TAKE CONTRACEPTIVE FATTENING ?

TAKE CONTRACEPTIVE FATTENING ?
One of the biggest myths about the pill use is in relation to an alleged weight gain that women experience after starting the pill . Unfortunately , complaints of weight gain may be the main reason for the abandonment of the pills .

But ultimately, the pill fattening ? The answer is short and thick , no , the pill is not fattening .

Well , I bet you're not convinced . When we say that the weight gain associated with the use of the pill is a myth , many women turn up their noses . Probably , your experience tells you the exact opposite . If so , you are not alone , thousands of women swear they gained weight after starting the use of hormonal contraceptives. More than that, there are many doctors who also believe in this relationship and contribute to the perpetuation of the myth .

However, it is important to note that thousands of women also claim that their weight did not change with the pill , and others to ensure that thousands lost weight with the contraceptive . And now , based on personal experiences , we can say that contraceptive fattening , thin, or will the effect is individual ?

The truth is that the subject is controversial . Not enough personal accounts . That's not how science works . We need a little more dissecting the issue and present that scientific studies have shown us . I will cite some studies and, ultimately , make brief comments , summarizing the results .

    In this article we will only cover the weight gain associated with the use of the contraceptive pill . If you want to read about other side effects of the pill , go to: SIDE EFFECTS OF CONTRACEPTIVE

Studies on the relationship between weight gain and contraceptive use

In recent decades , dozens of studies have been published attempting to clarify the relationship between weight gain and birth control pills .

A famous study by the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the Hebrew University - Hadassah Medical School , Jerusalem , Israel , decided to accompany 80 young women skinny who had never taken birth control before. These women were divided into 2 groups . The first , with 31 women , continued without taking any medication . The second group consisted of 49 women , began to take a pill containing 30 mcg ethinylestradiol plus 75 mcg gestodene , a formulation quite common in the market . The amount of estrogen present in these tablets is similar to that exists in Yasmin as marks and lower than others , and as Diane Selene .

After six months , the doctors responsible for the study were to evaluate weight , body mass index , body fat percentage , water percentage and size of the circumference of the hips and abdomen . Now, the results were as follows:

- 30.6 % of women who started the pill gained more than 0.5 kg of weight in this range .
- 35 % of women who did not initiate Contraceptives gained more than 0.5 kg of weight in this range .

- 20.4 % of women who started the pill had lost at least 0.5 kg .
- 19.3 % of women who did not initiate Contraceptives had lost at least 0.5 kg .

In both groups , about half the women maintained the same weight they had 6 months prior .

The comparison between fat percentage , hip size and abdomen , water percentage , BMI and weight change were similar in both groups . Therefore , in this study , the use of birth control pills with estrogen doses similar to those contained in the most famous brands could not be liable for losses or gains weight .

A major review of 49 published studies done by 2011 reached the same conclusion . Despite the perception of many women , and even physicians , that the use of the contraceptive pill is related to weight gain , when it will consider seriously the issue , with careful observation of weight and other indices related to fat gain , as fat percentage and BMI , it is concluded that there is no scientific basis to blame the pill for significant weight gains . Even those women who gained 1 or 2 pounds , be able to prove that the fault was the pill , because the groups who were not taking the pill also showed women with weight gains of this magnitude .

What the studies show is that women may gain weight or lose weight by several factors . Over 6-12 months is very common to have variations in the weight of patients , whether or not they are taking hormonal contraceptives . The problem is that when these variations occur in those who are taking the pill , the drug ends up getting the blame unfairly .
Which contraceptive more fattening ?

Along with the myth that contraceptive fattening , there is also the myth that certain brands of oral contraceptives are more fattening than others. According to popular belief , if you put on weight by taking a pill , just switch brands until you find one that will not make you gain weight .

contraceptive fattening

This theory also has no scientific support . In fact , there in the early 1960s, when the first birth control pills began to be marketed , the doses of estrogen and progesterone came to be 10 times higher than today . At that time , contraceptives actually gained weight . And not only that , the rate of side effects and complications was very high . Many of the fears that women have oral contraceptives come from problems caused by these drugs decades ago .

Among the 49 peer-reviewed scientific papers that showed no relationship between weight gain and the use of the pill , the dose of estrogen ( ethinyl estradiol ) studied ranged from 20 mcg to 50 mcg , which encompasses virtually all of the pills in the market , including the famous Diane , Selene , Yasmin , Belara , Cerazette , Yaz , and other Nordete .

Therefore , it was not possible to recognize any particular benefit in relation to current formulations of contraceptives . You can even get the impression that certain contraceptive more fattening than others, however, this claim lacks scientific support .
What if the pill cause weight gain

It's possible that you're still not convinced , especially if your weight has increased while you were taking contraceptives .

Therefore, some steps can be taken . The first is to know that most of the side effects of the pill disappears after 3 months of use . If you swear you gained weight , do not give up the pill less than 6 months of use . The tendency is that your weight will stabilize and you note that the interference of the oral contraceptive was not as great as you imagined in the early months .

It is always good to remember that contraceptives may cause some fluid retention in the first few months , this being responsible for discrete weight gains . In this case , you have gained weight , but do not put on weight . The trend is the retention desparecer after the 3rd month and the weight return to its previous value .

The second step is to do an honest self -criticism . Some questions may help you understand what happened . During your weight gain you were practicing physical activities on a regular basis ? Was properly controlling calorie intake ? You have done a balanced diet ? Have slept at least 7 hours per night ? Has avoided pinching sweets or other sources of carbohydrates during the day , between meals ? This is the first time in my life that your weight changes ? You never gained weight before without even being on the pill ?

It is much easier and convenient to blame the pill for weight gain than make a self -criticism and realize that the fact of having fattened probably occurred through the fault of the habits and food of the patient herself .

In previous decades , when contraceptives actually gained weight , the cause was an increase in appetite . Therefore, it was not fattened the pill itself, but the increased calorie consumption during the day . So if while you swear that you gained weight on the pill , also swears are not eating more than before , there is something that does not close on its history . In the end , the person only fattening if you constantly ingesting more calories than you can spend. This is a rule (read : calories to lose weight) .

As has been said , people can gain from one month to another without much sense of reason. Sometimes , small habits day- to-day , like pinching , go unnoticed and the patient swears that has controlled their calorie intake .

So , in conclusion, the pill is not fattening . There is no way to blame the pill for weight gains above 2 kg and gains more discreet usually disappear after a few months of use .