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A 2016 trial of injectable male contraceptive was suspended after determining that the risks to men’s health outweighed the benefits. What brought researchers to that conclusion? Out of 320 men, 20 said they couldn’t tolerate the side effects, which included pain at the injection site, acne, and depression. Yes, based on 20 men saying they were uncomfortable with these symptoms, researchers discontinued the trial despite it being 96 percent effective. For the record, in early birth control trials in women, 15 percent of women had side effects and three women died . . . without investigation.
Many women—about 100 million worldwide—opt for hormonal contraceptives, which deliver the same side effects and more compared to the male version yet are deemed completely
In fact, the pill can’t fix your periods, your acne, your PCOS, your PMS, or your hormones, because it is designed to shut down your entire reproductive system and psych your body out.
I know what it’s like to be the girl who has her period for seven to eight days and carries a change of clothes with her and a backup sweatshirt to wrap
your symptoms. You also want to evaluate if you have iron deficiency anemia. I recommend the following tests—on the noted day of your cycle for those tests that are day-specific:
A Missing Period (Amenorrhea)
Meeting with a pelvic floor physical therapist can be highly beneficial too.
We’re being hit with more chemicals than the human body has ever experienced from a generational standpoint.
(see Resources for hormone-friendly cooking alternatives).
Remedies for Period Problems
The most beneficial metabolite is 2OHE1, whereas 4OHE1 and 16OHE1 are associated with swollen, tender breasts, clots in your menstrual blood, and cancer.
Castor Oil for Your Liver?
Women over thirty using the birth control pill and long-term users are at increased risk of developing tumors.
and the birth control pill can contribute to gallstones and gallbladder disease.
Besides the beauty and personal hygiene products you directly apply to your skin, the chemicals in the cleaning products in your home, whether it’s the bleach you use to clean your bathroom, the liquid soap to wash your dishes, or the scrub for your tub, make their way through your skin and into your body. As I mentioned previously, these chemicals are endocrine disruptors—hello, hormone imbalance!—and carcinogens, but they also have been shown to contribute to diabetes and obesity by directly affecting the metabolism of your thyroid hormone and binding to your receptors.
Safer Beauty Alternatives
The key steps to the Brighten Detox Protocol are:
Lab Tests for Liver Function
Complete a 14-Day Liver Detox
Cosmetics Database (visit EWG.org). Plus, if you missed it, check out my list of “Safer Beauty Alternatives” to try.
Focus on spending time with people who make you feel like glitter and less time with those who leave you feeling depleted, stressed, or [fill in the undesirable blank] when you’re hanging out with them. Trust me, master this and you’ll be unstoppable.
your gut has everything to do with your hormones, and it may be the very reason you’re having to deal with symptoms like cramps, acne, headaches, irritability, anxiety, fatigue, or weight gain.
To help your bowels start moving right away, I recommend increasing your fiber intake, aiming to get at least 25 grams a day, taking a probiotic, and drinking plenty of water. A daily ginger supplement of about 1,000 to 2,000 milligrams or magnesium citrate at about 300 milligrams can help support regular bowel movements.
But the signs and symptoms may be subtle—mild gas and belching, increasing food sensitivities—or they may be overt, like foul-smelling gas, bloating, constipation, and irritable bowel syndrome, and even symptoms of depression, acne, or eczema can indicate gut dysbiosis or microbial imbalance.
There is a strong connection between the gut and hormone health, but new evidence suggests that the gut can also play a role in polycystic ovary syndrome
The impact the pill has on autoimmune disease of the gut is profound—there is a 300 percent increased risk of developing Crohn’s disease if you take the pill!
There are essentially three ingredients necessary to produce an autoimmune disease, as defined by Dr. Alessio Fasano, a gastroenterologist and leading researcher in the field of autoimmunity: leaky gut, genetics, and a stressful event, like environmental toxin exposure or infection.
Lab Tests for Autoimmune Disease
Lab Tests for Gut Analysis
Nourish Feed your gut the nutrients it needs for optimal health. Eliminate Remove aggravating foods from your diet. Absorb Support digestive function to absorb nutrients. Terrain Optimize the environment of your gut and all the critters it houses.
ZINC
If you’ll recall, the top inflammatory foods you’ll need to eliminate are gluten and grains, dairy, soy, sugar, caffeine, alcohol, and inflammatory fats.
Five Tools to Help You Quit Gluten
Caffeine-Free Coffee Replacements
Lifestyle Strategies to Support Your Gut
Then I’ve gotta tell you that the pill is doing you no favors. Between inflammation, nutrient depletions, and increasing cortisol and thyroid-binding proteins, the pill disrupts thyroid and adrenal function in a major way.
Without adequate thyroid hormone, we feel depressed and have brain fog, plus our skin becomes super dry, our hair starts to fall out, and we feel achy and older than we should.
A number of things can disrupt your thyroid: heavy metals, fluoride, infections, inflammation, autoimmune disease, stress, nutrient deficiencies, and medications, including the birth control pill.
Symptoms of Thyroid Disease
Selenium and zinc are needed to produce thyroid hormone and to convert it to its active form, T3, from the inactive form T4. Zinc is also required to get thyroid hormone and cell receptors “talking.” Just by depleting zinc alone, the pill can prevent you from making, activating, and using thyroid hormones. B vitamins are key to the synthesizing of thyroid hormone, among hundreds of other bodily functions.
Third, the pill is inflammatory, which is important because inflammation is at the root of all chronic disease.
TSH Is Not Enough!
The Thyroid–Gut Connection
The OAT Axis
or more boxes checked = high risk of HPA axis dysregulation
Lab Tests for HPA Axis Dysregulation
a quality B complex vitamin 1,000 to 4,000 milligrams of vitamin C 150 to 600 milligrams of magnesium at night
Thyroid-Boosting Nutrition
Kick your stress to the curb and discover your inner Zen.
The pill causes inflammation and insulin resistance, which can lead to blood sugar imbalance, which puts you at risk for three life-threatening conditions: heart disease, stroke, and cancer. The pill also elevates your cholesterol and blood pressure, two more risk factors for these serious conditions. Finally, the pill increases your risk of blood clots, which can cause a stroke, especially if you have certain genes.
