Birth Control Awareness: 8 Common Nutrients Birth Control Depletes From Your Body
Did you know that there is a clear link between birth control use and vitamin and mineral deficiency?
Yes, turns out, birth control can affect your body’s ability to absorb several different nutrients that are important to your wellbeing.
And, if you don't have a plan to offset these nutrient pulls through your diet or supplementing, this can lead to changes in your mood, energy levels, hormones, period and even your ability to conceive in the future.
In fact, nearly all prescription medications can affect your body’s ability to absorb and utilize nutrients from the foods you eat and supplements you take.This is often why it can take months, and even years, for a woman's body to come back into balance after years off birth control use.
I do recommend that woman taking birth control (especially oral contraceptives), consider taking a high-quality multivitamin to help mitigate the steady stream of nutrient depletion that's birth control causes. Purchase our nutrient-packed Women's Multivitamin from the apothecary.
What nutrients do birth control deplete?
Birth control is most commonly associated with the following nutrient depletions:
- Magnesium
- Vitamin C
- Folate (B9)
- Vitamin B2
- Vitamin B6
- Vitamin B12
- Selenium
- Zinc
Keep reading to learn more about each of these nutrients.
1. Magnesium
Magnesium has benefits all over your body. Magnesium is an essential mineral for maintaining good health, good mood, proper nerve function, healthy cardiac rhythm and healthy blood pressure levels.
Also, magnesium is known as a natural blood thinning agent due to its potent ability to reduce blood pressure, lower platelet aggregation, decrease inflammation, inhibit fibrin formation and moderate calcium when present in higher concentrations.
This is why it is a nutrient of concern for women taking birth control because it's involved in regulating normal blood clotting activity.
One study showed that womeen taking oral contraceptives had significantly lower levels of serum magnesium levels than a control group, potentially increasing their risk of thromboembolism (blood clot).
Another study exploring the relationship between magnesium and estrogen showed that higher estrogen levels, such as those superficially caused by taking hormonal contraceptives, may alter normal blood mineral levels, increasing the risk of blood clots and thrombosis.
2. Vitamin C
Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that's essential for immune function, collagen formation, and free-radical protection. Vitamin C also improves the absorption and storage of minerals like non-heme iron, the type of iron that's found in plants.
Oral contraceptives have been shown to decrease vitamin C concentrations in platelets and blood plasma. This negatively affects how much vitamin C is available for the body’s tissues to uptake and use.
3. B Vitamins
The B vitamins are a group of vitamins that work together to provide energy and reduce the effects of stress on your body. They's also responsible for proper functioning of cells in the body. They help the body convert food into energy, create new blood cells, and maintain healthy cells and tissues.
A review of the literature indicates that birth control pills can alter various B vitamin levels in the body.
4. Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) and Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)
Oral contraceptives may interfere with riboflavin metabolism, increasing the need for consumption of this vitamin through food or supplementation.
Further, riboflavin works together with vitamin B6 to reduce the risk of anemia. One study examining the metabolism of B vitamins in a large population of women showed a significant reduction of vitamin B6 in the blood after taking oral contraceptives.
5. Vitamin B9 (folate)
Your body needs folate to make healthy red blood cells, which are necessary to shuttle oxygen all over your body. You also need folate to make healthy DNA - your genetic code. Folate is involved in DNA synthesis, repair, and cognitive development.
A 2015 meta-analysis showed that folate status was significantly reduced among oral contraceptive users. Folate is a vitamin that your body needs in increased amounts before, during and after pregancy.
6. Vitamin B12 (cobalamin)
Vitamin B12 is a water-soluble vitamin needed for energy, nervous system function and proper DNA synthesis. Vitamin B12 also helps with the formation of red blood cells. A recent study measuring serum B12 levels in women taking oral birth control showed a sharp decrease in levels during the first six months of use compared to non-hormonal birth control users.
7. CoQ10
Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a well known antioxidant that makes energy (ATP) and protects your cells from free radical damage. It is an important nutrient for your heart health and the prevention of cardiovascular disease.
A 2006 study examined blood samples from 15 women using oral contraceptives for at least six months.
It showed that serum levels of CoQ10 were significantly lower during the first part of the menstrual cycle, leading the authors to consider future antioxidant impacts for women taking birth control.
8. Zinc
Zinc is a mineral that supports metabolism, growth and immune response. It also helps with wound healing, taste and smell, and the development and functioning of the central nervous system.
A study of 24 women taking contraceptives compared zinc and copper levels against a control group who were not taking hormonal birth control. Compared to the control group, zinc levels were significantly lower for the women taking oral contraceptives, while copper levels significantly higher.
Are you taking Birth Control?
If you're a women who takes birth control, not eating a nutritious diet, have an unhealthy life style or suffer from pathologies of malabsorption, the possibility to prevent vitamin and mineral deficiencies by taking appropriate dietary supplements should be considered a first-line approach!
- Women's Multivitamin
- Prenatal & Beyond
Love and Health,
Shavonne