Angela Grassi, a licensed dietician headquartered in Haverford, Pennsylvania, has been a regular columnist published in PCOS Today Magazine. She has focused her entire practice on the service of women and girls with PCOS. Earlier this fall, she completed and published her new book, “The Dietician’s Guide to Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.” I have written a review about her book, which will be published in an upcoming issue of PCOS Today Magazine, but I am going to preview it here as well. Her book, as I describe in my review, is well worth the purchase price…for both professionals working with PCOS clients, as well as women with PCOS. Here’s the review. Please feel free to comment on it, and visit Angela’s site to learn more about her practice.

My copy of Angela Grassi’s recent book, “The Dietician’s Guide to Polycystic Ovary Syndrome,” has a glass-bottom stain on it and part of the cover is ripped. Ms. Grassi’s jam-packed tome of up-to-date information about PCOS has been used and reused by this author since its release just a few months ago.

During the past decade or two, a number of books about PCOS have been released. Some are rather general, others carry a heavy load of relevant content. The difference with Ms. Grassi’s book is that while it was originally written with practicing dieticians and nutritionists in mind, women with PCOS will find it a thorough resource. Its more than 200 pages, including appendices, cover topics including both the physical and psychological aspects of PCOS, dietary strategies, alternative and complementary treatments, PCOS in adolescence, pregnancy, eating disorders, and sample menu plans. For dieticians, Ms. Grassi provides common IDC-9 codes and case studies, as well as organizations and publications that can provide both professionals and PCOS patients with more information about the disorder.

Throughout the book, Ms. Grassi asks a number of compelling questions and makes a number of compelling statements about working with women with PCOS. Does the American diet cause PCOS? The role of the dietician in treating PCOS. Weight loss to improve PCOS: Is it necessary? Polycystic ovary syndrome and pregnancy. In full detail, Ms. Grassi covers the Glycemic Index, postpartum weight management with PCOS, antiandrogen therapy in adolescence, thorough descriptions of herbs and supplements that can be used to decrease the severity of PCOS symptoms, and questions dieticians can use to screen patients for PCOS. Especially helpful to this author, who likes to have quantifiable information to gauge her food intake by, is a table of suggested carbohydrates amounts for women with PCOS, dependent on calorie intake. As a reformed label reader, I can now decipher how each serving’s grams of carbohydrates fit into the grand scheme of my diet.

Rounding out Ms. Grassi’s book are sample menu plans and a candid discussion of quality of life issues affecting women with PCOS, and how they can lead to the development of eating disorders. Following each chapter is a complete list of references for both professionals and women with PCOS to find more information.

Designed to accompany this guide is the PCOS Nutrition Handout Series on CD. Included on the CD (sold separately) are 20 printer-ready assessment, food exchange, mindful eating exercises, resources for PCOS clients, shopping for whole grains, and nutritional supplement handouts, among many more, for use by dieticians and nutritionists working with PCOS clients.

Published by Luca Publishing of Haverford, Penn., “The Dietician’s Guide to Polycystic Ovary Syndrome” is a book that not only every practicing dietician and nutritionist should have on their shelves, but any professional who comes into clinical contact with women suffering from PCOS. But not only will professionals working with PCOS clients find this book helpful, but women with PCOS will be well-armed to work with their doctors, dieticians, reproductive endocrinologists, and gynecologists to fight the symptoms of PCOS and its related issues. “Although it’s a little technical,” Ms. Grassi said, “I think it is a great resource for all women with PCOS.”

More information about the book and CD handout series can be obtained by visiting Ms. Grassi’s site at www.PCOSnutrition.com, or by e-mailing her at agrassi@pcosnutrition.com.