Reasons to avoid birth control pills or any type of oral contraceptive as they cause nutritional deficiencies and destroy the microbiome for those that take it and their future children.
Since the introduction of oral contraceptives in the early 1960s, use of “the Pill”, as it is generally known, has soared to approximately 7 in 10 women of childbearing age.
Among young women ages 18-24, oral contraceptive use is especially high, reaching two-thirds in 2008.
The widespread use of The Pill is a troubling issue because oral contraceptives devastate beneficial bacterial flora in the gut.
This leaves those who use it vulnerable to colonization and dominance from pathogenic strains such as Candida albicans, Streptococci, and Staphylococci among others.
By the time a woman who has used birth control pills is ready to have children, a severe case of intractable gut dysbiosis has more than likely taken hold.
Most people think that only the use of drugs such as antibiotics causes gut imbalances, but this is simply not true.
According, to Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD, many other drugs such as the Pill also cause severe gut dysbiosis.
What’s worse, a drug-induced gut imbalance is especially resistant to treatment either with probiotics or diet change.
What does this mean for your future child’s health?
A lot, as it turns out!
The Pill Causes Nutritional Deficiencies
First of all, gut imbalance brought on through the use of The Pill negatively impacts the ability to digest food and absorb nutrients.
As a result, even if a woman eats spectacularly well during pregnancy, she can experience nutritional deficiencies.
If she has been taking oral contraceptives for a long period of time, it is highly likely that she and her baby are not reaping the full benefits of the healthy food she is eating.
The lack of beneficial flora in her gut prevents this from occurring.
In addition, beneficial bacteria actively synthesize nutrients, especially B vitamins, Vitamin K1, amino acids, and other nutrients.
In an imbalanced gut, a woman is missing out on the “natural supplementation” that these good strains provide to her and her growing baby.
Not well known is the fact that using the Pill depletes zinc in the body.
Zinc is called “the intelligence mineral” as it is intimately involved in mental development.
As a result, it is very important for women who have been using the Pill for any length of time to wait at least 6 months before becoming pregnant to ensure that zinc levels return to normal.
Low zinc is associated with lowered IQ and birth defects.
If you are concerned that your levels might be low, try this easy at-home zinc deficiency test to give you peace of mind.
It really is quite disturbing to fully realize the very real potential that the use of The Pill has to trigger nutritional deficiencies!
Pathogenic Gut Flora from Birth Control Pills
Pathogenic, opportunistic microbes that take hold in the gut when The Pill is used constantly produce toxic substances.
They are the poisonous by-products of their metabolism.
These toxins leak into the woman’s bloodstream and guess what, they have the potential to cross the placenta!
Therefore, gut dysbiosis exposes the fetus to toxins even if the woman never eats anything but organic foods and lives in an environment with no pollutants.
Indeed, an imbalanced gut has the potential to expose a woman and her baby to just as many or even more toxins than her environment through self-poisoning!
Gut Dysbiosis and Anemia Go Hand in Hand
Most people with abnormal gut flora also suffer from various stages of anemia.
This is because some of the most common pathogenic strains of bacteria that take hold in an imbalanced gut are those that consume iron:
- Actinomyces spp.
- Mycobacterium spp.
- Pathogenic strains of E.Coli
- Corynebacterium spp. and others.
Anemia during pregnancy is especially dangerous.
Not only can it deprive the fetus of oxygen (iron helps build red blood cells and red blood cells carry oxygen), but it is linked to low birth weight and pre-term birth.
Can iron supplements during pregnancy combat this problem?
In a word, no!
How many women do you know who consistently battle low iron during pregnancy despite consuming iron supplements and eating iron-rich foods?
I personally know many such cases.
The reason is that the more iron a patient with gut dysbiosis consumes in either food or supplement form, the stronger these pathogenic, iron-loving strains become!
The extra iron “feeds” them, so to speak, much the same as sugar feeds Candida albicans.
The cure for gut dysbiotic anemia is to heal and seal the gut, not take iron supplements with low bioavailability!
Baby “Inherits” Mom’s Microbiome (for better or for worse)
A human baby is born with a sterile gut.
This means that there is no bacterial activity in a fetus’ digestive system prior to birth.
The vast majority of gut flora that a child eventually develops is inherited from Mom.
This occurs via the baby swallowing microbes during vaginal birth. These microbes can be either good or bad!
If Mom has a gut imbalance, it will be the same situation in her vagina. Hence, her children’s intestines will be seeded with the same microbes during delivery.
Babies born via Cesarean section are at risk for even more unbalanced gut flora as their guts are seeded with whatever microbes are floating around the hospital at the time (which is why it is so imperative for a baby born via C-section to be breastfed IMMEDIATELY!).
Children with imbalanced gut flora are particularly predisposed to autoimmune disorders in the form of allergies, asthma, and eczema.
In more severe cases of gut dysbiosis, learning disabilities manifest such as ADHD, ADD, autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and others.
Of course, there is sometimes an environmental “trigger” which instigates these disorders.
But, it is crucial to keep in mind that gut dysbiosis is the primary underlying cause.
Think Twice Before Taking Birth Control Pills
When considering whether or not to take oral contraceptives, women rarely if ever consider the long-term implications to themselves let alone their children.
This is no surprise given that doctors rarely if ever mention this sort of thing when prescribing antibiotics let alone The Pill to their patients!
Therefore, it is vital that women be fully informed of the potentially devastating consequences to their health and that of their children (and potentially grandchildren) from birth control pills.
And Moms…do NOT let a pediatrician put your young daughter on oral contraceptives to control monthly menstrual discomfort! Fix her diet instead for a real solution to the problem instead of the band-aid approach favored by prescribing physicians.
References
March of Dimes, pregnancy complications
Mineral Primer
Gut and Psychology Syndrome, Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD
More Information
170 Scientific Studies Confirm the Dangers of Soy
Why Even Organic Soy Formula is so Dangerous for Babies
The Dangers of Estrogenic Foods, Herbs, and Drugs
I wish I had known about WAPF when I got married. After only three months on the pill I was a mess-eczema outbreaks worse than I had seen in years (I’ve struggled with it most of my life, but it was manageable), a bacterial infection in my skin, and the flu. I ended up on prednisone and antibiotics, and my system was completely destroyed. A year later I am still struggling with severe eczema, to the point that I ended up in the hospital over the holidays with an infection. Hindsight is 20/20, but at least I know now how to combat the effects and work to rebuild my system before I start having kids.
Rebecca, I am so glad that you are now armed with the info you need to rebuild your gut and immune system before you get pregnant with your children!!! We simply have to get the word out to young women to not go on these terrible pills.
Sarah, thanks again for this very timely post. I responded to another post on here but I am just now coming off the pill after 12 years. It is actually a bit frightening as I can hardly remember what “normal” is for me. And no one ever told me about risks with the pill. I was actually told how the pill could help prevent cervical cancer. Imagine – I thought I was doing something good for me. But over the last two years as I’ve “gotten religion” about food and health, I finally decided that it needed to go. Your post is very helpful to me right now and I will investigate further the GAPS diet.
Wow, this is a great post with lots of new information. I wish the young women were more informed about how to stay healthy before conceiving, during pregnancy, and after delivery. It is a shame that doctors don’t explain all the dangers. (synthetic hormones, vaccines, deficiencies, heavy metals, flouride, MSG and so on)
My son was born with a tumor causing a facial malformation 17 years ago. Who knows what caused it, the point is, I was never told things about health and nutrition in the same way I tell my clients today. Perhaps it could have been prevented with better knowledge.
Does anyone have thoughts or opinions on using Cycle Beads? I’ve been on the pill since my teenage years and although I’d very much like to go off of it, I recently returned to school to get my degree and absolutely *cannot* get pregnant until I graduate. If used correctly, how confident could I be that natural planning would prevent it?
Elena, I was in a very similar situation. I took the pill for a year when I first got married, but got off of it because I was a crazy person. I know several families who have used natural family planning very successfully, they were able to choose when they would get pregnant. My husband and I used NFP very successfully for 2 more years, then we had our little surprise. I’m still in school and am now taking a little time off to be with our son, but even though we weren’t planning on having a son at this time I’m so thankful to be off the pill. I was unaware of the health problems, but knew that the hormones were wreaking havoc on my emotions and therefore my poor husband. I would DEFINITELY suggest reading more about it, we used a book published by the Catholic Church that was very helpful even though we’re not Catholic. It takes dedication, but very worth the time.
Elena,
I strongly suggest that you look into one of the following highly effective natural methods:
Symptothermal Method-uses basal body temperature and cervical mucous.
http://www.ccli.org/
Creighton Model Fertility Care system.-uses observations of cervical mucous
http://www.fertilitycare.org/
Unlike cycle beads, these do not require that the woman using them have regular cycles, and they work for anybody. When used carefully, they are very effective. I have tried both. If you have reproductive health problems, I think the Creighton Model offers better support for diagnosis and healing, as there are specially trained medical consultants familiar with this method.
please see my reply below. I didn’t know I could reply directly below someone’s post.
Elena, I used the cycle beads for less than a year. They worked well, until I forgot to bring them wih me on an overseas family trip – and then I got a surprise. Moral of the story: be diligent in moving the little black ring!!! A great book is called “Take Charge of Your Fertility” by an author whose name I forget. It tells you the different methods of natural family planning, including observing your body for signs of ovulation.
Elena I just got done reading Taking Charge of Your Fertility and this is the model I will be following. Not only has it shown me how to naturally follow my fertility signs and avoid (or eventually obtain) pregnancy, I’ve learned so much about my body that I never knew before from reading that book and I highly recommend it. I am just going off the pill after 12 years on it. 12 years. Somebody pray for me.
Joanna – I’ll be praying for you. I know what a hard road it is to get back from being on the pill. I, too, went the TCOYF route, and it only took me about 6 months to get a handle on my cycle. Both our girls were conceived using that model, and right now I’m having some health problems and using it to avoid a pregnancy. Even after losing an ovary, I’m still able to track my (now very irregular) fertility signs. Good luck, and I will keep you in my prayers!
Hi I was on the pill for almost 18 years! over weight and with fibromyalgia, and on antideppressents, with much more going on I did take myself off the meds but I got preggers very quickly! within 3 mo’s. I can say this with my faith that I know my body was damaged! but I prayed alot everyday after finding out that I was preggers and I even called the 700 club for more prayers and I was high risk, high bp, and 36 years old with other problems! let me just say that, Ladies it is possible, all things are possible through our Lord and savior, and we are all sinners, and he knows you and your body. I knew my baby was breach so I was prepared for c-section, painful but worth my healthy child she’s beautiful we are so blessed everyday too have a miracle truly I am rich. I pray for all of you out there that desire and long for a child to seek Jesus and know that anything is possible with him! I am a living testimony, She now is a healthy toddler age 16. mo this 24th this month 02/24/13! I am not here to hurt anyone I just want to give you hope.
Thank you all for the info! I ordered Taking Charge of Your Fertility and should receive it tomorrow. I’m embarrassed to say that apart from a few brief periods, I’ve been on the pill for 16 years of my life and I’m really looking forward to stopping!
I am just reading and learning about this today. I am just sickened. I have been on the pill for 17 years. What other options are out there besides tubal litigation? I am afraid if I stop using the pill that I will get pregnant quickly. With both of my children, I was pregnant within a month of stopping the pill. I have noticed my daughter has dry spots on her cheeks (eczema possibly)?
Sara, Get the book, Taking Charge of Your Fertility. It is completely natural and is rated “just as to more effective” than any HBC. There is a special section in there on how to begin if you are currently on the pill. Regardless of whether or not you do follow it… it will fire you up as a woman that you have lived this long and NOT KNOWN some of the most basic information about our bodies that we should. I seriously cannot give this book enough of a recommendation. Also note that it has absolutely nothing to do with any “faith” or “religion” and is purely about science and our physiology.
There are a lot of great comments here about very reputable Natural Family Planning sources, I think all of them are great resources but I just wanted to add one that has been helpful for us. It is the Marquette Method of NFP and uses the clearblue easy fertility monitor to track fertility hormones. It is very accurate, though slightly more expensive then some of the other methods, however that may be worth it to you for the peace of mind it does buy as well. We have used it successfully to avoid pregnancy for the last year and a half of a very complicated breastfeeding phase. Another up side is that whenever you want to get pregnant this method can be used to achieve that as well.
Sara I have used NFP for 7 years and have 2 children with one on the way. My middle was a surprise but it was a condom failure, not a bc failure. It totally can be done. I do something a bit different than the books say. I keep track of my cycles very closely with an app called MyDays. I also use fertility tests when I’m within 5 days of my expected ovulation just in case. You can get cheap O sticks on amazon, like 50 for $15. I use condoms on days that I may be ovulating but not often. Overall, it has worked for us. It has gotten more difficult for me as I have gotten older and my cycles have become more unpredictable, but its still far better than the pill. I had so many side effects from the pill that I stopped years ago before any of this data was readily available. It was just bad for my body.
Look into wild carrot seed 😉 No, really! It’s been used as a natural ‘birth control’ for thousands of years.
http://bearmedicineherbals.com/an-interview-with-robin-rose-bennett-wild-carrot-fertility-and-a-vision.html
If you *can not* get pregnant, I’d say use a barrier method followed by the carrot seed; the two layers in case the ‘guys’ get past is a good idea.
My concern with the ‘planning’ techniques, especially when we’re talking about teens or those ‘dating,’ is sometimes ‘the mood’ strikes when your ‘ovulation’ isn’t ideal for preventing pregnancy; avoiding the medical consequences of ‘the pill’ should not have to lead to pregnancy.. Every child should be born loved and wanted.. If a couple is not ready for this, prevention is key.
As a ‘spontaneous’ gal, multiple methods are ideal 😉
Best,
Dianne
Elena, I replied to your first post as well, but I do want to encourage you. If you are needing confidence and absolute understanding, I would recommend finding a certified Billings Ovulation Method instructor to help you out. Especially after being on the Pill for so long, you may have some special circumstances that don’t fall within the book’s information on coming off of the pill. It is a great book to get you started, but if you want absolute confidence, Billings is the way to go. It is more simple and straight-forward, and I have known many women who have read “Taking Charge” and been surprised by a pregnancy 🙂
The Billings Ovulation Method is 99.5% effective in postponing pregnancy (that is a USE number based on a study conducted in China in 1997. If the method had been used perfectly effectiveness would have been 100% in this study), and is easy to use. It only has 4 rules, and does not involve taking your temperature or doing internal cervical exams. It is also the most scientifically researched method of natural fertility management. All other methods have relied on and broken off of our research. Also, Billings is based on day to day observations, we do not rely on regular cycles, averages or calendars in any way. It has been tested in women in all stages of reproductive life, including those dealing with PCOS, endometriosis, irregular cycles, stress, PMS, breastfeeding, etc. Because of the extensive research, your Billings chart becomes a biological window into your body- we can see vitamin deficiencies, hormone imbalance and early detection of potentially serious problems. Visit http://www.nfpaware.com for more details and give us a call if you want to learn. We do web conferences all the time with long-distance clients. (918) 4010-NFP (401-0637).
Hi Sarah,
What is the best way to heal your hut from this after taking them? Is it too far gone for the GAPS diet, or are there other ways to combat the effects of three years of being on the pill?
Hi Diana, the GAPS protocol is the best I have come across. There may be others that work just as well such as SCD diet, but I personally have witnessed absolute miracles in gut healing from folks going on GAPS for a period of time. Not forever, just until the gut heals which is on average 6 months to 3 years.
I took the pill for 5 years but was able to get pregnant within 3 months of going off it. Still, the pill definitely ruined my gut flora as I later found out. My older son seems okay, but my younger had terrible eczema (it seems under control now). The pill also ruined my hair – I used to have beautiful, thick hair. Now it’s thin, brittle, no shine – in some areas it seems like I’m almost bald!! And I’m only 34!! I wish I’d known… I’ve been moving to full GAPS for almost a month and taking my younger son with me, for the most part. I hope to heal my adrenals – I’m suspecing hypothyroid as well. Who knows what the pill was responsible for in total…
Thank you for this! I have been explainiing this for years, no one believed me even the Dr’s. They told me I was crazy….I had the Mirena placed after my 3rd child, they told me it was hormone free (this was when it was new and before google, webmd, etc…) They lied to me. I am still recovering. After 8 years I found a homeopathic Dr who believed me and helped me get back to me “normal” self. I am now back and feeling great. Still, no one believed me and it was so frusterating knowing something was majorly wrong. Thank God for Dr Gary who helped me back to true health! It’s a much longer story but now happy, healthy, energized and 81 pounds lighter I can look back at that nightmare and warn every woman I know!
I just re read this slower…..Also wanted to comment that the daughter I was nursing and specifically asked if it was hormone free…got eczema at 10 months old because of it and had health problem up until last year when we both started seeing the homeopathic Dr. I took the steps to ask and they gave me uninformed or false answers. All that pain she weant through and sickness just because a Dr did not answer the simple question correctly. I already knew the dangers of birth control and specifiocally wanted hormone free. But it just proves and backs up this post even more. I knew there was a link, it was obvious but the pediatricians all laughed and ignored me. Just glad it is over and we both are healthy now. Thanks again for the confirmation of how dangerous this medicine is to our bodies and our childrens.
Natasha, even now the doctors say the hormones from Mirena do not get absorbed by the body. Recently a gynocologist recommended I use Mirena and told me it is a lot better then the copper one and the hormones are not absorbed so I will not have any side effects. However I googled and found stories and stories of women gaining weight, having mood swings and acne while being on Mirena iud.
very frusturating – the mirena is expensive and i think the doctor just wanted to sell it to me. no thanks, I have had problems with weight and severe acne in my teens, I do not want to go through that again – I am in very good health now, better than when I was 17!
I can definitely attest to the pill/anemia link. After being on the pill for 10 years, battling 3 miscarriages before finally becoming and staying pregnant with my son. Throughout my pregnancy I battled anemia. The more iron supplements I was taking, the worse my anemia got. When my son was born it was so bad that my doctor (no not the one who ever put me on the pill) *begged* me to get a blood transfusion because he honestly couldn’t see how I could walk, let alone take care of a newborn. My son has been battling anemia since birth.
For the two of us doing GAPS has helped. . . even though the in-laws and husband don’t follow it when feeding my son. However, being pregnant again I am slightly anemic again. Rather than increase my iron intake, I increased my BioKult intake and made sure I stuck faithfully to GAPS. After my daughter is born I will tell my doctor how I did it. For now he thinks I’m following the low-fat, high carb diet he prescribed but that’s another issue for another post. The less he knows before the birth the safer my daughter’s VBAC is.
Sarah, thanks for such a great post! This is a topic that is on my mind frequently as I took the Pill for over ten years (apparently in my “Kool-Aid” drinking days of assuming the doctor knew best). I wish I had known of the potential damage I was doing, and I wish I had known to take specific steps to cure the gut dysbiosis and ensure good bacteria in the birth canal. (I’ve actually been planning a post on that topic as well as one about babies being born with a sterile gut, so apparently you and I were on the same wavelength.) I was disgusted when I finally learned about the Pill (not about flora problems, but about other long term health consequences) and the doctors basically waved their hands and said I shouldn’t worry about it. Now we’re trying to solve the immune problems my daughter inherited because of me taking the Pill (she doesn’t have any learning problems, but her immune system is poor and she is VERY petite for her age). I hope more women learn about the down sides of the Pill.
When we are young, we make decisions without considering the long term implications. We all do this it seems. This is why we have to get this type of info out to young women before they are ready to have children as it’s not going to get out any other way but grassroots. The cool thing these days for young women is to be vegan and be on The Pill. Being vegan threatens future fertility and being on the Pill threatens the health of the baby (and Mom!) if a pregnancy manages to occur. The devastating long term impact of these modern lifestyle trends for young women must be halted.
Being vegan threatens future fertility? I’m pretty sure eating fatty fast food all of the time does as well. I’ve never heard that being vegan makes you less likely to have healthy, smart, well balanced children.
If you have an article on this claim I’d love to read it. Now, I’m not vegan but any of the vegans or vegetarians I know are incredibly healthy and happy (as are their children). This is crazy talk! I know a lot of processed soy produces false estrogen’s but I’d be more concerned about vegans getting breast cancer than I would be having fertility issues.
Hi Leah,
Dr. Weston A. Price DDS and his Foundation were and are very anti-vegetarian and anti-vegan. Google him and you’ll see.
Actually, Dr. Price recommended a lacto-vegetarian style of eating to his family members, saying it was the best for long-term health. You can see this in the letters he wrote to them. And the Weston A. Price Foundation is not “his”: he had nothing to do with it, at all. It wa founded and is run by people wishing to capitalize on his name.
I do not have links, I have read statistics that did show lower fertility and a higher frequency of fertility treatments, but am unfortunately unable to reproduce it today as this has been years ago, when I was actually a vegan myself. It was actually one of the reasons I went to being an omnivore again.
I still have a great number of friends who are either vegetarian, or vegan. From what I see none of their kids are really healthy. They are healthy by what is the norm in our society, but that does not mean they are really healthy. Their bone structure is not up to par. One of my friends nephews nearly died as a toddler because of his parents vegan life-style, he had a total lack of Vit. B6. He survived, but he will have to have care for the rest of his life. My friend changed her life-style in the meantime, and her son has lost his behaviour problems. Anyway, the minor implications are that the kids need braces, have caries all the time. They have X or O legs. Lots of them are overweight and have behaviour problems. Most of them have anemia all the time, but then…. all of that is normal, lots of children have that, sure they do, on the standard diet you do not get enough vitamins and minerals either, so no problem being a vegetarian or vegan nobody notices the difference anyway. After having been a vegetarian – then vegan – and back to vegetarian and with that having totally ruined my health (luckily not all of it permanently) I really do not want to know the massive impact that these diets (including the standard one) have on our global health care systems. The amounts I pay for health care are totally ridiculous and that just because people deliberately choose to eat a diet which is not right for the human species. Its pretty clear that our bodies are that of omnivores, this does not mean one cannot survive on a diet that is consisting of plant foods only, but it will not make you healthy, nor will it make your babies healthy. A good book on the impacts of diet is the one of the Cat study done by Francis Pottenger. Its called Pottengers Cats. But, do not believe me on this, do your own research, go read and read and read, but do not go for the stuff that people just blabber, like I just did, go for the studies and take the independent studies, make sure you check out who funded them. Then you will find out more about the implications of an incomplete diet. Have a wonderful sunday.
Sarah,
Thank you for yet another informative post. My husband and I practice natural family planning (NFP) but I did take ‘the Pill’ for about one-two years as a teenager for my acne. I am currently pregnant and have low iron levels despite forcing myself to eat liver 1-2x/week as the WAPF suggests. How scary to think that I likely damaged my gut 10 years ago, and now my precious baby has to pay for it. What to do now…? How does one heal gut dysbiosis? If you could just direct me some place where I could do further reading, that would be great. Thanks!
Charlene, if I were in your situation, I would consider eating probiotic rich foods with every meal or at least 2X per day (there are 20 free videos on this blog about how to make them at home .. it is hard to find them at the store) and taking a probiotic to make sure your gut is constantly bathed in good flora to battle back those pathogenic strains that have taken over the roost in there. Then, the iron rich foods you are eating should be absorbed better once the invaders in your gut have weakened somewhat. Once you have the baby, it would be good to consider the GAPS diet to complete the healing process, but I would not start it while you are pregnant.
I wish I’d known about the dangers of birth control pills in my twenties when I was taking them. At the time I was constantly being told by my doctor that I was anemic even though I ate tons of iron rich foods. Since going off of the pill I’ve had to battle Candida.
Lovelyn, it is absolutely infuriating to me that these pills are doled out like candy with no discussion in doctors’ offices about the long term implications of taking them.
Don’t even get me started. I too am aenemic and all they kept on doing was give me iron tablets… thankfuly I have found the paleo diet and am busy rebuilding my gut.
Glad to hear that. I was diagnosed with anemia as well. I have tried iron tablets, supplements, liquid, even to getting injections (which made me sicker). I started seeing a holistic dr and my anemia got better. Dr’s don’t take into consideration of a person’s weight or height when testing iron levels either.
I had the same problem especially right before and during periods. I read that Acidoplilus would help and it did. At first I took one capsule a day for a month and whenever I felt like I was going to have my period the first year. now I only take a capsule whenever I start to fill itchy for a couple of days. It works I havent had any yeast infections since. Oh and I eat yogurt that Contains Active Yogurt Cultures Including L. Acidophilus. What I take is Spring Valley Acidophilus 3 billion CFU’s http://www.walmart.com/ip/SV-ACIDOPHILUS-3B/10316849