Myth buster: Birth control pills don’t cause weight gain

Last year, the birth control pill celebrated its 50th anniversary. Despite half a century of being on the market, it’s still a source of controversy, and possibly, just as much misunderstanding. It’s commonly believed that the pill can lead to weight gain‘and that’s one of the leading reasons why some women avoid it, leading to unplanned pregnancies.

This year, two studies have been published that finally separate fact from fiction: Taking the birth control pill does not lead to increased weight. In January, researchers in Oregon released a study in Human Reproduction that demonstrated that the weight of their test subjects’rhesus macaque monkeys‘remained stable during the year they were on the pill. (The wild bunch were used so that variables, such as food intake could be controlled.) Some of the obese monkeys even lost weight while taking the medication.

Just this week, a student from the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, Ingela Lindh, reported on a long-term study of 1,749 women. She found that women who took the pill for more than 10 years didn’t gain more weight than their peers who had never been on it.

The study’s researchers say they hope that their results will change the attitudes of women who are thinking of discontinuing or avoiding the birth control pill. "It’s important to let women know that the pill doesn’t affect their weight … especially among young women," Lindh said in a press release.

Have you had doubts about taking the Pill because of concerns that you might gain weight?

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