Customer Reviews

Fertility, Cycles & Nutrition 4th Edition

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is packed FULL of great nutritional information! AND it is helpful to how women feel and how to make their cycles as best as they can be :) I LOVE it so far (I'm more than half way through) and gifted a copy to both of my sisters-in-law. I have learned so much about a woman's cycle, nutrition, supplements, why my cycle behaves in certain ways, and how I can make those "problems" better. I'm loving it! It is a resource book that I will keep reading over and over to better educate myself. I'm excited to share the info with friends, family and my daughters as they grow up! I don't have any negative comments... I only wish there was a short class I could take or an opportunity to meet with the author to ask questions or get personal advice! She is a wealth of knowledge! This is definitely worth every penny.

My wife and I have greatly anticipated this edition and are not dissappointed. We received it today and already it has provided useful information for a friend. We've had the 3rd edition for years and almost everyone we've loaned it to has asked if they could buy it from us (we teach Natural Family Planning and this book is a resource) or buy a copy for a friend or family member. Over the years we have probably purchased 40 copies and had to replace them. This new edition has great practical information for the whole family's nutrition and is loaded with resources. Marilyn's writing style is fresh and encouraging.

I have been looking forward to this addition for quite sometime and was not disappointed!! This book is a must have for women of all ages - from her early fertile years (or infertile if that be the case) through menopause and beyond. It not only covers prevention, but contains solutions for many of the problems that women face and gives practible advice including nutrition and supplements. There is a chapter that encourages better nutrition by providing charts with daily suggested food goals. (for the pregnant woman, also) I found the resource section in the back, that includes organizations and books to further research the topics she covers, very helpful. This would make a great gift.

One of my favorite parts of this book is the focus on improving your health, which may help improve your cycles or other health issues you're dealing with. It has a great table of suggested daily food goals, supplements that you may want to try (with your doctor's input), and foods to focus on eating. Many suggestions in the general part of the book apply to how the whole family should be eating. The general plan is followed by suggestion for dealing with specific issues. There is also a suggested daily food goals table specificially for pregnant and nursing women, and some ideas for dealing with issues related to pregnancy. This book is great and has completely changed the way I cook and eat.

This review is written from the perspective of one who wants to boost fertility--not one who necessarily doesn't support the use of contraceptives (that's an entirely different debate!). I'm also fairly well-versed in fertility issues, cycle irregularities, and charting. I'm by no means an expert.

I had high hopes for this book, and I'm sure it's an excellent resource for those unfamiliar with NFP and fertility overall. In the end, however, it's only just okay for one trying to conceive. There are a plethora of other books that I feel do a better job of this (TCOYF, for instance).

I was also disappointed by her approach to vegan diets, though I realize that isn't the purpose of this book. I'm not vegan, but have done a tremendous amount of research (professionally) regarding healthy diet and nutrition. Vegan and vegetarian diets can most certainly be healthy; counseling a mother to convince her daughter to change her lifestyle rather than help her make wise choices doesn't sit well. I was also surprised given her support of The Fertility Diet which encourages a plant-based diet to help boost fertility (though this is based on the NHS and controversial).

Lastly, I wish I'd known this book took more of a religious stance and included scriptures. I knew it was a good resource for NFP, but Christians aren't the only people who practice NFP.

All in all, my disagreement with her approach to veg*n living, inclusion of scriptures, and other minor issues really shouldn't influence my overall review--they have little to do with the basic information provided in this book! Once again, it's a good starting resource, but not the best for one who already knows a bit about TTC. It also didn't provide an accurate cause for my cycle irregularities, though it did provide several explanations for those of others. Not entirely complete, but a good start.

If you are already pretty well informed about good nutrition, this book is not for you. She goes over what to eat and what not to eat, which for me offered nothing more than I already knew. Recommends optivite pmt supplement, which I tried and made me an angry/horrible/moody person. The basic idea is if you eat healthy and follow a strict diet, you will get pregnant, unless you have a medical condition that nutrition cannot cure. A few chapters in the book cover basic information on a range of fertility problems. The books is also endorsed by a catholic families organization, so each chapter starts with a religious inspirational message. The author is not a doctor, but has dedicated her life to helping people achieve pregnancy through nutrition.

I think this is one of the best books on women's health and fertility-related issues out there. Every midwife should read this. But why only four stars? The author promotes the consumption of canola oil, which is not a "healthy" oil. Also the recommended level for vitamin D (400-1000 IU)fall way below what it should be for most people. I was also a bit leery about the author's recommendations for flax seed oil. Although this oil undoubtedly has many benefits, there are also many downfalls as well. For instance, those following a WAP diet may be interested to know that flax seed contains a large amount of phytic acid, which inhibits the absorption of minerals. Although written from a more vitamin and basic nutrition standpoint, I hope any future additions would contain more research on how herbs can help many women's problems (for instance, many issues can be helped simply by working on liver health with herbs such as stinging nettle) and also more research on/references to the soaking of whole grains to reduce phytic acid.

I don't have any fertility issues, but we are ready to TTC now and I wanted to make sure my body was in the best health possible before conceiving. VERY helpful information on how to eat right, things to avoid while pregnant and trying to conceive. It was easy to read, no high-tech words that most readers can't understand.

Also, even if you are not TTC this has MUCH info on women's cycles if you experiance PMT, PMS, heavy bleeding, no bleeding...just a wealth of heavily researched information on how to correct cycle irregularities and common problems and symptoms that women experiance during their cycle.

There is also a little bit in back for men's health as well.

And a few recommendations on certain multi vitamins too!

I've had this book for about a year now and followed the pre-conceived diet. I have a very irregular period (32-59 days).So far I have not conceived. My DH and I started using the fertility blend last month. AF came on CD33. I believe it's due to taking the fertility blend. We will continue to follow her advise until we conceive.

I think that this book has pretty much summed up over a years worth of research for me! I wish I had found it sooner! I am thankful to have it now though. I received my copy from the Couple to Couple League's home study course. There is a lot of information out there on the various topics covered in this book, but it is very difficult to put the information together yourself in any practical, useful way. Well, this book does all that and more for you. I can't say enough about it! I didn't even realize that this book was going to be included in our course materials, and count myself blessed that it was! I have a new baby, and not so much free time as I did before her birth to look into each of these important topics individually. I will be sharing this great find with anyone who will listen:)