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Women’s Health

ORAL CONTRACEPTIVES AND YOUR NUTRITIONAL STATUS

This year, you have decided to do everything in your power to stay healthy; you take more veggies and fruits, do more exercises, ditch sugar and other highly processed foods and even had to swap somethings for healthier alternative and that’s great. But, every other day, you still pop some birth control pills which may be depleting the amount of essential vitamins and nutrients in your body. This alone can potentially undo every effort you have been putting in to stay healthy. Sadly, for so many women, this is a reality as they must be on birth control pills.

The truth remains that even with various methods of contraception, oral contraceptives seems to be the most accessible, affordable and commonly used form of birth control.

Almost 17% of Nigerian women are on birth pills. Definitely every woman that uses these pills are aware of what they are capable of, but not all know that these birth control pills can alter how nutrients are used by the body, thereby leading to possible deficiencies.

Birth control don’t only increase the risk of vitamin deficiency, they also may be draining your body of essential nutrients needed for mood, cognition, and cardiovascular health.

HOW DOES BIRTH CONTROL PILLS AFFECT NUTRENT AVAILABILITY

There are 2 major ways in which OCPs result in nutrients depletion.

Firstly ,the work of OCPs is to introduce artifical hormones into your body, when this happens, there would be more hormones for your liver to deal with, meaning there would be need for more nutrients for your liver to carry out its functions

Secondly, OCPs has the tendency to distort your intestinal walls. When this occurs, less nutrients are absorbed and available for utilization

This is not to scare you, it’s just for awareness. You can still be on birth control pills, but be sure to supplement on prenatal vitamins (especially those ones that tends to be depleted ) as you’re on the “pills”

For a few important vitamins, lets discuss how birth control pills affect them:

– BIRTH CONTROL AND VITAMIN D DEFICIENCY

Vitamin D is important for maintaining the immune system and calcium levels and also serve as a hormone. As adequate calcium is essential for bone health, vitamin D is also essential for bone health.

According to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, birth pills with estrogen are seen to lower vitamin D levels. This can be adjusted by increasing exposure to sunlight which can improve vitamin D levels by 20% in women on oral contraceptives.

Vitamin D deficiency is associated with pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia, a condition characterized by high blood pressure and kidney and liver disorders. It also increases the risk of childhood disorders, such as type 1 diabetes and asthma.

It is important to supplement on vitamin D and also incorporate vitamin D rich food sources into the diet if you would continue with birth control pills. Examples of vitamin D rich foods include: Fatty fish, like tuna, mackerel, and salmon, Foods fortified with vitamin D, like some dairy products, orange juice, soy milk, and cereals, Beef liver, Cheese, Egg yolks

BIRTH CONTROL AND VITAMIN B DEFICIENCY

Vitamins such as B6, B9, and B12, play an important role in maintaining normal functions of cells and nerves. Their importance in the body cannot be overemphasised as deficiency of any of these B vitamins can lead to depression, anemia, and poor cognitive functions.

Furthermore, B vitamins are also paramount for normal health and development of the fetus as well as neurological development too.

BIRTH CONTROL AND FOLATE DEFICIENCY

For example, research has proven a link between oral contraceptive pills and low blood folate levels.

Also, research also has it that oral contraceptive may increase the risk of cervical cancer, and a folic acid supplement may prevent or slow down this risk. So therefore, for women of child-bearing age who are on contraceptive pills, it is also important to supplement of folic acid.

BIRTH CONTROL AND VITAMIN B12 DEFICIENCY

Vitamin B12 plays an important role in assuring healthy body cells and nerves. It also aids in the process of gene formation.

Studies have found, compared those that are not on contraceptives, women who take contraceptives are low on B12 and this might also lead to pernicious anemia. It is very important to also supplement on B12 if you are currently on contraceptives as this might be beneficial to your health.

BIRTH CONTROL AND IRON DEFICIENCY

Iron Is an essential nutrient because it helps red blood cells to carry oxygen from the air you breathe to the body cells.

Iron deficiency anemia is almost seen in 20% of the women. Surprisingly, according to research, women on birth control pills has improved iron-binding capacity thereby managing iron deficiency.

Women with heavy periods are at an increased risk of iron deficiency. Birth pills help improve hormonal levels and manage menstrual blood flow.

This doesn’t mean you should be dependent on birth control pills for adequate iron intake. Foods that can combat iron deficiency include pork, beef, raisins, apricots etc

BIRTH CONTROL AND ZINC DEFICIENCY

Zinc is present in many body cells and is important for supporting the body’s immunity.

While all studies do not report zinc deficiency in women on pills, most studies have shown that even a small dose of these pills negatively alters zinc levels.

In pregnancy, zinc deficiency may result in growth retardation, stillbirth, and preterm delivery. Zinc supplements should be recommended to support women on birth pills.

BIRTH CONTROL AND MAGNESIUM DEFICIENCY

Magnesium supports the health of the immune system, heart, nerves and muscles functions. Surprisingly, magnesium supports about 300 chemical reactions in the body.

For women on the pills, it is important to note that that magnesium levels are depleted with these pills. Also, other factors like high-intensity exercise, high caffeine intake, poor sleep, and chronic stress can drain the body’s magnesium store.

Based on these findings, it is recommended that women on birth pills should take magnesium supplements along with magnesium-rich foods, such as pumpkin, cashews, and spinach

CONCLUSION

Micronutrients (needed in small amounts) are also very essential in our daily activities and can lead to severe deficiency symptoms if not easily gotten from our diet or supplements.

These nutrients are easily depleted with contraceptives, so it is important to note the nutrients listed and supplement on them while on those pills

Consider speaking with a dietitian once you want to go on birth control pills so as to help prevent depletion of these mentioned nutrients

SOURCES

– https://www.pocketpills.com/blog/birth-control/birth-control-and-vitamin-deficiency#:~:text=Birth%20control%20pills%20include%20progestin,%2C%20cognition%2C%20and%20cardiovascular%20health.

– https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160804135421.htm

– https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9883381/

– https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249321690_Oral_contraceptives_and_changes_in_nutritional_requirements

– Folic acid and the prevention of neural-tube defects.

Wald NJ

N Engl J Med. 2004 Jan 8; 350(2):101-3.

[PubMed] [Ref list]

– Serum folate and Vitamin B12 levels in women using modern oral contraceptives (OC) containing 20 microg ethinyl estradiol.

Sütterlin MW, Bussen SS, Rieger L, Dietl J, Steck T

Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol. 2003 Mar 26; 107(1):57-61.

[PubMed] [Ref list]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Latest Research on the Health Benefits of The Okra

1.) Carbohydrates from the okra plant can improve the quality of food products such as butter, mayonnaise, yoghurt and fruit drinks. Katerina Alba from the University of Huddersfield is investigating the potential of carbohydrates extracted from the pods of the okra plant. She posits that it could improve the quality of the product- it’s consistency, texture and shelf life.

2.) They have been found out to be a source of hydrocolloids. These help in absorption of fluids and healing necrotic, sloughy, granulating and epithelializing wounds through this medium.

3.) A study published in 2011 in the ISRN Pharmaceuticals shows that okra can be used effectively in managing and stabilizing blood glucose. The researchers noted that okra is a rich source of dietary fiber and has been traditionally used to manage diabetes. Note that this doesnt mean okro is a cure for diabetes.

4.) May Help Lower Cholesterol: A study published in the Journal of the Federation of American Societes for Experimental Biology found our that okra extracts may lower cholesterol levels. The okra interfered with cholesterol absorption and production.

5.) Good source of Antioxidants: These prove important for preventing heart disease, cancer and premature aging. Okra contains some including catechin, epicatechin, procyanidin, quercetin and rutin.

6.) Combats Gastritis: Inflammation of the stomach linings are effectively reduced by okra. Polysaccharides in okra appear to inhibit the adhesion od Helicobacter pylori, an inflammatory bacteria known to cause gastritis to the stomach linings.

7. A cup of okro (100g) would help supply about 15% of a woman’s daily need of folate. Folate (vit B9) helps to reduce the risk of neural tube defects in infants.

A concerns arose which is that;
*When consumed with metformin, the effect of metformin (a medication used to manage blood sugar) was almost cancelled all out. Therefore, if metformin is taken with okra, the blood sugar creeps up.

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