Hormonal Balance: Understanding Hormones, Weight, and Your Metabolism

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book, very easy-to-read, and EVERY woman should!
Review: Dr. Isaacs' book will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about hormones, possible symptoms of imbalances (including overweight), and how to balance your hormones and maximize your metabolism using simple dietary suggestions - all in a very easy-to-read style.

For example, if you are experiencing hyperandrogenism (a symptom of polycystic ovarian syndrome), this book will explain it to you in simple terms. Or, if you have diabetes or insulin resistance, Dr. Isaacs will clearly explain what is happening inside your body, in a way that is easy to understand. If you have hypothyroid or hyperthyroid, Dr. Isaacs tells you what's going on and what to do about it.

It includes information on hormones, metabolism, insulin, the "glycemic index", androgen disorders, the thyroid hormone, cortisol, stress, the adrenal gland, the growth hormone, hunger hormones, and more. Many of the issues he discusses seem to go together, like pieces of a giant puzzle, but he makes it very easy to follow along. And ... this is the best part ... Dr. Isaacs suggests simple ways to help balance your hormones once and for all!

The letters after Scott Isaacs' name are: M.D., F.A.C.P., and F.A.C.E. Those letters represent: M.D. - Doctor of Medicine, F.A.C.P. - Fellow of the American College of Physicians, and F.A.C.E. - Fellow, American College of Endocrinology. Endocrinology is the study of the endocrine gland, hormones, and metabolism. The criteria for obtaining the F.A.C.E. designation can be found at: http://www.aace.com/college/criteria.php

The criteria require that the doctor be actively practicing and be a member in good standing for at least one year ... in addition to other requirements. In other words, Dr. Isaacs is a licensed medical doctor, who is actively practicing in the specialty area of endocrinology, which is the study of hormones and metabolism. These credentials make him a fine expert to learn from.

This book is so easy-to-read, and contains such important information to our overall health, that EVERY woman should read it! If you are considering this book, buy it!

Rating:
Summary: Far better than most "diet" books.
Review: Scott Isaacs with Todd Leopold, Hormonal Balance (Bull, 2002)

Scott Isaacs' diet book is not the kind of thing people pick up, flick through, and try. Which is a shame, really. Hormonal Balance doesn't just hand you promises of "lose this much weight in this much time" and cover it with a thin scree of what looks like science. In fact, the science behind the diet covers the first three hundred pages of the book. Thick reading for the diet book crowd indeed.

Another difference between Isaacs' book and most of the others is that Isaacs, when talking about the various hormones, what they do, and what problems deficiencies or excesses may cause, is not afraid to let the reader know when he's heading out into uncharted or controversial waters. For example, many diet books tell you to get away from aspartame, but don't bother to tell you why. They don't tell you this because much of the research on which they're basing that advice has been debunked, or was never scientific in the first place. Isaacs, on the other hand, is more than willing to say when something he's talking about hasn't been tested on humans, or is still in the hypothetical stages. This leads to more of a sense of the ability to trust the man; always good when looking to someone for health advice.

The book's difficult going, but not too much of a bear. Hormonal Balance is written not to be read by other endocrinologists, but by John Q. Public, and Isaacs never forgets that the average joe knows nothing, or less, about what he's on about. The end result is a readable book about a subject many doctors are still in the dark about.

As for the diet itself, it's far more of a common-sense thing than most of the popular diets of the past thirty years; balanced food, lots of fruit and vegetables, egg whites or egg substitute, as much diet soda as you want (finally, someone willing to concede that not all soda is packed with sugar and calories!), etc. The kind of thing you'd probably be doing, if you didn't have that all-consuming obsession with chocolate, ice cream, that sort of thing. You know.

Solid stuff. If you're sick of diet books, pick this up. You probably won't need another one. *** ½

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book
Review: This book is amazing. It explains all the hormonal systems, gives the origin of hormonal problems and tells you what you can do to help yourself. It explain in depth about insulin , insulin resistance, female & male hormones...and a whole host of other issues. This book is excellent, I cannot say enough good things about it. The doctor writing it is very aware that the medical community does not have a lot of knowledge about how to treat hormonal disorders...this is itself is a breath of fresh air. This book has great diet recommendations, and gives you a lot of information on how to finally start taking control of your health.

Rating:
Summary: A must-read !
Review: This book is GREAT in the fact that it is very conversational. Dr. Scott Isaacs is a very intelligent and informative doctor with the special gift of explaining complicated diseases (or syndromes) in a very easy-to-read fashion. It is a must-read for everyone, even if you are not sick! He explains the medical aspects of the disease as well as gives suggestions as to foods you can eat (or stay away from) that specifically help (or aggrevate) the condition. He explains how your hormones have control of your entire body and with small changes in these levels, comes BIG problems. I was amazed to learn the connections between your everyday health, metabolism, and hormones. It was wonderfully enlightening!