Investor And Serial Entrepreneur Danielle Sobel Launches Hormonal Wellness Brand Turn Health

Investor and serial wellness entrepreneur Danielle Sobel has embarked on her most personal project yet.

The founder of Juice Society and Dandy, also an early investor in Maude who backs consumer goods companies at the pre-seed and seed level in consumer goods companies via venture firm 1829, has launched hormonal wellness brand Turn Health. Its first product, $60 Birth Control Cleanse, is formulated with vitamins, minerals and plant-based ingredients like zinc, curcumin, boron and N-acetyl cysteine (NAC) to help balance hormone levels after stopping hormonal birth control use. 

Sobel divulges she’s spent approximately $100,000 to bring Turn Health to life, encompassing formulation, testing, packaging, inventory, legal protection and website construction. To develop the formula for Birth Control Cleanse, the brand was advised by medical experts examining nutrients such as selenium, zinc and vitamin B and C that are depleted in the body by birth control. The formula incorporates ingredients like NAC for further support. 

“It’s a reason why when you get off, you’ll get things like acne or weight gain or bloating. Your body’s so depleted,” says Sobel. “I was like, let’s just put in exactly what it’s taking out and then let’s add in some inflammation support because sometimes your gut is super inflamed when you’re being depleted of those things.” 

Sobel’s health struggles coming off birth control led her to create Turn Health. For years, she had extremely heavy periods and traveled down a rocky medical path to address them. Doctors never offered her a clear treatment plan. She went on and off of birth control, discovered ovarian cysts, and battled excessive bloating and cystic acne. 

When Sobel’s symptoms flared up following an international trip, one doctor, who suggested she had a parasite, told her she would have to pay out of pocket for an ultrasound to learn more about her condition. At her wit’s end, she did. Sobel recounts, “They found the fibroid again and a massive cyst again on my right ovary, and he’s like, ‘Oh, we’ll just watch it.'”

Disappointed by the medical establishment, Sobel had to figure out how to manage symptoms herself, a common experience among people who menstruate. She turned to functional medicine, taking supplements for hormonal maintenance and receiving comprehensive blood tests to provide a holistic view of her health. Her adoption of functional medicine was a catalyst for Turn Health. 

The brand’s Birth Control Cleanse is intended as a daily supplement, and people interested in stopping birth control can use it while they’re still on the pill and continue to use it once they stop. Sobel says supplementation for three to six months is the “sweet spot of helping your body get back on its feet, helping it reset. You’ve been taking something for a lot of the time. I was on birth control for 12 years, never took a break. It’s a good reset to help replenish what’s been depleted for so long.”

To assist consumers in understanding when their nutrient levels have returned to normal, Turn Health will roll out at-home saliva and blood testing, tracking and ongoing support in the near future. Nutrient levels will be tracked every three to four months, according to Sobel. She says, “It’ll show fluctuations and then make new recommendations for you based on your new results.” 

Turn Health is hitting the market at a time when birth control and women’s reproductive health generally is top of mind for Americans. Opill, the first over-the-counter birth control pill, will soon be available nationwide, and reproductive health is a big topic in political campaigns this year. 

Turn Health isn’t the only wellness brand aimed at women coming off birth control. The now-shuttered Hello Me made its debut in 2018 with supplements designed to combat nutrient depletion due to birth control. “Twilight” actress Ashley Green introduced transdermal supplement brand and educational platform Hummingway after being beset with health problems from halting hormonal birth control. Elix, a brand rooted in traditional Chinese medicine, is focused on aiding women with hormone health.  

The pros and cons of birth control, usage of which often commences in teenage years and can extend for decades, are nuanced, and the rise of brands delving into it demonstrates that it’s potent, at least with women entrepreneurs who’ve had to navigate the American medical system. In the United States, education around birth control and women’s reproductive health is scant, and doctors tend to fail to give their patients a full picture of the upsides and downsides of the pill. 

“We’re put on it at 16, you decide to get off it when you want to. You go to the doctor, they’re like, ‘Just get off it to start trying to have a baby,'” says Sobel. “There’s no conversation around what does the pill do, what are the symptoms, what are the side effects, and how can I support myself coming off the pill so I don’t have these crazy symptoms, so I can feel good about myself and feel in tune with my body and in touch with it?”