Hormone Deception: How Everyday Foods and Products Are Disrupting Your Hormones--and How to Protect Yourself and Your Family [Paperback]

D. Lindsey Berkson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 27, 2001

The first prescriptive book on the subject, Hormone Deception reveals where hormone disruptors come from and how they affect adults, children, and the unborn child. It also gives you easy, practical tips for protecting your home and your family, such as vacuuming frequently and using water filters. Includes a foreword by John R. Lee, M.D., and a preface by John A. McLachlan, Ph.D.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Dust we track home, steam from showers and dishwashers, and plastic wrappings for meat and cheese all send manmade hormone-disrupting chemicals into our bodies. The extent to which this exposure affects human health is unknown, but evidence suggests that it may be responsible for recent worldwide increases in health problems, including breast cancer and declining sperm counts. This accessible, extensively researched handbook gives the reader information to respond to this new reality. Berkson (bioenvironmental science, Tulane Univ.), the author of several books on natural healing, provides background on how hormones work in our bodies, discusses the known and suspected effects of hormone-disrupting chemicals, and offers practical advice on avoiding exposure and on detoxifying oneself. Charts of chemicals, a list of organizational resources, and a room-by-room tour of the potential hazards in a typical house are featured. Based on scientific studies and communications with experts in the field, this book is recommended for public and academic libraries.
-Noemie Maxwell Vassilakis, Seattle Midwifery Sch.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

When her mother was pregnant with Berkson...the obstetrician administered diethylstilbestrol (DES) to prevent miscarriage. Although some negative information about DES was known at that time, most doctors felt it was as safe as smoking. Berkson draws women's and doctors' attention to all the questions about hormones and other chemicals that remain unanswered or whose answers aren't widely known or heeded. Her main thesis is that chemicals from inside the body are safe whereas those from outside can be questionable or sometimes dangerous and even deceptive, causing the body to respond to them as if they were hormones. Berkson has collected a vast amount of material. She explains it clearly, discriminating suppositions from hard data. She urges further research, pointing out, however, that a major deterrent to it is the attitude that "a man-made chemical is considered innocent until proven guilty." William Beatty
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (December 27, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0658021303
• ISBN-13: 978-0658021305
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,115,791 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Empower yourself: learn about our surroundings!, October 24, 2000

By 

Melody Wubbenhorst (NY , USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hormone Deception (Hardcover)

This was a hard book to put down. Scientifically oriented, yet written in simple language for all of us "non-scientists" to understand, it's reader friendly. This book applies to our everyday life. We already know many things cause cancer and other diseases, but to finally have a book that tells us what THOSE things are, empowers us to make a change. We've heard our water might be contaminated, well Dr. Berkson will tell you why and what exactly is in it that makes it bad. We've heard to be cautious of dry-cleaning gas off, and she'll cover that, she talks about heating our food in plastic trays and plastic wrap in the microwave, dangers in baby toys, baby foods, our soda cans and cans in general. She talks from a hormone point of view: in parts per billion (which is like a pinch of salt in 10 tons of potatos, her words, not mine) when referring to the sensitivity of these hormones. She warns us of estrogenic invaders, androgenic invaders, hormone blockers and such, that are in our environment in the form of air, food, cleaning products, water pollution and how these interfere with our bodies. The best part: she tells us how to reduce our exposure, what we can do about it by just being aware.

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hormone Deception, October 10, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Hormone Deception (Hardcover)

I read this book based on the recommendation of another parent in my young daughter's day care center. I found Hormone Deception just brimming with information regarding keeping ourselves and our families healthy. I was especially interested in how hormone disruptors impact our children and truly appreciated all the good advice on how to reduce exposure in the home. I never knew our homes were such potential health hazards! I heartily recommend this book to all moms concerned with keeping their families healthy. Lindsey Berkson has also developed a fantastic website full of related information and links to other bio-environmentally appropriate sites (same name as the book, hormonedeception.com).

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Practical and Accessible, June 24, 2007

By 

Josette Michele (Pasadena, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hormone Deception: How Everyday Foods and Products Are Disrupting Your Hormones--and How to Protect Yourself and Your Family (Paperback)

I thought this book was interesting and easy to follow. Ms. Berkson, gives us the information and practical advice on how to avoid exposure to these psuedo-hormones that disrupt the body.

The print is an easy size to read.