What Is the Best Birth Control for Weight Loss?

If you’ve ever looked at the side effects of some birth control, you may have seen both weight loss and weight gain listed.

But is there a type of birth control that helps you lose weight or stay the same size? Read on to learn a lot about the subject.

Does birth control cause weight gain?

People who have used hormonal birth control often say that they have gained weight. And it’s listed as a side effect on something like a pack of birth control pills.

But scientists haven’t yet found a strong connection between the two.

From the studies that have been done on birth control pills, there has been insufficient and low quality that they cause weight gain. (This could be because it’s a short-term side effect that usually goes away after a few months.)

But that doesn’t mean evidence of weight gain isn’t a side effect. It just means that more high-quality research is needed.

In the same way, some people who get the birth control shot have been shown to gain weight in small-scale studies. Again, there needs to be more research.

Types of birth control

There are a few main kinds of contraception:

• Hormonal. There are pills, patches, shots, and vaginal rings that use synthetic hormones to stop or delay ovulation. You need to remember to take this form regularly, like a pill every day or a shot every few weeks or months.
• Long-acting reversible contraception. Implants and intrauterine devices (IUDs) belong to this group. They have to be put in by a doctor or nurse and can sometimes last up to ten years. Some forms, like the copper IUD, contain hormones, but others, like the copper IUD, do not.
• Barrier. This method is much easier. The forms stop sperm from getting into the uterus by acting as a physical barrier. But they don’t work as well. Think about condoms, both outside and inside, spermicides, diaphragms, and cervical caps.
• Emergency. Emergency contraceptives should only be used if you had unprotected sex and want to avoid getting pregnant. Most of them come in the form of a pill, but you can also use a copper IUD.

Why some birth control may cause weight gain

There are several ideas. One idea is that the higher levels of oestrogen in some hormonal methods can make people feel hungrier. When they eat more, they might get heavier.

A second theory, on the other hand, says that the same level of oestrogen can cause water retention. Even though the number on the scales would go up, you wouldn’t have actually gained any weight.

But it could mean that some parts of your body look different and that your clothes don’t fit the same way. Some people are more likely than others to hold on to water, which would explain why people are different.
Lastly, birth control could cause an increase in body fat or muscle tissue for no other reason.

Not much research has been done to prove or disprove any of these ideas.

Best types of birth control for weight loss

No method of birth control has been made to help people lose weight. But some types are thought to be less likely to cause weight gain.

Barrier methods

Barriers like condoms and diaphragms physically stop sperm from getting in. This means that they don’t have any hormones, so they can’t make you gain or lose weight.

But they don’t work as well as other birth control methods. Each year, 18 to 28 out of every 100 people who only use a barrier method to avoid pregnancy will get pregnant.

ParaGard

ParaGard, which is also called the copper IUD, doesn’t have hormones either. Instead, copper is used to stop sperm from getting to an egg and fertilising it.

It can also keep you from getting pregnant more than 99 percent of the time, can stay in for up to 10 years, and can even be used as emergency birth control if you need to.

Combination pills

People think that having more oestrogen makes them gain weight, so a pill with less oestrogen might help.
Most of the time, these pills are combined, which means they have both oestrogen and a synthetic form of progesterone.

One brand, Yasmin, uses drospirenone, which acts like a diuretic and is an alternative to progesterone. This means that you probably won’t hold on to water.

When used correctly, these kinds of pills work over 99 percent of the time.

Can birth control promote weight loss?

Some hormonal birth control may cause weight loss as a side effect, but no birth control has been made to make people lose weight.

Only if you tend to hold on to water and use a birth control pill that makes you pee more often will you feel like you’ve lost weight.

Tips for avoiding weight gain when starting birth control

A healthy lifestyle can help you keep your weight steady.

You could, for example, eat a more balanced diet, be physically activity, and limit the amount of salty, sweet, or fatty foods you eat. It’s also important to stay hydrated.

Even if you do this, you might still feel like you’ve gained weight. This is often a short-term side effect caused by keeping too much water in the body.

When to see a doctor or other healthcare professional

If you don’t like how your birth control makes you look or feel, you might want to talk to a doctor or other medical professional.

There are lots of options out there, and a health care professional can help you figure out what they are.
In the same way, if you gain or lose a lot of weight, you should talk to a doctor or nurse. There might be something else going on in your body that needs to be looked at.

Frequently asked questions

Why does birth control cause weight gain?

Science doesn’t know why some birth control may cause people to gain weight.

But it’s thought that having more oestrogen can make you hold on to more water or that some birth control pills can make you hungrier.

Does the Yasmin birth control pill help with weight loss?

No method of birth control has been made or shown to help people lose weight.

But drospirenone, which is one of the hormones in Yasmin, can make you pee more often. That means it may cause you to hold less or no water, making it seem like you’ve lost weight.

How much weight can you gain from birth control?

There isn’t much proof that birth control makes people gain weight.

But a 2016 review found that people who took a progestin-only pill for 6 or 12 months gained less than 4.4 pounds on average.

Do you lose weight when you stop taking birth control?

If birth control made you gain weight, the effects will disappear within a few months if you stop using it.

But it’s also possible that changes in your weight have nothing to do with your birth control.

The bottom line

No one knows for sure if birth control makes you gain or lose weight. But a lot of people have had side effects because of their weight, so it’s possible.

That doesn’t mean you should use birth control to lose weight, though, because it probably won’t help much, if at all.

Try to make good habits instead. And if you aren’t sure what to do, talk to a health care professional for specific advice.