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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
One of this book's strengths is its focus not only on science and research, but science and research focused on women.
informative
medium-paced
it’s not very good
passable summary of the lifespan of women (from childhood through puberty menopause and post menopause) and Very extensive writing on diet and HRT/MHT with some asides on supplements (separate from diet lol) exercise stress and sleep
explaining the biggest trials we have for diet and HRT as treatments for peri/menopause symptoms and how HRT effects cardio and cancer risk were the best parts of this book certainly the highlight
the first half of the book is overly focused on BMI given that there are Many studies that it really is not a strong indicator of health/unhealthiness and that genuinely diet + exercise don’t change it (or pre-diabetes insulin resistance for that matter diet yes exercise? no effect) for longer than a year but apart from this there was a lot of very good info included on diet in general and the idiocy of most diets beyond mediterranean diet
parts on stress were almost laughably bad bc of ‘tend and befriend’ bs stress response when the actual 3rd response to stress that has been shown to mainly be the stress response of women is freeze (fight flight or freeze) and the weird hunter/gatherer justification that is used as a crutch a few times in the book without any in depth analysis of how evolution affects women (especially given that anthropologists nearly uniformly agree that both men and women hunted and gathered) was irritating
actually historical information beyond like the last 80 years was quite bad in that we kno that life expectancy has been quite similar (maybe 5-10 years better after sanitation) but the main difference in average life expectancies were infant/early childhood mortality going down and childbirth for women bringing our average down slightly
and of course the title is annoyingly bioessentialist and the one paragraph in which dr mosconi mentions trans ppl was clearly not read by any person who has ever even spoken with a trans person lmao terminology shit calling trans men “women transitioning to the male gender” is like p dumb
also the sections on ooph and hysterectomy could actually apply even if it’s just a sentence acknowledging that we don’t have enough data (or any studies at all) to tell us how taking T or not female hormone RT could effect trans men’s rates of dementia/alzheimer’s after these gender affirming surgeries would have been enough lmao. especially considering a third of the book is about a kind of gender affirming care for peri/post menopausal women
Like If you actually wanted this book to be about XX brains and not cis women’s brains prolly should have had anyone who’s even met a trans person read the one paragraph on trans men you had for errors.
passable summary of the lifespan of women (from childhood through puberty menopause and post menopause) and Very extensive writing on diet and HRT/MHT with some asides on supplements (separate from diet lol) exercise stress and sleep
explaining the biggest trials we have for diet and HRT as treatments for peri/menopause symptoms and how HRT effects cardio and cancer risk were the best parts of this book certainly the highlight
the first half of the book is overly focused on BMI given that there are Many studies that it really is not a strong indicator of health/unhealthiness and that genuinely diet + exercise don’t change it (or pre-diabetes insulin resistance for that matter diet yes exercise? no effect) for longer than a year but apart from this there was a lot of very good info included on diet in general and the idiocy of most diets beyond mediterranean diet
parts on stress were almost laughably bad bc of ‘tend and befriend’ bs stress response when the actual 3rd response to stress that has been shown to mainly be the stress response of women is freeze (fight flight or freeze) and the weird hunter/gatherer justification that is used as a crutch a few times in the book without any in depth analysis of how evolution affects women (especially given that anthropologists nearly uniformly agree that both men and women hunted and gathered) was irritating
actually historical information beyond like the last 80 years was quite bad in that we kno that life expectancy has been quite similar (maybe 5-10 years better after sanitation) but the main difference in average life expectancies were infant/early childhood mortality going down and childbirth for women bringing our average down slightly
and of course the title is annoyingly bioessentialist and the one paragraph in which dr mosconi mentions trans ppl was clearly not read by any person who has ever even spoken with a trans person lmao terminology shit calling trans men “women transitioning to the male gender” is like p dumb
also the sections on ooph and hysterectomy could actually apply even if it’s just a sentence acknowledging that we don’t have enough data (or any studies at all) to tell us how taking T or not female hormone RT could effect trans men’s rates of dementia/alzheimer’s after these gender affirming surgeries would have been enough lmao. especially considering a third of the book is about a kind of gender affirming care for peri/post menopausal women
Like If you actually wanted this book to be about XX brains and not cis women’s brains prolly should have had anyone who’s even met a trans person read the one paragraph on trans men you had for errors.
8 steps:
1. Manage your carbs: vegetable & fruit, whole grain, legumes and starch, complex carbs.
2. Meet Ms. phytoestrogen: soy
3. With antioxidants: flaxseed oil, vitamin E
4. The right Fat
5. Feed your Microbes
6. Alcohol and Coffee: the less the better
7. Go Organic as much as you can
8. Eat Less
1. Manage your carbs: vegetable & fruit, whole grain, legumes and starch, complex carbs.
2. Meet Ms. phytoestrogen: soy
3. With antioxidants: flaxseed oil, vitamin E
4. The right Fat
5. Feed your Microbes
6. Alcohol and Coffee: the less the better
7. Go Organic as much as you can
8. Eat Less
informative
slow-paced
I’m giving this a 5 star because it’s informative and Dr Mosconi is a pioneer in studying women and dementia. I’m so glad I read this book.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
informative
medium-paced
I have listened to Dr. Mosconi on various Podcasts and always like her explanation of the science of female brain and the way that it adapts and changes throughout our reproductive and post menopause lives. One draw here was to read more about the aging brain aroound Alzheimer's and Dementia, which are so terrifying. I was particularly interested in the post-menopause brain changes and adaptations in this regard since this has always been a majorly understudied and poorly studied subject ( women's health in general) that leaves us open to massive misinformation.
There is a lot of information here for folks- mostly cis-gendered women brand new to the subject but not as much ground breaking science of the brain that I expected from her. It's a health and wellness book with a lot of good 'to-dos' for folks with a family history of Alzheimers. And, it's only an okay launch pad for more reading on the subject because her reference system was a mess.
I gave the food and recipe section a miss since she falls into the 'wellness' traps of suggesting eating habits- intermittent fasting, serious calorie restriction, good/ bad food dichotomy that are classist and can further prompt disordered eating . This was a huge fail for me. It also falls into the tone and pacing of all these types of books- broad strokes, self help, formulaic with very dated, sterotyped 'lady jokes'. Also can we just stop with " Mommy Brain". So infantilizing. Ugh.
I started this audiobook because someone on an Instagram story recommended it. Before I started working at the hospital I am at now I worked in a dementia unit, its a hard job but I loved it. It also scared me, to be honest it still does, I feel like losing your memory of all thing people and things you knew slowly and not being able to do a thing about it would just be one of the worst diseases to have. This book helped me feel a little better because there are things to lessen the likelihood of getting dementia. Many of the tips are really easy to do and I am already doing a few of them. Also, it was fascinating to hear why there are more women who get dementia than men and all of the studies on the subject.
I am rating this book 5 stars. It is interesting and informative and makes me want to keep learning more.
I am rating this book 5 stars. It is interesting and informative and makes me want to keep learning more.
hopeful
informative
slow-paced