Reclaim Balance, Sleep, Sex Drive and Vitality Naturally with the Gottfried Protocol
By Sara Gottfried
SCRIBNER

For the woman who never experiences fatigue, sugar cravings, or PMS, bless you.

For the woman whose default mode is exhausted, bloated, and in need of chocolate, it doesn’t have to be that way, says a new book by Dr. Sara Gottfried.

In The Hormone Cure, Gottfried takes a comprehensive look at the most common physical and emotional ailments affecting women and explains why a hormone imbalance may be at their root. Her premise is simple: when a woman’s hormones are in sync, she’s a powerhouse, but when they’re out of whack, they wreak havoc on her body and mind.

Using a broad questionnaire to evaluate everything from infertility to anxiety to eczema (and a witty analogy between Charlie’s Angels and three kick-butt hormones: cortisol, thyroid, and estrogen), Gottfried makes it easy for women to self-diagnose an imbalance. For each type of hormone discrepancy, she provides a protocol of herbal supplements, breathing exercises, and realistic stress reducers that give women agency to make change—without medication or hormone therapy. Sprinkled with facts about the interplay between hormones and libido, like how orgasms help lower cortisol and alleviate feelings of anxiety and fear, the book is both a fun and an informative read. 

Gottfried leaves a few crucial questions unanswered, like when symptoms such as fatigue and weight loss should be looked into as indications of a more severe condition. Yet in a medical culture that subtly suggests that the fairer sex needs medication simply to feel centered, Gottfried’s take on the female body is eye-opening and empowering.