Everything You Need to Know to Be Healthy and Fit on a Plant-Based Diet

I purchased this book because I was mulling over the idea of becoming vegan. I have been vegetarian for a full year. I was disappointed in the information given. It is written very dryly in a seeming monotone. Yes, it contains important information, but I think an opportunity was missed.

This is a great book for anyone interested in eating a vegan diet. Beginners will find everything they need to know boiled down into a single page, on page 88, called "The Vegan Food Guide". People who have been eating vegan diets for a while will find updated nutrition information(the book was just published in 2011), including entire chapters debunking much misinformation and urban folklore about vegan diets. I found the chapters on soy food consumption and the real health benefits of vegan diets particularly interesting.

Instead of being a comprehensive ( and much longer ) book on nutrition, this book focuses on nutrition issues that people eating vegan diets should be aware of. This makes for a shorter, fact based book that is a bit more practical for people who aren't nutrition buffs.

The book has a strong focus on practicality, actually making a vegan diet work in day to day life. In chapter 8 the authors have some really good food preparation suggestions that can be used over and over for many types of food when people are rushed and not into making a recipe. There is also a section in the back of the book on page 243 describing basic cooking instructions for dietary staple foods.

Jack Norris and Virginia Messina are Registered Dietitians who stay regularly abreast of current nutrition research and who are scrupulously honest about reporting the complete story in regards to nutrition...even if it isn't always what people want to hear ( they both regularly maintain blogs dedicated to vegan nutrition information ). In other words, you can depend on them to give you complete, up to date and truthful information.

That is what you will get in this book, expressed in plain, easy to read language.

Many people think that a vegan diet, devoid of all animal products, is inherently unhealthy and unsustainable. But as more and more public figures change the way their eat, it's hard to ignore the buzz surrounding what at first glance is a highly restrictive diet. How does one get balanced nutrition, and keep meals interesting, with just plant foods? "Vegan for Life" serves to answer those questions and more for anyone curious about a meatless lifestyle. This book answers the ubiquitous question of protein sources, while addressing other nutrients that vegans can easily consume enough of with just a bit of planning, such as zinc and iron. Authors Norris and Messina, both dieticians, discuss the important notion of dietary supplements, provide tips for transitioning to a vegan diet, and even talk about healthfully maintaining a vegan diet during pregnancy, breastfeeding, and child rearing. There are no recipes to be found here, but the authors provide some basic ideas for preparing simple vegan foods, and point readers in the direction of a number of tried-and-true vegan cookbooks. Clearly written and easy to understand, this book is a must for both long-term vegans and those just considering such a path.

Originally published for San Francisco/Sacramento Book Reviews.

Vegan for Life covers everything a vegan or aspiring vegan should know about nutrition. The book shatters myths (vegans don't need to supplement b12 for three years, vegans need less calcium, oil is inherently unhealthy) that persist in the vegan community. The authors make a strong argument that the vegan community needs to place a high value on accurate health information if we want people to go vegan and STAY vegan. Beyond providing accurate, up-to-date, science-based information, Ginny Messina and Jack Norris give practical information about how to make meals that easily satisfy nutritional needs, whether you're pregnant, nursing, a young kid, an elderly adult, or an active athlete. The book also provides example meal plans and food suggestions that incorporate the kinds of foods people actually eat. Do yourself a favor and read this book.

Vegan for Life describes clearly and concisely everything a vegan needs to know about maintaining a nutritionally complete diet at all stages in life. The authors treat each important nutrient in detail, describing what foods provide them and what other nutrients are necessary to maximize their availability. Anytime you read a nutrition book, it can be overwhelming -- the idea that you need carefully track your RDA of essential nutrients can quickly seem impossible. But the authors of Vegan for Life consistently reassure the reader that exacting vigilance isn't necessary, and that a balanced diet -- with some essential supplements like B12 -- will keep you in the black.

Essential reading for anyone looking to understand more about nutrition in the context of a vegan diet.

The book is easy to read & incredibly informative. I feel very confident that after a few weeks of needing to reference this as a guide to eating vegan, I'll have learned all the necessary tools. There's a perfect amount of charts and resources to follow up with as well. Very happy I read it.

I'm a medical publisher working with a large medical school and have been macrobiotic and vegan for decades. I consider this book a total winner. It distinguishes itself because the authors have a very healthy respect (and understanding!) of how to read and interpret the biomedical data. They don't use just any study to support their claims, but look for well-powered studies and meta-analyses.

Great job! I heartily recommend this to novice and expert vegans.

As my best friend says, "I wish someone would give you this book the day you decide to go vegan, that would've made life so much easier!" I agree completely. This simplifies yet upholds the details of nutrition. I am a nurse and it taught me several things. I love this book!! Get it, promise you'll be glad you did.

It seems the only real caveat people are issuing on this book is that it only skims their main interest (ex. Raw.) Obviously if the book did this for every small area of interest it would be multitudes longer and would lose it's purpose as being a terrific all around beginners guide into a vegan diet fit for all life stages. For that purpose I believe this book did an absolutely terrific job.

What a great book full of important information about vegan nutrition. Raising two kids vegan, I want to make sure I have all the knowledge to give them the healthiest foods and supplements I can. This book details all this and more in a simple manner. A must read for anyone who wants to live a healthier lifestyle.

I got this book for the special section on eating vegan during pregnancy. If I were only rating the book based on that section, I would give it 5 stars, because it's very hard to find that kind of diet information out there. However, I read on to the next section and was VERY disappointed in their comments on breastfeeding. They suggest starting solids no later than 6 months, regardless of whether baby is ready or interested in them. They seem to imply that babies cannot continue to have complete nutrition past 6 months, which is completely wrong. That and they recommend starting with rice cereal which most health professionals educated specifically in breastfeeding I've run into strongly recommend against starting off with as it is very difficult to digest.

Also reading the early chapters of the book, I was impressed with how much research they had to back them up. However, there were a few topics, some which are controversial, where they mention studies, but do not cite the studies, nor mention an specific details to show they've actually seen the studies. This was really disappointing for me, for it was always the topics I most wanted to be able to see the studies on. I already knew a lot of the info they talk about, and for me, the info I was most looking forward to just wasn't there.

That being said, if you are looking to try to convince someone that a vegan diet is healthy, or someone in a unique situation looking for diet info, this book would be a good buy for you.

This book helps by providing all the detailed info you need in an easy to read format to ensure you're getting all the nutrients you need to be vegan and healthy. I read through the book easily and then refer back to it often. After reading this book, I realized I was missing certain vitamins in my diet and needed to supplement with vitamins and include other foods in my diet. Much of this information was missing from other books I've read. Thanks so much to the authors who also practice what they preach.