Do you need your period to be healthy?

I recently came across a really interesting Tik Tok video. This individual has been on birth control from the age of 18 and she is now in her 30’s. She expressed that she didn’t take placebo pills or any breaks because they’re not necessary. She went on to say that periods are only necessary for individuals that want to reproduce. That got me thinking, do you need a period to be healthy?

Now before we dive into that. I want to talk about how easy it is to fall into this line of thinking. There was a time where I had a similar thought process. When I went on birth control, I was only looking for the one that had the highest efficacy. That’s all I researched on and honestly all I cared about, making sure I couldn’t get pregnant. So I know first-hand how this kind of thinking can come up. Especially with how little we are taught about our body. Most of the SexEd I was taught was around STDs and how you can get "pregnant at any time in fact, don’t have sex unless you are prepared to get pregnant". But that’s not true at all. We're only fertile for about 20% of our cycle. So that’s roughly five days. This is known as your fertile window. That's because when you ovulate, it's only viable for 24-48 hours. But sperm can live up to 5 days. It is in that window that is the only time you are fertile.

But going back to the original question, wouldn’t it be better to not have to deal with any of it at all? Why not choose a hormonal birth control like the Depo shot or the implant so you don’t even have to worry about a monthly cycle.

The thing is, our cycle is so much more than just for reproduction. Our hormone cycles are very interconnected to every part of us. That's why someone who is suffering from PMS can experience insomnia, digestive issues, mental fog, memory problems, migraines, cramping, and tender breasts. There’s a wide variety of symptoms because of just how interconnected our hormones are. Our body has to be seen holistically. It's not separate from other organ systems.

So, do we need to have our periods to be healthy? In short, sort of. Do we need to have a monthly uterine lining shedding to be healthy? Not necessarily. But what we do need is the hormonal cycles that go along with it. Let’s go over the 2 big ways your hormones ebb and flow affect our body.

Bone health: Your bone health is very interconnected to your hormones as a cycling being. Research from the Centre of Ovulation and Menstruation center (1) suggests that estrogen and progesterone have a direct impact on our bone density. Estrogen gets rid of old or used-up bone cells. While progesterone builds up our bone density by having new bone cells come in. This ebb and flow of your hormones are what makes up your bone density. Our bone density peaks in our late to mid-’20s. It then slowly starts to decline as we age.

What can happen when you’re on birth control for an extended period of time is that your bones aren't able to reach that peak bone density. That’s because they don't have estrogen or progesterone to help build up that bone density. The synthetic hormones in birth control don’t act the same in the rest of the body as your regular produced hormones. That can lead to higher instances of Osteoporosis later on.

Breast Health: The Centre of Menstruation and Ovulation Research has also shown how our hormone levels interact with our breast health (2). Animal studies have shown that estrogen has a growth effect on breast tissue. That’s why you may notice that your breasts are more tender or sensitive when you’re about to ovulate. While progesterone counters that effect. That ebb and flow are important for your overall breast health. There doesn't seem to be a direct link between birth control and breast cancer or tumors. But it can indirectly increase the risk by disrupting this ebb and flow of hormones.

Going back to the original video that inspired this topic, the individual did mention that she had changed her doctors throughout the years and none of them had an issue with her being on birth control without any breaks. In fact, I’m not even too surprised about that. There is this misconception that birth control only affects our endocrine system and that when you get off birth control you’ll just go right back to normal. But that’s usually not the case. As someone that has Osteoporosis in my family, I wish I had been told that birth control, especially the Depo Shot would negatively impact my bone health. I think the most I got when it came to information on birth control was a few sheets of paper. When it's been known that out of all the hormonal birth control methods, Depo impacts your bones the most.

There also needs to be a bigger push towards informed consent when it comes to birth control. Being able to have honest conversations about all the risks without having them pushed on us as a “cure all” method.

Our cycles aren’t just for reproduction. They are integrated into almost every part of us. We have been conditioned by society to think that our periods are “gross, a burden, or just unnecessary” but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Our periods are our fifth vital sign, our monthly report card. It can show you how your health is. Are you too stressed, nutrient deficient, estrogen dominant, progesterone is too low? All of these things we can see by better understanding our cycle. Noticing what it means if our period is a different shade, if we bleed more or less than usual, or if the timing is different. Once we are able to better understand our cycle we can really begin to take our health into our own hands. Because at the end of the day, no one knows your body better than yourself.

If you want to learn how to better understand your cycle. Check out my workshop that goes over how to do just that!

(1) http://www.cemcor.ubc.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/5_Ovulation_and_Bone_Health.pdf

(2) http://www.cemcor.ubc.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/6_Ovulation_and_Breast_Health.pdf