The Fertility Diet: Groundbreaking Research Reveals Natural Ways to Boost Ovulation and Improve Your Chances of Getting Pregnant Paperback – April 27, 2009

This book taught me that, contrary to what many of us have been led to believe, fats are not evil. We women of fertile years NEED fat. Not too much, of course, but having enough is essential to ensure our bodies are working properly. My husband and I had been trying, unsuccessfully, to get pregnant for quite some time. I considered myself a healthy eater who led a healthy lifestyle. I had been a follower of a "clean" diet (See Tosca Reno's Eat-Clean Diet books--great for staying trim, and I still recommend them to people to teach them to avoid processed foods), and I exercised regularly, being a personal trainer as well. Reading this book opened my eyes to the need to incorporate more fats into my diet in order to boost my fertility. I ate ice cream, I drank milk that wasn't skim, and I followed other aspects of this "fertility diet" in the hopes I would prove the doctors (including the fertility specialists) wrong, that we COULD and WOULD get pregnant on our own.I was almost at my wit's end. Since I had begun tweaking my diet as the book suggested, my period had returned so I thought I was having cycles again. However, the "experts" still said pregnancy was nearly impossible since there was such a ridiculously slim chance I could be ovulating. The last statistic I was given was that I had a slim 4-5% chance of getting pregnant without an egg donor only if I was on hormone replacement therapy, but zero chance without. Meanwhile, I skipped yet another cycle. I thought it simply meant they were right, that I was going through menopause at the age of 28. This time, however, I was pregnant! I had been on the fertility diet for about 2 months, and now, almost a year later, I have a very healthy, beautiful, 4-month old baby girl. Not only that, but my cycles have been fairly regular since having her. Before pregnancy, I could expect to get maybe 4 or 5 periods a year. I have high hopes that not only has this book helped us have a child when we thought the only way for us to be parents was through adoption or an egg donor, but that we can get pregnant again when the time is right.Let me add that I had never begun taking fertility drugs of any sort. Each doctor I saw just ran tests and then sent me to yet another specialist. The last doctor who handed me the last statistic was only looking at test results from two and a half months prior to me seeing him and was waiting to run his own tests. He was so sure of his diagnosis of premature ovarian failure that he failed to run a pregnancy test to rule out that possibility! Had he run another test to check my hormone levels, I wonder what he would have found (other than the pregnancy).If you are trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant, you MUST read this book!

This book gives a great overview (and in-depth look using research) over what to eat in order to be as healthy as possible and more likely to conceive. I really enjoyed this book!

This was a very easy read filled with great information. I especially liked how the authors framed their own recommendations within the framework of existing studies on the topic, presenting their particular findings as recommendations based on current knowledge rather than as hard and fast truths (as so many other diet fad books tend to do). They did a great job explaining the science behind their recommendations and then describing how the reader can make easy changes in her life based on that science to increase her fertility. I probably won't follow the recipes provided at the back, but that's okay; the book itself gave me enough comprehensive and useful knowledge to allow me to adjust my own recipes and cooking style to follow the fertility diet guidelines.

the authors have an upbeat style and do a good job explaining the reasons for the recommendations, based on a systemic understanding of the various body functionswhat is most interesting is that lifestyle change can make a huge difference for fertility!

This book is very informative. It goes into great detail about the possible causes of ovulatory infertility and what you can do, naturally, to help get pregnant. I loved that it gives you the basic outline for what to do and then you can make the choices that are necessary to help you have a baby - and that all of it is based on a national study. I also like the fact that it gives you some daily meal plans and some recipes.

This book was interesting but they summarize their ten rules for what you should eat and not eat in the first chapter and never really add anything to that. I could have just read three pages and gotten what I need from this book. Basically eat whole grains (no white flours/potatoes etc) Eat less animal protein and more vegetable protein, as well as fish. Lots of fruits and vegetables. Moderate alcohol and caffeine consumption. Absolutely no trans fats. Eat no low fat dairy products but do eat 1-2 servings of whole fat dairy products a day. Take an excellent multivitamin with allot of folic acid. Also supplement with Iron.

I am really enjoying reading this book. It is shares a lot of great medical facts but it is very easy to read and understand. I am not pregnant yet but I am hoping that by following some of the food and lifestyle changes that this book recommends to be pregnant soon. I like that it has food lists and and tells why that type of food is good for you. Great book.

i wanted to like this book and i guess i had completely different expectations based on the title.. they lost me on a few fronts. first of all, a "fertility" book that endorses canola oil , soybean oil or corn oil without mention of organic or non gmo is beyond my understanding (canola is known to be a terrible oil and soy has estrogens and is usually gmo- bad idea) . no mention of organic in this book and the role of pesticides in effecting your hormones. i was hoping for information regarding how to boost the immune system and egg quality. what you get here is basic information that you can get online and too much time spent on different types of "diets" i.e. mediterranean diet, atkins, etc. (assuming you have weight to lose which seems to be their spin on it) and then recipes( boring) .i give it two stars for including info on good fats,insulin, PCOS info, on the bmi index and how that pertains to fertility, and using the nurses study as a reference. other than that- don't get it unless you are really a newbie and know nothing about the basics of this fertility journey.. if you've already read a few fertility books (as i have) this will seem a bit blah to you. (nothing groundbreaking about it)