What is the HPO axis, Why should I care?

This week I had someone ask me what I really thought was important for menstrual health when it comes to nutrition. My answer? Adequacy. Adequacy of nutrients, stress management, sleep, calories, protein, etc., you name it, adequacy matters for HPO axis function.

The HPO stands for hypothalamic pituitary ovarian, explaining the connection between our brain signals and hormone production. We might even want to call it the Hypothalamic pituitary gonadal axis, because if you have a male partner, they have one too, and adequacy matters for them as well.

What does adequacy do for this axis? It tells the hypothalamus you are safe to produce adequate sex hormones. Basically, your hypothalamus doesn’t think it’s running from a bear to survive, which is how it helped save fuel back when we were living in caves.

My hypothalamus actually thinks these bears are cute

The hypothalamus’s signals eventually lead to the production of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, which are required for females and males, respectively, to ovulate and create sperm. Suppose the hypothalamus does not feel safe by having adequate calories within a day. In that case, it can downregulate this hormone production to save nutrients for other more essential processes for immediate survival, like running away from that bear, or in our case, saving calories to feed our brain through a stressful work day.

Click photo for link to reference

This can be difficult to wrap our heads around, because it’s counter to some of our culture that can, at times, feel like it’s always emphasizing diet fads and hacks to control body size. I’m here to tell you that it’s okay, and we can figure it out together! To get a visual for what I’m talking about, see thi

s photo to the left. If you want to start working on adequacy on your own, sign up to receive my free guide to Cooking for Conception to your inbox. If you want more information on how to implement this in your life to help regulate your estrogen, progesterone, or partner’s testosterone levels, book a discovery call with me today.

-Mindy Vanberkel MS RD LDN