Once gain, I’ve come across a book that I think every woman could benefit from reading.
At first glance, for a variety of reasons, you may not think this book is relevant to you. Maybe you’ve never really thought about your fertility. But if you’ve got ovaries and a uterus, fertility is a part of your life in one way or another, and I think it’s incredibly empowering to understand how it all works.
If you’re married, you’re having sex; and if you’re having sex, you’re probably either trying to get pregnant or trying to avoid getting pregnant. In either case, this book is relevant to you. Also, even if you’re single and currently unconcerned about fertility, but if you suffer from any cycle-related problems like menstrual cramps or PMS, you might find some useful information in this book.
Of course, most Western women today use the Pill to prevent pregnancy, and know about about other medications and procedures to help them achieve pregnancy when they’re ready, and consequently feel little concern for their fertility. But recently I’m finding that many women are looking for a different way to manage their fertility. They’re looking for something healthier, greener, and more natural. And that’s why a lot of women (along with their partners) are turning to Fertility Awareness or Natural Family Planning.
The Trouble with Fertility Awareness
As most of you know, I’ve become a huge advocate for Fertility Awareness in recent months, which I first pursued as a way to help achieve pregnancy. When I started to write and talk about it, a few of my friends got into fertility awareness, too. They bought or borrowed Taking Charge of Your Fertility and quit the Pill and started to practice what they had learned.
But, like me, many of my friends experienced frustration with fertility awareness, especially in the first few months.
“My cycles aren’t anything like the book describes,” one friend confided. “I’m charting every day, but I’m still not sure what’s going on in my body. It still doesn’t look like I’ve ovulated this month and I’m already on day 21!”
“My fluid patterns don’t seem to match up with my temperature patterns,” another friend complained. “I’m not sure what’s going on.”
The trouble is, paying attention to your fluids and charting your temperatures are only helpful if you can make sense of what you’re seeing. And I noticed that both my friends and I were often finding our patterns abnormal, unpredictable, and confusing.
How are you supposed to feel confident that FAM will help you achieve or avoid pregnancy when your cycles are so irregular? This didn’t feel nearly as liberating as we thought it should feel.
Some Help
That’s where Fertility, Cycles and Nutrition comes in. This book is all about using nutrition, in the form of food and supplements, to help regulate your cycles so that they are normal and predictable — more like the ones described in the books.
With more regular cycles, you can more confidently use FAM to either avoid or achieve pregnancy. What’s more, a healthy, regular cycle is connected to less painful periods and lessened PMS symptoms. High fives all around! What woman isn’t looking for these things?
What Sold Me
I started to see how this book can be helpful for everyone when Shannon pointed out that if you have, for example, short luteal phases (which I do), it sucks whether you’re trying to have a baby or you’re trying not to have a baby.
See, if you’re trying to get pregnant, a short luteal phase makes it impossible for a fertilized egg to ever implant in your uterine lining, which is necessary for it to develop into any embryo. So that sucks. And if you’re trying to avoid getting pregnant, a short luteal phase sucks because it means fewer nights of worry-free (i.e non-fertile) sex. Booo! Thumbs down! Who wants to abstain more than they have to, right?? So lengthening the luteal phase is desirable for every woman, regardless of what she wants.
So, after explaining how estrogen and progesterone and all that work, Shannon suggests a number of supplements and nutritional choices to help lengthen that phase of the cycle. She backs it all up by citing numerous reliable, scientific studies.
Of course, short luteal phases aren’t the only thing the author offers help with. She offers suggestions for other infertility problems, such as polycystic ovary syndrome, repeat miscarriages, or thyroid malfunctions. She also has chapters on how to have lighter, shorter, pain-free periods, and alleviate PMS symptoms. She has a chapter on nutrition during and after pregnancy, too, and even a section on male infertility. The list goes on.
I just finished this book this week, and haven’t managed to get my hands on the vitamin supplement that she recommends for women like me, so I can’t say yet whether her advice will work for me. But her references to multiple positive studies have given me new hope. The stats for women who achieved pregnancy using these supplements seem comparable to those who went on hormone therapy or underwent medical procedures, so I’m pretty pumped.
The Book in Summary
Fertility, Cycles and Nutrition starts off by giving an overview of what healthy eating looks like, which is great for the beginner interested in health and nutrition. She goes over healthy oils, vitamins and minerals, food substitutions, and how sugar affects hormones and fertility. Then she goes into specific problems and how to deal with them.
I highly recommend this book for all women seeking a healthier approach to fertility, pregnancy, and pregnancy-prevention. It’s easy to read, chock-full of useful information, and incredibly empowering.
And if you buy it through my links, I’ll make about 32 cents. But feel free to borrow it from a friend or the library. I’m all about saving money. (If you’re in Canada, you might prefer this link).
More on Fertility Awareness:
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Natural Family Planning
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Taking Charge of You Fertility was the first fertility awareness book I stumbled upon right before my husband and I got married and it’s a great book! I didn’t want to go on the pill and it helped me learn what I needed to know quickly, so we could put it into practice! I was glad to see this book review and am now certain I should read this book also! Thank you for the recommendation and for this wonderful blog of yours. It’s so nice to hear about other couples out there who laugh, learn and struggle together! Thanks for you writing! I loved your Meet the Husband post!
I’ll have to check this book out. I won’t be attempting any baby making soon (not even married lol), but I have come off the pill after hearing all these Yaz (that’s what I was on) horror stories. I was on it due to irregularity and out of this world cramps that will probably make labor pains feel like nothing. Since being off of it however, all those issues have come back, so I’m really searching out another alternative.
Thanks for all your helpful information! I love your blog!
That’s great info, just what I was looking for for me and my new hubby.
Right up my alley Katherine! I’ve been learning A LOT about body + food connections in a lot of different areas like fertility as well (and depression/fatigue…those sort of stuff) and I’ve been looking for into on this so this is SO timely! I’m reading another similar book, “The Fertility Diet” and I’m not sure how it holds up to this, but I’m going to get a copy of this one. Thanks for the helpful review! Keep up the good work here at Project M.
I wonder about all these books directed at women. Isn’t it time to also consider men’s possible infertility as a cause/issue/problem? Do any of these books speak to the issue of how to increase male fertility, which is not the same as their erection and ejaculation possibilities??!? Why is it we always assume there is an issue with the women’s bodies?
Hi Jenny: Good questions. However, Shannon’s book does, in fact, deal with men’s fertility as well. It has a chapter on it in the new edition of the book (which is the one I’ve linked to). Furthermore, I sense this book is meant mostly for women who are already in tune with their bodies — women who are already practicing NFP/FAM. Women who read this book generally already know they have a problem. I, for one, bought it specifically because I know there’s a problem with my cycles.
I wonder, though, if there are books written specifically for men? I wonder if women tend to seek out self-help books more? I’m not sure. Thanks for bringing up the issue!
The tip about raw carrots increasing the quantity and qualty of cervical fluids? Yeah, totally spot on.
Thanks for the review. It’s been 5+ years since I read this, and think it’s probably worth a second go!