The Upgrade: How the Female Brain Gets Stronger and Better in Midlife and Beyond

by Louann Brizendine MD

Welcome to the better half of your life. The New York Times bestselling author of The Female Brain explains how a woman’s brain gets “upgraded” in midlife, inspiring and guiding women to unlock their full potential.“This is an important book. I want all women to read it. I wish I had read it years ago!”—Jane FondaDr. Louann Brizendine was among the first to explain why women think, communicate, and feel differently than men. Now, inspired by her own experiences and those of the thousands of women at her clinic, she has a message that is nothing short of in the time of life typically known as menopause, women’s brains are reshaped, for the better, in a way that creates new power, a bracing clarity, and a laser-like sense of purpose if you know how to seize it.With guidance for navigating the perimenopausal and menopausal storm while it lasts, and actionable, science-backed steps for preserving brain health for the rest of your life, The Upgrade is a stunning roadmap, told through intimate stories, to a new brain state and its incredible possibilities. Dr. Brizendine explains the best science-backed strategies   • If timed and handled properly, hormone management can save your life. Brizendine cuts through the controversy to give you the latest guidance for HRT. • Leg strength correlates directly with healthy brain function at age 80. Here are the strategies for maintaining your strength. • It’s critical for maximizing the Upgrade, and Brizendine shares how to achieve healthy rest during challenging transitions. • Brizendine shows how to seize the opportunities of your midlife brain changes by shifting your mindset and vision with intention. • Brain The Upgraded brain requires special care when it comes to sugar, alcohol, inflammatory foods, and the microbiome. Here’s advice for fueling and maintaining cognitive function for decades.   The Upgrade amounts to a celebration of how women step into their power and an entirely new—and radically positive—understanding of aging.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Self Help, Psychology, Science, Feminism, Womens

327 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2022

Reviews

[Trishwah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked that this book addressed symptoms beyond hot flashes (sleep disturbances, trouble concentrating, etc). It’s given me a lot to think about, especially given a family history of dementia. I agree with her that longevity isn’t necessarily the goal. I, too, want to optimize the last half of my life for good cognition. So many of the menopause books I’ve read seem to focus obsessively on hot flashes.

Like many other books about menopause, it comes heavy laden with a lot of bias. To read these pages, you would think that all women in menopause are over 50, professional, upper middle income, CIS/Het, with an empty nest and great health insurance. Probably having a marriage and/or professional crisis. Do lesbians not get menopause? Is early menopause not a thing? The author confidently tells us, “It’s OK that I’m going to prescribe you a butt load of self-care, because you are free from child rearing. Just set some good boundaries with your GROWN children.” “Just keep looking for yet another doctor, until you find someone willing to work with you on hormone therapy.” As a woman in menopause still in the midst of raising children, I feel really unseen. This author joins the chorus of telling working mothers (those in menopause) that if we just strategized and prioritized better, so could do better, without a notion about how to actually accomplish that short of referring us to those mythical "villages" moms are supposed to be so good at creating. (News Flash - post pandemic working moms are too exhausted to organize a village). I can’t image how much worse it would seem for women who are low income, uninsured, in a rural area without a lot of doctors or juggling a couple jobs.

Here's the prescription
_____
Diet
_____
No more than 1 c coffee and only in the AM
Delay breakfast until after 10 AM (intermittent fasting)
No artificial sweeteners, as they affect the gut biome
Eat the Mediterranean diet
Supplement with D3, magnesium, CoQ10, Vitamin k and fiber
Limit carb, grains and fruit.
Stay under 100g of carbs a day
Limit animal fat
Eat Omega 3 foods, e.g., Salmon and chia seeds
L tryptophan in the PM. Dairy poultry eggs fish, tofu, pumpkin and seasame seeds
No stimulants in pm
No alcohol. If you do drink, drink early
Only eat protein and non starchy vegetables for dinner
Lots of protein 60-90 g per day
No eating after 6 pm
_____
Sleep Cycle
_____
Get direct sunlight first thing
30 minutes of exercise before 3 pm, something that makes you a little tired, preferably before breakfast (fasted)
Consistent bedtime
Go to bed and get up 1 hour earlier if you are depressed.
No screens 30 min before bed
No naps longer than and 20 minutes
Sleep cold dark and quiet with eyemask and ear plugs
Get 9 hours of sleep
Get checked for Apnea
_____
Exercise
_____
Do strength training and cardio
Do Balance exercises and prayer walk
Do Pelvic floor PT or Barre classes
Squeeze your glutes 200x a day
Interval: 2 m walk. 4 - 1 minute intervals. Fast walk. Slow jog. Slow run. Run at a pace I can handle. Repeat 4 times. 2 min walking cool down. May give a brain high of running without spiking cortisol.
_____
Medical Tests and Medications
_____
Ask for these tests:
Thyroid, TSH, Free t3 to t4 conversion, B12, D, Free estrogen, Free testosterone, DHEA, Apoe for brain health
SSRIs can help with hot flashes and depression and helps with sleep: Paxil, Lexapro, celexa. Effexor, Prozac and Zoloft. Prozac has the least odds of weight gain.
Wellbutrin for depression
NSAIDs block SSRIs and are Anti-cholinergic
Buy supplement that are independently tested.
Calcium supplements may increase dementia
Be careful about supplements and too many pills.
Check these things about any prescription or OTC med:Anti cholinergic Cognitive burden, Drug burden sedative component
Started between 45-55, HT reduces the odds of dementia
For vaginal dryness and pain, estrogen cream or suppository
Estrogen and DHEA in the am
Progresterone in the PM
Keep a mood and side effect log for meds and start with low dose.(Ask doctor for forms to track these things)
Make a few Columns for time of day
Mood 1-10 sad to optimistic
Note energy/zest for life
Note Mental clarity one hour before and two hours after taking med
Track Libido daily
Note feeling hot/sweaty
Note sleep in the morning, upon waking
_____
Mental Habits
_____
Stress and cortisol rumination are the enemy of the older female brain.
Accept less ability to multitask. Do important tasks when your are most alert. Write things down.
Alternate nostril breathing, slow and quiet
1. In thru left, out thru right, 3 times
2. In thru right, out thru left, 3 times
3. In at out thru both
Check out the Compassion shift at Emory
Upon Waking:
Wake up, wiggle your toes, and make yourself smile. Pray
Pray to be useful to others by being kind, easy going, and calm. Pray to have the courage to be direct, honest, patient, and keep my mouth shut.
Meditate on past moments of caring
Survival through collaboration is stronger in women. Loneliness makes us anxious.

[Vicki Bejma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where do childless women fit in? Or where does most of the population fit in?

Great insights, but it ignores the fact that many women had no children. What does the Upgrade mean for them?

And, more to the point, this book has me shaking my head. Upper-middle class women can go and have their HRT tweaked and replaced until they have the perfect balance, as the good doctor recommends. But that kind of care is often unavailable even to those with good insurance.

Meanwhile, how many middle-aged women can't get access to the basics, like blood pressure medication or insulin? And if you offered to change the system so that they could have those things, Fox has conditioned them to scream about socialism. What a country we've put together.

And, then there's the obvious: if menopause is such a wonderful, natural upgrade, why the need for all the tweaking around with HRT?

[Sandy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I really wanted to like this book. Since I am well into the second half of life, fully "upgraded" in the author's terminology, I had hoped for interesting information, tips, etc. Instead, I plowed my way through the author's theories and found myself, for the most part, unable to relate to most of her stories about her patients and herself.

I tried to figure out, while I was reading, why this all seemed so remote from my own experiences, and those of my friends. Perhaps it was because the author is a psychiatrist, and the book appears to be primarily based on the experiences of her patients - so, if the reader doesn't have these issues, it all seems pretty remote. From reading the book, you'd think that all women have the problems she describes - losing their jobs when they hit 50 or so, being unable to emotionally detach from their grown (and well functioning) children, and so on. Not to mention her own story of having a glass of red wine and a second piece of cake, and then being up and sick all night and the next day. She has my sympathy - but that doesn't convince me of her theory that any alcohol or dessert is essentially poison!

She also is massively pushing hormone therapy, and when I was at the appropriate stage to consider it, I read a lot and discussed it with my doctors, and decided against it. Again, she may be conflating her personal experience, and that of women who came to her for psychiatric treatment, with "all women."

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for Some Women, Not So Much for Others

Menopause is a point in life that encourages women to take stock of where they are and where they are going. If you take advantage of the transition, as the author suggests, it can be liberating. She presents several important strategies to navigate menopause and enrich your life. Many of them are useful no matter where you are in the life cycle.

Hormones and whether to consider hormone replacement therapy is a decision everyone needs to make. No matter what your preference, it’s good to be informed. The author presents the latest guidance to give you a basis for making your decision.

Health problems can surface at this age, and it’s also a good time to kick bad habits and become healthier in the next phase. Exercise and getting enough sleep are important for making the upgrade a premium experience. The author also points out that it’s a good time to evaluate how you respond to various situations. Do you have trouble saying ‘no’? Are you afraid to let go of your adult children? These are questions that will affect the rest of your life.

I thought the book was well written. It gives good advice, but it’s probably not for everyone. If you don’t experience the problems she’s discussing, it may not resonate with you. Many of her examples are from her own life or her patients. This is fine, but if you don’t experience the same problems, they may seem interesting, but not related to where you are.

I received this book from Penguin Random House for this review.

[Kristen]

I’ve been so excited for this book. And I just couldn’t get into it. I even had to take it back to the library a couple of times and re-check it out. I finally gave up on it around page 200. It was super steeped in diet culture (lots of talk about “if you cheat, you can burn off extra calories” and narrowly defining “healthy” in a way that is linked to body size). I’m done with “medical” books that prop up diet culture.

It was also fairly easy for me to give up on it as I don’t think she was actually proving her premise- that the female brain gets stronger and better in midlife. She makes a convincing argument that once you go through menopause, your priorities change, which means you center yourself and you lead a happier and more fulfilled life. But she did very little to prove the effect, (or not) of changing estrogen levels on your brain.

[Katie Bruell · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's possible there was some useful information in here, but it was buried in florid language, pointless, drawn-out metaphors, and endless anecdotes about women the author made feel SO MUCH BETTER. Could not bring myself to finish. Maybe I'm just not suffering enough (yet).

[Literary Redhead · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Upgrade
by Louann Brizendine, MD
Rodale Inc., Harmony
Pub Date: 19 Apr 2022

A unique look at women's lives post-menopause, suggesting that physical changes -- i.e. less estrogen -- free a woman from seeking caregiving roles and instead, allow her to come into her own, say "no" more, and focus on what SHE considers most important in her life. Emotional health improves, and women are more able to leave behind past traumas and negative self-image. Instead of a time of multiple losses, post-menopause can bring great joy as women finally reach a stage of genuine authenticity. A fascinating read!

Thanks to the author, Rodale Inc., Harmony, and NetGalley for the ARC. Opinions are mine.

#TheUpgrade #LouannBrizendine #NetGalley
#RodaleHarmony

[Danna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stats: 38 years old. Frequent night sweats. Hormonally-induced amenorrhea. Amount of time spent on menopause research or knowledge prior to reading the Upgrade? Nearly zero.

I was invited to review this book by the publisher based on reading history. I’m glad because I would never have picked it myself and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

This is an easy to read science for laypeople book. I appreciate Dr. Brizendine’s approach to sharing science with personal and shared anecdotes about the hormonal changes that happen to women in mid-life. She refers to menopause as the Upgrade, and the hormonal changes that happen leading up to it as the Transition. For me, it was motivating to hear about the positive changes alongside the challenges. Hearing about the broad range of experiences helps normalize them. Some of the research quoted is mind-boggling (I.e. fecal transplants minimizing anxiety in lab mice?!).

While I do think Dr. Brizendine’s bias shows up, overall, I heard her message that this is an individual journey—listen to your body, find healthcare providers who you can trust and that validate your experience, take care of yourself and socialize. I’m surprised that these conversations haven’t become more present in my world… maybe in another 5 years?

Given this is my first book on the Upgrade, I don’t have a good reference for comparison. However, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this to friends or family amidst these hormonal changes. Well done.

As this is an ARC, it’s possible some of my concerns about informational redundancy will be resolved by final publication.

[wellreadtraveler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I for one hate the word Menopause and loath when men think it’s funny to say to a middle aged woman. “Your hot, must be going through menopause” I loved that the author took a negative life event and turned it into a positive…a different way to view something that happens to women’s bodies wether we like it or not. Consider yourself on an “Upgrade”. Freedom from your monthly cycle, your more mature and have a better understanding of who you are and what you want in life. Usually you have more freedom from child rearing and financial commitments.
“ A glorious time of freedom and discovery”
I love that line! Although I’m not at this point yet I found the book to have a lot of helpful information on how to transition both emotionally, physically, and mentally. What actually happens in our brains and bodies to cause us to go into menopause and how we can embrace these changes.
I’m definitely not looking forward to the hot flashes I’ve heard friends complain about, but I can always appreciate the upfront honestly so I can prepare myself for what’s ahead.
I thought the author did a very good job i’m describing medical facts mixed in with amazing descriptions everyone could understand. This is a journey In our lives and it’s nice to know we’re not alone. Women’s bodies are truly amazing I mean we can create life! I appreciate being able to work at menopause as a completion of a time. No different than going out of childhood and into adolescence, and adolescents into adulthood. Such a well written book!

[Harcoline · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book didn't convince me that there is an upgrade in second half of life. It begins promising, and her writing is good, but in the end it seems that there is nothing new: her message is like all others, to get through the second life fase one should work harder on physical and mental health (and take medicine).

I also found a contradiction in the fact that she mentioned that women become more wise and less stressed, more in sinc with themselves while at the same time she says "at last we can strive for the career we always wanted, not caring so much what other people think and start a new education..." it seems like letting go and holding on at the same time.

So first i thought yes, let's read about this wonderful second half of life, then disappointed. You can become a better you, IF you this and that, take pills, mindset. If NOT, you will end up in downgrade afterall. I don't want to work that hard and be so self aware all the time, i just want to relax and be ok with whatever my body and mind is. Louann obviously is writing this book to calm herself down about her own insecurity, in a frantic state clinging on to research, facts and figures.

[Anne Janzer · Rating 5 out of 5]

How incredibly refreshing to read a book about women’s later years that honors and validates our experiences, without making us out to be victims.

In this science-based book, Dr.Brizendine suggests that understanding the impact of hormones on the female brain can help us navigate the transition and even walk away from stressful mental patterns engrained on us through the years. We can choose what we bring with us into the next phase.

With its foundation in science and strong focus on cognitive health, this book is a gift for any woman seeking a better understanding of a much-maligned stage of life.

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an ARC of The Upgrade, by Louann Brizendine, MD. This book really did not interest me that much, it was well written, but pretty dry.

[Nicole K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for women 40+.

[Helen - Great Reads & Tea Leaves · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5*

‘By the time you reach your late forties or fifties, you’ve been through a mountain of experience. You’ve traversed the turbulent teens, when you were trying to figure out who you were; the unpredictable twenties, as you struggled to find your way in the world; the buckle-down thirties, when you were trying to implement your life plan; and the juggling forties, when you were living the life you’d made for yourself - for better or worse. What’s next? This is the big unanswered question.’

This was the book I needed to read. Dr. Brizendine shares much here to reassure and educate women, assisting them as they enter the second half of their life. There is science, recommendations, personal and professional stories about menopause/transition, or as called herein, The Upgrade. I found this book to be beneficial on so many levels and reassuring as women face circumstances that are definitely challenging.

‘The Upgrade is about the path to becoming your best deep self - okay, maybe it’s a bit grandiose, but if not now, when? In the second half of my life, I want to upgrade my skills and improve my willingness to take responsibility for doing so. I want to develop my enthusiasm, patience, humility, commitment, and determination to make the most of this life transition’

Dr. Brizendine thoroughly investigates how this transition impacts women’s lives and paints a positive and rather liberating view on how this change can work for you. It ranges not only from hormonal facts but, what I found enlightening, is the social and personal aspects that not only validate your feelings but encourage and empower you to set your own boundaries to achieve a truer sense of self.

‘… as I entered the second half of life myself and started to feel the invisibility reserved uniquely for women of a certain age, something inside me rebelled. I could feel a new power, a new clarity, a laser-like sense of purpose emerging in this phase.’

This book was inspiring with the guidance offered and personally, knocked down some figurative boundaries that I had unknowingly erected. Yes, there is plenty of science but this is accompanied with steps to help reset your life after the upgrade.

‘In the Upgrade, that game is over. And with it comes a new beginning, with new rules and a survival imperative that drives a new sense of purpose … I am here to signal to your brain that you are just getting started in becoming who you’re meant to be.’

This is such an important book for all women to read. Dr. Brizendine explains how a woman’s brain is essentially rewired during this period and when we can get in tune with that, it opens proverbial doors on clarity and purpose to living a fulfilled second half of your life. You can pick and choose sections that are most relevant or pertinent to you - HRT, exercise, sleep, ageing, mindset etc - and I found it to be rather liberating, powerful and celebratory of how women can truly embrace their best self to successfully make the most of the latter half of their life.

‘… the liberation is amazing. Just think back over all the times you wished you’d said no, the times of feeling buried under the mountain of “yeses,” the mountain of regrets over not saying no. It’s time to push back on demands. It can change the way we live the second half of our lives.’

One of my main takeaways from this read is that each person's journey is unique and to trust your intuition, listening to your body. This book validated how I am feeling, the journey I am on and it made me feel complete. I highly recommend this read to all women, not only those in transition to the ‘upgrade’ but seeing as conversations still seem to be few and far between, this book contains the words you may need to hear.

‘I want time for walks, for thinking, for rest, for reevaluating life, priorities, choices. If I am growing consciously into a better person, I can be better for everyone. If I can find peace and happiness, that will make a difference to others around me. It took a long time to understand, to really deeply get that my happiness is not selfish - it’s a contribution to the happiness of others. I don’t mean that small thing of being satisfied. I mean the big happiness that comes when you drop your worries about looks, clothes, money, possessions. When you can embrace life’s joys and its scary uncertainties.’









This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

[Laura Walin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tämä kirja on suomennettu alkuvuodesta 2024 nimellä Vaihdevuosien vallankumous - aivojen hyvinvointi keski-iässä. Luin tämän suomennetun painoksen tavoitteenani kartutta tietoa vaihdevuosista ja siitä, missä määrin niiden vaikutuksiin voi itse vaikuttaa ja missä määrin täytyy vain surffailla elämän aalloilla.

Kirja oli kaikessa amerikkalaisuudessaan tavattoman ärsyttävästi kirjoitettu. Brizendine käyttää tavattoman paljon aikaa sen selittämiseen, miksi hän ei halua puhua menopaussista, minkä sinänsä ymmärrän, koska suomalainen termi vaihdevuodet kuvaa paremmin tuota jopa kymmenenkin vuoden mittaista prosessia kuin yksittäiseen tapahtumaan viittaava menopaussi. Kirjailijan valitsemat termit siirtymä ja päivitys sen sijaan kuulostavat omaan korvaani puhtaalta eufemismihötöltä.

Sisällöllisesti kirja on myös sekava, kun se poukkoilee vertaistarinoiden, monimutkaisten hormonaalisten vaikutusmekanismien selostusten (olen opiskellut verrattain paljon biokemiaa ja koin nämä jaksot erittäin raskaina lukea), voimalauseiden ja tsemppipuheiden välillä. Ihmettelen myös sitä, miten huolettomasti kirjailija tarjoaa hormonikorvaushoitoa ratkaisuksi kaikkiin ongelmiin jopa yksityiskohtaisia annostuksia kirjaten.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm very grateful I was given this book.
It was a bit of a slow read for me at times. I waded through the hormone therapy parts, medications and the scientific pages which were a bit cumbersome to me. It took 3 separate reads to finish.
The highlights far outweighed the 'down time' sections. By highlights, I mean the 'lightbulb' moments when a passage would just make things fall into place in my mind. The practical ways I can better prepare for productive days, how to roll with the punches when I'm not 100%, the helpful explanations of what is going on in my body & mind at this stage of life..... I discovered quite a few nuggets of knowledge which have helped me adjust, eliminate and add routines/practices to my day.
I have a clearer sense of where to place my energy and a better understanding of how to embrace this stage of my life.
Reading this book has given me permission of sorts to just be me & welcome the coming years I have to live & be in this world.
I'm looking forward to where I can go from here.
It may not be the right book for everyone but it hit me at the right time.

[Alesha Erbter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for a yoga training and it warmed up to me as it went along. I found the last 2/3 of the book better as she dig into stories and science. Her first 1/3 was hard to wade through what probably seems like clever cliches if they weren’t piled up one after another.

I am 54 and late Transition. It was nice to hear about other women going through what I am/have. I enjoyed the metaphor of “the tent of ME.”

It leaned heavy on stories of women leaving men and HT usage. It was a little bleary about being as unbiased as she presents to be at times. I would’ve loved to see the Appendix info include other wellness modalities like yoga, reiki/lightwork, acupuncture/pressure and other things besides CBT—known to help with our body and mind being hijacked. Publication in 2022 surprises me no talk about trauma.

If you are female, 40+ years, it is worth a read.

[Rebecca Lynn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Honestly really disappointed. As someone who is 39, had breast cancer, and will be entering “The Upgrade” early, I thought this book would help me understand what happens with transitioning to pos-menopause. Instead it just seemed like a drawn out series of stories about women who are in their 60s and dealing with life after menopause. Maybe if I was in my 60s I’d like it more. It didn’t offer what I was seeking out.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was not the target audience, geared more towards women entering menopause (I'm way past that!), and also women with different lifestyle than mine. A few bits here and there I found interesting but overall just wasn't for me.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tons of great info with scientific backup. Add this to your library if you’re a woman.

[Marisa Costa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Louann Brizendine, científica, médica, neuropsiquiatra, neurobióloga, conferencista, escritora, consultora y profesora estadounidense, ha estudiado durante años el funcionamiento del cerebro, especialmente el femenino, ya que durante sus inicios en el estudio observó que era un área poco estudiada debido a sus múltiples cambios y dificultades ofrecidas. Es autora de varios libros científicos de gran éxito como "El cerebro femenino", publicado originalmente en 2006 y editado en castellano en el presente año, y "El cerebro masculino" (2010).

Su última publicación, "La mujer renovada" (2023), retoma la línea de "El cerebro femenino", centrándose en ofrecer una visión diferente y más positiva de uno de los aspectos que ya trató con menor profundidad en su primer libro; la menopausia y los cambios ocasionados en el cerebro a partir de ella.

Impulsada por su propia experiencia y una imperiosa necesidad de renovación tras adentrarse en la madurez absoluta, Louann, determinó que debía compartir todas sus experiencias y conocimientos con otras mujeres que se encontraran en el mismo punto que ella. La autora aborda, a lo largo del libro, dicho con sus propias palabras "el camino que hay que recorrer para sacar a la luz lo mejor de nuestro interior".

Con un lenguaje científico, pero bastante accesible, Louann abarca en dieciséis capítulos, diferentes aspectos relacionados con las modificaciones cerebrales y hormonales. Dentro de los mismos trata sobre el cambio de etapa, la esencia de ser mujer, la transición, viajar a lo inexplorado, la renovación cerebral, la neurociencia, las nuevas conexiones, las relaciones, nuevos objetivos, trucos o enfermedades y cambios ligados a la etapa, entre otros temas de interés. Así mismo, se incorporan, un apéndice en donde ofrece una guía para enfrentar el día a través de ejercicios, meditaciones, suplementación, etc., y una extensa bibliografía para ampliar conocimientos.

A pesar de tratar un tema complejo y muy científico, la autora simplifica el contenido a través de relatos que narran su propia experiencia, tanto personal como profesional, del mismo modo que incluye ejemplos y, en ocasiones, hasta gráficos o dibujos que ilustran su explicación. Todo ello con un lenguaje muy sencillo y unos conceptos que se van aclarando a lo largo de la edición. También, responde a preguntas comunes y ofrece información especializada que permite a las lectoras resolver sus dudas.

Los diferentes apartados que conforman cada capítulo están basados en biología, psicología, neurobiología, psiquiatría y neurociencia. Tener un mismo foco desde diferentes temáticas permite obtener un mejor conocimiento global de la idea presentada y esclarecer la información logrando un mejor acceso a la misma. Del mismo modo, la autora aporta su esencia al poner de manifiesto la información desde un punto de vista sensible y muy accesible.

Si bien es cierto que el libro trata de dar respuesta a las necesidades femeninas en general, la información basada en los estudios y experiencias de Louann queda limitada por el tipo de pacientes y estudios en los que fundamenta su realidad, dado que la gran mayoría de mujeres se sienten identificadas con la descripción de cisgénero, indígenas, negras y de países desarrollados, quedando fuera hombres y mujeres transgénero y otros colectivos o etnias debido a la falta de investigación existente en ellos.

Personalmente, soy consciente de que, debido a su profundidad y el carácter científico del libro, no es una lectura que se deba tomar a la ligera, es más, invito a todo aquel lector/a que desee darle una oportunidad a tomarlo con calma, leer los capítulos que más les interese para ir descubriendo el estilo y el enfoque de la narración y el contenido y, a partir de ahí, ampliar el horizonte.

Aun con todo, lo he disfrutado enormemente, eso sí, tomándolo a pequeñas dosis. He conseguido conocer más en profundidad el cerebro de la mujer y los cambios que ocasiona su paso de etapa. Me ha permitido descubrir, entender y empatizar con las mujeres de mi entorno que se encuentran en ella y orientarlas.

La combinación de ciencia con crecimiento personal hace que "La mujer renovada" se convierta en un libro imprescindible para toda mujer, con el único fin de conocerse y embarcarse en un rumbo con el apoyo y las pautas más fidedignas, comprendiendo los procesos femeninos y los cambios que a veces no sabemos reconocer, adquiriendo así ciertas habilidades para tratarnos con mayor aceptación y respeto en los momentos más necesarios.

[Megan Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw the reviews of this book before I picked it up. I get the reviewers’ frustrations that there aren’t recommendations made for women without insurance or women who can’t afford to pay out of pocket for HRT. However, after the botched WHI study results in the early 2000s, women’s HRT support was widely taken away and drs have been achingly slow at returning to supporting the need for HRT for cognitive, bone, and cardiovascular health in peri-menopausal and menopausal women. Getting a doctor, even if it’s a neuroscientist, to bring medical attention to this issue could bring more widespread medical community support for HRT, and menopausal support for women in general. IMO, that would lead to more readily available support for all women in future years, including possibly having Medicaid-funded support even if it’s just deemed as preventative. So while she doesn’t address how all women can access these interventions, bringing attention to it in general, and even to things like the connection between gut health and mental health, brings these topics more to the forefront for all women. Half the population has to deal with these issues, and our quality of life doesn’t have to suffer so greatly because of it. I liked this book enough to buy four copies as Christmas gifts this year.

[Amy Gingrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a must read for any woman in her 40's and beyond. Most doctors and medical providers have very little education about tools available for women as they approach their transitions and upgrade, the author's names for post-reproductive years, rather than the label 'menopause.' In this book she explains what's happening in women's bodies, and the science currently available to ease the transitions and make the change an upgrade rather than a downgrade. There are suggestions for how to find and talk to medical providers about what's currently available for optimizing one's health; what tests to ask for and how to determine if you need to keep searching for other choices.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

1/Changing the conversation: Changes in circuits (now nonhormonal) can build a stronger and more confident sense of self, making the wisdom gained from a lifetime of experience a neurological reality. No longer driven by fertility hormones to seek external approval, we behave differently and others respond to us differently. Many find that men will listen to us not because of how we look but because of our wisdom and experience. The female brain is no longer stressed by its wiring being hormonally altered by 25% every month. By the time we’ve reached this age, we’ve been through fire. We have survived tragedy and begun to thrive again.
2/The Crux of Being Female: Biological systems fight for equilibrium. The pendulum swings perpetually, never finding the perfect middle. The female brain is pushed by strong hormonal waves to mate, flirt, rage, hug, speak unvarnished truth. Waves are one of the most powerful and efficient physical forces in existence. Waves change everything they touch (Florida Keys – compare east wave side to no wave on west side). Waves of hormones: high cortisol in the morning to low in the afternoon. If anything interrupts this wave – staying up too late, crossing time zones, having a big fight with a loved one, or a deeply traumatic experience – the brain’s neurocircuitry is rewired. Steep drop off of progesterone – around 8-fold decrease – every month, the female brain circuits can get dragged out to a depressive sea (500 times over the course of her life). Though the basic brain material of female and male is monthly the same, waves create measurable structural differences. Circuits that were engaged nearly full time in managing the waves are now free to be deployed as we see fit, creating a new reality for what could be the best time of our lives.
3/Transitioning into the Upgrade: You may feel less like yourself than ever, when your old tricks for calming down, sleeping it off, or losing weight stop working, it’s not just stress, and it’s not made up. It’s real, it’s physical, and it’s in your brain. After decades of predictable cycles, suddenly everything just feels off. It wasn’t that I became my old self. It’s that it helped me emerge into who I was becoming. There are estrogen and progesterone receptors on every single organ. First sign is a shortened cycle time. Estrogen stimulates growth of brain synapses, intensifies their connections, and reorganizes brain networks. Growth is great as long as there is a careful gardener, stimulated by progesterone, eventually coming along to cut the weeds, clip the hedges, trim the trees, and clean up the trash. Temperature change and biological stress: the range of ambient temperature variation the hypothalamus can tolerate shrinks dramatically. Sleep is the body’s chance to reset and recover. If you are waking up twice or more during the night, you won’t enter REM, and you won’t get the rest that you need (lasts 4-7 years). Alarm Bells: Insula asks body if it is okay. When answer comes back ‘I’m not sure’ then biological stress system kicks in (cortisol released and can turn into unconscious anxiety). If you have any worries in your life at this time, it’s like pouring a geyser of gasoline on an already-burning fire. If you are having cortisol and adrenaline surges because of stress on top of estrogen and progesterone glitches, this can be experienced as a powerful emotional meltdown and/or an intensification of hot flashes.
4/Navigating the Wilderness: Estrogen lowers a woman’s risk of dementia, heart disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis. A flawed WHI study said the opposite, so hormone therapy was halted for 20 years. Actually, risk of increase in breast cancer is quite low. What is troubling is that the quality of life for women was taken off the table. Most doctors are not well versed in HT and menopausal treatments. If you wait too long to start HT then you will not get all the benefits. Estrogen is an essential joy vitamin for many women. SSRI’s are an option for those who can’t take HT. The evidence is clear that estrogen protects brain, cognition, and mood. As hormones shift in the transition, as they pull other neurochemicals with them that regulate sleeping, waking, biological stress, temperature variation tolerance, you get pulled off homeostasis.
5/Renewal: Your brain in Search of a New Reality: For a long time, I was tortured over losing my looks. I remember the torture of trying to hide my age. Once I allowed myself to grieve my old life and my old self, things got much simpler. Now I am proud of every wrinkle on my face and every year I have lived. Now that I am not cycling up and down (weight) every month, things are so much more peaceful. I feel comfortable in my own skin in a way I never did in my life. The more you resist (a negative state) the more it persists. When I had the chance to rest and heal, my mind came roaring back. Once I got away from a threatening environment, my brain got creative again. Centering, feeling at home and at ease in a new reality, is a gift of the Upgrade. It took a long time for me to realize that I have something to offer younger women. By the time you reach your late forties or fifties, you’ve been through a mountain of experience. I am here to signal to your brain that you are just getting started in becoming who you’re meant to be. Running away before you know what you’re running toward can be a big mistake at any age but especially now. Make sure you know what you want. And consider that you might need some downtime to reflect. Passively riding out our later years in a fog of denial about old age and death is not optimized. It’s giving in to the cloak of invisibility, of uselessness, a downgrade. Pauline’s granddaughter asked for style advice and had other answers for her too! The culture does not hand out belief in self to women as a birthright the way it does to men. When we actively engage in tasks and accomplish them, the reward system of the brain kicks in and releases dopamine. What you spend time pondering, that’s what we become. The thought or emotion takes over your mind, and soon it impacts your behavior. Even if you are done working, you are not done growing.
6/Neuroscience of Self-Care: think about what it was like to be a newborn. Cycles of eating, sleeping, and getting rid of waste controlled your day. Every thought, plan, or movement was governed by the very strict schedule your tiny body needed because neurohormones are stimulated by a regular light/dark cycle and a reliable routine lays the best foundation for brain development and overall health. When does the body stop needing a schedule? The body we inhabit and the brain we count on never stopped being the baby that needs a schedule. More than half of the brain is made of cells that clean up synaptic trash and bring nutrition to neurons. Getting to sleep and staying asleep requires the balancing of a complex system of neurochemical waves rising and falling, hormones released and withdrawn that drive behavior. The brain’s glymphatic system flush all the wasted proteins out. With at least 6 uninterrupted hours of healthy, natural sleep, the brains’ immune cells, microglia have the chance to emerge like careful nighttime gardeners to trim away the overgrowth and carry out trash. Chronic stress means chronic elevation of cortisol, making it nearly impossible to form new accurate memories during periods of extended grief and trauma. Albert Einstein passed away, his brain was studied and his astrocyte (cleaning cell) count was off the charts. He was famous for sleeping 10 hours a night and taking a nap almost everyday. In our 60’s we need 7-9 hours of sleep. 6 hours is associated with sterile (not caused by an infection) inflammation. Reducing stress: alternate nostril breathing which tricks the vagus nerve into activating the body’s calming circuits. Meditative engagement of nurturing moment (time you felt loved). The Gut Brain: entire GI tract (esophagus to anus) is wrapped in a web of interconnected neurons burrowed with the bowel wall the regulates motility and secretions. ENS (enteric nervous system) and called second brain. Vagus Nerve: Long, wandering nerve in charge of breathing, heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, wake and sleep cycles, emotional well-being. The usually healthy bacteria that take up residence in our intestines help us grow, develop, and live a healthy life. This microbiome is essential to helping our immune system do its job of maintaining balance between inflammation and anti-inflammation. Vagus nerve ranges between everything is okay and poison=vomit now. Progesterone helps bolster the microbiome’s population of lactobacillus (L reuteri), which is protective against depression and anxiety. Other ways to help your gut: 12-16 hours between dinner and breakfast, aerobic exercise, Mediterranean diet. When we ingest a consistent flow of sugary food and drink, cytokines (proinflammatory immunity protein) overstay their welcome and inflammation becomes chronic; the result is progressive tissue damage rather than repair. Food, sleep, and exercise can be medicine. Eat (less), pray (it doesn’t make me fat), love (my body).
7/Your Brain in Search of Connection: The part of the brain that registers social pain from isolation, the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), is also part of our basic primate empathy circuit. The ACC is part of what enables us to feel and react to another’s emotions and pain. High levels of cortisol from feeling isolated can make that wiring go askew over time. Connecting with others – the need to belong – is as deep a survival instinct as eating, drinking, and sleeping. Social connection activates the brain’s physical reward circuitry far more than researchers imagined. Recognizing the symptoms of lacking connection is much harder than recognizing the symptoms of hunger, thirst or sleepiness. The tent of me: The more frequently our nervous system comes into contact with another’s nervous system, the more influenced our own becomes by theirs, the more we incorporate the feeling of being around them into the feeling of ‘me.’ Sitting or walking or talking together, our heartbeats attune our blood pressure syncs, and we begin to breathe in unison. If there is a dramatic or abrupt change in a relationship with someone to whom we are close, to whom we are used to being around, the brain and nervous system crave their proximity intensely. Tricks and Traps of Refilling the Tent: These chronic feelings of not belonging can drive a cascade of biological events that accelerate the aging process, even increasing the risk of dementia. Toxic familiarity: we are drawn to the same kind of problems we are used to. The social stress circuits become more sensitive as women get older because the HPA (hypothalamic, pituitary, adrenal) axis responds more quickly to social stress but takes more time and attention to calm and reset. Resetting the Nervous system: Through nervous system harmonization, we physically incorporate the people we are close to. You don’t realize it’s like singing in harmony until your choirmate is gone. The experience of reciprocity that happens when we are a part of a circle of others feels good to the brain and nervous system.
8/Upgrading the Mommy Brain: When the mommy -brain circuits turn on, it changes who you are. No matter how quickly they’ve grown up, no matter how old we are, the mommy-brain circuits are very hard to turn off. Our frontal lobes are always on for problem solving. Though everything may be okay, our overthinking and over concern will create problems where they don’t exist, pushing us to interfere and rescue when there is no crisis to be rescued from. Her son: yes, I am lonely, but seeing you isn’t going to do anything about it. My anxious presence was keeping him from exploring how to address his own loneliness. Showing me that let me off the hook. Man helps struggling butterfly but then it cannot fly because hatching is what is supposed to make it strong. How you deal with the incorporation of your child into your tent of ‘me’ can have a dramatic impact on your own life. The upgrade is our chance to radiate strength and goodness powered by wisdom and courage to hold the space for whatever is emerging for the adult child. It takes patience. It’s exhausting taking care of active grandchildren. I want time for walks, for thinking, for rest, for reevaluating life, priorities, choices. If I am growing consciously into a better person, I can be better for everyone. If I can find peace and happiness, that will make a difference to others around me. My happiness is not selfish – it is a contribution to the happiness of others. Making sure that we are meeting our best interests in a way that actually makes us better to and for everyone around us. Mom to son: You’re an adult. I’m sure you can find people at the airport to help you figure it out (lost passport). Woman about her husband: I ignore questions about where things are and he manages to find whatever he’s looking for all by himself. We recognize that our tentpole doesn’t belong to anyone else, and we can see there is little we can do to fix the minds of others. After trying to control others, acceptance of the truth of powerlessness over most everything frees us to finally know ourselves.
9/The Relationship Brain: Women spend a lifetime perfecting ability to anticipate the needs and moods of others (anyone in subordinate position develops this skill). For the most part I kept feeling like I’d lost my center, that I couldn’t feel my own emotion, my own discomfort. It felt like I didn’t have a self that wasn’t absorbed in his reality. Many times I’ve found myself holding attitudes or behaving in ways that don’t feel native to me, attitudes and behaviors I might not be proud of. Neuroscience shows how many of our attitudes and habits and how much of our physiology come from what we absorb from those closest to us. Someone else’s suffering lights up the pain circuits in our own brains. Sylvia managed to separate, to remain connected to Robert but not be overwhelmed by his moods by maintaining her tent of ‘me.’ At first her practice to disconnect from Robert’s mood felt wrong to her. We become hypervigilant to the needs of the boss. Mice living as a couple had poorer memory and cognition (more inflammation) than those who were involved in small group (6 mice) living. Connection and belonging trigger a soothing cocktail of neurotransmitters that regulate mood and provide a buffer in times of stress and anxiety.
10/Centering: Waves leave imprints. Wading through calm waters, we feel their ridges in the sand beneath our feet, evidence of their passage. Though our hormonal waves may have calmed in the Upgrade, their echoes are still imprinted in the tent of ‘me.’ To emerge into an optimized Upgrade means using our attention and our intelligence to take full control of our own tent pole, learning how to keep it from being yanked out of the ground or snapped in half by echoes of waves that no longer pound the shores. Do something to get us back to our cushion of familiarity at the center of the tent of ‘me.’ You see women in their 80’s not eating, wobbling around in high heels, wigs, and heavy makeup. What we are up against: divorced, kids grow up, higher suicide rate of women over 60, women biased against other women. By recognizing the biological and neurochemical principles in the female brain, we can see which circuits we are reinforcing through our physical, mental, and emotional habits. The tent pole becomes unshakable.
11/Body Hacks for the Mind: The biggest biological impact on emotion is hormones. Ghrelin=eat, testosterone=sex, oxytocin=repair relationship, progesterone=curl up under blanket, cortisol & adrenaline=fear, frustration, anger. After burst of cortisol, it can take up to 5 days for the brain to reset to the new normal. Chronic rumination can raise cortisol levels. When we make choices that hinder the brain’s capacity to remain strong, vibrant, and sharp, we can all too easily slip into smaller and sadder worlds that can spiral into isolation and melancholy. Movement is cognition and cognition is movement: When people get profound melancholic depression, it affects their movement. The motor system also goes into clinical depression along with motivation and mood. If we are nervous or very upset, the cerebellum is inhibited by the body’s threat response. 80% of the cerebellum’s functioning was related to areas that deal with judgment. Because it is connected to the emotion, reward, and judgment centers of the brain, physical and emotional balance can be understood as part of the same process. Author prescribes 20-30 min walk for sadness instead of medications. Cultivating Joy: The longer we are subject to excess chronic cortisol and adrenaline, the more they alter our perception of the motives of others. Movement is connected to our first success at survival as babies (breastfeeding). Play is co-mingled with joy in the nervous system. Drink a shot of joy every day by moving to music, walking in nature, jumping into a pool. When the joy circuit needs a jump start (HT and SSRI): by the time a woman would come to see doctor, she would be at the end of her rope emotionally. Deliberate breathing also helps. Tiny Muscles and first thoughts: upon wake up, wiggle toes (activates longest nerve - sciatic) and smile. Essential first thoughts (EFTs) from God: I love you and I will be working for you today. 20-minute interval program: 2 min warm up walk, 1 min fast walk, 1 min slow jog, 1 min faster jog, 1 min run at good pace (repeat 4 times = 16 min), finish with 2 min walking cool down. Study people (aged 60-80) the more fit they were, the more words they were able to mentally access. Butt squeezes and squats aid balance.
12/The Return of Purpose: Each woman would tell you she had been torn down to the bone, pride stripped, life shattered. Everything each once held dear had been released, including old strategies – drinking, travel, shopping, excessive exercise, and obsessive self-improvement – to acquire peace. They allowed tough times to bring out their best, relishing their ability to meet a struggle, even when it was hard. They found purpose again, and not a bit of it was driven by anyone or anything outside their own internal engine. Life Extension: Jane became an infant mental health specialist (since she only had one grandchild and wanted more). Doctor takes up photography. Sherry became a consultant to café and restaurant owners. Clearing the Obstacle of Worry: estrogen keeps the female brain hypervigilant to danger in its drive to protect the vulnerable ones. Keeping purpose on track: women turn do

[Jane Greer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book, because I believe so strongly in the need for female doctors to challenge preconceived and patriarchal assumptions about menopause and female aging. I am very glad this book exists, because it is badly needed.


However I can't rate it more highly, because it is deeply flawed. Tonally, it moves between self-help style "RAR RAR you're not menopausal, you're UPGRADING! You can do anything!!" cheerleading (lovely but meaningless) and dense paragraphs of neuroscience jargon. The self-help cheerleading parts and the jargon parts aren't well-integrated and the book is not as accessible as it could have been as a result.


My number one issue with the book is the assumptions made about women and gender politics. The book promotes a lot of reductive and old fashioned gender stereotypes. For example, there's a bit that says "female fertility is the core of our social fabric. As children we played house." Uh plenty of AFAB people never 'played house' as children? Plenty of women knew from childhood that they never wanted to have kids? There's a bit that says women lose their identity as they age because women are so empathetic and caring, they naturally take on their husband's identities and thus lose their own. I'm sure that's true for some women, but there are tons of women who aren't empathetic or caring at all.

The more I read, the more I was disturbed by how subconsciously sexist this book is. The author seems fixated on the idea that it's a woman's job to look sexy for men and that ALL women prioritise male attention. This is somewhat understandable because she was raised in Kentucky in the 1950s, but she seems to have zero self-awareness that her belief system is cultural, not biological. I lost count of how often the author comments on the link between aging and no longer being noticed sexually by men, implying that looking sexy and chasing male attention is a universal female experience.

In three separate chapters, she claims there's a universal female obsession with weight/makeup/trying to look sexy and get lots of male attention, and claims that this is due to evolutionary biology (sample quote: "as the natural preoccupation of our reproductive years, thinking about hair, makeup, clothes, body and weight takes up a lot of our bandwidth"), which is complete bullcrap. First, wanting to look hot for boys isn't universal, at all. Most of my peers hate the idea of being sexualised by men, or of strange men looking at them. I know lots of older women who find the lack of male attention that comes with ageing deeply refreshing and a relief. Second, society tries to brainwash women into thinking it's their job to look hot for the boys because of patriarchy. It has nothing to do with evolutionary biology. If it was biology, men would be just as preoccupied with looking physically appealing to women (which is the case in many animal species) but clearly they don't.

More disturbingly, there are two separate stories told in different parts of the book where she recounts the experience of female friends who were taught AS TEENAGERS how to be sexually alluring to adult men, how to walk into a room in such a way that every grown man stopped to stare, and how hard ageing was for these two women because for the first time they experienced walking into a room and not making every man stop and stare. Most women I know would find that gross, creepy, and borderline abusive. But the book just acts like it's the most normal thing in the world for underage girls to be groomed into thinking their main purpose in life is to make strange adult men's dicks hard.


There's a disturbing bit where she admits that she's convinced if she stops getting cosmetic surgery and dying her hair, she'll be completely ostracised and abandoned by everyone, then goes "but that's normal." NO LOUANN THAT IS NOT NORMAL SEE A DAMN THERAPIST. There's another bit where she says she's booked plastic surgery then cancelled it "a dozen times." GIRL SERIOUSLY SEE A THERAPIST. No judgement from me if someone wants some tweaking, but all this angst can't be healthy. Have cosmetic surgery or don't, who cares, but don't let it occupy so much brainspace.


The book also has some weird problematic stuff about weight and diet in it, and is quite fat shamey. The author seems obsessed with being thin and with extremely restrictive dieting, which is alarming in the context of her belief that women have a universal biological imperative to want to look sexy for men. I so desperately wish I could meet this poor women and introduce her to the HAES/FA movement. I'm aware that diet has a major impact on menopause, but the diet chapter felt more like the result of an author battling disordered eating based on being raised to believe girls have to look a certain way, than a scientific assessment of the link between diet and menopause. For example there's a bit where she says she went to a dinner party and had one glass of wine and one slice of chocolate cake then had a panic attack and became convinced she was dying. She makes having one slice of chocolate cake sound like a heroin binge, which is just a really unhealthy attitude towards food. I would strongly discourage anyone in recovery from an ED from reading this book.

The most telling part is at the end when the author says, "I realised I had forgotten to put anything about sex in the book." (Sex meaning sexual intercourse.) It's true, the book barely mentions sex, or acknowledges that women enjoy sex, or anything about sexual empowerment. The same section goes on to promote a lot of tired sexist myths about men always wanting sex, that male and female sex drives are always unequal, that men won't believe you if you claim to just not want sex, that women are turned on by emotional connection (true a lot of the time but not exclusively) and a really weird bit where out of the blue the author suddenly states that if a man stops wanting to have sex with you it means that he's probably cheating on you. WTF? 50s Kentucky really did a number on you, huh? There's also an alarming bit where the author quotes one of her patients as saying if she doesn't give her husband sex every single day "our relationship becomes a living hell". The author doesn't say what her response was, but presumably it wasn't a lecture about enthusiastic consent and advice on how to leave an abusive marriage?



The whole thesis of the book is that menopause turns you into this amazing empowered superwoman, but the author comes across as insecure, and believing that her entire self-worth is based on whether men find her sexy but without being sexually empowered. It's quite a depressing book to read, that a woman can be so incredibly accomplished as a scientist and author, yet still repeat all this sexist nonsense.

[Alicia Bayer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This will probably be a good book for wealthy middle aged white women who like to take a lot of prescription meds. That seems to be the author's clientele and target audience. I am only a couple of those things and while I had high hopes for this book it kept falling flat for me. I did find her basic health advice helpful but I already knew it (i.e. the importance of sleep, exercise, protein, healthy fats, etc.).

She recommends hormone replacement therapy and lots of meds like antidepressants, but warns against taking too many supplements. Her regimen is pretty intense and involves a busload of tests your doctor is supposed to regularly perform on various things like thyroid, estrogen, etc. She is a psychiatrist and this background is apparent throughout.

While she attempts to put a positive spin on "the upgrade" and how great our minds and spirits work after menopause, she fills the books with horror stories of experiences that didn't match mine. As other reviewers have mentioned, she also makes a lot of assumptions about her readers and their lives like that we all have grown children and are cisgender, have health insurance for all these tests and meds, want hormone replacement therapy, etc.

Also, I got ridiculously annoyed at how often she said the word "upgrade." She refuses to use the word menopause and after a while it felt like an infomercial for her brand.

All in all, this was a miss for me.

I read a digital ARC of this book via Net Galley.

[Dena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Game changer. I’ve been bemoaning hormones for years even decades and now with this time of life well started I have had a hard time seeing the upside. Enter this book. This helped me see this shift in my hormones as a positive (thus the title) and even as part of the reason my life has taken some radical upturns in the last few years. It has also helped me understand some of the challenges my body has presented me with over the last few years and helped me connect the dots back to hormones in ways I would not have even guessed. Lastly, it has given me some arrows to follow for some adjustments that I would like to make. That may sound more rosy than it feels in practice - changes I NEED to make with the knowledge I’ve gained from this book. I’m not there yet but i’m doing the work to get there.

I highly recommend book and have purchased one gift copy and recommended it to several others.

Two things that I wish were different - first, I wish this book had been around when my transition started ten years ago in perimenopause. Drat. Second, some of the author’s politics bleed through a little more than I would have preferred but the information was too good not to set that less appealing part aside. If you are a woman of a certain age, this should be required reading.

[Mgc · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the book, The Female Brain, which is a must-read for all women, and most men would benefit from reading it also. This book, The Upgrade, did not feel as essential, nor did I feel that it offered as much relevant information for me. I understand that it was designed for common post menopause experiences, but it would have been nice if the author had touched on other groups, i.e., women who did not have or raise children. Is that mommy brain relevant to them? In the appendix, the author does specify women who are dealing with breast cancer and hormones. I would have benefited from that POV, and it would have been nice if she addressed women that entered menopause due to early hysterectomy....No gallons of blood and anemia experienced. How would this group know when they're in transition? It was great to have it acknowledged that FEMALE is the default gender; men are the secondary gender i.e. they are the female rib, not vice versa. I do not regret reading the book because it does offer insight into this inherently female life phase. If I was part of the common TRANSITION or menopause experience, it would have had more of an n impact on me personally. I do recommend it to women to learn what to expect and how to plan.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I started reading The Upgrade I wasn't sure if this book was the right fit for me. Well, it is! It is an easy to read book and a very informative guide to dealing with menopause. I have found that this book has explained many things about menopause that others (like my doctors) have not. Every woman should read this book well before the transitioning phase of menopause. If not, it's still a must read book for any woman who wants to learn more about the many changes to their own body!


*Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for an e-copy in exchange for my honest opinion/review.

[Stacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s some good info here, but it’s definitely not for everyone. I liked the idea of emphasizing the positive aspects of the Upgrade, particularly how it can be a time of creativity and a cultivation of who we want to be and what we want to focus on in this next chapter, having shed other obligations. I think many of her stories are extreme, but she is a psychiatrist, so it makes sense that her patients would be experiencing more challenges than the average woman. One thing that did really frustrate me is that she spent maybe two pages talking about sex. I found that quite surprising, as it seems like many women experience changes here and she essentially said to just let that go now, don’t worry about it, or be glad that’s done. It almost seemed like she was glad to be done with sex. But many of us are not and would like more info. But you won’t get it here. Some value in this book, but don’t let it be your only source of consideration on the topic.