19 Sep Prepping Your Body To Get Off Birth Control
If you’re wanting to transition off of birth control, let’s talk about prepping your body to get off birth control. There are certain things you can focus on while you are transitioning off of birth control because your natural hormones are going to be kicking back on + heellllooo symptoms.
As you are prepping your body to get off birth control, there are two main areas that I suggest giving massive support – 1) Liver Health and 2) Gut Health. Let’s dive into why these two areas need lovin’.
Liver Support For Prepping Your Body To Get Off Birth Control
As your hormones “turn back on” after getting off of birth control, your liver is going to need the support to make sure that your detoxing your hormones well and finally getting rid of those synthetic hormones. Being on birth control can make your bile sluggish (which is made in the liver) which will affect digestion and it’s just an overall burden to your liver. Some studies even show that there is an increased risk of liver tumors while on birth control.
Your liver makes sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and will increase these levels really high to protect your body from the synthetic hormone exposure. We want SHBG at healthy levels, so it doesn’t bind up too much hormone and give low free hormones (like low testosterone – say bye bye to your libido). So, liver support it is!
Ways To Support Liver
- Glutathione – We absolutely love glutathione (you can grab our favorite on our Fullscript), which is a major antioxidant in the body and is produced by the liver. Glutathione is depleted when demand for antioxidants is high (aka when you’re on birth control).
- Milk Thistle – This herb is powerful in protecting and repairing damaged liver cells! As with everything, it depends on the person on who can take this / any interactions that might take place between another supplement or medication. But milk thistle is a liver powerhouse.
- Cruciferous Vegetables – These vegetables hold sulfur and diindolylmethane (aka DIM) that help your liver’s detoxification pathways. DIM can help shift your estrogen metabolism into a more protective pathway (aka 2-OH). Getting a variety of these vegetables, like broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, can give your body these benefits!
- Protein – In phase 2 detox of the liver, it NEEDS plenty of protein in order for it to work. It’s very amino acid driven, make sure you are getting high quality sources of protein, such as grass-fed beef, organic chicken, eggs, and wild caught seafood.
Gut Health For Prepping Your Body To Get Off Birth Control
Gut health + pooping is phase 3 detoxification of hormones, so it’s VITAL to have a healthy microbiome and going to the bathroom everyday. Unfortunately, birth control can alter to your bacteria balance in your gut and lead to an overgrowth of opportunistic bacteria and yeast overgrowth. When the community of microbes is chaotic, the intestinal lining takes a hit, which can lead to intestinal permeability (aka leaky gut). This can increase your risks of autoimmunity, allergies, immune dysfunction, and more!
Ways To Support Gut Health
- L-Glutamine – An amino acid that helps “heal and seal” the intestinal lining and being the fuel of colon cells.
- Well Cooked Foods – Love using bone broth to cook proteins and vegetables in for a nourishing meal that is super gut loving and nutrient dense.
- Prebiotic Foods – Foods such as starchy vegetables, garlic, asparagus, legumes, onions, help support the growth of the good bacteria in the gut.
If you need a little bit of a head start, you can download the first week of our gut protocol here. This is ONLY the first week and it’s a whole process, so if you are starting to feel better and want to make sure you’re taking the right step by step process for YOUR body after the first week, make sure to get on one of our packages so we can hold your hand throughout your healing journey!
Repleting Nutrient Deficiencies
Because birth control causes nutrient deficiencies, it’s important to make sure that you’re repleting your nutrient stores. A good quality multivitamin can be helpful in covering your bases, but it usually requires more than a multivitamin if you have deficiencies. We love doing a full micronutrient blood panel on women to check in on nutrient status in the serum and in the cell.
Nutrient Deficiencies Common With Birth Control
- B2
- B6
- B12
- Zinc
- Magnesium
- Vitamin C
- Folate
- Vitamin E
- Selenium
Want some support throughout your journey? Book a free 15 minute call with our team to get you started on your health transformation.
