Dr. Tabatha Barber, an OB/GYN and functional medicine physician, says yes: the birth control pill depletes B vitamins, magnesium, selenium, zinc, and vitamins C and E. She recommends methylated B vitamins and support for liver detoxification with DIM and calcium D-glucarate.
Hi, I'm Dr. Tabitha, the functional gynecologist. I'm a board certified, OB, GYN and functional medicine physician. I've embraced the world of functional medicine and wellness through my own personal health journey. And I'm super excited to share my wisdom and unique perspective as it pertains to women's health. So if you're struggling with hormone imbalance, weight gain, period issues, anxiety, insomnia, you name it, then you've come to the right place. I want to be your functional gynecologist. So welcome. Hi ladies. Welcome back to the Functional gynecologist. At the end of every week, we will answer the question of the week. Today's question of the week is do I need to take vitamins while I'm on a birth control pill? That's actually an awesome question because the answer is a definite yes. The World Health Organization has acknowledged that birth control pills can be depleting to certain nutrients and minerals that we need in our body for our body to function and stay in hormone balance. So the major ones that are depleted are your B vitamins, magnesium, selenium, zinc, thiamine. These are all required for your body to create neurotransmitters for mood regulation, energy production. Make your sex hormones for hormone balance to help your thyroid function well and support your digestion. You don't necessarily need to take extra iron, copper, vitamin K2 or calcium because the birth control pills actually can increase these levels in your system. If you're having trouble balancing your hormones and you're using birth control pills as a way to help with that, you might want to consider dim or diindomethane and calcium D glucarate. They're used to support Phase 2 detoxification in your liver so that your hormone metabolites get dealt with properly and removed through your system so you don't recirculate and have excess estrogens and such. There's actually a really awesome product on the market called the Other Pillow because birth control pills are called the pill, right? So this is the other pill and it contains exactly what you need to get your body back into balance while you're on birth control pills. So it's full of everything that I just mentioned. I have no ties to this company. I don't benefit at all from recommending it, but I do actually recommend it because it's so necessary for you to be getting these vitamins and minerals that the birth control pill depletes your system of. Because most women are on the birth control pill for many years and over time, these depletions can lead to thyroid disorders and metabolic dysfunction that's difficult to correct. So if you're on the birth control pill and you feel great, then I would recommend just getting the some methylated B vitamins and the minerals that I recommended, zinc, selenium, niacin, biotin, thiamine, magnesium. Make sure you're getting those on a regular basis in addition to vitamin C, vitamin E, riboflavin. But if you're on the birth control pill and it's been a long time and you feel like you're beyond depleted and already having issues from that chronic depletion, then you might need to investigate a little further and see if you need anything more specifically replaced. So don't hesitate to reach out to me and ask me any questions. Lady I would love to spotlight you on my question of the week. Just hit me up on Facebook @Doctor Tabitha or on Instagram @Doctor Tabitha and that's three A's, T a B A T H A. Shoot me your questions and comments. And please, I would love for you to give me a five star review. If you're enjoying the podcast, share it with others so we can get this information out to other women and support each other. I don't make any money doing this podcast. This is just my passion. I want to get the word out. I want to help women. So please support me. Give me a review. Subscribe to my podcast that tells iTunes that you're listening and you want it to continue. So I appreciate all of your support. Ladies, go out and kick ass today. Have an amazing day and shoot me your questions and I will shout you out on a future episode. All right, take care. Bye. Sam.
