Product Description

Hormones. Weight gain. Women's fat-storing bodies vs. men's fat-burning metabolism. What's the difference? Why do women struggle with weight issues so much? This book is a well-researched look at the issues.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #328059 in Books
• Published on: 2001-08-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 265 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Vliet (Screaming to Be Heard: Hormone Connections Women Suspect... and Doctors Still Ignore) is the founder and director of HER Place, which has several medical centers specializing in hormone evaluations for menopausal women. Very detailed and somewhat overwritten for women just interested in losing weight, her second book presents an array of information on hormone found in the body. Vliet explains how estrogen and progesterone levels change and interact at midlife to slow female metabolism, which may lead to weight gain. But, she argues, a combination of hormonal balance, healthy eating, exercise and improved self-esteem can reverse this pattern. Before Vliet gets to the cornerstone of her "meal action plan" (MAP), which will interest many women, the reader must plow through complicated explanations of the biological changes that occur before, during and after menopause. Vliet believes that women should be tested for hormone levels in their 20s and 30s, so that these baseline results can be used to adjust levels at midlife to prevent excessive weight gain. (She advocates hormonal supplements based on individual need.) Based on her daily dietary recommendations of 35% protein, 30% fat and 35% carbohydrates, Vliet provides 14 days of MAP meal plans. Although much of her diet and exercise advice will be helpful to overweight women, her hormonal plan, advocated at HER Place centers, is complex and theoretical.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Why do women seem to have a harder time losing weight than men? Why is it even more difficult as we age? Is losing weight really as simple as eating less and exercising more? Yes and no. Vliet (Screaming To Be Heard), a physician specializing in women's health and preventive and climacteric medicine, here describes the different hormones that affect women before and after menopause. Some estrogens produced before menopause are largely unavailable in hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Too much estrone and not enough estradiol or imbalances in progestone, testosterone, and thyroid can result in weight gain, depression, and other difficulties. Vliet discusses the popular HRT drugs and weight-loss programs that fail to target these imbalances or make them worse. After describing the various hormones in detail with case histories, she recommends a battery of blood tests to pinpoint one's chemical profile, a consultation with a doctor (preferably an endocrinologist) to achieve the right balance, and a diet and exercise plan to take advantage of the better physiological climate thus engendered. Although this book is too technical for most lay readers, Vliet's thesis contains a core of good sense that might well benefit motivated readers. For libraries serving an educated clientele. Susan B. Hagloch, Tuscarawas Cty. P.L., New Philadelphia, OH
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Book Info
(M. Evans and Company) Consumer text answers questions about hormone-related weight gain and how to break out of the hormone pitfalls to successful weight loss.

Customer Reviews

(...)
(...)She talks about how modern medicine doesn't treat women properly, then she dispenses a variety of synthetic hormones instead of using natural preparations that are compounded for the individual. The side affect of those synthetic hormones is...you guessed it... weight gain. I'm actually up 5 pounds thanks to the 5 different birth control pills she placed me on. (...)

I Have to Disagree with New York on this one
I went back & read The Menopause Diet and found nothing at all similar about Dr. Vliet's recommendations in Women, Weight & Hormones. In fact, many of the things the Menopause Diet recommends (Soy, over-the-counter progesterone cremes, etc.) are advised against by Dr. Vliet in Women, Weight & Hormones as many of these over-the-counter fad remedies actually become quite dangerous when combined with a hormonal imbalance. Perhaps one could make a mistake by skimming both books, but if you actually read them both, they are very different concepts in female healthcare.

THIS BOOK IS OUTSTANDING!
I have battled a hormone imbalance for over 20 years. This imbalance does not show up on routine hormone tests - mainly due to the way modern medicine views and tests female hormones. I read this book and was shocked to discover why most of the over-the-counter self remedies (soy, T3, natural progesterone creams, DHEA, etc.) I tried actually made my imbalance WORSE -- some of those treatments could have caused lethal effects when combined with my particular imbalance. This author raises NUMEROUS common sense paradigm shifts in medical thinking regarding diagnosis and treatment options which affect weight and hormones. This one book explained everything I've ever read about hormones and weight in a way that was applicable and useful - not slanted towards the purchase of a product. Basic knowledge vital for female health.