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The Alchemy of Love and Lust by Theresa L. Crenshaw
It's dangerous to blame too many of our behaviors and tendencies on raging hormones. We are, after all, creatures of free will. But after reading Theresa Crenshaw's book, you'll never again see your free will as being all that free. The book functions as both an encyclopedia of our attachment-related hormones, telling us exactly what they are and exactly what modern science thinks they do, and a guide to what we can do to get them to keep functioning the way we want them to.
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First published March 19, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 3, 2020
Interesting and informative. Enjoyed the jazz music and sultry voice.
Author made growing mature sound creepy and depressing.
Give me Sex or give me an early Death ;)
Author made growing mature sound creepy and depressing.
Give me Sex or give me an early Death ;)
April 10, 2012
On testosterone: “Teenage boys become walking grenades, just waiting for someone to pull their pin.”
Okay, so maybe this isn’t news, any more than the tidbit that chocolate has the same pheromones that fill our body when we’re in love. But the author tried to give us more than the obvious. Dr. Crenshaw set to learn exactly what goes on in our bodies when we fall in love or get crazed with lust. The answers are witty, pithy and laid out with detail that explains without getting too clinical or scientific. You can trust her; she’s a doctor.
Okay, so maybe this isn’t news, any more than the tidbit that chocolate has the same pheromones that fill our body when we’re in love. But the author tried to give us more than the obvious. Dr. Crenshaw set to learn exactly what goes on in our bodies when we fall in love or get crazed with lust. The answers are witty, pithy and laid out with detail that explains without getting too clinical or scientific. You can trust her; she’s a doctor.
January 8, 2022
Theresa Crenshae is founder of Crenshaw Clinic, a physician , sex therapist and pioneer in the biochemical process of hormones. If you want to know how the hormones Dhea, estrogen, testoserone, pea, and others affect you during the many stages of life, this is the book. How hormones affect yout love life and who you love. This is an excellent reference for anyone who wants to know how their " chemical soup" affects their body.
September 25, 2019
Stopped reading because it's out of date and/or written with little caution about accuracy.
December 29, 2022
6/10.
This book is a survey of the various hormones in the body and how they affect sex and desire. It is written by a woman and has the typical over-focus on anecdotes and personal experience, but there is a decent amount to learn from here. The biggest conclusion from this book is that hormones have a major effect on our behavior, at every stage of our lives. When our hormonal levels change, our behaviors, actions, emotions, and beliefs change.
For males, the hormone that matters most is testosterone. Without this, we become listless, limp, and weak. Testosterone is a natural anti-depressant, making us lively and ready to "grab life by the balls". It is aggressive, action-driving, and risk-taking. It encourages us to approach women and charge into battle. It rebalances our body, decreasing fat content, narrowing our hips, roughening our skin, broadening our shoulders, and helping us gain muscle. Testosterone lowers our voices and makes us more attractive to women.
Testosterone can be raised by lifting heavy weights, eating meat, and winning (in debate, sports, our careers, with women, etc.). It decreases when we are stressed and losing. Testosterone is most important for males. If you do not want to become a soy-boy, depressed and Cheeto-filled, you must lift and eat meat. Otherwise, you will be weak and shunned by the top males. You will be looked down upon by your masculine peers and ignored by the females you desire. High testosterone is male success personified.
Serotonin is another very interesting hormone. One can think of it as the "bonding" hormone, binding together mother and child, as well as lovers. It can be manually increased by touch. The more one touches another, the more serotonin is released. Interestingly, serotonin impairs the ability to think and reason. So serotonin is basically lovers' poison, creating an impenetrable bubble around the two lovers unable to think or reason logically. The impact of serotonin on the mind also implies that if you want another to like you more, you should touch them more often — on the shoulders, the hands, the wrist, around their shoulder. This fact has been used by many men in the Manosphere.
Dopamine is the hormone of desire. It triggers one to seek pleasure — or even action at all. People without dopamine literally just sit there, having zero motivation to even get up or brush their teeth. Dopamine drives us towards what we crave — generally biologically desirable goods — such as food, drink, comfort, and the opposite sex. The problem with dopamine is that it is never satisfied. Thus it is at the root of every addiction, whether that be to alcohol, drugs, food, or sex.
Estrogen is the "female" hormone. This book confirms that it is indeed increased by eating soy. So, men, do not eat soy or you will turn into a female.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and learned lots about the effects of the various hormones on human behavior. Given that our hormonal systems are currently under assault by plastics and chemicals in the environment (the real environmental problem), knowing how to increase essential hormones such as testosterone is very important. Lest we want to become androgens, we men should attempt to reclaim the masculinity that characterized our forefathers. Strength, courage, duty, decisiveness, and an ability for aggression — these are essential traits. Spartan or soyboy? Make the right choice.
This book is a survey of the various hormones in the body and how they affect sex and desire. It is written by a woman and has the typical over-focus on anecdotes and personal experience, but there is a decent amount to learn from here. The biggest conclusion from this book is that hormones have a major effect on our behavior, at every stage of our lives. When our hormonal levels change, our behaviors, actions, emotions, and beliefs change.
For males, the hormone that matters most is testosterone. Without this, we become listless, limp, and weak. Testosterone is a natural anti-depressant, making us lively and ready to "grab life by the balls". It is aggressive, action-driving, and risk-taking. It encourages us to approach women and charge into battle. It rebalances our body, decreasing fat content, narrowing our hips, roughening our skin, broadening our shoulders, and helping us gain muscle. Testosterone lowers our voices and makes us more attractive to women.
Testosterone can be raised by lifting heavy weights, eating meat, and winning (in debate, sports, our careers, with women, etc.). It decreases when we are stressed and losing. Testosterone is most important for males. If you do not want to become a soy-boy, depressed and Cheeto-filled, you must lift and eat meat. Otherwise, you will be weak and shunned by the top males. You will be looked down upon by your masculine peers and ignored by the females you desire. High testosterone is male success personified.
Serotonin is another very interesting hormone. One can think of it as the "bonding" hormone, binding together mother and child, as well as lovers. It can be manually increased by touch. The more one touches another, the more serotonin is released. Interestingly, serotonin impairs the ability to think and reason. So serotonin is basically lovers' poison, creating an impenetrable bubble around the two lovers unable to think or reason logically. The impact of serotonin on the mind also implies that if you want another to like you more, you should touch them more often — on the shoulders, the hands, the wrist, around their shoulder. This fact has been used by many men in the Manosphere.
Dopamine is the hormone of desire. It triggers one to seek pleasure — or even action at all. People without dopamine literally just sit there, having zero motivation to even get up or brush their teeth. Dopamine drives us towards what we crave — generally biologically desirable goods — such as food, drink, comfort, and the opposite sex. The problem with dopamine is that it is never satisfied. Thus it is at the root of every addiction, whether that be to alcohol, drugs, food, or sex.
Estrogen is the "female" hormone. This book confirms that it is indeed increased by eating soy. So, men, do not eat soy or you will turn into a female.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and learned lots about the effects of the various hormones on human behavior. Given that our hormonal systems are currently under assault by plastics and chemicals in the environment (the real environmental problem), knowing how to increase essential hormones such as testosterone is very important. Lest we want to become androgens, we men should attempt to reclaim the masculinity that characterized our forefathers. Strength, courage, duty, decisiveness, and an ability for aggression — these are essential traits. Spartan or soyboy? Make the right choice.
July 2, 2011
Definitely worth reading. Lots of good info about hormones and how they effect our behavior. I was a little concerned with the line about women's cycles being effected by the moon. Is that widely accepted as scientific fact? 'Cause if it's not you shouldn't include it in a book like this without a caveat. I also wish there had been more information about what happens psychologically if a woman does not choose hormone replacement therapy. The whole last 3rd of the book was a giant manifesto about how you MUST do hormone replacement therapy for health reasons, and that's fine, I just would have like more info on what happens when you don't.
October 16, 2011
While this is, in some ways, about male and female relationships, it's focus is largely on the hormones that cause the different ways we relate to each other. That said, it goes far beyond estrogen and testosterone. It deals with how these hormones change over our life cycles and even how to get the body to release some of these hormones, which is sometimes as simple as hugging someone, and how we respond to these various chemical messages.
September 5, 2007
The subtitle of this book is accurate; this book tells you how hormones influence EVERYTHING relationship related and sex related. Everything from a hormonal play-by-play during a sexual encounter to every lovey dovey feeling we have. Its scary. We are ruled by our hormones. At least by reading this book we can at least understand how.
November 16, 2007
I have made at least 5 people read this fascinating book. It's all about our hormones and how they determine our behavior regardless of one's belief that they control their own behavior. It's also a super fun read b/c the author gives little stories before she gets all scientific.
August 22, 2009
What a great introduction to the science of love! The book offers lots of theoretical information that has been sensationalized in media as it relates to sex. I appreciated the thesis that our love relationships are indeed influenced by lots of stuff, mostly biology! Ouch for the touchy-feelies!!
May 25, 2008
last of my wedding present books. very scientific, but racy.
November 17, 2008
This book was interesting because it interweaves biological chemicals with fictional narative to make factual entertaining read.
March 7, 2016
Great book!
November 9, 2016
i think that everyone should read this book. it holds so much valuable information about hormones and their affects on the human body.
Want to read
November 19, 2008This comes as an audio book though ??? LOL ?
We'll see ...
We'll see ...
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews