Table of contents:
- Why is there thought that birth control pills make you fat?
- How are the facts about the effects of birth control pills on fat?
- Side effects of using birth control pills in women
- Other contraceptives that have the potential to make the body fat
- 1. Injectable birth control
- 2. KB implants
The assumption that birth control pills make you fat is often the reason women don't want to use this contraceptive to delay pregnancy. In fact, the birth control pill is a contraceptive which is actually considered quite effective in delaying pregnancy. However, are birth control pills make fat true? Can birth control pills currently circulating increase body weight?
Why is there thought that birth control pills make you fat?
Since their introduction in the 1960's, birth control pills and their effect on weight change have been debated. Most doctors and medical personnel claim that birth control pills are thought to increase body weight and make a person fat.
However, you don't need to worry, because the birth control pills mentioned earlier are "first generation" pills that have not been developed much in the medical world. At that time, birth control pills contained very high amounts of the hormones estrogen and progesterone.
According to experts, the first generation birth control pills even contain more than 1000 times the amount of hormones in today's birth control pills. Too much estrogen in the body can cause fluid retention. In addition, excess estrogen in the body also increases appetite. Meanwhile, these two things can make a woman gain weight.
How are the facts about the effects of birth control pills on fat?
As mentioned earlier, the first generation birth control pills do have a higher estrogen content, which is 150 micrograms (mcg). Meanwhile, based on research published in a journal entitled Canadian Family PhysicianToday's birth control pills contain only 20 to 50 mcg of estrogen.
This means that the content of the hormone estrogen this time is much less than the content of the hormone estrogen in the first generation birth control pills. In addition, after research after study, there is no evidence to explain the relationship between weight gain and the use of birth control pills.
Generally, the weight gain experienced at the start of birth control pills occurs due to fluid retention. This means that this increase is not actual weight gain. In fact, if you gain weight after using birth control pills for a long time, the increase may be caused by something else.
Side effects of using birth control pills in women
Even though today the birth control pills in circulation have a much lower dose of hormones than the first generation birth control pills, each body still responds differently to the drugs being consumed.
There may be some women who gain weight as a result of taking birth control pills, but this is due to fluid retention that these women may experience. This means that using birth control pills does not necessarily make your body fat quickly.
Some birth control pills can make you fat because the hormone content is too high. Some experts also agree that women who take birth control pills that contain the hormone estrogen more than 30 micrograms, are more likely to gain weight.
However, once again you don't need to worry about taking various types of birth control pills because this oral contraceptive is quite safe to drink and effective in preventing pregnancy.
If you experience sudden weight gain while taking birth control pills, then you should consult your doctor about this.
Other contraceptives that have the potential to make the body fat
Basically, there is no research that can prove that various types of contraceptives are linked to weight gain experienced by women.
Even if you feel that the use of birth control pills and various other contraceptives makes you fat, you also do not have accurate evidence. It could be, the weight gain that you experience occurs due to other things outside of the use of contraceptives.
Therefore, you also need to ask your doctor about any potential side effects that you may experience. Especially if you want to use contraception. Even so, there are several types of contraceptives that are also thought to make you fat, such as the use of birth control pills. Anything? Check out the following explanation.
1. Injectable birth control
One of the contraceptives that are considered to have the potential to make you fat apart from the birth control pill is the injection contraceptive. However, this has still not been proven. Moreover, the weight gain a woman experiences after using injectable birth control for 36 months is usually due to an increase in fat.
However, usually a woman's weight gain has something to do with the number of birth control injections she receives. This means that the more injections you receive, the more weight you gain.
That way, there is indeed a possibility that injectable contraceptives can make you fat like the use of birth control pills. However, you still need to have more accurate evidence about these allegations.
Uniquely, women who have Body Mass Index less than 30 will be prone to gain weight up to 50 percent after using this injection contraceptive. Usually, women who are not obese will look fatter because of the use of this injection, after three years of use.
Even so, the use of birth control that makes you fat can be stopped if you switch to another contraceptive device or method. For example, if you change your form of contraception to a non-hormonal form of contraception, the weight gain you experience may translate into a decrease in body mass.
2. KB implants
One type of birth control besides the birth control pill that is considered to make you fat like the birth control pill is implant birth control. In this contraceptive, there is a synthetic progestin hormone. Similar to contraceptives in general, implant contraceptives inhibit the release of eggs or the ovulation process.
As already mentioned, birth control is considered to be able to make you fat. Even so, in fact, further research still needs to be done regarding the truth of this statement.
In fact, even if implanted birth control can make you fat like birth control pills, it is still not certain the reason why this hormonal contraceptive can cause weight gain.
One of the possibilities that can cause you to be obese because of using implant birth control is fluid retention. This is the same reason that using birth control pills is thought to make you fat. This fluid retention occurs due to the presence of the progestin hormone in this contraceptive.
However, doctors disagree with the opinion that contraceptives, even birth control pills, can make you fat. This means that more accurate research is needed to prove the truth.
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