Vliet (Screaming to Be Heard: Hormone Connections Women Suspect... and Doctors Still Ignore) is the founder and director of HER Place, which has several medical centers specializing in hormone evaluations for menopausal women. Very detailed and somewhat overwritten for women just interested in losing weight, her second book presents an array of information on hormone found in the body. Vliet explains how estrogen and progesterone levels change and interact at midlife to slow female metabolism, which may lead to weight gain. But, she argues, a combination of hormonal balance, healthy eating, exercise and improved self-esteem can reverse this pattern. Before Vliet gets to the cornerstone of her "meal action plan" (MAP), which will interest many women, the reader must plow through complicated explanations of the biological changes that occur before, during and after menopause. Vliet believes that women should be tested for hormone levels in their 20s and 30s, so that these baseline results can be used to adjust levels at midlife to prevent excessive weight gain. (She advocates hormonal supplements based on individual need.) Based on her daily dietary recommendations of 35% protein, 30% fat and 35% carbohydrates, Vliet provides 14 days of MAP meal plans. Although much of her diet and exercise advice will be helpful to overweight women, her hormonal plan, advocated at HER Place centers, is complex and theoretical. (Nov.)
