Not Alone
Not Alone
Valeria Lipovetsky
Rethinking Birth Control: How Hormones, Cycle Phases & Your Health Are Connected
43 minutes Posted Oct 21, 2025 at 7:00 am.
Halloween at the Lipovetsky’s house
Introducing Dr. Elina Berglund Scherwitzle
Start of interview
Dr. Elina’s background as a physicist
Starting Natural Cycles
Creating an algorithm as a birth control method
Skepticism about disrupting the birth control industry
Explaining how Natural Cycles work
How the algorithm works
Effectiveness is the same as hormonal birth control
Negative effects of hormonal birth control
Perimenopause
Changing sex ed
Thoughts on male contraception
Breaking down the phases of female cycles
Monthly fertile window
Women with Irregular cycles using Natural Cycles
Getting Natural Cycles data to doctors
Wearable technology
Working with her husband
The future of women’s health
Can women sync their cycles?
Users questions and comments
Dr. Elina’s Book Recommendation
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Show notes
This episode is brought to you by Natural Cycles: The company changing the contraception game with the world’s first FDA-cleared birth control app. Whether you're looking to prevent pregnancy or plan for it, the Natural Cycles app offers a non-hormonal, non-invasive alternative to traditional birth control. Right now, you can get 15% off an annual subscription plus a freeBluetooth thermometer when you visit https://www.naturalcycles.com and use promo code VALERIA at checkout. Natural Cycles is for 18+ and does not protect against STIs. Always read and follow the instructions for use.
In this episode of Not Alone, Valeria sits down with Dr. Elina Berglund Scherwitzl, a former particle physicist turned femtech innovator, and the co-founder of Natural Cycles, the first FDA-cleared birth control app. Together, they dive into how Dr. Elina’s background in physics led her to develop a groundbreaking algorithm that helps women better understand their bodies, and offers a hormone-free alternative to traditional birth control.
The conversation explores everything from the skepticism she faced in disrupting a multi-billion-dollar industry, to how data and wearable technology are transforming women’s health. Valeria and Dr. Elina discuss the phases of the female cycle, the negative effects of hormonal birth control, and the importance of empowering women with better education and tools for their reproductive health. They also touch on the future of personalized medicine, male contraception, and the potential of syncing our lives more intentionally with our bodies.
📱Follow Dr. Elina:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elinascherwitzl/?hl=en
About Natural Cycles:
Website: https://www.naturalcycles.com/
Dr. Elina’s Book Recommendation: This Is Your Brain on Birth Control
Shop my looks from this episode: https://shopmy.us/shop/collections/2638644
Follow me: https://www.instagram.com/valerialipovetsky/ 
What we talked about: 
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