The Birth Control Pill (the Pill) is the most common form of birth control for women under 35.
It is often described as a “safe” and convenient method of preventing pregnancy and even suppress their periods.
But what is exactly in the Pill?
What are common dangers and side effects?
Taking the birth control pill has a large string of side effects, and that list gets longer the longer you take the pill.
The packaging of your pills is scarce with this information, but medical studies are always finding more and more links between women’s health and artificial hormones.
The traditional combination pill contains both estrogen and progesterone, the two hormones that your body naturally produces to regulate your reproductive system and menstrual cycle.
The ratio of these hormones in the Pill is exactly correct for preventing pregnancy, but it also causes estrogen dominance.
Almost all of the symptoms or side effects of the Pill can be linked to estrogen dominance.
This condition occurs when your body can not process and eliminate the estrogen in your body, and it interferes with the hormonal balance of your body in many ways.
Some of the symptoms of estrogen dominance caused by the Pill are:
– Depression/anxiety
– Candida overgrowth
– Nutrient deficiency
– Risk of blood clots
– Risk of breast cancer
– Decreased libido
– Weight gain and bloating
– ncrease PMS symptoms
– Mood Swings
Having your body chemistry constantly altered by the Pill affects your brain.
These hormones can cause your moods to swing wildly from happy to sad, even within the same hour.
Estrogen also has a dampening effect on your sex drive.
When your hormones are unaltered estrogen peaks at the beginning of your cycle.
Your body is not ready to make a baby, so it doesn’t need you to want sex.
Having high levels of estrogen in your body through your entire cycle will keep a lid on your sex life all month long.
The Pill can also increase your risk of depression and anxiety, or worsen the symptoms if your mental health is already suffering.
A study in Denmark showed that approximately ten percent of women taking the birth control pill were also diagnosed with depression or anxiety during the course of the study.
This number was higher for teenagers 15-19, which is a grave cause for concern.
Another interesting finding from that study was that at least 10% of the women who started the Pill during the study took it for less than a year, indicating that the side effects were too much to continue.
If we move to a wider view of your body on too much estrogen we see that it has whole-system impacts as well.
Firstly, your liver has to process and try to eliminate all that estrogen.
To do that it utilizes nutrients like b-vitamins, folate, zinc, vitamin C, magnesium, and selenium.
Having too much estrogen in your body is literally sucking nutrients out of you, and it’s not easy to repair that deficiency once it’s occurred.
These vitamins and minerals impact everything from your immune system to your muscles, and your head to your feet.
This is especially important to address if you’re coming off of birth control to get pregnant.
It’s advisable to wait 6-12 months and start a good supplement regimen to replenish those nutrients before you make a baby and it starts taking what nutrients you have left.
There is also a yeast problem to look at.
Estrogen dominance creates the perfect conditions for Candida (a type of yeast) to grow in your body.
Aside from the common vaginal yeast infections, Candida causes a whole host of other issues in your entire body.
As the yeast grows in your intestinal tract it releases toxic byproducts, which then enter your bloodstream.
These toxins have been linked to everything from migraines to PMS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome to psoriasis.
It feeds on sugar in your system, so if your Pill causes you to have cravings as well, it’s a double whammy of damage to your whole body.
Speaking of cravings and sugar, yes the Pill can cause that too.
Because of the nutrient depletion and the energy required to metabolize the hormones you may also be subject to cravings.
This is also one way that the Pill can cause weight gain.
Another way is that it actually changes the fat cells in your body, making them larger.
This is why many women report gaining weight in their stomach, hips, and thighs, as this is where fat cells are in the highest concentrations for women.
The Pill also encourages water retention in your body, as it mimics your body when it is newly pregnant.
This can cause swelling in your breasts, stomach area, hips, and even your legs and feet.
This also loops back again to your sex drive, as you probably won’t feel very romantic if you’re experiencing bloating and swelling.
The Pill has also been linked to an increase in breast cancer.
Estrogen triggers breast cells to grow in puberty and pregnancy, so having them active all the time can result in an overgrowth of cells that can turn cancerous very easily.
A study done in the USA puts the risk of developing breast cancer at 1 in 5 for women who took birth control pills before having their first child, which is a HUGE difference from the average 1 in 8 risks of a healthy woman with no family history.
It also increases your risk of developing blood clots.
The link between estrogen and increase in blood clots has been known since the 1990s.
Current thinking is that estrogen increases your blood-clotting factor, which in turn encourages clots to form.
Deep vein thromboses occur when a clot forms in a deep vein of your body, usually your leg.
This can cause swelling, heat, and pain at the site of the clot. That clot can also break off and travel to your lungs, which is life-threatening.
Are you ready to pitch your pills yet? After reading all that who wouldn’t be?
The good news is that there are quite a few other ways to prevent pregnancy that do not harm your health.
Natural birth control alternatives:
– Calendar method
– Fertility Awareness Method
– Cervical Cap/Diaphragms
– Male/Female condoms
The calendar method is fairly obvious, you track your cycles and engage in intercourse only when you know you’re not ovulating.
It’s also very easy to make a mistake with this method because ovulation times can vary up to a week from average.
Moving to something like the Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) is useful in this case because it also takes into account your body temperature (which changes based on ovulation) and cervical mucus (same).
It is a good way to get FAM-iliar with your body’s unique rhythms and is great for both preventing pregnancies, as well as trying to get pregnant.
Cervical caps and diaphragms work in similar ways; they both cover the cervix so no semen can enter the uterus and fertilize an egg.
They are quite effective when used correctly, but there is a learning curve to get them situated correctly.
Male and female condoms are the only one of these methods that protect both parties from sexually-transmitted diseases, so please consider that when you’re choosing a birth control method.
Also, something to keep in mind is that these 4 products are typically made from latex (condoms) or silicone (caps and diaphragms) and you should take any allergies to those products into account.
Billions of dollars are spent every year in the pharmaceutical industry to lobby and promote drugs.
Birth Control Pills are no different. Why do you think your Doctor’s office has so many free samples to give you?
They are given those to market to you so you’ll come back and buy more.
The health and well-being of the patient come in a far second to the almighty dollar.
Instead of using a pill to alter your body chemistry treat the root of your problems and choose another method that won’t cause weight gain, blood clots, or cancer.
If you have taken the Pill before and suffered from digestive issues like boosting, gas, constipation indigestion, go to the next page and learn about the 3 tips to heal your digestive system…
About the Author:
Emma Deangela is the best selling author of The Alkaline Diet Program and 80/20 Fat Loss. She has helped over tens of thousands of men and women to lose weight and transform their health with sound nutrition advice. Check out her 4 foods to never eat for breakfast video to lose more than 18 lbs in 3 weeks.
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