Support Your Body Naturally While on Hormonal Birth Control
A large percentage of women who take hormonal contraceptives are doing so to manage symptoms and not for pregnancy prevention. Whether you’re struggling with hormonal acne, PCOS, heavy periods, painful periods or something else the pill is probably going to be your doctors first recommendation.
As a women’s health coach, my job is to help women get the solutions they need to make the best decisions possible for their health and hormones. For some women hormonal birth control can be a great tool to help them manage unbearable symptoms while they do the work to start getting to the root of why they’re experiencing symptoms to begin with. Other women take hormonal birth control because the’re just simply unaware that they have other options. Whatever your reason is for being on hormonal birth control there’s a lot you can do while still on the pill to support your body and prevent post pill side effects.
The first thing to understand is how hormonal birth control can impact your health…
The pill depletes the body of important nutrients we need for health and balanced hormones including magnesium, zinc, b-vitamins and vitamin c.
The pill impairs digestive function which can make us more susceptible to digestive symptoms like gas, bloating, and fatigue.
The pill disrupts the microbiome (the balance of good bacteria in the body). This can cause a worsening of digestive symptoms, bowel issues like constipation/diarrhea, skin issues, immune issues, yeast infections, UTI’s, feelings of anxiety or depression and more.
The pill is a burden on our liver which plays a huge role in keeping our hormones balanced.
So now that we know how hormonal birth control affects your health we can actively play a role in preventing it! Here are my top solutions for supporting your body while still on the pill or other forms of hormonal birth control.
Replenish your body with vitamins and minerals by taking a good quality multi vitamin and mineral. If pregnancy is on your radar soon you might want choosing a prenatal vitamin instead which is higher in all of the female reproductive specific nutrients (Tip: you can use a prenatal post pill also even if you’re not looking to get pregnant in the near future).
Support your liver by eating lots of colorful plant foods, drinking 2-3 litres of filtered water daily, getting adequate protein, getting enough sleep and moving your body daily. You might also want to consider supplementing with liver supportive nutrients or herbs every 4-5 months (you can browse my favorite liver supportive supplements in my online dispensary linked below). My top liver supporting supplements include Milk Thistle, Dandelion Root, Turmeric, B-Complex, and NAC or a blend specifically formulated for the liver with these products.
If you’re experiencing digestive issues and symptoms consider adding in some digestive support with Canadian Digestive Bitters or Digestive Enzymes.
Replenish gut bacteria will a good probiotic every couple of months or probiotic rich foods.
Feed good bacteria with healthy whole foods and starve out bad bacteria by keeping intake of sugar and processed foods to a minimum.
For more information on how you can support your body while on the pill or how to transition off of it if that’s something you’ve been thinking about, please do not hesitate to reach out!
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