Ray Peat on Menopause and Hot Flashes

Short answer: Ray Peat rejected the idea that menopause is an estrogen deficiency. He wrote that it begins with the failure of progesterone, that estrogen keeps being produced in the tissues, and that hot flashes belong to the biology of stress and low energy.

What Ray Peat wrote about menopause

He wrote that at the onset of menopause it is progesterone that stops being produced, while estrogen continues to be made. Source: Multiple Sclerosis and other hormone related brain syndromes

He cites measurements showing that the estradiol in the tissues of postmenopausal women is not significantly lower than in menstruating women in the first half of the cycle. Source: Tissue-bound estrogen in aging

The cause of the progesterone deficiency, in his account, is a complex of stress-related factors, not worn-out eggs. Source: Menopause and its causes

He described menopause itself as the result of prolonged exposure to estrogen. Source: Hot flashes, energy, and aging

Hot flashes are now linked to inflammation, heart disease and dementia risk. He connects them to a subnormal body temperature and to a mismatch between energy supply and demand. Source: Hot flashes, energy, and aging, Multiple sclerosis, protein, fats, and progesterone

Estrogen and progesterone have opposite effects on metabolic rate, skin circulation, body temperature and heat loss. That is why he looked to progesterone and thyroid. Source: Hot flashes, energy, and aging

Prolactin often rises at menopause instead of falling, and that rise is associated with osteoporosis and other age-related symptoms. Source: Tissue-bound estrogen in aging

He noted that the fall in breast cancer incidence reported in 2006 coincided with the large drop in menopausal estrogen treatment. Source: Estrogen, progesterone, and cancer: Conflicts of interest in regulation and product promotion

What he suggested in practice

• He looked to thyroid function, progesterone and nutrition rather than estrogen.
• Light, sodium, magnesium and good protein, which he found helpful for the related premenstrual symptoms.
• Hormones are medical treatments. Discuss them with a doctor.

Where he wrote about it

This topic comes up in 46 of the articles on his site. These are the most relevant ones:

• Hot flashes, energy, and aging · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Autonomic systems · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Tissue-bound estrogen in aging · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Progesterone, not estrogen, is the coronary protection factor of women · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Menopause and its causes · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Estrogen, progesterone, and cancer: Conflicts of interest in regulation and product promotion · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Natural Estrogens · original on raypeat.com ↗
• Preventing and treating cancer with progesterone · original on raypeat.com ↗

Quick answers

What did Ray Peat say about menopause?

That it is a progesterone deficiency brought on by stress-related causes, not an estrogen deficiency, and that estrogen continues to be produced in the tissues after menopause.

What did Ray Peat say about hot flashes?

He linked them to low body temperature, inflammation and an energy shortage, and noted the opposite effects of estrogen and progesterone on temperature and heat loss.