Be Fruitful: The Essential Guide to Maximizing Fertility and Giving Birth to a Healthy Child

Description

From an internationally recognized integrative physician, a thorough guide to fertility that encompasses all aspects of female well-being to help women prepare their bodies for easy conception, pregnancy, and the delivery of healthy babies. The increase in environmental toxins, processed foods, and stress, as well as the advancing ages at which couples seek to have children, have made it more difficult for women to conceive. In Be Fruitful, Dr. Victoria Maizes, an expert on women's health and the executive director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, delivers all the information women and their partners need in order to conceive with ease and confidence, and to bear healthy children. Warm, friendly, and hands-on, Be Fruitful offers a comprehensive self-assessment to help identify any potential physical, emotional, and practical roadblocks that may interfere with conception, as well as clear and easy-to-follow dietary, supplemental, and exercise recommendations proven to increase optimal fertility. Dr. Maizes details how nutrition, mind-body practices, elimination of environmental toxins, and traditional Chinese medicine can all contribute to a successful pregnancy. Unique in its integrative approach, Be Fruitful acknowledges that wellness comes from caring for the entire person-not just the physical body-a crucial factor for the countless women trying to conceive and committed to transforming their overall health.

Victoria Maizes, M.D., is executive director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine and a professor of medicine, family medicine, and public health at the University of Arizona. An internationally recognized leader in integrative medicine, Dr. Maizes lectures worldwide to academic and community audiences on women's health, aging, nutrition, and cancer. The co-editor of Integrative Women's Health, the 2010 Oxford University Press textbook, she was named one of the world's intelligent optimists in 2009. For more information, please visit VictoriaMaizesMD.com. Andrew Weil MD, a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School and the founder and director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine. Dr. Weil is the author of many bestselling books, including Healthy Aging, Spontaneous Healing, and 8 Weeks to Optimum Health.

"It's clear from the very first chapter of this power-packed guide on maximizing fertility that a hands-on clinician, brainy scientist, holistic thinker and compassionate, thoughtful woman is offering up the very latest and best that integrative medicine has to offer. Be Fruitful is an eminently readable, warm, encouraging, practical book bursting with a wealth of consequential information, backed up by clinical research and epidemiology. It is destined to become a well-worn, gratefully used reference book for anyone interested in fertility, whether professionally or personally." --Belleruth Naparstek, LISW, BCD, author of Invisible Heroes: Survivors of Trauma and How They Heal; and creator of the Health Journeys Guided Imagery series. "Who knew that low fat milk might lower your fertility, while hypnosis could boost it? I found Dr. Maizes' well researched book to be a treasure trove of this kind of valuable, but rarely discussed, advice. Be Fruitful is the perfect read for anyone seeking a happy pregnancy and a healthy baby." -- Daphne Miller, MD, author of The Jungle Effect and Farmacology "For some of us, the road to motherhood is strewn with seemingly insurmountable obstacles. In Be Fruitful, Dr. Victoria Maizes has given us a superb, well researched guide to help transform our obstacles into health and life-affirming opportunities." -- Julia Indichova, author of The Fertile Female: How the Power of Longing for a Child Can Save Your Life and Change the World "Women interested in protecting and maximizing their fertility will find this book filled with up- to-date facts that are easy to put into practice. I will recommend this book to my women patients in their late teens and early twenties to help them maximize wellness and fertility years before they start trying to have children. This is a must have book in my integrative medicine medical reference library." -- Roberta Lee, MD, author of The Super Stress Solution and Vice Chair, Department of Integrative Medicine Continuum for Health and Healing Beth Israel Medical Center "Be Fruitful is a must read for any woman currently attempting or planning for a pregnancy. Dr. Maizes is a leading advocate for Woman's Integrative and Preventative Healthcare and her book provides practical, proven strategies for improving the chances of becoming pregnant and as well as enjoying a successful pregnancy. The importance of pre-pregnancy planning cannot be overstated. As a Reproductive Endocrinologist, I see daily how the positive influence an integrative approach to healthcare can benefit patients. This is a book I will ask all of my patients to read." -- Carmelo Sgarlata, MD, Reproductive Science Center of San Francisco and former President of the Bay Area Reproductive Endocrinologist Society "A well-rounded approach to ensuring a successful pregnancy. Maizes provides a wealth of practical advice and a comprehensive self-assessment test covering contraception, nutrition, diet and exercise, environmental factors and spirituality. Solid and wide-ranging prenatal advice for women of all ages." * Kirkus Reviews * Clear, comprehensive, and compassionate, this is one of the most important books in maternal health to appear in recent years." -- Larry Dossey, MD * author of Reinventing Medicine and The Power of Premonitions * "I cannot think of a more compassionate yet knowledgeable companion to accompany couples on their journey toward parenthood than Victoria Maizes. Her warm, friendly manner and her thoroughly integrative approach to fertility will give women and men the confidence and the practical advice they need to conceive with ease." -- Linda Sparrowe * editor-in-chief, Yoga International Magazine and author of The Woman's Book of Yoga & Health * "A hopeful and encouraging map mothers-to-be can follow to increase the liklihood of achieving optimum health before conception and beyond. This straightforward resource clearly explains the fertility benefits of combining the best of conventional and alternative methods." * Publishers Weekly * "Whether you're at the stage of dreaming about starting a family in the future or frantically weighing your hormone treatment options, you need to read Be Fruitful. This friendly but concise guide can steer you toward your own personal well-being sweet spot. [A] thorough and inspiring book [that] manages to be comprehensive without being overwhelming." * Yoga Journal * "Many women dream of becoming pregnant, but few ever stop to think about the possibility of having trouble with it. While there are no guarantees, it makes sense to do everything possible to boost the chances of baby-making. Victoria Maizes's Be Fruitful is just the guidebook to prepare you-physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Maizes is that all-too-rare medical professional, a family physician trained in Western medicine who values the power of alternative medicine." * Alive Magazine *