Estrogen and progesterone are synthesized from cholesterol, which first converts into pregnenolone, a step requiring healthy mitochondria and the action of specific CYP (cytochrome P450) heme proteins, such as CYP11A1, CYP17A1, and CYP19A1. While the broader CYP enzyme family is primarily known for detoxification roles in the liver, these particular enzymes reside in steroidogenic tissues like the ovaries, adrenal glands, placenta, and even the brain, where they drive the hormonal pathways essential for female physiology. Their function depends on a redox-balanced mitochondrial environment and critical cofactors, bioavailable iron, vitamin A (retinol), and active thyroid hormone (T3).
As women enter perimenopause, declining estrogen and progesterone levels are often attributed to “ovarian failure.” In truth, this decline more accurately reflects a breakdown in the mitochondrial and circadian systems that support endogenous hormone production. Many women who struggle most with menopause also have underlying autoimmune conditions such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, celiac disease, or MS susceptibility, conditions that are actually metabolic diseases in disguise, rooted in mitochondrial dysfunction. These conditions deplete the critical cofactors needed for steroid hormone synthesis and signal to the body that it is under threat. From an evolutionary standpoint, the body will downregulate reproductive hormone production in the presence of illness or environmental stress, because why bring new life into an unhealthy or hostile environment? The hormonal decline, then, is not due to age alone, but is a protective, adaptive response to mitochondrial and immune stress.
The HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) axis, connecting the brain, ovaries, and adrenal glands, regulates sex hormones via finely timed signals that are highly circadian and light-sensitive. Melanopsin photoreceptors in the eyes and skin detect the solar spectrum, transmitting time-of-day information to the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which orchestrates hormonal rhythms throughout the body. Disruption of this natural light input, especially from artificial light at night, weakens the fidelity of the signal between the brain and ovaries.
When mitochondrial health is supported by natural environmental inputs, such as full-spectrum sunlight (especially at sunrise and during UVA-rich hours), absence of artificial light after dark, connection to Earth’s magnetic field (grounding), and the maintenance of structured water inside cells, CYP enzyme activity remains robust, allowing for continued pregnenolone conversion and hormone production well into midlife.
However, if someone does not clean up their home, particularly the bedroom, from artificial visible and non-visible electromagnetic exposures such as blue light from LEDs, fluorescent lighting, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 4G, 5G, dirty electricity (EMI), and ambient AC electric and magnetic fields, the body will remain in a stress-adapted state and the "pregnenolone steal" syndrome will persist. These artificial light sources and anthropogenic EMFs are among the most powerful disruptors of hormonal balance, especially when someone is already eating clean, drinking good water, and avoiding air pollution. Without eliminating these stressors, mitochondrial function and hormonal signaling will remain impaired, no matter how healthy the rest of the lifestyle may appear.
Cortisol dominance, driven by psychological stress, EMF exposure, career intensity, trauma, negative self-talk, and chronic indoor living, can severely suppress this system. High cortisol blunts hypothalamic-pituitary signaling, downregulates ovarian function, and redirects pregnenolone toward stress hormone production (a phenomenon known as “pregnenolone steal”). Cortisol also damages mitochondria directly by increasing oxidative stress and depleting the redox power required for steroidogenesis. In this stress-adapted metabolic mode, sex hormone production dwindles, not due to irreversible aging, but as a protective mechanism.
The path back to balance begins with eliminating the bad and reintroducing the good. That means rigorously cleaning up the environment from anthropogenic EMFs and artificial, unbalanced visible light, especially after sunset. Just as important is reintroducing healing environmental signals, full-spectrum sunlight with an emphasis on broadband infrared and UVA light, food consumed in alignment with the circadian rhythm, and reconnecting with Earth’s magnetic field. These cues help regulate redox balance, improve mitochondrial performance, and restore the hormonal signaling required for optimal health. When combined with nervous system recalibration, stress reduction, and sleep optimization, this holistic strategy can stop pregnenolone steal (also understood as "electron steal syndrome") and reinstate the body’s capacity to naturally produce estrogen and progesterone well into midlife and beyond.
To further illuminate the biophysical underpinnings of estrogen and progesterone synthesis, it's essential to delve deeper into mitochondrial function and its pivotal role in hormonal health. Mitochondria are not only the powerhouses of the cell but also the birthplace of steroid hormones. The initial step in steroidogenesis, the conversion of cholesterol to pregnenolone, occurs within the mitochondria and is facilitated by the enzyme cytochrome P450scc (CYP11A1)
Estrogens, particularly estradiol, have been shown to regulate mitochondrial function directly. They enhance mitochondrial biogenesis, improve oxidative phosphorylation efficiency, and protect against oxidative stress by modulating the expression of antioxidant enzymes . This bidirectional relationship implies that not only do mitochondria influence hormone production, but hormones also feedback to maintain mitochondrial integrity.
Progesterone similarly impacts mitochondrial function. It has been observed to influence mitochondrial respiration and reduce the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), thereby safeguarding cellular components from oxidative damage . This protective role is crucial, especially considering that excessive ROS can impair mitochondrial DNA and disrupt the electron transport chain, leading to diminished ATP production and hormonal imbalances.
To optimize this system, lifestyle interventions that support mitochondrial health are paramount. These include regular physical activity, which stimulates mitochondrial biogenesis; a nutrient-rich diet abundant in antioxidants; and adequate sleep, which facilitates mitochondrial repair processes. Additionally, minimizing exposure to environmental toxins and managing stress can prevent mitochondrial dysfunction.
In conclusion, maintaining mitochondrial health is integral to hormonal balance. By supporting mitochondrial function through targeted lifestyle choices, it's possible to enhance the body's natural production of estrogen and progesterone, thereby promoting overall well-being.
For cycling young women, estrogen and progesterone act like timekeepers between the brain, ovaries and environment. Estradiol rises in the follicular phase to stimulate follicle growth, collagen production, synaptic plasticity and motivation. Progesterone rises after ovulation to stabilize mood, deepen sleep, support GABA based calm and prepare the endometrium. This is not random chemistry. It is a circadian and monthly pattern that depends on morning light, stable meal timing and nervous system safety. When light at night, late eating and constant sympathetic drive flatten these signals, the result is irregular cycles, heavier bleeding, worsening premenstrual symptoms and a drift toward relative estrogen dominance simply because progesterone has been suppressed.
Progesterone in particular is the most under appreciated resilience hormone in female physiology. Beyond its role in pregnancy, it stabilizes myelin, protects neurons from excitotoxicity, modulates GABA receptors to calm the system, improves sleep spindle quality and buffers the proliferative effects of estrogen on breast and uterine tissue. When a woman lives indoors under cold LED light, scrolls into the late evening or trains hard without adequate recovery, the body often chooses cortisol over progesterone from the same pregnenolone pool. In a young woman this looks like short luteal phases, spotting, anxiety and insomnia. In a woman in the perimenopausal window, the drop in progesterone often arrives long before any true collapse in estradiol, which is why so many symptoms appear years before laboratory values show a clear change.
It is also important to remember that women make and require testosterone. Ovaries and adrenal glands produce small but powerful amounts that support drive, muscle maintenance, bone integrity and libido. In a coherent environment where light, sleep, food timing and emotional life are reasonably aligned, estrogen, progesterone and testosterone dance together to create a rhythm of outward energy and inward restoration. When large amounts of energy are constantly diverted into extreme exercise, long distance racing or a perpetual building of muscle mass without matching recovery, the body reallocates mitochondrial resources away from reproduction and toward skeletal muscle and survival. The price is often irregular cycles, anovulation or complete cycle loss, not because the body is broken, but because it is obeying an energetic budget.
Perimenopause is usually described as ovarian failure that must be corrected with outside hormones, yet the biophysics suggests a more adaptive story. As follicle number declines, the system becomes more sensitive to environmental information. If that information is chronic stress, artificial light at night, emotional disconnection and constant dietary inflammation, the transition will feel chaotic. Hot flashes, mood swings, sleep fragmentation and weight gain are the signatures of a body that is trying to withdraw reproductive investment in an unsafe context. If instead a woman enters this phase with strong light hygiene, deep relationships, movement in nature and consistent nourishment, the same hormonal shift can become a gradual recalibration to a new steady state. In that setting, external hormones are far less necessary.
After menopause, women do not stop making hormones. Estrogen and progesterone continue to be produced in smaller amounts by adrenal glands, adipose tissue and even the brain. At this stage the entire system becomes more reliant on mitochondrial clarity and circadian precision because there is less hormonal padding to absorb environmental insults. Full spectrum sunlight, regular walking, resistance training, protein rich meals during daylight and true darkness at night are the main levers that keep bones, brain and blood vessels healthy. When these are in place, many women maintain remarkable vitality without hormone replacement. When they are missing, replacement therapy is added to a system that is already energy deficient and environmentally mismatched, which may blunt symptoms but rarely restores deep resilience.
Finally, the gut, brain and ovaries form a single photobiologic and electrochemical network. The microbiome shapes estrogen clearance through the estrobolome, either recirculating estrogens or escorting them out of the body. Vagal tone and gut permeability are influenced by light, sound, social connection and sleep, and these in turn change how steroid hormones signal at their receptors. Sound is not trivial here. Human voice, music, prayer, laughter and emotional safety all increase vagal tone and support hypothalamic rhythm. When a woman lives in coherent light cycles, eats most of her food in the earlier part of the day, moves often, exposes her skin and eyes to natural light, and cultivates safe relationships, she gives her mitochondria permission to keep investing in estrogen and progesterone production for decades. Hormones then stop looking like a problem to be fixed and reveal themselves as the adaptive language between her environment, her energy and her fertility across the entire lifespan.
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The information on this site is provided by BioSpectral Systems for educational and informational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease and has not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or any other regulatory authority. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making any changes to your health regimen. By using this site, you acknowledge that you do so at your own discretion and agree that BioSpectral Systems, its affiliates, and contributors are not liable for any outcome resulting from the use of the information presented.
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