduce stress, and improve insulin sensitivity. These factors are all key pieces of natural progesterone support.
The sweet spot for Cysters is PCOS-friendly movement like walking, Pilates, yoga, and slow-weighted strength training. When you do these workouts consistently, you help decrease cortisol levels. That allows LH and FSH to signal properly, supports healthier ovulation, and ultimately helps progesterone rise.
And that’s exactly why how you move matters. You want workouts that support your hormones, not stress them out. Inside The Cysterhood app, you’ll find PCOS-friendly workout routines designed to help your body heal, balance hormones, and build strength safely.
Take PCOS-friendly supplements.
Diet and lifestyle changes lay the foundation for hormone balance and healthy progesterone levels. But for many people with PCOS, that’s not always enough on its own. Sometimes, your body needs extra support—and that’s where PCOS supplements and herbs that balance hormones can be a game-changer.
Women with PCOS often struggle to absorb key nutrients efficiently. That makes filling nutrient gaps essential for healing, supporting ovulation, and promoting progesterone production. Some of the most important nutrients for progesterone include:
- Vitamin B6: supports a healthy luteal phase
- Magnesium: improves ovulation quality, relaxation, and sleep
- Zinc: supports ovarian hormone signaling
- Vitamin C: supports corpus luteum function and progesterone output
You’ll find all of these in Ovafit’s NSF-certified Metabolism Plus bundle. It’s thoughtfully formulated to deliver the nutrients Cysters are commonly deficient in. Plus, it supports blood sugar balance, improves fertility, and lowers inflammation.
Sometimes healing isn’t about doing more. It’s about giving your body exactly what it needs.
Track your ovulation, not just your periods.
Here’s the tricky part about PCOS: you can still get a period without actually ovulating. And when it comes to progesterone, this matters—a lot. Progesterone only rises after ovulation, not just because you bleed. So if you want to know whether your progesterone levels are truly increasing, tracking ovulation is key.
You can do this by monitoring your basal body temperature, paying attention to mid-cycle cervical mucus changes, or using ovulation test strips. I break all of this down in more detail in my post, “How to Predict Ovulation with PCOS,” with simple, practical tracking methods.
If your goal is to support ovulation and make your cycles more regular, I also recommend Ovafit’s Inositol Complete 40:1. This myo- and d-chiro inositol formula is designed to improve insulin sensitivity, support cycle regularity, and promote healthy ovulation. With this, your body can naturally produce progesterone the way it should.
Think of it as foundational hormone support, all in one easy daily scoop.
Take simple steps to boost progesterone levels and heal your PCOS naturally.
Balancing your hormones with PCOS can feel overwhelming at first. But once you understand the root causes behind those imbalances, everything starts to make more sense. And taking action feels so much more doable. When it comes to increasing progesterone, your main focus should be on addressing insulin resistance, chronic inflammation, and stress.
And here’s the best part: you don’t have to figure it out on your own. Ovafit and The Cysterhood are here to support you every step of the way. From PCOS-friendly supplements to meal plans, workouts, and easy-to-understand education, you have everything you need. Start healing your hormones and reversing PCOS naturally so you can feel like yourself again.