Veganist

While we were driving around Grand Rapids over the weekend, we came upon a real nice bookstore, Schulers Books & Music. They had a good selection of both new and used books so the Missus and I came away with a few new and used books.

The pick of the litter for me was the Veganist by Kathy Freston. I've read just about everything I could get my hands on concerning vegetarian/vegan diets since my heart attack and this book probably makes the case for giving up meat and dairy better than anything else I've read. In the book she makes ten promises of how your life will improve if you adopt a vegan lifestyle:

Promise 1. Your body will find and maintain its ideal weight - effortlessly.
Promise 2. You will lower your risks for cancer, heart disease, and diabetes - and even reverse diseases already diagnosed.
Promise 3. You will live longer - and better.
Promise 4. You will take yourself out of harm's way.
Promise 5. You will save money.
Promise 6. You will radically reduce your carbon footprint and do the single best thing you can for the environment.
Promise 7. You will be helping provide food to the global poor.
Promise 8. You will reduce animal suffering.
Promise 9. You will be following the wisdom of the great spiritual traditions.
Promise 10. You will evolve - and take the world with you.

Those are some pretty heavy promises to make but she states her case well and documents things by quoting authorities in the fields and citing peer reviewed research. She also presents the case for "leaning in" to veganism rather than diving in head first. I took the plunge all at once simply because I thought it would be easier to start over with everything at the same time. That's not necessarily the best way but it's worked for me. I hate to sound like one of those "reformed" people but there's a lot of wisdom in this book. In my case I was looking to prevent further heart disease but the cancer prevention and immune system boost that comes from a vegan diet is certainly something to consider. Vegan's typically live ten years longer. That's definitely something to consider. Of course, cynic that I am, if all this is true, why in the hell wouldn't all doctors be preaching this from the rooftops. Or a few public service announcements that call bullshit after the fast food commercials? I was able to have a homemade veggie burger along with my pie the other day, so maybe things are improving for those of us looking for meat & dairy alternatives. It was pretty damn tasty, by the way. It wasn't a hamburger but it was tasty.

As the subtitle of the book states: Lose Weight, Get Healthy, Change the World. Who would have thought that fruits and vegetables had that much power?

If you're looking for more info, you can find it here.