Are you ready to say F birth control? Tune in if you want to safely get off birth control, learn what your symptoms may be telling you, and focus on alternatives to hormonal birth control.This episode is part 2 of the 2-part conversation about birth control. Part 2 features Holistic Nutritionist, Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, and Women’s Health, Hormone, and Fertility Specialist, Rach Hoeppner. Rach shares what is actually happening within our bodies while on hormonal birth control as well as the unknown side effects. She gives guidance on how to come off birth control and steps from her program, Better Than Birth Control, which focuses on detoxification and gut health. The information Rach covers in this episode is so eye opening, and a must listen for any woman in your life. Tune in and share with your friends and family so we can create awareness about what hormonal contraception is doing in the body and how harmful hormonal birth control can be.  The Salad With a Side of Fries podcast is hosted by Jenn Trepeck, discussing wellness and weight loss for real life, clearing up the myths, misinformation, bad science & marketing surrounding our nutrition knowledge and the food industry. Let’s dive into wellness and weight loss for real life, including drinking, eating out, and skipping the grocery store.IN THIS EPISODE:●   [6:12] What led Rach to become a holistic health nutritionist?●   [12:22] Rach shares how she works with her clients. ●   [14:44] What is hormonal birth control actually doing in our body?●   [19:22] Rach discusses some of the unknown side effects of birth control. ●   [24:35] Why should you not stop hormonal birth control cold turkey?●   [26:39] What is Post Birth Control Syndrome?●   [29:10] How does your body protect you and your essential organs from an overflow of hormones? (hint: fat cells)●   [34:50] Rach shares the roadmap steps in her program: Better Than Birth Control. ●   [42:50] While focusing on detoxification and gut repair, how long might it take for a cycle to return?●   [45:25] How do we know if the symptoms we're experiencing are a result from hormonal birth control versus the symptoms of what potentially led us to start hormonal birth control in the first place? How are the symptoms different from perimenopause? ●   [51:22] What are a couple key lifestyle elements to think about while going through the detox and repair process?KEY TAKEAWAYS:●   For your cycle to fully return to the way mother nature intended it to, it may take 1 month per year of you taking birth control. So if you were on birth control for 10 years, expect it to take 10 cycles to return to normal.●   Many young girls and women get put on birth control to help with symptoms they are experiencing such as heavy bleeds, cramping, or acne. All of these symptoms have an underlying cause that birth control is not going to fix. Birth control strictly puts you into a medicated menopause, and the symptoms will return when you get off birth control. ●   The extended use of hormonal birth control has the ability to shrink your ovaries by up to 50%. And the size of your ovaries has a direct correlation to your number of fertile years.QUOTES: “As of 2017-2019, it was something like 60% of women aged 15-49 were on some form of hormonal birth control...odds are, this applies to most people.” - Jenn Trepeck“By the time I was 23, I was on six different medications and I felt awful. I just felt terrible all the time. I remember going to doctors and being like, what is causing this? Why am I so sick and these medications aren't making me better? I felt like I was just getting doors closed in my face and no doctor ever questioned my hormonal birth control ever.” - Rach Hoeppner“I think one of my biggest takeaways, Jenn, is that women are terribly underserved and highly overmedicated and all medication does is work to mask symptoms.” - Rach Hoeppner“I like to remind women that hormonal birth control is actually medicated menopause. And if