Missing your period and having hypothalamic amenorrhea is frustrating and worrying. You want to get your cycles back, so you can feel healthy and full of vitality. Maybe you want to become pregnant or take care of your long-term health.
Many turn to social media or books to find advice. It makes sense since the standard healthcare advice for regaining your cycles is often not entirely clear, holistic, or life-changing.
I’ve read and researched a bunch of books for hypothalamic amenorrhea. I have also had lots of feedback about these books from clients who are trying to regain their periods.
That’s why I’m bringing you a round-up of books for regaining your periods.
What is hypothalamic amenorrhea?
Hypothalamic amenorrhea (HA) is when menstrual cycles go missing due to hormonal disturbances.
The root causes of hormonal problems can include food intake, exercise levels, stress, and sleep quality. One of the most common reasons to lose your period is due to an eating disorder or disordered eating. Which is why it’s such a common reason my clients come to work with me.
10+ books for your hypothalamic amenorrhea recovery
There is no non-diet book currently for hypothalamic amenorrhea. A non-diet and weight-inclusive approach is essential to your recovery.
The only two published books specifically for HA recovery are numbers 1 and 2 on this list. Neither of these are non-diet or rooted in building a healthy relationship with food and your body.
I (Shannon Western) am currently in the midst of writing a one-of-a-kind hypothalamic amenhorrea recovery book. Until then, these are some of the best options for HA recovery…
Has your period gone missing?
You’re not alone. People tend to think that loss of menstrual cycles only happens to Olympic-level athletes or people with eating disorders. But you can have seemingly healthy eating and exercise habits and still face a missing monthly cycle. In fact, your lifestyle may be the culprit.
In Overcoming Amenorrhea you will:
-Discover hidden strengths, talents, and joys that running may have prevented you from finding.
-Learn how to love your body regardless of size.
-Recognize the behaviours that caused amenorrhea for you in the past, to prevent it in the future.
-Identify what health looks like for your body.
Make peace with food.
Free yourself from chronic dieting forever.
Rediscover the pleasures of eating.
The go-to resource––now fully revised and updated––for building a healthy body image and making peace with food, once and for all.
There is a common perception that intuitive eating approaches are also anti-nutrition, but that's simply not the case.
In this book, dietitian Rachael Hartley looks at the role of gentle nutrition in intuitive eating. She explores why diets don't work - and make you eat less healthfully, why weight doesn't equal health, and how to approach nutrition in a flexible way, with the goal of promoting wellbeing, not reaching for an arbitrary number on the scale.
Features 50+ recipes and meal/snack ideas.
A practical guide to understanding your cycle and balancing your hormones with nutrition, lifestyle changes and yoga for calmer, less painful periods.
Period Power is the handbook to periods and hormones that will leave you wondering why the hell nobody told you this sooner.
Period Power is a no-nonsense guide with all the tools you need to improve your menstrual health.
An embodied feminine and feminist psycho-spiritual path for women to reclaim their inner wisdom, follow the callings of their soul, and come home to a profound sense of belonging to the seasons and cycles of life.
In this book you’ll learn:
- What a normal cycle looks like;
- The best way to chart your cycle and increase your fertility awareness;
- How best to manage critical aspects of your health, including better sleep, exercise and a healthier diet;
- Natural methods for managing period pain and PMS;
- How to successfully avoid pregnancy without the pill; and
- How to plan ahead if you do want to get pregnant.
The Fifth Vital Sign aims to better connect women with their menstrual cycles, to break the myth that ovulation is only important when you're ready to have a baby.
In The Moon Cycle Cookbook, bakery founder Devon Loftus and nutritionist Jenna Radomski empower women to nourish themselves with recipes for sweets, savory meals, and snacks, organised around each of the four phases of the menstrual cycle, that can be customised to suit their bodiesx27 fluctuating needs.
Every recipe is formulated with the knowledge of what is happening hormonally in a womanx27s body during each cycle phase, using ingredients that replenish and support essential nutrients.
Wild Power tells a radical new story about feminine power. It reveals:
· Your inner architecture and the path to power that is encoded in your body
· How to tune in to the rhythm and changes of your menstrual cycle to realize the fullness and beauty of your authority
· Three 'maps' to guide you through the energies, tasks and challenges presented as you journey through each cycle
· How to work with your Inner Seasons to pace your energy, calm your nervous system and gain insight into your overall wellbeing
· How to work with your cycle to channel spiritual forces, affirm your expression in the world and achieve a deep sense of belonging
Whether you are suffering from PMS, HA, PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome), irregular periods, painful periods, endometriosis, or fibroids, Fix Your Period will enable you to regain normal, healthy periods and get your life back on track.
My favourite HA recovery books
My favourite hypothalamic amenorrhea recovery book is No Period. No What?
This is the only book available that is comprehensive, gives clear guidance, and is solely about getting your cycle back.
Unfortunately, this book is also not weight-inclusive and doesn’t promote a truly healthy relationship with food. It does encourage readers to completely give up restriction, but I’m not convinced it’s an anti-diet agenda.
What is an anti-diet agenda is Intuitive Eating, and the book inspired by it, Gentle Nutrition.
So, I would recommend those three books to get started in your HA recovery.