Veganist: Lose Weight, Get Healthy, Change the World

by Kathy Freston

Overview

Kathy Freston wasn't born a vegan. The bestselling author and renowned wellness expert actually grew up on chicken-fried steak and cheesy grits, and loved nothing more than BBQ ribs and vanilla milkshakes. Not until her thirties did she embrace the lifestyle of a veganist--someone who eats a plant-based diet not just for their own personal well-being, but for the whole web of benefits it brings to our ecosystem and beyond. Kathy's shift toward this new life was gradual--she leaned into it--but the impact was profound. Now Kathy shows us how to lean into the veganist life. Effortless weight loss, reversal of disease, environmental responsibility, spiritual awakening--these are just a few of the ten profound changes that can be achieved through a gentle switch in food choices.

Filled with compelling facts, stories of people who have improved their weight and health conditions as a result of making the switch, and Q&As with the leading medical researchers, Veganist concludes with a step-by-step practical guide to becoming a veganist…easily and gradually. It is an accessible, optimistic, and illuminating book that will change the way you eat forever. No less delicious, still hearty and satisfying--just better for you and for all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781602861411
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	02/01/2011
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Kathy Freston is the author of eight books, including the New York Times bestsellers The Lean and Quantum Wellness. Kathy appears frequently on national television, including Charlie Rose, Ellen, Dr. Oz, and Good Morning America. Her work has been featured in Vanity Fair, Harper's Bazaar, Self, W, and Fitness. She has been a regular contributor to the Huffington Post.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Big Picture ix

Promise 1 Your Body Will Find and Maintain Its Ideal Weight-Effortlessly 1

Straight from the Source: Dean Ornish, MD, on Losing Weight 21

Ben's Story: Weight Loss Was an Unexpected Benefit 28

Promise 2 You Will Lower Your Risks for Cancer, Heart Disease, and Diabetes-and Even Reverse Diseases Already Diagnosed 37

Straight from the Source: T. Colin Campbell, PhD, on Diet and Cancer 41

Meg's Story: Surviving Cancer with a Plant-Based Diet 50

Straight from the Source: Caldwell Esselstyn, MD, on Heart Disease 57

Robert's Story: Reversing the Family Heart-Attack Pattern 61

Straight from the Source: Neal Barnard, MD, on Diabetes 73

Natala's Story: Her Diabetes Cure 81

Promise 3 You Will Live Longer-and Better 88

Ruth's Story: You Can Be Fit at Any Age 100

Promise 4 You Will Take Yourself Out of Harm's Way 106

Straight from the Source: Michael Greger, MD, on Factory Farming and Superbugs 109

Promise 5 You Will Save Money 127

Promise 6 You Will Radically Reduce Your Carbon Footprint and Do the Single Best Thing You Can for the Environment 144

Promise 7 You Will Be Helping Provide Food to the Global Poor 158

Promise 8 You Will Reduce Animal Suffering 166

Bruce's Story: A Journey Begins 168

Gene's Story: The Rescuer 174

Josh's Story: Undercover at a Chicken Factory 176

Undercover at an Egg Farm 181

Promise 9 You Will Be Following the Wisdom of the Great Spiritual Traditions 194

Promise 10 You Will Evolve-and Take the World with You 216

Afterword: Making the Shift 236

Frequently Asked Questions, Answered by the Doctor 250

Three Weeks of Meals 260

Shopping List 266

Cookbooks and Websites 279

Acknowledgments 283

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"For the novice, this book offers a gentle, guilt-free path to a meatless (or even, as Freston says, "vegan-ish") life." —-Publishers Weekly

Editorial Reviews

White turns in a workmanlike performance in this audio version of Freston's guide to the benefits of a plant-based diet. Full of useful tips, practical information, and personal stories about veganism, Freston makes a compelling case for giving up meat and dairy products, but she can present a change in diet as something of a panacea for everything from illness to environmental degradation and spiritual malaise. Karen White's narration is crisp, well-paced and pleasantly cheerful. Her conversational and encouraging delivery works to personalize the book's stories and arguments—all the while eschewing any hint of sanctimony. A useful, very encouraging guide for listeners considering a vegan or vegetarian diet. A Weinstein hardcover. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly - Publishers Weekly Audio

In this cheery manifesto, healthy-living guru Freston (Quantum Wellness) promises readers who gives up meat, dairy, and eggs that they will effortlessly lose weight, avoid cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer's, save money, help the poor, reduce their carbon footprint and animal suffering, and evolve spiritually. Freston, coining the word "veganist," puts a soft edge on the vegan lifestyle: "It's not about hard lines or purity or perfection but about intention and holding ideas loosely and taking steps in the direction of the kind of person you want to be." She supports her claims with interviews from medical authorities like Dean Ornish and Neal Barnard, numerous stories from people who converted and changed their lives, and a few tales from animal rights activists who went undercover in the factory farm. The book provides "tips for making the switch," FAQs answered by Dr. Barnard, and sample menus, but no recipes, so readers used to meat and potatoes may be stymied by how to prepare "flax seed and whole-grain pizza with classic margherita topping." Even so, for the novice, this book offers a gentle, guilt-free path to a meatless (or even, as Feston says, "vegan-ish") life.
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Publishers Weekly

"For the novice, this book offers a gentle, guilt-free path to a meatless (or even, as Freston says, "vegan-ish") life." ---Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

Freston (www.kathyfreston.com), author of several titles on cleansing, weight loss, conscious eating, and overall physical and spiritual wellness, here presents a treatise on adopting a vegan diet and lifestyle. Less a guidebook or cookbook than a testament to the benefits of being a vegan—e.g., weight loss, improving the planet, achieving emotional balance, and saving animals' lives—the book includes anecdotes from people who have benefited from the switch as well as extensive excerpts from an interview Freston conducted with fellow author/wellness expert Dean Ornish, M.D. (founder & president, Preventive Medicine Research Inst.). Audie Award nominee Karen White delivers an excellent reading of the material, and the production quality of this audio is high. But while the text is informative, it sounds like an infomercial or extended Oprah or Ellen segment—both shows on which the author has appeared—and the lengthy interview portions detract from the narrative flow. Most likely to appeal to fans of Freston and those new to the vegan lifestyle, who will find much of interest here. [The Weinstein hc, published in February, was a New York Times best seller.—Ed.]—Nicole A. Cooke, Montclair State Univ. Lib., NJ

Library Journal

Freston’s sincere but problematic argument for a vegan diet is made to sound manipulative as delivered by Karen White. Freston’s information can be interesting, but her means for connecting her research to a platform for an exclusively vegan diet falls flat in places. White complicates matters with an emotionally laden delivery. A practical and subdued approach would have allowed the facts and ideas to stand for themselves. As a result, a book that has the potential to bring new demographics to the vegan lifestyle comes off as too much like propaganda for listeners to swallow. L.E. © AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

MARCH 2011 - AudioFile