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Healthy Hormones: A Practical Guide to Balancing your Hormones
Discover how to feel your best and balance your hormones, naturally. Healthy Hormones is about making small and realistic changes to help your body function at its optimum level. Naturopath Belinda Kirkpatrick helps you understand your hormones and provides easy ways to manage symptoms, hormonal conditions and fertility through diet and lifestyle. Expert nutritional advice and lifestyle tips are combined with answers to the many questions that women have asked Belinda during a decade of clinical practice. Healthy Hormones features 50 deliciously healthy family recipes, specially created, styled and photographed by recipe developer Ainsley Johnstone. The dishes are tailored around hormone-balancing ingredients and nutrient-dense fertility foods.
'As a woman and a medical doctor, I recommend all women read this delicious book to help them make practical and daily choices. It's a book that nicely balances scientific explanations with nourishing food truths.' Dr Natasha Andreadis, Fertility and Hormone Specialist, Gynaecologist, Clinical Lecturer, University of Sydney
'As a woman and a medical doctor, I recommend all women read this delicious book to help them make practical and daily choices. It's a book that nicely balances scientific explanations with nourishing food truths.' Dr Natasha Andreadis, Fertility and Hormone Specialist, Gynaecologist, Clinical Lecturer, University of Sydney
- GenresHealthNonfiction
256 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 21, 2018
18 people are currently reading
144 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 13, 2021
I’m having a hard time rating this. Good thing I wrote notes inside my copy.
Pros:
- simple and easy to read
- pretty pictures and layout - love the summary tables!
- Quite a bit of solid advice and many practical tips I’m looking forward to incorporating
- loved the section on hormones affecting a woman’s cycle and the role of low vs high estrogen and progesterone
- most recipes look really good and simple enough to make... can’t wait to try them!
Cons
- You should avoid grains and pseudo grains in favour of more nutritionally dense foods? Ummm what. Grains aren’t a one size fits all category. Grains exist that are incredibly nutritious, gut healthy, and *gasp* even anti-Inflammatory (see oats, barley, etc)
- On the carb thing, based on the number of my colleagues who specialize in this sort of thing, you don’t necessarily need to avoid carbs if you’re struggling with PCOS, endometriosis, or other conditions.
- Dairy products don’t need to be avoided. Full fat and fermented dairy products definitely have a place in a happy hormone diet, especially for women wanting to conceive or who are pregnant.
- Keep your pelvis tilted up for at least 15 minutes after sex to improve chances of getting that baby? Sorry but that’s been throughly debunked.
- I found her emphasis on filtered water funny... maybe it depends where you live? I have great, clean tap water here!
- I swear at least once per page was a statement along the lines of “talk to your naturopath...” or “ask your naturopath about...”. I get it. You’re a naturopath and want to advocate for your profession. But really, every page? I’ve read tons of books by medical doctors, RDs, PTs, PhDs, and this sort of thing has never been so obvious
- on that note, the author DID recommend speaking to your GP a few times, your physiotherapist once, and a... nutritionist? Are these the same thing as RDs in Australia bc here in Canada there’s a BIG difference
Oh, and one more thing. At one point the author makes a statement that getting your hormones in check can help with a bunch of pregnancy related things, including having a “natural unmedicated birth” but doesn’t go into detail with exactly what this means. Does having your hormones balanced magically make the pain and potential trauma of childbirth disappear? Is having a “natural unmedicated” birth the goal, or should it be? People close to me have been heavily shamed for NOT choosing to have “natural unmedicated” births (even when it wasn’t really a choice) so this statement rubs me the wrong way - especially since it was made without any additional context.
Overall I’ll keep the book, try the recipes, and go back and reference the pages I’ve marked off.
Pros:
- simple and easy to read
- pretty pictures and layout - love the summary tables!
- Quite a bit of solid advice and many practical tips I’m looking forward to incorporating
- loved the section on hormones affecting a woman’s cycle and the role of low vs high estrogen and progesterone
- most recipes look really good and simple enough to make... can’t wait to try them!
Cons
- You should avoid grains and pseudo grains in favour of more nutritionally dense foods? Ummm what. Grains aren’t a one size fits all category. Grains exist that are incredibly nutritious, gut healthy, and *gasp* even anti-Inflammatory (see oats, barley, etc)
- On the carb thing, based on the number of my colleagues who specialize in this sort of thing, you don’t necessarily need to avoid carbs if you’re struggling with PCOS, endometriosis, or other conditions.
- Dairy products don’t need to be avoided. Full fat and fermented dairy products definitely have a place in a happy hormone diet, especially for women wanting to conceive or who are pregnant.
- Keep your pelvis tilted up for at least 15 minutes after sex to improve chances of getting that baby? Sorry but that’s been throughly debunked.
- I found her emphasis on filtered water funny... maybe it depends where you live? I have great, clean tap water here!
- I swear at least once per page was a statement along the lines of “talk to your naturopath...” or “ask your naturopath about...”. I get it. You’re a naturopath and want to advocate for your profession. But really, every page? I’ve read tons of books by medical doctors, RDs, PTs, PhDs, and this sort of thing has never been so obvious
- on that note, the author DID recommend speaking to your GP a few times, your physiotherapist once, and a... nutritionist? Are these the same thing as RDs in Australia bc here in Canada there’s a BIG difference
Oh, and one more thing. At one point the author makes a statement that getting your hormones in check can help with a bunch of pregnancy related things, including having a “natural unmedicated birth” but doesn’t go into detail with exactly what this means. Does having your hormones balanced magically make the pain and potential trauma of childbirth disappear? Is having a “natural unmedicated” birth the goal, or should it be? People close to me have been heavily shamed for NOT choosing to have “natural unmedicated” births (even when it wasn’t really a choice) so this statement rubs me the wrong way - especially since it was made without any additional context.
Overall I’ll keep the book, try the recipes, and go back and reference the pages I’ve marked off.
December 22, 2019
I was recommended this book by a friend after, some challenging news from my GP. It was informative, supportive and just what I needed to read to help me on my journey. I would highly recommend it to women of all ages, no matter where you are on your fertility journey.
June 26, 2025
Great book if you are just starting out on your journey on understanding the female hormone system and its influences on common issues such as endometriosis, ovarian cysts or PCOS (to name a few). It’s easy to read and simple in nature, the general sentiment is that you should incorporate as many vegetables in your daily diet as possible, along with supplementation - though as the author repeatedly suggests throughout the book - consult your GP or naturopath. Having said that there is a brief chapter on supplementation which i found insightful and recommended safe intake of each vitamin for different purposes.
March 10, 2019
This is a textbook style book for beginners exploring the topic. I already knew most of the info but if you’re going into this with limited knowledge, this book is a great introduction into health, diet and supplements. There’s tons of recipes at the end as well which I loved and will definitely try!
September 22, 2020
This book gives a good basis for understanding hormones, conception and basic hormonal imbalance conditions. However, it is just an overview and if you want to understand more on possible root causes, how environment can cause estrogen dominance etc. you'll probably have to look elsewhere. Loved the recipes so I'm giving it 3 stars!
January 26, 2021
Maybe 3.5. A good introduction to balancing hormones with some great recipes and insights. On another note though, the book literally fell apart as I was reading it so...returning it to the library I work at is going to be awkward lol.
June 9, 2018
One of the best books on women’s health I have ever read
March 4, 2019
Informative!
Such an informative book, helps you to understand hormonal balance a lot better and gives you simple tips on how to improve fertility!
Such an informative book, helps you to understand hormonal balance a lot better and gives you simple tips on how to improve fertility!
August 4, 2024
Interesting
April 25, 2021
Gute, allgemeine Einstiegslektüre ins Thema Hormongesundheit und wie sich diese auf den Menstruationszyklus auswirkt. Die ersten 200 Seiten geben einen Überblick zum hormonellen Gleichgewicht, Zyklusverlauf, Periodenschmerzen, Fruchtbarkeit & Empfängnis, Lifestyle, Bewegung und Ernährungsgewohnheiten, gefolgt von 200 Seiten mischköstlichen Rezepten. Mir hat die inhaltliche Vertiefung in die hormonelle Biochemie gefehlt, um besser verstehen zu können, welche Zyklussymptome wie im Detail entstehen.
May 23, 2019
Wow, this book is just wonderful. Simple to read and full of information for maintaining your health and wellbeing, with some very nice recipes and practical advice on lifestyle for longevity
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews