The Pill & Your Weight

If you've been avoiding birth control pills because you thought you might gain weight, listen up. Looks like that won't happen after all.

This connection between birth control pills and weight gain has been around for decades and it's caused some women to avoid the pill altogether. But a new study is showing that you can't blame the birth control pill. As a matter of fact this study found that not only does it not add weight but in some individuals might actually help you shed some pounds.

Researchers study rhesus monkeys and birth control pills, mainly because these monkeys have reproductive systems close to ours, so birth control pills should affect them and humans the same way. What they found out was that normal weight ones didn't gain any weight on the pill. Surprisingly though, obese monkeys lost both weight and body fat when they where put on the pill. The researchers involved in this study think the same should apply to humans. They also think part of the reason this connection came about in the first place is because older birth control pills had higher levels of estrogen which can cause more water weight, but new pills cut back on this hormone. So, if you've been putting off birth control pills because you were worried about adding weight, you might want to give them a second look.