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Girl Talk: Hormones, Birth Control & More

For all the ladies out there, if you haven’t listened to my latest episode with Lara Briden, a naturopathic doctor and best-selling author, then stop what you’re doing and listen to it now! We talk about so many things concerning our hormones, menstrual cycles, birth control… trust me it’s a must listen. We also chat about natural treatments for women’s health issues and go in-depth about periods and whether or not women need them, if birth control is the best decision for your body, and natural alternatives to the pill. We also talk about related women’s health issues like PCOS, endometriosis, heavy periods, hormonal acne, and even the correlation between gut and hormonal health. I learned so much during this episode that I wanted to touch on a few golden nuggets since a lot of these topics are rarely talked about. So, let’s talk girl talk…

The birth control pill was invented in the ’50s and ’60s before there was really any scientific understanding of the menstrual cycle. The menstrual cycle was thought of as a problem to be fixed, rather than something to be understood. So, after the contraceptive pill was invented, suppressing the menstrual cycle became the new normal. However, it’s not ideal because women benefit from ovulation and having a regular menstrual cycling and most hormonal birth control suppresses ovulation.

We’ve all been told that hormonal birth control helps to regulate hormones and the menstrual cycle, but the truth is it can’t do any of that. In fact, there’s no need to bleed at all while on hormonal birth control because the body isn’t ovulating. Instead, it puts a women’s body into a temporary menopause and replaces their own hormones with chemical ones that aren’t very similar to their natural ones.

It takes women about twelve years to mature their menstrual cycles, which is also key for fertility. So, shutting down the entire female reproductive system through hormonal birth control sets the body back from reaching its peak menstrual state. The good news is there are alternative, more natural birth control options (including ones for men) that don’t wreck havoc on your reproductive system.

For a deeper dive into PCOS, endometriosis, and hormonal health, be sure to listen to the full episode here.