{"id":20275,"date":"2021-11-02T15:10:13","date_gmt":"2021-11-02T14:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/?p=20275"},"modified":"2022-01-05T11:03:32","modified_gmt":"2022-01-05T10:03:32","slug":"birth-control-and-your-liver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/birth-control-and-your-liver\/","title":{"rendered":"Birth Control and Your Liver"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Hormonal birth control was an incredible invention that gave people with uteruses more bodily autonomy, freedom over their lives, and more tools to navigate their reproductive health with.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

There\u2019s a good chance that you and a good amount of your friends were put on it from a very young age as a means of birth control, to help regulate periods, or for other common reasons like acne.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In recent years there has been more and more conversation around the widespread use of hormonal birth control, mainly that it might not be all that it\u2019s chalked up to be.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Using hormonal birth control can lead to all sorts of unexpected side effects<\/a> like acne, weight gain, mood fluctuations, loss of libido, nausea, and headaches.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Like any medication, taking birth control can be taxing on different parts of your body, particularly the liver.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Let\u2019s take a look at what the liver is, how hormonal birth control might affect it, and what to do about it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

What is The Liver?<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

First things first. You have to have a basic understanding of what the liver does to understand the effects of hormonal birth control on it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The liver<\/a> is one of the important organs in your body \u2013 and one of the largest. This football-sized organ is located on the upper right side of your abdomen.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This vital organ is incredibly busy and quite the efficient multitasker. It has hundreds of functions including filtering and processing chemicals in foods, medications, and alcohol, helping digest fats and eliminating waste products, storing nutrients, filtering the blood, and much more. Essentially the liver is in charge of detoxification, waste management, and sorting nutrients so they can be used efficiently.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Did you catch the first one on that list? Filtering chemicals in food and medications.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Chemicals aren\u2019t necessarily a bad thing. We\u2019re surrounded by them, and for the most part, the liver does a pretty great job of filtering them.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

That doesn\u2019t mean it doesn\u2019t get tired from time to time. Especially if more chemicals are constantly being added to your system.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

So what does that have to do with birth control?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

How Does Birth Control Affect The Liver?<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Pharmaceutical hormonal birth control options are medications, made from chemicals, that your liver has to filter.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The liver helps repackage harmful chemicals into less harmful ones and then transforms them into water-soluble substances so that they can be released via urine or faeces. When these systems are backed up or taxed, toxins can build up in the system.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Consistently taking artificial hormones can result in hormonal imbalances, specifically estrogen dominance.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This can lead to a sluggish liver and slowed bile production. Studies have shown that the use of hormonal birth control increases someone\u2019s risk of developing liver tumours<\/a> and cancer, jaundice<\/a>, clotting<\/a> of the liver\u2019s veins, and other issues.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Birth Control and Your Liver: What\u2019s Next?<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

If you or someone in your family has a history of liver or gallbladder disease, you may want to keep this on your radar.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

For hormonal birth control users concerned about their liver health \u2013 observe any symptoms that may be indicative of liver issues like:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n