cover image Perfect Hormone Balance for Fertility: The Ultimate Guide to Getting Pregnant

Perfect Hormone Balance for Fertility: The Ultimate Guide to Getting Pregnant

Laurie Tarkan, Robert A. Greene, . . Three Rivers, $16.95 (334pp) ISBN 978-0-307-33740-5

Greene is a fertility specialist, reproductive endocrinologist, obstetrician, gynecologist and hormone researcher, so his patients struggling with infertility, he says, are often surprised when, instead of suggesting state-of-the-art, expensive fertility treatments, he advocates changes in diet and lifestyle. Greene offers plenty of case studies to prove that his plan can work where assisted reproductive technologies fail. He believes that, in many cases, unexplained infertility is caused by imbalanced hormones. Improper diet, lack of exercise and stress can cause the body's hormones to go out of whack. With a dietary overhaul (drastically reduce animal products and go organic for starters), prenatal supplements and the addition of yoga or other stress reducers, Greene has been able to make many couples' dreams of having a baby come true. Greene points out that many other factors can affect fertility (exposure to extreme heat, toxic chemicals or bike riding on a hard seat, for example) and offers tips to improve your chances of conceiving. This book is a must-read for couples having difficulty getting pregnant. (Apr.)