In LOVE CYCLES, Dr. Winnifred Cutler tells how and why our love lives wax and wane with biological regularity. She claims that by understanding these "love cycles", we can take control of the hormonal rhythms to enhance sensuality, inhibit the aging process, ward off PMS, increase the probability of a successful pregnancy, and encourage quality of life. Her substantial research is heavily cited and illustrated clearly with graphs and supporting references.

Readers will discover: why monogamy and restraint make biologic sense, how hormones are affected by our sexual behavior, and how both men and women can take control of their fertility. Dr. Cutler presents her controversial discoveries in the fields of human sexual behavior, reproductive physiology, and cosmic influences of reproduction. LOVE CYCLES also explains her ground breaking 1986 discovery of human pheromones in scientific detail. This remarkable book is a unique blend of science, philosophy, and common sense.

This is a serious scientific work with profound practical application. In fact, LOVE CYCLES is very much about the scientific process -- how a scientist follows a hunch, designs a study, and experiences the triumph of discovery. Winnifred Cutler's analysis of her data is visionary and inspiring.

MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS RESPOND:

• "Sexual behavior is an endlessly fascinating subject. Dr. Cutler's approach, guided by her own quest for knowledge and a superb scientific training, is a unique blend of science, philosophy, and prescriptive medicine. The prescription is not for female power and more and better orgasms, but for sexual commitment, constancy and gentleness as the anchors of a healthy sexual life."

  -Ellen W. Freeman, Ph.D. Research Associate Professor, Hospital of the University of Penna.

• "Her prodigious intellect, scientific creativity, ability to synthesize the research literature and her wisdom as a mature woman come together to make a book that should become a primer of passion for the 1990's...a synthesis of our bodies' wisdom that will make you marvel at the cosmic dance of life"

  -Sadja Greenwood, M.D., Assistant Clinical Professor, Dept. of OBGYN and Reproductive Sciences, U. of California Medical Center, San Francisco

• "Although I've always taught couples how to have a more rewarding sex life, this incredible book shows you why it is so important and necessary. This valuable guide gives us a deeper understanding of our partner's unique biology and sensuality cycle. You come away with a whole new way of viewing the human experience."

  -Ellen Kreidman, author of Light His Fire and Light Her Fire

EXCERPT FROM CONCLUSION OF CHAPTER ONE: A TIME TO EMBRACE

This chapter has covered a good deal of ground. It has introduced an important idea -- that the poetry of intimacy has an underlying scientific basis. It has a cyclic harmony. And a "time to embrace" is built into the biology of the human species. To sum up what we know:

• How often a woman engages in sexual behavior with a man strongly affects her endocrine system.
• Regular weekly sex is vital for maintaining a fertile hormonal environment in women who are of reproductive age. A fertile endocrine system appears to promote general health and well-being.
• Estrogen levels are higher in the luteal phase (the 14-16 day phase after ovulation and before menstruation) among women who have regular weekly sex than among women who are either sporadically active or celibate. Higher estrogen has been associated with better bones, better cardiovascular health, and a feeling of joy in life.
• The luteal phase will be healthier -- sufficiently long and hormone rich -- in those women who are active weekly. Women who have a sporadic pattern may have an inadequate luteal phase length, frequently rendering them subfertile. These women are likely to be the ones most vulnerable to fibrocystic breast disease, uterine cancer, and other maladies.
• As women in their forties begin to approach their menopause, regular weekly heterosexual relations can help preserve higher levels of estrogen and decrease the symptoms associated with the menopause, such as hot flashes and depression.