The Real Life Body Book: A Young Woman's Complete Guide to Health and Wellness »

Hope Ricciotti, MD, is a practicing clinician and associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School. She has appeared on The Today Show, Good Morning America, and the Food Network. She writes a reproductive health blog at www.bewell.com and is a regular contributor to Oprah.com. Dr. Ricciotti is the author of four books on women’s health and nutrition, and her writing has appeared in O, The Oprah Magazine; Marie Claire; Glamour; Fit Pregnancy; Pregnancy; and Prevention. She lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.
 
Monique Doyle Spencer is a contributing columnist for the Boston Globe. Her work has also appeared in the International Herald Tribune and on the New York Times website. Spencer is the chair and founder of The Bucket Brigade, a volunteer-based group working in Southern Sudan, as well as the author of two books on cancer-related issues. She lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.
 

When you have questions about your health, you want answers from a trustworthy source. In The Real Life Body Book, a Harvard ob-gyn has joined forces with a humor writer to explain the full range of health issues facing young women today. This comprehensive and authoritative guide focuses on whole body wellness and prevention, from the skin (acne, piercing, tattooing) and the head (mental health, hormones, stress) to the bones, heart, and stomach (diet and digestion), plus sex and reproductive wellness. If you’re between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-five and you want the latest facts about your health in a language you can understand, The Real Life Body Book is the go-to resource for keeping your body healthy today and for the rest of your life.

contents
 
acknowledgments  1
 
welcome to the real life body book!  2
 
    1  meet your body and your doctor  5
 
    2  your head  31
 
    3  stress and your body  57
 
    4  your skin  73
 
    5  your heart  101
 
    6  your blood  125
 
    7  your bones and joints  139
 
    8  your stomach and intestines  155
 
    9  your neck and spine  183
 
  10  your waterworks  199
 
  11  your best sex  221
 
  12  your breasts  251
 
  13  your vagina and cervix  275
 
  14  your ovaries  301
 
  15  your reproductive system  317
 
  16  your fertility  347
 
  17  your diet  365
 
  18  your body’s other issues  393
 
appendix: tools to use  418
 
glossary  430
 
bibliography  441
 
index  451