Some of my favorite reads 📚
On the topic of women's health
As you can imagine, I love reading about all things related to women’s health. I often get asked for recommendations so below are a handful of my favorites. I have so many but these are the first that pop into mind. You can expect a Part II, III, etc. in the future! 🤓
Alisa Vitti is the OG when it comes to women’s hormonal health. She’s been involved in the field for over 20 years (which is a long time in such a category)! As far as I’m aware, she invented “cycle syncing” which so many others have since adapted and built upon. If there’s one book on the subject of women’s hormonal health you read, I suggest this one.
🧠 The Menopause Brain by Lisa Mosconi, PhD
Dr. Mosconi and her research is at the forefront of uncovering how the female brain changes based on hormonal patterns and stages. The idea that hormones even affected a woman’s brain chemistry was unknown until relatively recently! There is still so much to uncover but Dr. Mosconi is doing the work and shares everything she’s learned until now. Although this book touches on puberty and women in their reproductive years it is focused on helping women navigate peri and post-menopause.
Muscle mass is the golden ticket when it comes overall health and longevity. I can’t think of any pill or food that has the power to regulate our metabolic, cardiovascular, and hormonal health (among many other things) to the extent that muscle mass does. Unfortunately, most of the information we hear about exercise and diet is based on male physiology. Stacy Sims has devoted her career to researching women and this book can be your go-to guide for how to exercise, eat and recover. I think it’s fair to say you’ll be quite surprised by what you learn!
📊 Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez
This book isn’t about women’s health in a straightforward sense. There are a couple of passages explaining how women are affected by gender bias in healthcare but more importantly, in my opinion, this book proves in a multitude of ways that we live in a world that was built for men. I nor the book declare this in an accusitory way. Rather, what it points to is something I often reference in my practice, which is that so many of our daily rhythms are actually not in line with our female physiology. This can lead to strong dissociation (that we don’t even recognize) and compromised health.
This one is a bit similar to WomanCode but they’re both full of so much wisdom that I’d encourage anyone to read both. Period Power is full of lots of practical information as well as strategies and alternative therapies we can adopt and practice to improve our health and overall quality of life.
Have you read any of the above? If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Warm regards,
Donelle