The U.S. Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) foolishly permitted the damaging Opill (norgestrel), as an over-the-counter (OTC) every day oral contraceptive, in July 2023.1 The contraception capsules — the primary accessible with out a prescription within the U.S. — reached retail pharmacies and on-line shops in March 2024.2 This was a derelict motion by the FDA that violates their mandate to guard the general public well being.
The drug’s maker, Perrigo, is touting Opill as a handy choice for folks with out medical health insurance or entry to medical companies. “No prescription, no appointment, no trouble. FDA-approved,” its web site states.3 However Opill accommodates the hormone norgestrel, which is a sort of progestin.
Norgestrel is efficient in stopping ovulation, thickening cervical mucus to hinder sperm motion and altering the uterine lining to stop implantation of a fertilized egg.4 Nonetheless, progestin, the artificial model of progesterone, is just not beneficial because it doesn’t have the well being advantages related to pure progesterone — and carries vital well being dangers.
What’s Progestin, the Energetic Ingredient in Opill?
Opill is a progestin-only contraceptive tablet, sometimes called a “mini-pill.” In contrast to mixture oral contraceptives that comprise each estrogen and progestin, Opill accommodates solely progestin. This single-hormone formulation is commonly stated to trigger fewer unwanted effects, however it’s removed from a protected choice.
In 1943, chemist Russell Marker began extracting progesterone from wild Mexican yams. Nonetheless, progesterone is poorly absorbed when taken orally, so ladies needed to take inconveniently massive doses.
In 1951, Syntex S.A. (later acquired by Roche) developed norethindrone, the primary artificial progestin (progesterone analogue). A 12 months later, G. D. Searle (now a Pfizer subsidiary), got here up with its personal artificial progestin, referred to as norethynodrel. Each norethindrone and norethynodrel are derivatives of testosterone, the first androgenic hormone.
Syntex and Upjohn Pharmaceutical additionally co-developed medroxyprogesterone acetate, which remains to be broadly used, each in hormone substitute remedy (HRT) and contraceptives, together with Depo Provera. Sarcastically, all these progestins initially obtained FDA approval for gynecological issues attributable to extra estrogen.
Artificial progestins, whereas having a few of the exercise of progesterone, do not need the identical physiological results because the endogenous progesterone produced by your physique. Progesterone is likely one of the most useful hormones an individual might take whereas the artificial model, progestin, is likely one of the most harmful.
Progestin Will increase Breast Most cancers Threat
In line with the FDA, “The most typical unwanted effects of Opill embrace irregular bleeding, complications, dizziness, nausea, elevated urge for food, belly ache, cramps or bloating.” Nonetheless, it additionally notes, “Opill shouldn’t be utilized by those that have or have ever had breast most cancers. Shoppers who’ve another type of most cancers ought to ask a physician earlier than use.”5
It is because hormonal contraception, together with progestin-only contraception capsules, could enhance breast most cancers danger. A case-control research and meta-analysis revealed in PLOS Drugs, assessed breast most cancers danger related to various kinds of hormonal contraceptives, together with these containing progestagen solely.6
Progestagen is a broad time period that refers to any synthetic or natural substance that has results just like these of progesterone, the pure hormone produced within the physique. It contains artificial compounds like progestin. The research discovered that present or latest use of hormonal contraceptives was related to an elevated danger of breast most cancers, with researchers stating:7
“Our findings recommend that there’s a relative enhance of round 20% to 30% in breast most cancers danger related to present or latest use of both mixed oral or progestagen-only contraceptives …
When our findings for oral contraceptives are mixed with outcomes from earlier research (which included ladies in a wider age vary), they recommend that the 15-year absolute extra danger of breast most cancers related to use of oral contraceptives ranges from 8 per 100,000 customers (a rise in incidence from 0.084% to 0.093%) to be used from age 16 to twenty to about 265 per 100,000 customers (from 2.0% to 2.2%) to be used from age 35 to 39.”
These dangers have been recognized for a while. The Ladies’s Well being Initiative, which started in 1991, discovered ladies who used both Premarin, a weak estrogen, alone or together with Provera, the artificial progestin utilized in contraception pictures, had elevated charges of vascular illnesses, cognitive decline, cancers and extra.8
In my interview with Susan Wadia-Ells, Ph.D., writer of “Busting Breast Most cancers: 5 Easy Steps to Maintain Breast Most cancers Out of Your Physique,” she additionally described how progestin could provoke breast most cancers:
“In 2010, there was an extremely essential research that has gotten buried. The lead researcher was Josef Penninger. On that worldwide research staff of about 12 folks, one is now the CEO and president of Dana-Farber Most cancers Institute.
The researchers spent 10 years working with mice in preclinical settings, attempting to determine why ladies who take progestin-based medicine — be they contraception medicine or menopausal medicine — have anyplace from a 26% to an eightfold elevated danger of growing breast most cancers.
They lastly revealed a research in 2010 that mainly defined, in some extra element, however not completely, how the progestin pulls out or prompts one thing referred to as RANKL, which is a protein. The RANKL, apparently — although they do not say these phrases — can suffocate the mitochondria in a lady’s breast cell, initiating that first most cancers cell.
The unhappy factor is that no researchers within the subject of breast most cancers prevention ever cite this research. They are not conscious of it for some motive. However, it was revealed in October of 2010 in Nature journal,9 which everyone knows is a really vital, well-known scientific journal.”
The Well being Advantages of Pure Progesterone
Progestin doesn’t have the various useful results of pure progesterone, which is the principle endogenous and most direct and potent glucocorticoid receptor antagonist. As such, it’s additionally a cortisol blocker. Progesterone can be a GABA agonist and an estrogen blocker.
Estrogens are one of many main elements contributing to growing your most cancers danger — together with the plastic burden contributing their xenoestrogens — as each lower mitochondrial operate. Progesterone is the antidote as a result of it’s not solely anti-estrogen however, as talked about, inhibits cortisol and can enhance mitochondria manufacturing of mobile power by blocking estrogen and cortisol.
Progesterone is the principle feminine hormone, and is a protecting hormone throughout being pregnant, however additionally it is essential in males since it’s a basic brain-regulating and protecting hormone.
Ladies who nonetheless menstruate must be cautious with the timing of their progesterone supplementation, nonetheless. Progesterone is essential for profitable being pregnant, and you’ll severely inhibit your potential to get pregnant should you take it on the incorrect time. So, whereas artificial progestin in oral contraceptives like Opill needs to be prevented, correctly administered pure progesterone is kind of useful for well being.
Learn how to Use Progesterone
Earlier than you think about using progesterone it is very important perceive that it’s not a magic bullet, and that you simply get essentially the most profit by implementing a Bioenergetic weight loss plan method that lets you successfully burn glucose as your main gas with out backing up electrons in your mitochondria that reduces your power manufacturing. My new ebook, “Mobile Well being: The Unified Principle of All Illness for Final Longevity and Pleasure” comes out very quickly and covers this course of in nice element.
After you have dialed in your weight loss plan, an efficient technique that may assist counteract estrogen extra is to take transmucosal progesterone (i.e., utilized to your gums, not oral or transdermal), which is a pure estrogen antagonist. Progesterone is one in all solely 4 hormones I consider many adults can profit from. (The opposite three are thyroid hormone T3, DHEA and pregnenolone.)
I don’t advocate transdermal progesterone, as your pores and skin expresses excessive ranges of 5-alpha reductase enzyme, which causes a good portion of the progesterone you are taking to be irreversibly transformed primarily into allopregnanolone and can’t be transformed again into progesterone.
Very best Strategy to Administer Progesterone
Please be aware that when progesterone is used transmucosally in your gums as I counsel, the FDA believes that by some means converts it right into a drug and prohibits any firm from advising that on its label. For this reason corporations like Well being Natura promotes their progesterone merchandise as “topical.”
Nonetheless, please perceive that it’s completely authorized for any doctor to advocate an off-label indication for a drug to their affected person. On this case progesterone is a pure hormone and never a drug and may be very protected even in excessive doses. That is not like artificial progesterone referred to as progestins which are utilized by drug corporations, however continuously, and incorrectly, referred.
Dr. Ray Peat has carried out the seminal work in progesterone and possibly was the world’s biggest professional on progesterone. He wrote his Ph.D. on estrogen in 1982 and spent most of his skilled profession documenting the necessity to counteract the risks of extra estrogen with low LA diets and transmucosal progesterone supplementation.
He decided that almost all solvents don’t dissolve progesterone nicely and found that vitamin E is the most effective solvent to optimally present progesterone in your tissue. Vitamin E additionally protects you towards injury from LA. You simply must be very cautious about which vitamin E you utilize as most supplemental vitamin E in the marketplace is worse than nugatory and can trigger you hurt not profit.
It’s crucial to keep away from utilizing any artificial vitamin E (alpha tocopherol acetate — the acetate signifies that it is artificial). Pure vitamin E shall be labeled “d alpha tocopherol.” That is the pure D isomer, which is what your physique can use. There are additionally different vitamin E isomers, and also you need the entire spectrum of tocopherols and tocotrienols, particularly the beta, gamma, and delta varieties, within the efficient D isomer.
There are additionally different vitamin E isomers, and also you need the entire spectrum of tocopherols and tocotrienols, particularly the beta, gamma, and delta varieties, within the efficient D isomer. For instance of a really perfect vitamin E you possibly can take a look at the label on our vitamin E in our retailer. You should use any model that has an analogous label.
You should buy pharmaceutical grade bioidentical progesterone as Progesterone Powder, Bioidentical Micronized Powder, 10 Grams for about $40 on many on-line shops like Amazon. That’s practically a 12 months’s provide, relying on the dose you select.
Nonetheless, you will have to buy some small chrome steel measuring spoons as you will have a 1/64 tsp which is 25 mg and a 1/32 tsp which is 50 mg. A standard dose is often 25 to 50 mg and is taken half-hour earlier than mattress, because it has an anti-cortisol operate and can enhance GABA ranges for a great night time’s sleep.
Sadly, this vendor continuously runs out of product, and if that’s the case, then you need to use Merely Progesterone by Well being Natura. It’s premixed with vitamin E and MCT oil. Once more, whereas Well being Natura states that its product is for “topical use solely,” I like to recommend making use of it transmucosally, by rubbing it in your gums.
If you’re a menstruating girl, you must take the progesterone throughout the luteal part or the final half of your cycle, which could be decided by beginning 10 days after the primary day of your interval and stopping the progesterone when your interval begins.
If you’re a male or non-menstruating girl you possibly can take the progesterone every single day for 4 to 6 months after which cycle off for one week. One of the best time of day to take progesterone is half-hour earlier than mattress because it has an anti-cortisol operate and can enhance GABA ranges for a great night time’s sleep.
That is what I’ve personally doing for over a 12 months with excellent outcomes. I’m a doctor so do not need any issues doing this. If you happen to aren’t a doctor you must seek the advice of one earlier than utilizing this remedy, as transmucosal progesterone remedy requires a physician’s prescription.
