The PCOS Plan: Prevent and Reverse Polycystic Ovary Syndrome through Diet and Fasting Paperback – April 14, 2020

I've read most of the other books from reputable sources that are published on PCOS. The content of this book didn't add to my knowledge base in any way, but that's only because I already read Fung's other books as well as his posts on PCOS. If I had to pick one book to give to someone with PCOS in 2020, this would be it, because it covers the most recent and up-to-date content available (for the most part) in an easy to understand format.I had a few gripes with it: for example, in one portion she implies that obesity causes PCOS, or at least that it is more likely than PCOS causing obesity. This is not accurate, many women become obese and do not acquire the symptoms of PCOS. Nor is it genetic; no genes have been identified for PCOS that unilaterally lead to the condition despite much effort to find them. There is good evidence that the predilection for hyperandrogenism and polycystic ovaries stemming from hyperinsulinemia is caused by exposure in utero to high levels of amh. So: the symptoms of PCOS are the result of being a second generation hyperinsulinemic. Of course, she goes on to later discuss that insulin is the root of evil here, which is of course true, but the implication that each woman with PCOS caused her own symptoms is not. Nonetheless it is of course each woman's responsibility to reduce her levels of insulin if she wishes to improve her condition long-term. This point is relevant because I feel the author is pushing a personal bias on the reader that fat PCOS women are somehow less worthy than thin PCOS women because they utilized their excess insulin to store fat. Many thin women with excess insulin have different, and sometimes worse problems such as epilepsy. Whichever pathway the excess insulin takes, it's the excess insulin that's the problem and needs to be removed. The fat is simply a side-effect of that insulin that some women experience.Second gripe: a passing mention about a woman with PCOS concerned because she is higher risk for cancer with PCOS, and then mentioning that women in her family were at risk of breast cancer. PCOS women are at increased risk of endometrial cancer due to lack of regular menstruation. The increased risk of breast cancer is minimal, especially as with many PCOS women, they are unable to have children, which consequently _reduces_ the risk of breast cancer. This should have been left out or corrected as it is misleading.Third gripe: the section on letrozole mentions that it has higher risks of birth defects. This is pretty unilaterally disproved. Although one very small study showed a slight bump, much larger studies have shown this is not the case. In fact, letrozole clears from your system well before it would be a problem for developing fetuses, which is one of the many reasons it is more effective for PCOS women, because it reduces the problem with thinned endometrial lining that clomid causes, because clomid is around longer. Letrozole also tends to cause significantly less side-effects for most women over clomid and can be used many more times than clomid, which is useful if male factor is at all a concern, which it frequently is these days. While low carb diets are clearly a better long-term solution than letrozole (or clomid), depending on the age of the woman and the amount of time she has already spent trying to improve her health, letrozole may be a good option to induce ovulation.A final point: the diet. Yes, it's straight strict keto. This diet is known to crush hyperinsulinemia in both thin and obese PCOS women and has an excellent track record of encouraging health for pregnancy. I've been on it for a year without success in pregnancy, but I did lose a significant amount of weight and I do ovulate on schedule with the addition of letrozole. (I'm old and have no time to wait.) Something to keep in mind is that infertility is not always just the woman's problem. Men also need to be regularly evaluated to ensure their sperm is healthy and populous. This is obvious, but...after a year of doing keto and finding out that our sperm analysis a year ago was not that great *now*, to be honest I am sick of the diet. Eggs, chicken, beef, and non-starchy veggies are good and healthy but despite what some would have you believe, it *is* restrictive and it does in fact get old. A year later and I've decided that none of the pasta subs on the market are worth ingesting. You can use one kind of bread, but even that is questionable due to modified wheat starch. Mostly these days I try to make regular meals and consume a minimal amount of the carbohydrate where it is a critical part of the dish. I do not eat rice or other "filler" carbs that aren't required for dishes, but sub those items out with roasted veggies or salads.Yes, this is the book I would give to another PCOS woman who wanted to get pregnant. No, there was nothing new in it for me, which was a bummer. To be honest I would love to see some really well-executed studies on Keto and PCOS that cover exactly what happens to our dysregulated hormone levels as insulin levels reduce. While SHBG is a huge part of the process in removing excess testosterone from the blood stream, due to the efficacy of aromatase inhibitors in inducing ovulation, at least in some women, it's clear that the primary problem is the excess estrogen that is being converted to testosterone, and not as much the lack of SHBG from liver damage due to hyperinsulinemia. This may be two sides of the same coin as we know that estrone from excess body fat has the potential to also cause hormonal dysregulation, but I haven't seen any work that covers both SHBG on one hand and estrone from body fat together. Scientists tend to pretend that only one or the other is happening, depending on whether they believe the carbohydrate-insulin hypothesis. Well, anyway, it's a good book. I'm still waiting on a great book.

Highly recommend the book. PCOS is SO misunderstood especially by the medical profession. Not nearly enough information is available. It's not exhaustive but it's very informative. You'll learn a lot about your body and how things in our environment affects you. You'll learn a lot regarding diet, lifestyle, foods to avoid, etc. Education is key!!

This book completely opens up your eyes when it comes to understanding p c o s. It proves irrevocably and undisputably that p c o s is a metabolic symptom. It is one hundred percent reversible. Just like all the other supposed , chronic diseases that are actually just metabolic symptoms from our trashy western diet. The Doctor does a great job at breaking down all the scientific data. The correlation and causation.And how to stop it in its tracks and reverse it.

Historical and recent history about the PCOS. Very good read.

The book has good information.This was in my book. Does anyone know what this is?

This book is the best resource I have found to help explain the causes and effects of PCOS. The book was heavy with medical terms and explanations, which I liked because knowing medical details gave me a more in-depth understanding of what is going on in the bodies of women with PCOS and helped me put together pieces of the PCOS puzzle that I previously did not understand. The book sites many articles and lists the articles at the end of the book so you can find and read them yourself. Very glad to have this resource!

Want to know why your body is different and why you have the struggles you do from PCOS? This book explains in detail the who what when where and why of your organs and how they process everything you eat. It discuss your insulin resistance in detail. Lightbulbs were going off through the whole book, which I finished in 2 days and it was a decent sized book! Get it - you won't regret it.

Update: changed rating as after much reasearch landed on End your carb confusion. Finally something that works for me. That book has way better guide to keto earing than thisUpdate: After finishing this book, I was reasing other Keto books but I went back to this for the last portion of it. The guide on how to eat. The 20 net carb day etc. This book has more details on it that is missing in other books imo. So I am gonna be using her guide to do my Keto basicallyIf you need clarity on whether you have PCOS or not, this is a good bookI am gonna have ultra sound done to get more detail as I seem to have the opposite symptom (acne, cysts and excessive bleeding) I takw birth control to stop the bleeding.The book also covered a bit about birth control pill which I found helpfulI was not fan of the writing honestly. But that is a personal preference thing.I am already on keto and the rapid benefits of pcos seemed to not apply to me.As for keto diet book, The Obesity Code does a better job, along with Atkin (new version).As well as Gary Taubes books.I think in here the author counts net carb (20 net carb a day? I did skim so I am not sure if I missed the part )I try to stay under 30 net carb.But recently experimenting w total carb 30g a day.As for the fruit restriction such aa fruits, just remember she does say re desserts (which are also on banned list), you can have them occasionally not everyday.I do wish author covered what that looks like a in a year. Like is it just few times a year, once a month or once a week we can have one portion of it etc.