I am super excited to share a brand-new book about PCOS with our readers and fans, it is hot off the presses, today! The name of the book is The PCOS Diet Plan: A Natural Approach to Health for Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, by Hillary Wright, MEd, RD.
There are two reasons this book is so special:
1. It is written by a dietitian.
2. Hillary Wright, this dietitian, actually works in a fertility practice, Boston IVF. Infertility doctors and dietitians rarely work in the same place, and it is wonderful to see this team working together on behalf of their patients.
Hillary has also experienced infertility herself, so she has some personal experience with the emotional aspect of what many of her readers have gone through.
I told Hillary, as soon as I got the book, I immediately opened to the omega-3 section to see what she had written. And, seeing that it was primarily consistent with what our own network providers teach, I felt encouraged that the rest of the book would be valuable.
And I wasn't disappointed.
Hillary has a very readable style. I could practically envision her in a session, presenting the hard science, then stopping, taking a breath, noticing her client's hesitation, and gently nudging that client into not just knowing the science, but understanding why they needed to act on it. It's not so much that the science she presents is new, but she has a great cadence to her writing style, as if she wants to be absolutely sure this book is not written for women with PCOS, but personally for you. As if she genuinely wants to know you're going to do something with the information she is taking the time to explain to you.
It is not condescending at all, however. It is clearly the voice of someone who has worked with many, many, many women with PCOS, and she knows exactly where in the conversation they are likely to take the breath and start to launch on the reasons why the information is not going to work or why they don't want to try it. And she gently calls each and every one of them on their stuff, encouraging them to be empowered, rather than held captive, by their diagnosis.
Hillary is clearly a professional who understands what you're going through, and who acknowledges the disappointment, fear, skepticism, and trust issues you may have with your body, nutrition, and nutrition professionals. But she'd rather show you the way out of that darkness than encourage you to wallow in it.
For those of you who want meal plans, food options, etc., the examples are plentiful. You really should have no issue with the nuts and bolts of your diet if you read this book with good attentin.
Before you spend money on a PCOS consultation of any kind, invest in this book and take the time to read it cover to cover. It will prepare you well for the next step and give you a more concrete basis on which to structure your conversation with anyone you pay to help you with your diagnosis.
If you're a dietitian and you do not fully specialize in PCOS, this book is a great one to refer your clients to or to keep in your lending library to provide the information you may not have on the tip of your tongue during a counseling conversation.
If this book goes into its second edition, and I really hope it does, I'd love to see a little bit more information on a few topics: (1) eating disorders, (2) what to do if you're lean with PCOS, and (3) supplements. Those are all areas that are hotly discussed on our fan page, are some of the most common searches bringing traffic to our blog, and clearly not well researched or written about. If you're looking for information in these areas, you may not find the book to feel complete…to offer more information in these areas would only add to its value.
This book is available in both a paperback edition and a Kindle edition that I've linked to here for your convenience.
Thank you, Hillary, for taking the time to write this book. You are surely helping many women feel as though PCOS is something they can live with and have a productive, fulfilling, life.