Veganist: Lose Weight, Get Healthy, Change The World (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
The first half of the book and the last 1/3rd had some great information. The "daydream" in the middle about the kid who grows up vegan and influences the USDA dietary guidelines in the year 2050 is, well, odd. The chapter on the spirituality of not eating animals veers away from the facts and into modern mythology and is a bit random. Also, there are a few parts of the book that are repetitive.Still, I definitely recommend spending an evening or two with 'Veganist'. There's lots of great info in it and a nice over view of a weekly menu along with talk of a grocery shopping list. Overall, it's a good idea for a book, but needs cleaned up a little. If veganism is a new concept for you, this is a great book. For me, I already knew a lot of the stuff she was covering. She talks about the different benefits of the vegan lifestyle: personal health, environmental, spiritual, finanical, etc. It's all good information, and she quotes various doctors and studies and books (like the China Study) to back up her ideas. So it's a good starter kit for someone who knows nothing about these subjects. But I skipped several chapters because they just seemed repetitive to me. Also, I find it annoying when people like Freston and Alicia Silverstone try to tell us that if you eat a vegan diet, you never have to count calories again. Seriously? Of course you'll be eating less unhealthy fat and sugar and whatnot, but it's still not okay to eat as much pasta and carbs as you want. Any extreme, whether it's cutting out carbs altogether, or eating as many as you want, is just dumb. If I ate as many carbs as I wanted, even if they were whole grain and vegan, I would not enjoy the weight that I would gain! Also, she is very against processed foods in general, but is all about people consuming meat alternatives that are just as processed. That doesn't make sense to me. I understand that the goal is to get folks to consume less meat and dairy, and if they need the fake meat and cheese to make that happen, so be it. I use fake meats a lot just for the convenience and because some of them are yummy. But I am pretty choosy about which ones I eat. They are not all created equal. I try to read labels and make sure I can ID the ingredients as real food! Some have overly processed soybeans and a lot of sodium and other crap in them. Whenever possible, it's best to eat whole foods. Freston has this pie in the sky idea that someday everyone will jump on this bandwagon and embrace the health benefits of becoming vegan. I don't think that's realistic. But it is a good goal to "lean into" this lifestyle, as she puts it. If everyone started consuming less meat and dairy, their health would improve, and the world in general would benefit from the gradual changes. So I would encourage anybody to do some research to see what they think about this. In the meantime, I'm finally getting to Freston's other book, Quantum Wellness, which has been on my to-read list since 2008. I think I'll like that one a lot better, since it incorporates all different types of wellness, and not just diet.
What do You think about Veganist: Lose Weight, Get Healthy, Change The World (2011)?
Excellent!! May completely change your views on food, health, animals. Currently re-reading.
—Areeba
easy to follow plan to cut some of the meat out of your diet ( or all of it!)
—iLovereading
A conversation about the many reasons to lean towards veganism.
—RoxanaA89
