#74 – The Pill: The Deadly Dichotomy ** June 24, 2015
Guest // Holly Grigg-Spall ** Host // Kelly Brogan, MD

Do you know how The Pill works? Millions of women — healthy women who take this powerful hormonal medication daily from their mid teens to menopause — have absolutely no idea.

Cultural mythology and pharmaceutical marketing have sold women on The Pill as liberation, freedom, and independence. Who’s going to tell us that this drug impacts every organ and function in the body? Who will disclose that it’s implicated in depression, anxiety, paranoia, rage, panic attacks, and more?

Although some may dare to suggest these women are traitors of feminism, we know better. A growing number of women are looking for non-hormonal alternatives for preventing pregnancy. And brave voices are piercing the veil. Holly Grigg-Spall is fearless, and her courageous advocacy on behalf of women whose stories are too often silenced is a model for others trying to make positive change through health activism. Read the book and get inspired, get angry, and most importantly get information. Sweetening the Pill is exactly the thing needed to energize and mobilize this important women’s health conversation.

Holly Grigg-Spall is a writer and women’s health advocate. Her book Sweetening the Pill: Or How We Got Hooked On Hormonal Birth Control has been featured in Elle, the Sunday Times Style (UK), Marie Claire, New York magazine, The Guardian, and on CBC and the BBC, amongst others. The book was optioned by Ricki Lake and is the inspiration for a forthcoming feature documentary. She currently writes frequently for LadyClever.com.

Kelly Brogan, MD is Medical Director of Fearless Parent and mom of two. She is board certified in Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine, and Integrative and Holistic Medicine. Holistic living, environmental medicine, and nutrition are the bedrock of her functional medicine practice. She serves as medical advisor to GreenMedInfo, Pathways to Family Wellness, and Fisher Wallace. Kelly holds degrees from MIT and Cornell Medical School.