The Shocking Truth About Birth Control

Hey everyone, welcome to the Dr. Josh Axe Show. I am your host, Dr. Axe, and each and every week I dive deep into the science and principles and how to grow body, mind, and spirit and take your health and life to the next level.

On today's episode, I'm going to be breaking down the truth about birth control and what it does to a woman's body, both the short-term and long-term side effects, along with natural alternatives. And this is such an important topic. To women's health. Before I dive into the content though, make sure to subscribe to the podcast and hit the notification bell so you don't miss an episode.

Now, recently the Washington Post had a headline that said women are getting off birth control amid a misinformation explosion. Now, here's the reality, and here's a question that I have. Why is the Washington Post and a lot of media outlets Why are they trying to force and keep women on birth control? Well, there are several reasons. One is they believe that promiscuity is good for society.

And I truly believe that they think that that's part of the feminist movement. And so for some reason, women having a lot of sex outside of marriage is a good thing. They also tend to be very connected. And you may or may not realize this, but most of these media outlets are very connected to pharmaceutical companies that create Birth control and other medications.

And so there tends to be a, a relationship there that is mutually beneficial financially. And there's also a lot of other questions we could ask here. But my big question is, is birth control good for society and is it good for women? And I'll be answering those questions on today's episode. And I would love for you to also think about and answer that question for yourself and for your loved ones.

Now, here are the statistics. 65% Of women between the ages of 15 and 49 are using some form of contraceptive. That includes birth control pills, IUDs, female and male sterilization, hormone injections, patches, and more. Now, when you factor out condoms, 56% of women ages 15 to 49 are taking contraceptives that change their hormones and because of that have serious side effects.

Now, about 13% of women are taking oral contraceptive birth control pills, another 10% long-acting reversible contraceptives. And then there's quite a few others doing things like Depo-Provera, contraceptive rings, patches, and other contraceptive methods. Now, I want to talk about some of these individually.

I'm going to spend the most time on birth control pills because that's what the majority of women are taking. But I do want to mention a couple others as well. When you look at Depo-Provera, this is something that really increases and changes the amounts of progesterone or progestin in the body.

This has been linked to bone density loss, specifically leading to osteoporosis, headaches, weight gain. In fact, the weight gain of body fat is really compelling doing this Provera, an average of 3 pounds per year, an increase in body weight. And after around 5 to 6 years, 16.5% weight gain, or 16.5 pounds of weight gain. So there's really some major side effects there.

Really, the average, uh, if, if somebody gains between 16 to 20 pounds of body weight that they shouldn't have, it increases the risk of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Dramatically. And so really, this is not— obviously there's major side effects there, or could be with this form of birth control. Another very common one are doing IUDs.

This tends to increase progestin and/or copper is the other effect, or the other type of IUD. This can cause unscheduled bleeding, of course, missing the period, headaches and migraine headaches. But the big thing here is inflammation. And I also want to mention this.

If somebody is using a copper IUD, When you put any form of metal in the body, and especially something that's releasing a lot of copper, now that's going to sterilize male sperm, okay? And that, that's how it works to keep women from getting pregnant. But copper, when it's in a high dose in the body, it, it actually has a negative effect on zinc.

And most metals and minerals, they work in tandem with one another. So copper and zinc really work on the immune system. And so if you get too much copper, not enough zinc, it actually weakens your body's own natural immune system. If you get too much zinc and not enough copper, it can cause excess issues like parasites to overgrow in the body if it— if the reverse were true.

But all that being said, just know that there are side effects with every form of birth control. Now, I want to jump specifically into birth control pills. And, and first off, why are they prescribed? Number one, of course, is contraception. But it might surprise you to find out that also very commonly they are prescribed just so women, young women, can skip having an uncomfortable period.

They're also prescribed if women are having painful menstrual cramps and for acne. Those are the most common reasons why women get put on birth control. Now, I recently went on the Allie Beth Stuckey Show.

She's a prominent podcaster, has an amazing show, and went on there and she shared with me her story that she, when she was a teenager, she got prescribed birth control because pretty much everyone in high school and then later on everyone in college that were her age, almost all of them went in and whether they were looking to avoid getting pregnant or not, Their doctor said you should be on birth control just as a preventative, just because it's good for your acne, it's good for your cramps.

You don't have to have those painful periods if you get on birth control. And so it's incredible how unscientific and how careless so many medical doctors are today with prescribing birth control. It's important to remember birth control is a chemical. It's a chemical. It's a drug. It is not a vitamin. It's not a mineral. It's not a food. It's not something that works naturally with your body.

And anytime you put hormones or something that is going to change hormones in the body, it's going to have a side effect. We see this with testosterone therapy with men, TRT, to where if they take it, well, it actually lowers their sperm count, causing infertility, and has long-term effects as well. Very, very similar thing for women with birth control.

The way that it works is birth control tricks your body into thinking it's pregnant all month long using synthetic versions of estrogen and sometimes progesterone in the body, which is why a woman doesn't get pregnant. Now, I want to talk about the side effects that aren't on the label of birth control. Okay?

And you— most people think, well, hey, when I take a medication, The doctor is going to tell me the side effects, both short and long term, and it's going— they're going to tell me all of the side effects. Here's the reality, though. It doesn't have all the side effects on the label, and most doctors don't even know what the long-term side effects are.

Here are some side effects that are not listed on the label in terms of nutrient depletion. Vitamin B1, B2, B6, B9, vitamin A, vitamin C, magnesium, zinc, and it also lowers platelets and leukocytes, which are critical for immune health. So all of these nutrients and likely more are depleted in women, and this is according to clinical studies.

Now, have you ever looked at a birth control pill side effects and it's telling you that your body's depleted of all of those B vitamins, Vitamin A, which is important for immune system, zinc, zinc, which is important for immune system, vitamin C, which is important for the immune system, platelets, leukocytes, and magnesium, which is important for cellular function.

No, most people have never seen this. Now, here are the other side effects. It lowers sex drive in women. It changes the way even their attraction to men and lower sex drive. Here's another big one. Lowers thyroid hormones, including a decrease in T4.

Can I tell you how many women who got on birth control pills and then soon after they get put on a drug like Synthroid because their thyroid markers start to drop? Well, part of this is due to when your body gets depleted of B vitamins, it affects methylation in the body and then it affects your thyroid hormone production.

It also lowers free testosterone in the body by as much as 61% if you're taking birth control. Also, there are higher rates of depression and anxiety. It also lowers serotonin. Again, part of this is due to when you deplete nutrients in the body, it's not able to manufacture as well thyroid hormones, testosterone, and serotonin.

Also, a recent study shows that birth control pills negatively impact women's stress response, so they're not as— not as well able to deal with stress. Well, of course, that's the case. Because B vitamins are critical to the functioning of your adrenal glands and your thyroid, which help your body better adapt and deal with stress.

So there are major side effects of birth control pills that are not on the label today that are negatively affecting women's health, increasing the risk of numerous diseases. And that's what I want to touch on next is the side effects of birth control pills. That some of these might be on the label, but many aren't.

Here's another big one I saw when I ran my functional medicine practice: an increase in yeast and Candida overgrowth. Now, birth control pills alter vaginal pH and reduce a type of bacteria, a probiotic called lactobacilli. And this is all confirmed by the research. You can look this up yourself.

But lactobacilli are beneficial bacteria that help maintain and balance out the microorganisms in vaginal area by producing lactic acid, which keeps your pH levels more acidic, which inhibits the growth of harmful bacteria and yeast. The problem with birth control pills is it reduces the levels of lactobacilli in the human body in females.

And so now there is yeast and Candida overgrowth, which is— that's why that happens. Now, when you stop taking the pill, it takes time for the lactobacilli to return to normal levels, allowing yeast like Candida to To proliferate.

Now, what I did when I was in practice and women were getting off birth control and they would have these issues during and after with Candida, I would have them do high-dose probiotics, specifically the species of Lactobacilli. I also had them increase their intake of coconut yogurt or raw organic yogurt or kefir to help start replacing some of the good bacteria.

Specifically, lactobacilli is going to be found in largest amounts in organic raw dairy yogurt or coconut yogurt as well. Here's another big side effect of birth control.

According to the results of a Harvard Nurses' Health Study, women who take the birth control pill for 5 years or more have a 3 times greater increased chance of developing autoimmune diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, and Sjögren's disease as well.

Something you've got to realize about all medications, including birth control pills, is because they cause deficiencies in the body in other areas, they will cause you to have other medical conditions. I mentioned this with women with thyroid conditions. If you're on birth control long enough, it can increase your risk of hypothyroidism.

It can increase your risk of Hashimoto's, of autoimmune disease like ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Then I also mentioned depression and anxiety. Now, what happens is oftentimes women get on birth control, well, then they have to get on Synthroid.

Or there's another study that shows women who get on birth control, and if they get on an antidepressant medication, it is incredibly harmful for— to their health. In fact, listen to this study.

A recent study published in the Epidemiology and Psychiatry Sciences journal found that women using birth control pills may have as much as a 130% increased risk for depression, particularly in the first 2 years of oral contraceptive use.

So it's important to understand that women— now, this isn't even saying that you're going to get on an antidepressant, but Women who take birth control have a 130% increased risk of developing depression, according to this recent study. So there are 3 primary reasons why birth control causes autoimmune disease. Number one, it alters immune function.

When estrogen increases in the body via birth control, it enhances something called B-cell activity and antibody production. When your body produces more antibodies, it increases your risk of autoimmune disease. The second, it impacts gut microbiota.

So the bacteria in your gut— birth control decreases good bacteria in the gut like Lactobacillus, which weakens your immune system, causing autoimmune disease. And number 3, it increases inflammation. Birth control can raise systemic inflammation according to studies, which is associated with autoimmune disease. Development.

So there are several reasons why birth control is so dangerous used long term. And here's the other big one, disease that birth control has recently been correlated with, and that is cancer, specifically breast cancer and cervical cancer. According to studies, past use of oral contraceptives was associated with a 12% increased risk of invasive Breast cancer.

If a woman is currently using any form of oral contraceptive, it's associated with a 33% increased risk of developing breast cancer. And also, if somebody is using the specific birth control known as triphasic preparations such as Levonorgestrel, that's associated with an over 200% increased risk of developing Cancer compared to non-birth control users.

Now, another study found that birth control use increases the risk of cervical cancer. One study found a 10% increased risk for less than 5 years, but over 5 years, a 60% increased risk of cancer. And if you use it for 10 years or more, more than doubling your risk of cancer. So we know that women that use birth control have a greater increased risk of cervical cancer.

Now, I do want to mention that if a woman is using birth control, they have around a 30% reduction while they're taking it of endometrial and ovarian cancers and a 20— a 12% reduction in colorectal cancers. But the reality is There are far, far more greater cancers of breast cancer than there are of colorectal or uterine. And if you combine breast with cervical, you're up around 35% of cancers.

If you combine colorectal and uterine, you're around 14%. So you can still see here, there's over, you know, there are many, many more cases of breast cancer. So even though it may reduce the risk because of the higher estrogen, of the colorectal and the others. It's a much greater risk of developing breast cancer if you do take birth control.

The thing that bothers me the most about birth control is how it's spun by doctors in the media. It's a sort of seduction of doctors saying, take this and you can be hands-free with your period. The reality is, first off, that's simply not true.

You know, listen, if you are exercising regularly, if you're meditating, if you're eating healthy and drinking green juice and doing all those things, but your period isn't regular, you know, you should be concerned about your health. Having a regular period is a normal thing for women to have, and it's a normal part of being healthy.

You know, anytime I would have a woman come on, come into my practice who wasn't having a normal menstrual cycle, that was a warning sign that they were struggling with infertility. Having major hormone imbalances or other issues. So if you don't have it, it's a warning sign.

Now, of course, having, uh, you know, um, major cramps that are incredibly painful and other side effects, those, those are, again, those are, that, that's your body speaking to you. It's your body telling you something. It could be that you need to improve your diet, lower stress levels. Uh, we need to address micronutrients like magnesium that can really help the body.

But what we're tending to do today instead is say, I'm gonna use a Band-Aid, I'm gonna cover it up, pretend it doesn't exist, or I just don't wanna be uncomfortable. I'm going to ignore the warning signs. It's like driving your car down the road, your oil light comes on and saying, okay, I'm just gonna put a piece of duct tape over my warning light.

Well, it might be uncomfortable and it might be inconvenient to have to go to the mechanic and get your oil changed or repair. It may not be convenient for you. But for the health of your vehicle, for the health of your body long-term, you need to pay attention.

Now, I want to talk about natural birth control methods, and I'll even share personally what my wife Chelsea and I have done in this way as well. And it typically, uh, what's recommended is tracking your cycle. Uh, one of the most common ways for natural family planning or fertility awareness methods are Basal body temperature.

This is just simply monitoring the body's resting temperature, which can help you identify the time of ovulation. This is about 80% effective, but it is something that people still use today, or you can use. Now, a second way, which is even more effective and accurate, is testing cervical mucus. Changes in cervical mucus consistency and volume can indicate The approach of ovulation.

And fertile cervical mucus is clear, slippery, stretchy, resembles raw egg whites. And so you could be able to tell the chance or be able to tell what's going on there. This is something my wife Chelsea, I know, checked when we were focusing on not getting pregnant. And then when we were focusing on getting pregnant with our daughters, we— this is something that my wife monitored.

Number 3, cervical position. This is something that can be tested, the position and firmness around, around the cycle. Now, I want to share the method that my wife and I used called the calendar or rhythm method in order to— for our own family planning. And this method involves tracking menstrual cycles over several months and could be even years.

And we used a tool with this and it was called a Lady-Comp. Now, I have no financial connection to this company. There are probably other brands out there as well, but we used a tool called a Lady-Comp. Which is a type of fertility monitor that's actually been used in Europe for over 30 years.

This monitor is an intelligent, non-invasive, natural method of contraception, and it's a next-generation fertility monitor that learns, analyzes, and indicates ovulation. It really is checking your fertile and your non-fertile days with great accuracy. In fact, It is 99.3% accurate according to their own research study. And then of course, there is condoms, which are 98% effective as well.

One of the last but most important topics around birth control is how it is related to morality and ethics. The way that it's touted today by most society is take birth control. Have as much sex outside of marriage as you want. Be as promiscuous as you want. Have a lot of sexual partners. The reality is that's not healthy in body, mind, or spirit for anyone.

I truly believe, and I believe the Bible and other religions, Judaism and Islam and other religions also have talked about for thousands of years, that sex creates soul ties. In fact, biblically speaking, If you even go back to the book of Genesis, a lot of theologians will say it really, that is consummating the marriage, the acts of sex.

If you marry, if you have sex with somebody, in a way you are married because your souls mingle. There is something very deeply and spiritual about intercourse. And so just know there are side effects. I've talked about the physical side effects today.

I've mentioned a few mental side effects of depression and anxiety, but I also believe promiscuity increases other mental health issues there as well. And if you look at the research studies on if promiscuity is good for someone's mental health, it's not. In fact, it is incredibly negative and damaging to mental health, depression, anxiety, and Marriage later on in life.

And as I mentioned as well, I believe it's very unhealthy spiritually to be promoting promiscuity. And so all that being said, listen, you may or may not agree with me on this, but the reality is the way it's promoted today is not healthy for anybody physically, mentally, or spiritually.

And so I wanna encourage you to, if this podcast episode resonated with you and you believe what I'm saying is an important message for people to hear, hey, do me a favor. Do me a favor, share this video with somebody, share it on social media. More people need to know the truth about birth control, the side effects, and what's happening today.

And hey, if you enjoyed this episode or you want to hear more episodes, don't forget to subscribe and like the channel here. Just know every time you subscribe or like, you're allowing this channel to grow and flourish in order for us together to reach more people and helping people heal and reach their optimal level of health. In body, mind, and spirit.

Hey, I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Dr. Josh Axe Show where we've covered the side effects of birth control, the truth about birth control. I'll see you on the next episode.