Contraception: How to Not Have Babies Yet Perform at Your Best
Contraception is big business — the market size value of the industry was estimated at $8.3 billion in 2022 (approximately a 5.3% increase from last year). The revenue forecast for the U.S. contraceptive market in 2030 is estimated at a whopping $12 billion. Experts say the increase in contraceptives comes from young people beginning to learn about contraceptives from a young age.
Our culture has grown to accept this topic because the use of contraceptives is widespread. We know that contraceptives help prevent pregnancy, but how does taking hormones shape your overall body and wellbeing? Let’s take a deeper look into the different types of contraceptives and their effect on the body:
The Different Types of Contraceptives
While male contraceptives continue to be tested, women are currently the ones who must use contraceptives to avoid pregnancy (with few exceptions, like condoms or spermicide).
The hormones used in birth control are typically a combination of progestin and estrogen, with some only containing progestin. The most popular hormonal contraceptive is the pill, followed by the IUD (the implant). Other standard options include the NuvaRing (small, flexible vaginal ring placed inside when you’re not on your period), Depo-Provera® (injectable shot), and the patch. There are many ways to get the synthetic hormones inside of you!
Despite it being the most popular form of hormonal birth control, Dr. Alice warns the pill can cause some harm to the body. Those who take the oral pill will likely lose their sex drive, feel depressed, and experience weight gain. These adverse effects will stem from their liver working that much harder to deplete the synthetic hormones being put into the body daily.
Dr. Alice says that each option has upsides and downsides, but she has a preferred hormonal birth control method. She says, “One of the theories why women are considered healthier than men is because we have constant recycling of our blood through our menstrual cycles. So, what I have seen with some of my female patients who have been on the Mirena for a long time, is that their ferritin or iron might come up. I still see some elevation in sex hormone-binding globulin. I came across some patients who had increased frequency of infection — UTIs or yeast infections — because of the Mirena and the Paraguard. So, again, the lesser of many evils. If I had to choose, I would choose the IUD.”
You’ll Train at Your Best With No Synthetic Hormones
As you can imagine, you’re better off with no synthetic hormones entering your body. Synthetic hormones may explain why sperm counts in Western countries have dropped by more than 50 percent since the 1970s. Dr. Alice says, “Think about it: all these women on oral contraception with synthetic hormones have to excrete that somehow. It’s getting into our water supply, or maybe they’re just tossing it down the toilet, and that gets into our water supply. In fish, studies are showing that they’re beginning to change sexes. They’re finding some interesting gender issues with a lot of the fish. They’re calling it spermagadden — low sperm count.”
Dr. Alice’s favorite birth control method is the Daysy, which has a 99.4% efficacy in women who have regular menstrual cycles, take their temperature first thing in the morning, and get at least three hours of sleep. This supercomputer completely avoids excess hormones entering the body! You can read more details about the Daysy at our blog post titled Fertility Awareness: The Healthy Way. It’s also important to note that besides some chemicals, using condoms is another healthy contraceptive option that won’t pump manufactured hormones into the body.
We recommend checking out the links we’ve provided in this article and consulting with your doctor to decide on your preferred form of contraception (if any). Generally speaking, you will perform better if you avoid artificial hormones that impact your body in a significant way.