I just read Iodine, Supplement Reactions, Hormones And More - KMUD 16 where Ray Peat talks about this topic. Here is the relevant part of the interview:
I have mostly struggled with my periods, and have been jealous of most of my friends having an earlier menopause. I'll probably be having a late one as I'm 54 and my body has no signs of slowing down. But now that my cramps have gotten better and perhaps my energy levels will improve, so maybe menstruating a number of years longer might not be so bad. I'm starting to come to peace with that. But intentionally taking hormones to extend it even longer, seems like a huge leap for me. Would you want to do that? Is anyone already doing that? Would it really be worth it? Or do you feel like you can just supplement with progesterone and obtain a good hormone balance without continuing to menstruate?HD2: And also Dr Peat, how would you compare oestrogen levels with menopausal women and men?
RP: With aging, a man’s oestrogen pretty steadily increases but if he has a heart attack it goes up sharply or if he has a traumatic injury it goes up during the recovery time - but generally there’s a trend upward in men and in women when the ovaries stop cycling and up until about the age of 38–40 there is an actual steady increase in the oestrogen and when the ovaries stop cycling, they stop suddenly producing progesterone but they continue producing a considerable amount of oestrogen until the body can adjust it downward. So there are a few years in the 40s or early 50s usually, when oestrogen is extremely excessive relative to the anti-oestrogen effect of progesterone. But then again after the ovaries have pretty much stopped functioning, the rest of the body, as the progesterone fails, all the other tissues begin, similarly it happens in men, all of a woman’s tissues tend to start increasing their production of oestrogen so that after menopause, the fatter a woman is, the more oestrogen she’s producing because the fat tissue is a good source of it. But any tissue after menopause to the degree that it’s stressed, will begin producing oestrogen.
HD2: So is that about the same level between men and women, after the menopausal period?
RP: Yeah, I think woman tend to be fatter in old age and so they are more likely to have a higher level of oestrogen. But just measuring the blood oestrogen gives a misleading impression because when progesterone is deficient, the oestrogen receptor as well as the aromatase enzyme that makes oestrogen, the receptors binded in cells and there’s no progesterone to destroy the oestrogen receptor so it just stays in the cell and some of the enzymes that are no longer inactivated by progesterone, other enzymes capture circulating oestrogen that should have been excreted, cause it to be deposited in cells still other enzymes shift any oestrogen away from the oestrone form to the oestriol form which is the most active, intense oestrogen. So everything that happens when progesterone is deficient tends to load up various cells all through the body with more and more oestrogenic stimulation, even though, it isn’t being released to be measured in the blood.
HD2: Right, so the blood test could appear that it’s fine but if you have a large amount of fat cells it could be stored in that and other tissues. And what about weight loss for woman who are in the menopause state, to lose that weight do they then poison themselves with that oestrogen as it comes out of the cells?
RP: Just temporarily, but it’s better to get rid of it than have it local because inside the cells because it produces things such as breast cancer, lung cancer, uterine cancer, ovarian cancer, all of the tissues that no longer have enough progesterone are subject to cancer infestation.
HD2: So what about the women that continue to menstruate, like I heard from this lady the other day, that she had this friend who was 70 and was still menstruating?
RP: I talked to a gynaecologist, who was giving his wife progesterone and she was still menstruating at 60. And if you happened to have a very good system for producing progesterone there’s no reason why it should stop at 55.
HD2: So there’s no reason to stop at 55 then, right?
RP: No.
HD2: So basically do you think it would be beneficial that woman to continue to menstruate until the day they die?
RP: I think so.
HD2: Like the flamingos.
RP: Yeah the flamingos have no life limitation according to ordinary mortality curves cause they seem to only die by accidents.
HD2: Or starvation.
HD1: Dr Peat, I wanted to pick up on the point that you mentioned during your last discourse there. I’ve not heard that before: Progesterone destroys the oestrogen receptor? Does anything similarly happen with oestrogen doing the same thing to progesterone receptors or is it just that way around?
RP: Well, oestrogen activates its own receptor in most tissues and it will activate inflammatory things, which tend to turn off the progesterone receptor, if you have excess. Generally, the normal function would be for progesterone to rise as soon as the oestrogen has had its surge and then knock it out. The oestrogen is fine if it is active only for 12-24hrs every month.
HD2: It does its job and then it’s finished.
HD1: But like you said the tissues will carry on producing oestrogen in tissues especially in
obese individuals and menopausal or even postmenopausal women.
HD1: OK, so just another call for all the ladies out there that there really is nothing, and I know it is a personal thing, but nothing wrong with continuing your menstrual cycle as long as you possibly can Progesterone is your friend, oestrogen is your enemy and the only thing really that oestrogen is any good for is the implantation and so we have our first caller, so let’s get this first caller.