Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Instructive, Educational, Easy to follow Book!
Review: On a frustrated day I started to research in the internet aboutovulation and I came across with this book. The Infertility Diet..OnceI read all the customer "Positive" reviews I decided to buyit, I said to myself what do I have to loose. I've gone todoctors,laparascopies, etc... and they've told me that I havePCO. None of them were able to explain how the polycysts appear in myovaries,& the last doctor that I went told me that my overweighthas something to do with it. However, when I started to read this bookI was AMAZED! I believe in nature and God has created it with apurpose. All the things that Ms. Reiss explains in this book, examplemy case, no doctor "ever" told me the reason of PCO,and howare eating habits contribute to any disorder in our system, and shedid it very well. I just finished the book and I already told a coupleof friends who are trying to get pregnant, to buy it.In my opinion,this book very educational, and it is worth to have it in our own homelibrary. I congratulate those who have been able to conceive byfollowing Ms. Reiss' tips. Even though last December I had an ectopicpregnancy,(my tube got twisted around and the embrio was not going tobe able to travel to my uterus) I trust in God that by following allthese tips that Ms. Reiss has shared, will help us all to get pregnantsoon. Please be patient because it might not be over night, but itwill come. Some of the readers enjoying the results. Even though I'vebeen married for 8 years and a half and a miscarriage, I am not givingup for the next pregnancy to be achieved to term. I highly recommendevery one to purchase this book. Good Luck and God bless you all!
Rating: 
Summary: Mixed feelings
Review: I have mixed feelings with this book. I bought the book and have even tried following some of the recipies which are pretty tasty, however some of the ingredients (especially yams and Kelp) were difficult for me to find. However, after much searching I found them. I found some of the info to be too vague! For instance one minute she tells you the benefits of soy and in the next breath tells you not to consume to much! Well, how much is not too much? She recommends eating yams in the first part of your cycle before ovulation and not in the second half and not to consume dairy (or meat) products while trying to conceive but most of her yam recipies have dairy products in them!! Can you say contradictory? I emailed my question about this through her website but it was not answered at all!
Another thing is her yam recipies call for 4 yams or 6 yams or 1 yam. Well, I'd like to know where she purchased her yams because the true African yams that I found were 12"-15" long and weighed 8lbs-10lbs. Two tubers (yams) cost me $19.00! Not very practical to use 4 -6 per recipie! I wish she would have put some additional information in the back of her book or keep her web site updated but she doesn't do that either. I tried contacting the author (as was suggested in another review) but all of my questions were not answered or I'd get an answer that had nothing to do (I feel) with my question. Finally after my third e-mail I was told that Fern wasn't in the fertility business anymore. And, if you go on her website it hasn't been updated for quite sometime and the Website is really pushing other business ventures she is now in. It's an o.k. book but don't put all of your hopes into it, like I'm afraid I might have.
Rating:
Summary: Now I don't know what to think!
Review: I wish I had read all of these reviews before I purchased the book. I recently bought the book and went on a spree at the health food store! Then I started thinking about some things that don't add up. For instance we need protein, but her suggestions are to eat tuna, sardines, and rice and beans. Some options! I have been pleased with the recipes I've tried so far, and I intend to keep using many of them. However, they weren't written by a chef so they can be a little vague and hard to follow. I've decided to get a couple of other more highly rated books. I'll let you know how it goes!
Rating:
Summary: This book and determination ... and I'm finally pregnant.
Review: We have been trying to get pregnant for over two and a half years. We have been through every fertility treatment available up to and including an unsuccessful IVF in February 2001. I came home defeated and ready to give up. I had ordered this book over a year ago, read it and said "Yeah right!" as others have posted here. How would I ever be able to eat like that?? I guess you just have to be ready to make the change, and I was finally ready. I bought all the ingredients I could get my hands on locally and even ordered some off the internet. It was tough; a whole new way of eating is NOT easy. But in almost exactly 2 months from my starting and sticking closely to the infertility diet, I am pregnant for the first time in my life. I can't even TELL you how worth it this has been to me. An added benefit? I lost over 15 lbs. I highly recommend this book to anyone who feels that they've tried it all. Be determined, be creative with the ingredients, have fun with a new way of eating - It worked for me.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Instructive, Educational, Easy to follow Book!
Review: On a frustrated day I started to research in the internet aboutovulation and I came across with this book. The Infertility Diet..OnceI read all the customer "Positive" reviews I decided to buyit, I said to myself what do I have to loose. I've gone todoctors,laparascopies, etc... and they've told me that I havePCO. None of them were able to explain how the polycysts appear in myovaries,& the last doctor that I went told me that my overweighthas something to do with it. However, when I started to read this bookI was AMAZED! I believe in nature and God has created it with apurpose. All the things that Ms. Reiss explains in this book, examplemy case, no doctor "ever" told me the reason of PCO,and howare eating habits contribute to any disorder in our system, and shedid it very well. I just finished the book and I already told a coupleof friends who are trying to get pregnant, to buy it.In my opinion,this book very educational, and it is worth to have it in our own homelibrary. I congratulate those who have been able to conceive byfollowing Ms. Reiss' tips. Even though last December I had an ectopicpregnancy,(my tube got twisted around and the embrio was not going tobe able to travel to my uterus) I trust in God that by following allthese tips that Ms. Reiss has shared, will help us all to get pregnantsoon. Please be patient because it might not be over night, but itwill come. Some of the readers enjoying the results. Even though I'vebeen married for 8 years and a half and a miscarriage, I am not givingup for the next pregnancy to be achieved to term. I highly recommendevery one to purchase this book. Good Luck and God bless you all!
Rating: 
Summary: Not worth $24.95..
Review: Apart from the Author (Fern Reiss) repeating herself many times throughout the book (I can count the same sentences repeated over and over again in different sections) - I thought it would have more solid advice than what it contained. I am really dissapointed. I was looking forward to reading this book so much! A couple of examples of why I was dissapointed with this particular book: Example 1 - "Yet another good reason to avoid dairy as well as meat is dioxins." Yes true. Meat contains dioxins - depending on where your meat is from. Fern does not give you advice on where to obtain clean meat (free of dioxins) but instead takes the easy way out and says - avoid. One of the deficiencies that can arise through lack of red meat is Zinc. The author fails to inform us that Zinc deficiency is very dangerous to the development of feotus (particularly mental). Her suggustions are - Consume Pumpkin and Sunflower seeds. However unless you consume 300g daily you will not meet your RDI for Zinc. That's quite alot of seeds! Red meat and Eggs contain an easily absorbed form of Zinc. They also contain many other nutrients essential for pre-conception. So the advice - avoid meat and dairy, is not one I would follow. Focus on purchasing clean meat and eggs - I have, and have not looked back since. Example 2 - Her reccomendation to eat orange vegetables (that contain Beta-carotene) for Vitamin A. Quite alot of people with poor thyroid function CANT convert Beta-carotene into Vitamin A. So if you are relying on carrots and pumpkins to give you Vitamin A without knowing your thyroid status - Don't! She failed to mention that essential point. Example 3 - Page 50 - "Although one study indicates that too strict a vegetarian diet can lead to irregular ovulation, we still recommend sticking to a health whole grain vegetarian diet that goes heavy on the fruits and vegetables, and avoids excess protein." Even though this supposed study shows that too strict a vegetarian diet (which is EXACTLY what she recommends throughout her whole book) can impede fertility, she still insists on it, and YET she rejects everything else (no matter how trivial) that can impede fertility. Is she contradicting herself? Absolutely! Example 4 - She reccomends to "Consume Wheatgerm for Vit E". She also fails to mention that this is bad practice. Wheatgerm easily becomes rancid and rancid oils are dangerous and useless to your body. ALSO, A large part of the diet she advocates includes consumption of wild Yams. If you cannot get hold of these - don't bother buying the book! The only thing that I do agree with in her entire 277 page book is that we all should all ditch processed 'empty' foods. But then again, that information is and should be common sense. This book is certainly not worth its cost. Its good reviews are very overrated IMO. I bought this book based on those reviews and am very dissapointed. Fern has gone through some effort to put this book together and thats why I award it one star. I don't believe it's content deserves more than that though.
Rating:
Summary: Good Premise, Poor Data
Review: I found this book to be helpful only in that it recommends focusing on diet and lifestyle when trying to conceive. Other than that it is misguided and not based on true science. One of the author's main suggestions is to eat lots of yams. She reports this can help just about any fertility issue you may suffer. What she fails to acknowledge is that only WILD YAMS have naturally occurring progesterone and the benefits she reports. Domestic yams contain very little, if any, of these compounds. Many of her claims are not backed up with any relevant scientific data. There are no footnotes signaling which study she is using for the basis of her claims. When she does mention a study it was a study done with chickens, fish, rats, cattle or cheetahs. Many of the books and articles she lists in the bibliography are 20-50 years old. Science has come a long way since then and I think the author owes her readers up to date information and support for the basis of her claims. I feel this book is basically hog wash.
Rating: 
Summary: Infertility
Review: I thought the book was not as helpful as I would like it. I have read many infertiity books like What to Expect When You're NOT Expecting by Ty Canady and Empty Arms. I believe diet is important but it does not help the mental aspect of infertility like other books have.
Rating:
Summary: Just so-so
Review: I found this book to be just moderately helpful. A lot of the advice about specific foods to eat and/or avoid I had read before. My biggest concern was the lack of specificity when the author talks about not eating too much of some food - how much (or little) is too much? Also, some claims appeared to be not backed up with anything (not so much as a footnote signaling a study from which the claim came from). Example: rhubarb is known to impede fertility and research suggests peas inhibit fertility as well Says who?! Also, the author really seems to dig phyto-estrogen (soy beans and soy produces, an true yams), bot other research suggests that excess estrogens (environmental and dietary) can lead to excess (unopposed) estrogen in the body, thereby hampering fertility. So, I didn't quite trust everything she wrote. I think the author owes her readers more support for the basis of her claims. One of the nice things, on the other hand, is that the author does provide many recipes for incorporating the foods she claims improve fertility.
Rating:
Summary: It Works!!
Review: My husband and I tried to have children for over three years. I got this book in a desperate attempt to avoid unnatural fertility assistance. I followed the diet and within three months I was pregnant. I recommend this book to anyone dealing with infertility!! I don't require any more citations or back up reasearch to believe it works.I've got a beautiful daughter to back up the five star rating I'm giving it.
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