Guest guest Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 Weekend Reading: Thrive Diet Sun, 02/17/2008 - 4:00am by FitSugar 362 Views When I flirted with being a vegetarian in college, my parents told me tales of a collegiate basketball player from their co-ed days. The athlete decided to eat a plant-based diet and subsequently was injured all the time. My parents seemed to think that meat was a form of injury prevention. They would be amazed by the whole food, plant based, vegan, almost raw diet that professional Iron Man athlete Brendan Brazier cooked dreamed up and promotes in his book The Thrive Diet ($16.32). The first third of the book lays out a very convincing argument for a plant based diet. It decreases stress, decreases over all body acidity (which is cause for inflammation), and provides more nutrients per calorie. His food philosophy is to eat plenty of small meals a day, drink nutritious smoothies daily (some recipes contain kale), eat raw greens daily, and to partake of an afternoon snack. Brazier also believes we should all be eating a raw energy bar daily concocted out of ingredients like dried dates, quinoa, and ground flax seeds. All that sounds healthy, but for me to follow this diet I would have to completely change how I eat and approach food. Brazier definitely sees food as fuel to power his extreme workout schedule. Food for me is also about taste, texture and pleasure. Not to mention food provides a social forum for family and friends. To see how to start the diet, just read more Brazier is clear that you need to take on the Thrive Diet one step at a time. It is not about perfection but about progress. Since change can create stress, you need to ease into the Thrive Diet by adding nutrient dense foods and weaning yourself off of coffee and refined carbs. If you are vegan, especially if you are into endurance sports (he has recipes for raw vegan sports gels!), and looking for some super healthy recipes, this is the book for you. It contains a lot of recipes for meals, snacks and sports drinks. If you are looking to thrive, buy the book at Amazon. I bet Brazier would prefer that you walk or bike to your local bookstore to pick up your copy. Source Discuss: 9 comments Read Related: book review Brendan Brazier Thrive Diet vegan weekend reading 9 Comments Add a Comment kgtg1 1 I definitely will check this out! 6 hours 46 min ago Report Comment marygrace 2 This looks great. I've been vegan for a couple of years, and have just recently started to cut out the refined carbs and sugars. I've also started getting involved with strength training, and am looking to incorporate more food into my diet that will pack a lot of nutrition, and hopefully protein. 5 hours 19 min ago Report Comment fleurfairy 3 I'm sorry, but human beings need meat. Humans have been omnivores for thousands and thousands of years and thus survived. There's a reason for that. 4 hours 15 min ago Report Comment Greentea1203 4 I was vegan for a year just to see if I could stick to a strict diet, but in the end I didn't like restricting myself from certain food. I even passed on crab and lobster one Xmas eve--a family tradition, and after that I said no more. 3 hours 58 min ago Report Comment HushYuppie 5 For every publication advocating a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle, there will be another dismissive one claiming the contrary. When a well-intentioned person lectures me about how I (as a flip-flopping vegan/vegetarian) could really use a steak, I don't take it any differently than someone opposing my political stance. Just the way the cookie crumbles, eggs/milk/butter optional 2 hours 29 min ago Report Comment JessBear 6 You are a bigger woman than me, HushYuppie. I get horribly offended when people try to tell me I have to eat meat to be healthy. 1 hour 56 min ago Report Comment filmgirl81 7 I've actually been much healthier and feel better since I've become a vegetarian. I was always ill when I ate meat, and I only stuck to white meat and fish. Plus meat has tons of chemicals in it unless it's organic. And I do get offended when people say humans need meat. I don't tell meat eaters to go veg, and I expect the same courtesy in return. 1 hour 52 min ago Report Comment Spectra 8 It's definitely possible to get all your nutritional needs from plant/non-animal sources, you just have to know what to eat. I could see this book being a good resource for vegetarian athletes. I'm not sure if I'm so gung-ho about making sure everything I eat is so uber-healthy that I'd personally buy this book, but having some good energy-providing recipes would be kinda nice. 46 min 34 sec ago Report Comment caryatid 9 beans provide a lot of the same benefits as meats and then some. i might need some black bean soup right about now... 13 min 35 sec ago Report Comment Peter H Sent from - a smarter inbox. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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