In 15-44 year old women, approximately 30% are using oral birth control.  According to Statistics Canada, there are 6.9 million Canadian women between the ages of 15 to 44 in 2010.  This means that approximately 2.1 million Canadian women are taking oral birth control.  That’s a lot of Canadians!

The birth control pill (BCP) is one method amongst a few others that couples use to strictly prevent an unplanned pregnancy.  And that’s 100% ok.

There are a bunch of side effects from taking birth control that I’m not even going to go into.  Instead, I’m focusing this blog post on the various vitamins and minerals that your BCP is bumping out.

Did you know that BCPs actually bump out the following vitamins and minerals?

• vitamin B2
• vitamin B6
• vitamin B12
• folic acid
• vitamin C
• vitamin E
• magnesium
• selenium
• zinc

That’s a whole bunch of important vitamins and minerals that are important when it comes to hormone balance that are depleted!  It’s no wonder so many women who come off of birth control have such a horrible time with side effects such as acne, mood swings, weight fluctuations and PMS.

Where do you start?

Whenever I have a patient who is currently taking a BCP, I always talk to them about the importance of supplementing for the duration of them taking the BCP.

For my patients who are trying to come off of their BCP, I always start by getting them to start a supplement temporarily to replenish their vitamin and mineral levels to their optimal levels AND work on supporting their detoxification organs to eliminate the excess estrogen.

If you want to come off of your birth control or are currently struggling to transition off of birth control, CONTACT ME HERE so that we can set up a complimentary 15 min discovery call/meeting to see if you need my support during this transition.

What’s a discovery call/meeting?  It’s where we get to know each other better to ensure that I’m the right practitioner for you and that you have the opportunity to ask your questions about Naturopathic Medicine before we move forward with an initial Naturopathic consultation.

Here are a few more posts on hormone balance or women’s health that you might also be interested in:

• Hormone Testing or Women’s Health
• What To Do If You’re ALWAYS Tired
• What’s a Menstrual Cup?
• Vitamin D and Menstrual Cramps
• Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)
• Estrogen
• Endometriosis & Estrogen Dominance
• Trying to get pregnant? Test your ferritin levels!

References

Palmery M et al.  Oral contraceptives and changes in nutritional requirements.  Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci.  2013 Jul; 17(13): 1804-1813.

#drmoirakwokND #womenhealth #womenshealth #womenempowerment #wellness #motivation #healthylifestyle #selfcare #selflove #wombwellness #vaginahealth #periodproblems #girltribe #hormonebalance