When working with my patients, there’s usually at least one moment in the initial visit that I think, “Ooo, this book would be perfect for them!” I thought I’d list my favorite women’s health books here, for you to use as a resource and hopefully add a few to your library.
MENSTRUAL CYCLE HEALTH AND HORMONE BALANCE
1. The Fifth Vital Sign – by Lisa Hendrickson-Jack
This book is one of my absolute favorites for learning about the inner workings of your body, hormones, and menstrual cycle and it’s perfect for learning how to track your cycle with the fertility awareness method. Lisa included over 1000 study citations in the book, which makes it one of the most well-researched women’s health books out there. This should honestly be required reading for every teenage girl getting her period and it could certainly save a lot of women years of frustration and suffering through symptoms we’re taught to think are normal. In this book, you’ll learn about:
- Why your menstrual cycle is such an important indicator of your health and what a normal cycle should be like
- A deep-dive into your fertile signs – particularly cervical mucus – and how to track and chart them
- How tracking your cycle can help you identify underlying issues with your health or fertility
- How birth control impacts your body and your cycle, even after you stop taking it
- Natural ways to support a healthy menstrual cycle and how you can intervene with diet and lifestyle changes to address cycle issues
This is honestly great reading for every cycling female, but will be especially interesting to those who want to learn to track their cycles for fertility.
2. Beyond the Pill – by Dr. Jolene Brighten
This is fantastic women’s health resource that really investigates the risks associated with hormonal contraceptives and provides women with a blueprint to recover optimal hormone health after coming off birth control. It can also help women who are still taking birth control mitigate some of the potential side effects. The book will help you understand:
- Risks and side effects of the pill that are almost never shared with women when beginning birth control, including effects on gut health, immune function, thyroid function, liver health, fertility, and more
- What post birth control syndrome is and how it can affect women in different ways as they’re coming off the pill
- How specific hormone imbalances can manifest in the body and how to identify whether you have any of these imbalances
- Detailed advice on dietary changes, testing, and supplementation that can help you regain your health and hormone balance
This book is amazing for anyone who has experienced negative side effects during birth control use or after stopping. It’s also a great resource for women who were originally prescribed the pill for any reason other than to prevent pregnancy, such as acne, irregular or absent cycles, painful or heavy periods, endometriosis, PCOS, etc. You’ll learn about which hormones may be out of balance in your body and what steps you can take to rebalance those hormones and feel your best. We highly recommend this book to those that are planning to or have recently come off birth control and are wanting to conceive in the next year.
3. The Period Repair Manual – by Dr. Lara Briden
This book is all about natural treatments to improve hormone and menstrual cycle health. You’ll learn about:
- Why birth control doesn’t actually “treat” period problems
- What a healthy menstrual cycle should look and feel like
- How to use natural treatments like diet, lifestyle, and supplements to address common period problems, including irregular/absent periods or PCOS, endometriosis, heavy or painful periods, PMS, breast pain, and more
This is a wonderful book for all cycling women to read to learn more about how our bodies are supposed to work and what factors might be at play if you’re having problems with your cycle.
Aviva Romm is an amazing doctor with bursting passion for women’s health. This is her new book (2021) that advocates for women’s health in the conventional medical world and helps guide women of reproductive age to gain control over their hormones for good. In this book, you’ll learn:
- The key components of the hormone epidemic and associated dietary and lifestyle triggers.
- What your symptoms are saying about your hormones with quizzes, checklists, trackers, and more.
- What foods you should indulge and avoid, how to repair your microbiome to support hormone health, how to identify environmental hormone disruptors, engage your body’s natural detoxification systems and reduce hidden inflammation, and the lifestyle changes that lead to happy, healthy hormones.
5. Hormone Repair Manual: Every woman’s guide to healthy hormones after 40 - by Dr. Lara Briden
Another comprehensive read by Dr. Briden. This one is focused on women over 40 and into menopause. You’ll learn about:
- Perimenopause aka “second puberty” and exactly what is going on and what to expect
- Treatment options for symptoms that often come during this transition period, like hot flashes, poor sleep, migraines, brain fog
PRECONCEPTION AND PREGNANCY NUTRITION
6. Real Food for Pregnancy – by Lily Nichols, RDN
This is an amazing evidence-based resource that provides the most up-to-date research on nutrition for pregnancy. There are over 900 scientific study references in this book and it covers a wide range of topics, including:
- Why conventional nutrition advice for pregnancy is outdated and not based on the best available evidence
- Why focusing on real food is important for the health of your pregnancy and especially for the development and long-term health of your baby
- What it means to eat real food and which foods are most important to include in your diet during pregnancy
- Which foods are best limited or left out of the diet during pregnancy
- Recipes to get you started on your real food journey
- Evidence-based advice on supplements, lab tests, toxins, post-partum recovery and more
Although I love recommending this book to pregnant moms, it’s also an amazing resource to help you get your nutrition and lifestyle in good shape to prepare for a healthy pregnancy – the same foods and habits that support a healthy pregnancy also support fertility. This is a great book to start on if you’re thinking of starting a family anytime within the next few years and you really want to know what you can be doing to proactively prepare with nutrition.
GENETICS & PRECONCEPTION PREP
7. Dirty Genes – by Dr. Ben Lynch
This book dives into how specific genetic variations or changes in the function of certain genetic pathways can ultimately lead to disease and how to fix it. Dr. Lynch has dedicated his career to studying genetics and how to practically apply knowledge of our genetic SNPs so that we can each personalize our healing journeys. You’ll learn about 7 genetic variants that have the biggest impact on our health, how these genes can start to work improperly, or become “dirty”, and what we can do to clean up our genes and live better, healthier lives. Dr. Lynch is very passionate about improving next generation health through preconception care, and this book is basically a personalized roadmap to optimizing health before pregnancy with diet, lifestyle, supplements, and advice for further investigation into your health. 5 out of the 7 SNPs he talks about in the book are known to have specific effects on hormones, fertility potential, and/or pregnancy outcomes, so this is definitely a great pre-pregnancy read.
I recommend this book to anyone that is interested in their genetics and how these might impact reproductive and childhood health. This will be especially interesting to those who have had a genetic report already run through 23andMe, Ancestry, or MaxGen Labs.
REDUCING THE RISK OF MISCARRIAGE AND INVESTIGATING RECURRENT PREGNANCY LOSS
8. Not Broken – by Dr. Lora Shahine
This book is written by a conventional reproductive endocrinologist and it’s all about understanding and investigating recurrent pregnancy loss. You’ll learn about:
- The medical definitions of miscarriage and recurrent pregnancy loss and the statistics behind these issues (which are actually very reassuring)
- Some of the possible issues that can cause RPL and how to test for them
- Reducing the risk of miscarriage through positive lifestyle changes
- Using an integrative approach to fertility care with acupuncture and eastern medicine
This is a wonderful resource for couples who have been through one or more miscarriages and want an easy-to-understand guide about what their options are for testing and treatment from both a conventional and integrative perspective.
9. Carrying to Term – by Dr. Jordan Robertson
This book is also all about reducing the risk of miscarriage and what testing and treatments couples who are experiencing miscarriage can seek out. As a naturopathic doctor, Dr. Jordan provides a slightly different perspective on some of the available research, especially on topics like thyroid testing and proactive health assessments. Dr. Robertson has personally been through multiple miscarriages and had to really advocate for the testing and care she needed to have a successful pregnancy.
I also recommend this book to clients dealing with previous loss or even those who want to learn more about how to proactively reduce their risk of miscarriage.
INFERTILITY AND FERTILITY TREATMENT
10. It Starts with the Egg – by Rebecca Fett
This book is all about the science and research behind egg quality and how focusing on the health of your eggs can help you get pregnant naturally, prevent miscarriage, and increase your odds of success during IVF. You’ll learn about:
Why egg quality is really EVERYTHING when it comes to fertility success
Common toxic exposures in your environment that have been shown to affect fertility and how to avoid them
- Possible contributing factors to fertility issues that your doctor may not have tested for yet
- Specific nutrients and supplements that support egg quality
- Nutritional guidelines that can help support your fertility journey
- Recommendations for your partner to improve sperm quality
This is perfect for couples that are currently doing or thinking about starting fertility treatments or for those who want to explore more natural alternatives before resorting to conventional treatment. It’s also a great resource for women over 35 to boost egg quality and improve chances of natural or assisted conception.
11. IVF Meal Plan – by Dr. Elizabeth Cherevaty
This book focuses specifically on nutrition for egg (and sperm) quality leading up to and during IVF treatment. It goes over everything we know about how diet affects egg quality and then takes you through 28 days worth of meal plans to overhaul your nutrition to optimize your IVF success. There are all kinds of pearls of wisdom and tips for success throughout the book and you’ll also receive some helpful advice on other things that impact fertility, such as avoiding hormone-disrupting toxins.
This is the perfect choice for women and couples who want to know how they should be fueling their bodies as they go through fertility treatment. These meal plans are also great for preconception nutrition.
12. The Infertility Cure – by Dr. Randine Lewis, Ph.D
This book provides an in-depth eastern medicine perspective on infertility and how to restore reproductive health naturally. The book goes over:
- How to start changing your understanding of infertility and some of the misconceptions in western medicine about fertility issues
- A discovery process for how to determine what specifically might be contributing to your infertility diagnosis from a Chinese medicine perspective
- The Chinese medicine approach to restoring fertility, including balancing your energy, changing your eating and lifestyle habits, and using acupuncture and herbal remedies
- How eastern medicine can support western medicine diagnosed reproductive health problems, such as luteal phase defect, premature ovarian failure, PCOS, endometriosis, fibroids, immunological issues, and male factor infertility
This is an amazing resource for those that are interested in seeking answers outside of or in addition to western medicine. If you’re considering or currently using acupuncture for fertility or you’re interested in herbal medicine, this is definitely for you.
PCOS AND ENDOMETRIOSIS
This book helps de-mystify the PCOS diagnosis for women, which can be very frustrating and confusing – especially because there are so few treatment options for PCOS in conventional medicine. You’ll learn about the latest research about what drives the condition, how to accurately assess for an diagnose it, and how to work through positive changes that can reverse your PCOS, improve your health and boost your fertility.
This is great for any woman who has been diagnosed with PCOS or suspects she might have it.
14. The 4-Week Endometriosis Diet Plan – by Katie Edmonds, NTC
This book teaches how to start making positive changes to your eating habits to support healing with endometriosis. It provides an introductory guide to understanding the different factors that contribute to endo and the typical treatment options available, then dives into a 28-day meal plan that you can customize to meet your individual needs.
This is a great starting point for women who have or suspect they have endometriosis. Dietary changes alone can lead to significant pain relief for many women.