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Brad's Raw Made Easy: The Fast, Delicious Way to Lose Weight, Optimize Health, and Live Mostly in the Raw
HEAL, ENERGIZE, AND SLIM DOWN WITH NATURE’S ORIGINAL FAST FOOD
Brad Gruno is someone who loved a good steak and never could have imagined going raw, until he did and it changed his life, his health, and his career. Three months after going raw he was forty pounds lighter and had eradicated his high cholesterol, insomnia and depression. It also put him on a whole new path and gave him a mission to share what he learned.
If you’ve been curious about raw foods, but are a little afraid that dieting this way is too hard to do, takes too much time, or is too expensive, then this is the book for you. With a simple 3-phase strategy that shows you how to make the transition, eating this close to nature has never been easier.
Dip in and discover:
--The science behind plant-based eating
--The basic 8-week eating plan—Prepare, Simply Raw, and Living It!
--The essential ingredients for continued success living 80/20 raw
--150 quick, scrumptious, and easy recipes
--Your personalized food diary, as well as Brad’s answers to his most frequently asked questions about this lifestyle.
Try it! You’ll eliminate toxins, eliminate junk food cravings, and eliminate excess pounds. How easy is that?
Brad Gruno is someone who loved a good steak and never could have imagined going raw, until he did and it changed his life, his health, and his career. Three months after going raw he was forty pounds lighter and had eradicated his high cholesterol, insomnia and depression. It also put him on a whole new path and gave him a mission to share what he learned.
If you’ve been curious about raw foods, but are a little afraid that dieting this way is too hard to do, takes too much time, or is too expensive, then this is the book for you. With a simple 3-phase strategy that shows you how to make the transition, eating this close to nature has never been easier.
Dip in and discover:
--The science behind plant-based eating
--The basic 8-week eating plan—Prepare, Simply Raw, and Living It!
--The essential ingredients for continued success living 80/20 raw
--150 quick, scrumptious, and easy recipes
--Your personalized food diary, as well as Brad’s answers to his most frequently asked questions about this lifestyle.
Try it! You’ll eliminate toxins, eliminate junk food cravings, and eliminate excess pounds. How easy is that?
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
8 people are currently reading
413 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
December 10, 2013
I had two distinct and opposite reactions to this book. As a collection of recipes, it’s got a lot to offer, particularly if you enjoy fresh, healthy, tasty smoothies, juices, dips, and dressings. I’ll certainly be taking inspiration from some of these recipes and can’t wait to try the Green Lemonade.
As a lifestyle book, though, I found this problematic. Gruno’s personal story is certainly inspiring, and I have nothing but respect for how he turned his life around. But he presents his story and philosophies with a fetishistic zeal unlikely to convince anyone who is not already a true believer. He explains how--at the same time he switched from a diet of bagels, cheeseburgers, chocolate bars, and red wine to a raw vegan diet--he gave up caffeine and alcohol, began working out daily at a gym, took up yoga and meditation, joined a vibrant community of like-minded raw food enthusiasts, and eventually started his own health food company. Yet he repeatedly attributes his new vitality, weight loss, improved cholesterol levels, and general happiness to “the power of raw.” There’s no acknowledgement that ANY healthy, nutrient-rich diet--raw or not, vegan, vegetarian, or traditional--would likely have brought similar results when combined with eliminating toxins, exercising vigorously, taking up self-care, participating in a supportive community, and finding a new sense of purpose. Is his raw vegan diet healthful? Certainly. But it’s part of a complex whole, not a magic formula all on its own.
Speaking of magic, in other places, the author makes unsupported claims and implies causal connections that don’t exist. In a chapter entitled “The Science Behind a Raw Food Diet,” we are told that “115 is the magic number. When any food item is heated above 115° F, its nutrient density begins to become comprised [sic] and degraded. We know this because most vitamins are water soluble.” Huh? Why 115? Because “raw foodists believe” it and because Gruno “feel[s] that is an appropriate temperature.” It’s not science to treat a leaf of spinach, a lentil, and an almond as if they were identically fragile. And the presence of the word “because” in the final quoted sentence does not create causation or make it in any way connect with the previous sentence. Gruno also suggests we throw away our microwave ovens because “the convenient packaged foods we love to pull out of the freezer and microwave are often packed with sugar, salt, and saturated fat” Hmm. Who’s “we”? And blaming the microwave for the junk you choose to eat seems a bit like blaming your car if you choose to drive drunk. Elsewhere we hear that 80% raw food to 20% cooked is “the right balance.” Right for whom? And for what? Such dogmatism is frustrating, especially when there’s rarely anything concrete backing it up.
So, yes, I had some real problems with the book as a lifestyle guide and with its claims to scientific accuracy. But I’m certainly happy to have the recipes, and Brad’s Kale Chips sound yummy--I’ll be looking for them at my health food store.
Thank you to Brad Gruno and the Goodreads First-Reads Program for the opportunity to read and review this book. (Note: My copy was an uncorrected proof. I reviewed it under the assumption that the many errors will be corrected before it goes to final press.)
As a lifestyle book, though, I found this problematic. Gruno’s personal story is certainly inspiring, and I have nothing but respect for how he turned his life around. But he presents his story and philosophies with a fetishistic zeal unlikely to convince anyone who is not already a true believer. He explains how--at the same time he switched from a diet of bagels, cheeseburgers, chocolate bars, and red wine to a raw vegan diet--he gave up caffeine and alcohol, began working out daily at a gym, took up yoga and meditation, joined a vibrant community of like-minded raw food enthusiasts, and eventually started his own health food company. Yet he repeatedly attributes his new vitality, weight loss, improved cholesterol levels, and general happiness to “the power of raw.” There’s no acknowledgement that ANY healthy, nutrient-rich diet--raw or not, vegan, vegetarian, or traditional--would likely have brought similar results when combined with eliminating toxins, exercising vigorously, taking up self-care, participating in a supportive community, and finding a new sense of purpose. Is his raw vegan diet healthful? Certainly. But it’s part of a complex whole, not a magic formula all on its own.
Speaking of magic, in other places, the author makes unsupported claims and implies causal connections that don’t exist. In a chapter entitled “The Science Behind a Raw Food Diet,” we are told that “115 is the magic number. When any food item is heated above 115° F, its nutrient density begins to become comprised [sic] and degraded. We know this because most vitamins are water soluble.” Huh? Why 115? Because “raw foodists believe” it and because Gruno “feel[s] that is an appropriate temperature.” It’s not science to treat a leaf of spinach, a lentil, and an almond as if they were identically fragile. And the presence of the word “because” in the final quoted sentence does not create causation or make it in any way connect with the previous sentence. Gruno also suggests we throw away our microwave ovens because “the convenient packaged foods we love to pull out of the freezer and microwave are often packed with sugar, salt, and saturated fat” Hmm. Who’s “we”? And blaming the microwave for the junk you choose to eat seems a bit like blaming your car if you choose to drive drunk. Elsewhere we hear that 80% raw food to 20% cooked is “the right balance.” Right for whom? And for what? Such dogmatism is frustrating, especially when there’s rarely anything concrete backing it up.
So, yes, I had some real problems with the book as a lifestyle guide and with its claims to scientific accuracy. But I’m certainly happy to have the recipes, and Brad’s Kale Chips sound yummy--I’ll be looking for them at my health food store.
Thank you to Brad Gruno and the Goodreads First-Reads Program for the opportunity to read and review this book. (Note: My copy was an uncorrected proof. I reviewed it under the assumption that the many errors will be corrected before it goes to final press.)
July 18, 2019
3.75 stars.
Full disclosure - I had no intention of ever going fully raw. I wanted to add some raw to my already vegan diet. While I enjoyed the bio on Brad (most of the places he named are right up the street from me) I was really only interested in the recipes.
There are several recipes in here that can only be made via a dehydrator which I do not have. Some of the dressings have too much oil in them for my liking. Regardless the book is now filled with page tabs for all the recipes I want to try. So that’s a great thing.
For anybody that wants to go raw I do think this is the book for you. It is motivational and inspirational with some great recipes.
Full disclosure - I had no intention of ever going fully raw. I wanted to add some raw to my already vegan diet. While I enjoyed the bio on Brad (most of the places he named are right up the street from me) I was really only interested in the recipes.
There are several recipes in here that can only be made via a dehydrator which I do not have. Some of the dressings have too much oil in them for my liking. Regardless the book is now filled with page tabs for all the recipes I want to try. So that’s a great thing.
For anybody that wants to go raw I do think this is the book for you. It is motivational and inspirational with some great recipes.
January 6, 2014
Fist off I want to say thank you again to Good Reads First Reads for giving me this wonderful book. I enjoyed it from start to finish. I totally recommend this book to anyone curious about the vegan raw food lifestyle, someone trying to transition into the raw food life style, someone looking to loose weight or get healthier. This book explains all the amazing benefits of going raw vegan. It also provides an easy transition guide to emerge you slowly into the 100% raw cleanse then to the 80/20 raw life style. I especially love all personal testimonies through out the entire book. The recipes in the back of the book are all very simple and most can be made with no special equipment. I love that while the book is a raw food diet book, it in no way trys to be a diet. Theres no calorie counting or food limiting. If your hungry than eat till your not. It's all about bringing good healthy food into your life. The recipies in the back of the book are super easy. Most of them require no special equipment which is nice for those testing out the lifestlye without a huge investment. I also liked that this book dwellved into not just diet but physically and mentally finding yourself in all this. I hate not recommending books to anyone but if I had to not recommend this book to anyone, it would be a raw food pro or anyone who has been in the raw food lifestyle for some time now. I only say this because most of the information in this book is geared towards educating people of the raw foods lifestyle and slowly bringing them into it. This would be a repeat of what you already knew. But over all this is a great book and I'm happy to call it home amongst all my others.
December 13, 2013
I received an uncorrected proof version of this book through the goodreads giveaway and found it informative. As a person that never did any research on different diets - especially not raw or vegan diets – Brad’s Raw Book provided me with a vast range of information that was helpful for a complete beginner in this field. He explained everything you need to know when going raw and supported this by laying out how raw food is beneficial to you. He included many tables that list and define a good amount of produce that he recommends and includes a systematic plan on how to start eating raw as well. Whereas he did praise raw diet for having changed his life, I doubt that many others will have the same or even a similar experience. Regardless, I appreciate that he mentions that one does not have to be completely dedicated to only eating raw to benefit from this diet and he did not push it aggressively onto you. I have no intent to ever stop eating meat or processed food but I was inspired to add healthier choices to my diet. I have tried a bunch of different recipes that he included plenty of in this book, and so far, everything has been delicious. Some recipes require juicers or dehydrators, which, unfortunately, I do not own and therefore cannot make but I am sure they are good as well. Overall, the book was pleasant and interesting to read, the writing style was simple and easy to understand and lastly, there were only a few spelling/grammar mistakes.
Thank you again for hosting this giveaway and providing me with knowledge in an area that I prior knew nothing about.
Thank you again for hosting this giveaway and providing me with knowledge in an area that I prior knew nothing about.
December 5, 2013
I was fortunate to win a copy of this book in a First Reads giveaway and was interested to read it, to learn more about a raw food diet. The author gives a very comprehensive explanation of food enzymes, digestive enzymes, raw foods vs. cooked foods, and all of the benefits of eating a raw food diet. He then gives a step-by-step, daily guide for a 60 day transition to eating all raw foods. The final section gives numerous raw foods recipes.
While I don't think that I will do the 60 day transition to all raw foods, I look forward to trying a few of the recipes. After reading this book, I can see the benefits of incorporating more raw foods into my diet.
While I don't think that I will do the 60 day transition to all raw foods, I look forward to trying a few of the recipes. After reading this book, I can see the benefits of incorporating more raw foods into my diet.
March 1, 2016
This book is a great place to go to for information on a raw foods diet, as well as an eight week plan to begin your journey to raw health. There is a large section of recipes, as well as resources. I am personally looking forward to trying many of these recipes.
March 7, 2014
*I won this book in a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.*
Brad’s Raw Book is a 60-day, 3-phase plan that promises to help you lose weight and improve your vitality, digestion, sleep, and complexion. The book is split into three parts: 1. the philosophy of and arguments for a raw diet, 2. the actual 60-day plan, and 3. recipes to jazz up your meals while following the plan.
Section I
“Raw” is defined as “heated to no more than 115°F.” This is the “magic number” for raw foodists because it is allegedly the hottest temperature food can be exposed to before nutrients and enzymes begin to degrade. Brad also clarifies that while certain dishes such as tartare and sushi are raw, his 60-day plan is intended to be vegan, and encourages readers to reserve these items for their 20% non-raw allowance in the 80/20 raw lifestyle he/she hopefully embraces afterward.
Before moving on to the plan’s implementation though, there are several claims made in the first section that threw up some flags. First off, raw foodists claim that eating raw food makes digestion easier for your body, but if keeping temperatures low preserves all those vitamins, wouldn’t that make your food more molecularly complex and thus more difficult to digest, not easier? Here, Brad would argue, is where the preserved “living plant enzymes that aid with digestion” come into play. However, this argument is based off of Dr. Edward Howell's theories, which are founded on references from the 20s and 30s, whereas more recent publications (like Principles of Anatomy and Physiology) suggest a much more minor role of the enzymes in food in the digestive process. Further reading.
Secondly: What do raw foodists mean by “easier to digest” anyway? Whether or not raw vegetables are “easier” to digest than cooked does not mean your body is struggling to digest that sautéed zucchini. Shouldn't the point be that someone is snacking on squash instead of Doritos, not whether or not that squash is cooked or raw? Brad conveniently doesn’t offer any actual numbers on what percentage of vitamins and minerals are lost when cooking food, but that seems like an important distinction. Are we talking 90% or 10%? Am I really getting that much more vitamin K if I eat my asparagus raw instead of steaming it? A quick Google search yielded numerous studies, and *surprise* it apparently depends on which nutrient you are talking about.
According to Health.com, cooking deactivates the carcinogen-cleansing enzyme myrosinase in broccoli, but emphasizes the muscle-building agent potassium in mushrooms. Beets lose over 25% of their folate when cooked, but the calcium, iron, and magnesium in spinach are more easily absorbed when heated. Cooked carrots and asparagus offer more carotenoids and ferulic acid, but vitamin C levels in red bell peppers and tomatoes decline when cooked (and interestingly enough, Health.com specifies that this happens above 375°F). And here's a study claiming that steam cooking actually improves the cholesterol-lowering potential of leafy vegetables like kale, mustard greens, and collards. Rui Hai Liu, an associate professor of food science at Cornell Universities, states that the vitamin C levels in tomatoes decrease 10% after being cooked for two minutes, and 29% after 30 (at 190°F). BBCgoodfood.com simply suggests “avoid[ing] losing water-soluble vitamins like the vitamin B group as well as vitamin C, by choosing cooking methods which use the minimal amount of water or preferably no water at all, like roasting.”
The point being, even when you are lessening a specific nutrient through cooking, it appears that 50-75% of that vitamin remains intact, which doesn't seem significant enough to fret over. I am glad that Brad Gruno is at least an advocate for living 80/20 raw, but there are people who swear by a 100% raw lifestyle. Worse yet, by ignoring the relativity of the how-to-get-the-best-of-which-nutrient debate, raw foodists are inadvertently spreading blatant misconceptions, such as this sentiment that I read on a master cleanse support forum:
“Cooked anything has major toxins in it, which would seem an unwise thing to ingest on a cleanse.”
Thirdly: even in cases where keeping produce raw preserves one or two specific vitamins, does that even guarantee your body’s ability to absorb it all? In her book, Real Food: What to Eat and Why, Nina Planck writes that “without fats, the body cannot absorb the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K” or properly digest proteins, and thusly strongly advocates cooking with real fats.
Fourthly, in his attack on dairy, Brad assures calcium-concerned readers that calcium from “dark green leafy vegetables such as broccoli, kale, and collard greens have absorption rates of more than 50%, compared with about 32% for milk.” What he conveniently leaves out, though, is how much calcium is in each source to begin with. So let’s compare: 32% of the 305 mg/cup of milk = 97.6 mg of calcium. Conversely, 55% of the 101 mg/cup of kale (the highest concentration of the three foods), only gets you 55.5 mg of calcium. Brad also denounces milk consumption because of the overuse of antibiotics and BGH on cows, but as any serious food researcher can tell you, this is largely a problem with factory farming. Simply getting your milk from a local farmer who raises grass-fed, drug-free cattle seems like a more logical, natural, and sustainable remedy than switching to soy or nut milks.
I was glad to see Brad express concerns about factory farming, processed foods, and microwaves. However, the solution to all of these issues is as simple as eliminating processed foods from your diet. I consider this oversight, coupled with the decision to title part of section 1 “The Science Behind a Raw Foods Diet” while omitting any actual scientific studies to be irresponsible and misleading, and therefore have to leave section 1 with 2 stars.
Section II
The first 14 days of the 60-day plan are “transitional.” The goals for the first week are literally to “add one green smoothie or juice to your regular breakfast” and “eat one salad every day.” Similarly, week 2 has you focus on “adding nutrient-dense foods into your diet while eating fewer less-nutrient dense foods.” Upon reading this I realized that this book is aimed at people who eat a lot of junk food. Although my diet already is largely plant-based, salads and smoothies are generally a rarity for me, so I figured I should still start there (besides, Brad strongly discourages going raw “cold turkey”). After three days, though, it did not feel like my diet had differed from normal (I was eating basically the same meals, just in slightly different forms), so I decided to fast-forward to week three (the details of my weekly log follow at the end).
My biggest issue with this plan is its economic feasibility. Brad’s meal plan calls for dieters to try all of his included recipes, which means a lot of different ingredients. In the FAQs, Brad assures readers that “exotic ingredients can help make dishes unique, but are by no means mandatory,” but then recommends recipes that call for portabellas, papaya, nama shoyu, raw cacao, and carob powder one week; and oyster mushrooms, wakame, kelp noodles, maca, and coconut aminos the next. He leaves openings for leftover sometimes, but not often, which brings me to my second qualm: time commitment! Who has the time to prep all these meals? And this is coming from someone who already makes all of his meals from scratch. When you need to rinse out your food processor twice, sometimes thrice, just to make one dish, there can be no denying that some of these raw recipes are significantly more time consuming than their cooked counterparts (which shouldn’t even make sense). You can always make up your own raw routine (like I did, except for using a handful of Brad’s recipes) of course, but 1. why get this book then? and 2. I guarantee the recipes you find online are going to be similarly time-consuming (I did find this method easier to coordinate crossing over similar ingredients from meal to meal with, at least).
Since most smoothies (in the book and online) call for nut/coconut milk but you won't be able to simply buy this from a store (they're pasteurized), here is some math to consider: a 1-lb. bag of almonds = $6.19. 1 cup of almonds ($1.547) yields about 2 cups of milk. There are 8 cups in half a gallon, so multiply $1.547 x 4 = $6.19/half gallon. At the grocery store, a half-gallon of almond milk costs $2.79 (Silk brand is slightly more expensive). Keep in mind, this is the price for organic almond milk, while that $6.19 bag of almonds I bought was not organic (Want organic? That’ll run you $14.99/lb in the bulk section at Whole Foods). But what about all of those emulsifiers and preservatives in the store-bought almond milk, you ask? Well, if you want to avoid unnecessary added ingredients and still pay less than $6/half gallon, buy real milk . The milk I buy is local, pasture-grazed, hormone-free, minimally pasteurized, and cost $3.79/half gallon.
My biggest peeve with diets is that they are pitched as a temporary “quick-fix” to lose weight or some other too-good-to-be-true promise, so I truly appreciate Brad’s endorsement of yoga, massages, aromatherapy, intentionally setting aside electronic devices, refraining from eating a few hours before bedtime, and regular exercise as integral parts of his plan. It seems like a lot of people think that what you eat is the only facet of health, but Brad appears to understands that stifling your caloric intake for two months is not how you keep weight off and therefore intends this book to serve as a path to a complete shift in your lifestyle and not just some pre-swimsuit season slim-down you dabble in annually. However, due to the staggering impracticality of his provided meal plan (the section's centerpiece), I still have to give it 2 ½ stars. Even 80/20 is a pretty extreme financial and time commitment, unless you’re okay with eating salad almost exclusively.
Section III
Brad’s Raw Book includes 148 recipes: 30 beverages, 23 sauces/dressings, 14 salads, 21 sides, 10 soups, 23 entrees, 2 cereals, 15 desserts, 10 small treats. Unless you own a juicer, subtract 17. 14 recipes require a dehydrator. This is not including the multiple recipes that call for things like sundried tomatoes and coconut flakes, which you apparently are supposed to assume have not been exposed to temperatures above 115°F at any point during their processing? 24 recipes are cooked (mostly entrees and soups), so those only apply the last two weeks. 7 more actually call for blatantly non-raw ingredients (maple syrup is not raw, and I don’t see how canned anything is considered raw - Maybe raw foodists just play the blissfully ignorant card here?). Then, not counting condiments and the two that explain how to make your own nondairy milk, we are now at 61 recipes for meals; 15 of which are actually dessert, and 31 are sides/snacks/treats, leaving us with 15 main courses.
This number would not be so disappointing if it were not for the fact that this is the amount of entrees that is supposed to be the focal point of your caloric consumption for 32-60 days (depending on how you approach the two weeks on either side of the 100% raw month) of a radically different diet. Furthermore, considering how many of them require special equipment or are things that are easy to assemble sans-recipe (11 smoothies and 14 salads seems a bit like filler, honestly), I have a hard time recommending this book even as a raw foods recipe book. The recipes that I tried were delicious (oh, that Caesar dressing!), but I would still have to overlook the lengthy list of obscure ingredients (oh, that Caesar dressing…) in order to award section 3 more than a lukewarm 3 stars.
Conclusion:
If the majority of people adopting this diet are coming from eating fast food every day, of course they are going to lose weight and improve their digestion. These results are deceiving because just about any change in their eating habits would be an improvement. Raw food isn’t the answer; not eating McDonald’s every day is. Reduce/cut out refined sugars and flour and you could easily achieve the same goals. Vegetarians/vegans/raw foodists criticize animal products for their fat content, but first look at the quality and quantity of meat in the tests’ subjects’ diets before you come to any conclusions.
Case in point: one of my housemates, who used to be vegetarian and now eats meat, lost 60 pounds in the last year and a half by reducing carbohydrates and adding rigorous exercise to his daily routine. My other housemate was vegetarian from 4th grade until his junior year of high school. He grew a foot the first year of eating meat again. But protein from animal sources isn't necessary for proper development, right?
Myself, I am 6’2 and have fluctuated between 170-180 lbs. since high school. I was vegetarian for three years in college, very briefly pescetarian after graduation, and am now a selective omnivore (I only eat animals products that are ethically produced). I will admit that I probably consume more bread than I should, but I commute by bike, run about 20 miles a week, do not drink alcohol/soda or smoke, never eat fast food and, again, have not seen a change in my body type for over ten years, regardless which of the aforementioned diets I abided by. I know genetics probably plays a part in this, but to chalk it up to that solely is a little too dismissive. Why not just make sure you are eating a variety of whole foods, raw and cooked, plant and animal, and not worry about whether you are getting 100% or 75% of the allicin in that onion? Brad is absolutely right in saying that processed foods are making people fat, sick, and lethargic, but why he ignores the obvious "eliminate processed foods" solution in favor for an over-the-top regulation of your diet just does not make sense to me.
Weekly Log:
Week 1 (week 3) 100% raw:
•I felt: No changes in digestion, energy, or sleep so far.
•Meals: I did not have time to do much grocery shopping/prepare meals, so literally all of my meals were either a smoothie or salad, which made for a pretty dull week. Brad’s Beginner Smoothie was tasty, but I’ve already found it more exciting to make up my own combinations. His Caesar dressing tastes incredible. Snacks consisted of nuts, raisins, and/or fruit.
•Activity: I ran just under 15 miles total. I did a 45-minute body weight workout on Saturday, as well as a few abdominal workouts.
•Weight: I forgot to weigh myself, so let's just assume I started out around 178.
Week 2 (week 4) 100% raw:
•I felt: crummy this entire week. Page 92 says, “you might still feel some flu-like symptoms, but health benefits… will also kick in.” The congestion, stuffy nose, and tiredness coincide with this, but the scratchy throat and cough lead me to believe it is an actual cold/flu.
•Meals: My appetite was only minimally affected so I did have the opportunity to try a couple of Brad’s entrée recipes – the burritos and stuffed mushrooms, specifically. I bought some raw granola and made almond milk for when I did not have time the night before to make a breakfast smoothie. Go Raw Granola costs $12.99 for a 1-lb. bag, so I will definitely not be buying that again. Snacks consisted of nuts, raisins, fruit, and a container of Brad’s raw kale chips ($6.99/2.5 oz – another absurdly overpriced purchase).
•Activity: I felt too sick to exercise. At least biking to/from work/errands counts for something.
•Weight: 172.
Week 3 (week 5) 100% raw:
•I felt: much better. My head remained plugged up until Thursday, but the aching and cough are all but gone. It is hard to gauge changes in my energy levels as pertaining to either the diet or recovery from sickness.
•Activity: I only got out to run once (4.1 miles), but it felt great.
•Meals: I’m not sure that I am getting enough protein or calcium. Brad recommends more nuts and seeds, but neither of those are whole proteins. Apparently spirulina and hempseeds are considered complete, but do not score perfectly on the PDCAAS (Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score). I tried Brad’s mac n’ cheese (delicious!) and papaya pudding (okay), but other than that have been sourcing most of my dinners and desserts from online recipes that require more accessible ingredients. Breakfasts have all been smoothies, lunches salads, and snacks are still nuts, raisins, and fruit.
•Weight: 172
Week 4 (week 6) 100% raw:
•I felt: normal. Now that I am no longer sick, I can safely and honestly say that this diet has not bestowed any outward improvements on my health. In fact, the only noticeable difference seems to be that I am significantly gassier. That doesn’t suggest improved digestion, does it?
•Activity: The temperature has been hovering around the teens, so I only managed 15 miles. I did a few ab workouts on the days I was stuck indoors.
•Meals: The only new recipes from the book I tried were the lasagna rolls and Pad Thai. Both were fantastic, although the Pad Thai tasted nothing like the actual dish. Smoothies for breakfast have really grown on me, except for when I work out because even with almonds and/or chia seeds they just are not sufficiently filling.
•Weight: 172
Week 5 (week 7) 90+% raw:
•I felt: fine. No changes. Having done the amount of research that I have and confirmed my suspicions with a degree of certainty that this is just another hype diet, I am more annoyed than anything about not being able to have a hot bowl of tomato soup and grilled cheese.
•Activity: The weather has been more moderate, but I still fell short of my normal mileage, with a total of 18.25. I did a few ab workouts and one upper-body workout as well.
•Meals: Even though I could have started eating 80/20 this week, I decided to stay 100% raw. Well, except that after reading an article on nytimes.com that said “no research has specifically addressed how roasting nuts may change their nutritional value,” I saw no reason to avoid the single-ingredient dry roasted peanut butter that I already owned. I made granola and a cauliflower pizza crust too, but since my oven doesn’t go below 170° neither of those dishes were technically raw either. Still, even with those exceptions, I assume that I remained more than 90% raw. Brad’s vegetable kabobs, red bell pepper soup and chocolate cupcake recipes were all excellent, although I am still not a big fan of gazpacho.
•Weight: 173
Week 6 (week 8) – 90+% raw:
•I felt: Fine. I’m not sure if store-bought or homemade nut/coconut milk has more calcium, but I allowed myself to buy some almond and coconut milk because I assume the factory-processed stuff is fortified with extra calcium, and my knees have felt achier and achier the higher my mileage climbs over the last few weeks.
•Activity: 22.3 miles cumulatively, and a few ab workouts.
•Meals: The only new recipe (from the book or online) I tried was Brad’s Chia Chai Pudding, which was really good, especially with granola when I ran out of almond milk.
•Weight: 169. I hypothesize that the lower-than-average exercise I got during the duration of this diet was probably for the better because even with a lower amount of performance, I still lost around 10 pounds in six weeks (assuming I was closer to 180 than 170, which was commonly the case).
Brad’s Raw Book is a 60-day, 3-phase plan that promises to help you lose weight and improve your vitality, digestion, sleep, and complexion. The book is split into three parts: 1. the philosophy of and arguments for a raw diet, 2. the actual 60-day plan, and 3. recipes to jazz up your meals while following the plan.
Section I
“Raw” is defined as “heated to no more than 115°F.” This is the “magic number” for raw foodists because it is allegedly the hottest temperature food can be exposed to before nutrients and enzymes begin to degrade. Brad also clarifies that while certain dishes such as tartare and sushi are raw, his 60-day plan is intended to be vegan, and encourages readers to reserve these items for their 20% non-raw allowance in the 80/20 raw lifestyle he/she hopefully embraces afterward.
Before moving on to the plan’s implementation though, there are several claims made in the first section that threw up some flags. First off, raw foodists claim that eating raw food makes digestion easier for your body, but if keeping temperatures low preserves all those vitamins, wouldn’t that make your food more molecularly complex and thus more difficult to digest, not easier? Here, Brad would argue, is where the preserved “living plant enzymes that aid with digestion” come into play. However, this argument is based off of Dr. Edward Howell's theories, which are founded on references from the 20s and 30s, whereas more recent publications (like Principles of Anatomy and Physiology) suggest a much more minor role of the enzymes in food in the digestive process. Further reading.
Secondly: What do raw foodists mean by “easier to digest” anyway? Whether or not raw vegetables are “easier” to digest than cooked does not mean your body is struggling to digest that sautéed zucchini. Shouldn't the point be that someone is snacking on squash instead of Doritos, not whether or not that squash is cooked or raw? Brad conveniently doesn’t offer any actual numbers on what percentage of vitamins and minerals are lost when cooking food, but that seems like an important distinction. Are we talking 90% or 10%? Am I really getting that much more vitamin K if I eat my asparagus raw instead of steaming it? A quick Google search yielded numerous studies, and *surprise* it apparently depends on which nutrient you are talking about.
According to Health.com, cooking deactivates the carcinogen-cleansing enzyme myrosinase in broccoli, but emphasizes the muscle-building agent potassium in mushrooms. Beets lose over 25% of their folate when cooked, but the calcium, iron, and magnesium in spinach are more easily absorbed when heated. Cooked carrots and asparagus offer more carotenoids and ferulic acid, but vitamin C levels in red bell peppers and tomatoes decline when cooked (and interestingly enough, Health.com specifies that this happens above 375°F). And here's a study claiming that steam cooking actually improves the cholesterol-lowering potential of leafy vegetables like kale, mustard greens, and collards. Rui Hai Liu, an associate professor of food science at Cornell Universities, states that the vitamin C levels in tomatoes decrease 10% after being cooked for two minutes, and 29% after 30 (at 190°F). BBCgoodfood.com simply suggests “avoid[ing] losing water-soluble vitamins like the vitamin B group as well as vitamin C, by choosing cooking methods which use the minimal amount of water or preferably no water at all, like roasting.”
The point being, even when you are lessening a specific nutrient through cooking, it appears that 50-75% of that vitamin remains intact, which doesn't seem significant enough to fret over. I am glad that Brad Gruno is at least an advocate for living 80/20 raw, but there are people who swear by a 100% raw lifestyle. Worse yet, by ignoring the relativity of the how-to-get-the-best-of-which-nutrient debate, raw foodists are inadvertently spreading blatant misconceptions, such as this sentiment that I read on a master cleanse support forum:
“Cooked anything has major toxins in it, which would seem an unwise thing to ingest on a cleanse.”
Thirdly: even in cases where keeping produce raw preserves one or two specific vitamins, does that even guarantee your body’s ability to absorb it all? In her book, Real Food: What to Eat and Why, Nina Planck writes that “without fats, the body cannot absorb the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K” or properly digest proteins, and thusly strongly advocates cooking with real fats.
Fourthly, in his attack on dairy, Brad assures calcium-concerned readers that calcium from “dark green leafy vegetables such as broccoli, kale, and collard greens have absorption rates of more than 50%, compared with about 32% for milk.” What he conveniently leaves out, though, is how much calcium is in each source to begin with. So let’s compare: 32% of the 305 mg/cup of milk = 97.6 mg of calcium. Conversely, 55% of the 101 mg/cup of kale (the highest concentration of the three foods), only gets you 55.5 mg of calcium. Brad also denounces milk consumption because of the overuse of antibiotics and BGH on cows, but as any serious food researcher can tell you, this is largely a problem with factory farming. Simply getting your milk from a local farmer who raises grass-fed, drug-free cattle seems like a more logical, natural, and sustainable remedy than switching to soy or nut milks.
I was glad to see Brad express concerns about factory farming, processed foods, and microwaves. However, the solution to all of these issues is as simple as eliminating processed foods from your diet. I consider this oversight, coupled with the decision to title part of section 1 “The Science Behind a Raw Foods Diet” while omitting any actual scientific studies to be irresponsible and misleading, and therefore have to leave section 1 with 2 stars.
Section II
The first 14 days of the 60-day plan are “transitional.” The goals for the first week are literally to “add one green smoothie or juice to your regular breakfast” and “eat one salad every day.” Similarly, week 2 has you focus on “adding nutrient-dense foods into your diet while eating fewer less-nutrient dense foods.” Upon reading this I realized that this book is aimed at people who eat a lot of junk food. Although my diet already is largely plant-based, salads and smoothies are generally a rarity for me, so I figured I should still start there (besides, Brad strongly discourages going raw “cold turkey”). After three days, though, it did not feel like my diet had differed from normal (I was eating basically the same meals, just in slightly different forms), so I decided to fast-forward to week three (the details of my weekly log follow at the end).
My biggest issue with this plan is its economic feasibility. Brad’s meal plan calls for dieters to try all of his included recipes, which means a lot of different ingredients. In the FAQs, Brad assures readers that “exotic ingredients can help make dishes unique, but are by no means mandatory,” but then recommends recipes that call for portabellas, papaya, nama shoyu, raw cacao, and carob powder one week; and oyster mushrooms, wakame, kelp noodles, maca, and coconut aminos the next. He leaves openings for leftover sometimes, but not often, which brings me to my second qualm: time commitment! Who has the time to prep all these meals? And this is coming from someone who already makes all of his meals from scratch. When you need to rinse out your food processor twice, sometimes thrice, just to make one dish, there can be no denying that some of these raw recipes are significantly more time consuming than their cooked counterparts (which shouldn’t even make sense). You can always make up your own raw routine (like I did, except for using a handful of Brad’s recipes) of course, but 1. why get this book then? and 2. I guarantee the recipes you find online are going to be similarly time-consuming (I did find this method easier to coordinate crossing over similar ingredients from meal to meal with, at least).
Since most smoothies (in the book and online) call for nut/coconut milk but you won't be able to simply buy this from a store (they're pasteurized), here is some math to consider: a 1-lb. bag of almonds = $6.19. 1 cup of almonds ($1.547) yields about 2 cups of milk. There are 8 cups in half a gallon, so multiply $1.547 x 4 = $6.19/half gallon. At the grocery store, a half-gallon of almond milk costs $2.79 (Silk brand is slightly more expensive). Keep in mind, this is the price for organic almond milk, while that $6.19 bag of almonds I bought was not organic (Want organic? That’ll run you $14.99/lb in the bulk section at Whole Foods). But what about all of those emulsifiers and preservatives in the store-bought almond milk, you ask? Well, if you want to avoid unnecessary added ingredients and still pay less than $6/half gallon, buy real milk . The milk I buy is local, pasture-grazed, hormone-free, minimally pasteurized, and cost $3.79/half gallon.
My biggest peeve with diets is that they are pitched as a temporary “quick-fix” to lose weight or some other too-good-to-be-true promise, so I truly appreciate Brad’s endorsement of yoga, massages, aromatherapy, intentionally setting aside electronic devices, refraining from eating a few hours before bedtime, and regular exercise as integral parts of his plan. It seems like a lot of people think that what you eat is the only facet of health, but Brad appears to understands that stifling your caloric intake for two months is not how you keep weight off and therefore intends this book to serve as a path to a complete shift in your lifestyle and not just some pre-swimsuit season slim-down you dabble in annually. However, due to the staggering impracticality of his provided meal plan (the section's centerpiece), I still have to give it 2 ½ stars. Even 80/20 is a pretty extreme financial and time commitment, unless you’re okay with eating salad almost exclusively.
Section III
Brad’s Raw Book includes 148 recipes: 30 beverages, 23 sauces/dressings, 14 salads, 21 sides, 10 soups, 23 entrees, 2 cereals, 15 desserts, 10 small treats. Unless you own a juicer, subtract 17. 14 recipes require a dehydrator. This is not including the multiple recipes that call for things like sundried tomatoes and coconut flakes, which you apparently are supposed to assume have not been exposed to temperatures above 115°F at any point during their processing? 24 recipes are cooked (mostly entrees and soups), so those only apply the last two weeks. 7 more actually call for blatantly non-raw ingredients (maple syrup is not raw, and I don’t see how canned anything is considered raw - Maybe raw foodists just play the blissfully ignorant card here?). Then, not counting condiments and the two that explain how to make your own nondairy milk, we are now at 61 recipes for meals; 15 of which are actually dessert, and 31 are sides/snacks/treats, leaving us with 15 main courses.
This number would not be so disappointing if it were not for the fact that this is the amount of entrees that is supposed to be the focal point of your caloric consumption for 32-60 days (depending on how you approach the two weeks on either side of the 100% raw month) of a radically different diet. Furthermore, considering how many of them require special equipment or are things that are easy to assemble sans-recipe (11 smoothies and 14 salads seems a bit like filler, honestly), I have a hard time recommending this book even as a raw foods recipe book. The recipes that I tried were delicious (oh, that Caesar dressing!), but I would still have to overlook the lengthy list of obscure ingredients (oh, that Caesar dressing…) in order to award section 3 more than a lukewarm 3 stars.
Conclusion:
If the majority of people adopting this diet are coming from eating fast food every day, of course they are going to lose weight and improve their digestion. These results are deceiving because just about any change in their eating habits would be an improvement. Raw food isn’t the answer; not eating McDonald’s every day is. Reduce/cut out refined sugars and flour and you could easily achieve the same goals. Vegetarians/vegans/raw foodists criticize animal products for their fat content, but first look at the quality and quantity of meat in the tests’ subjects’ diets before you come to any conclusions.
Case in point: one of my housemates, who used to be vegetarian and now eats meat, lost 60 pounds in the last year and a half by reducing carbohydrates and adding rigorous exercise to his daily routine. My other housemate was vegetarian from 4th grade until his junior year of high school. He grew a foot the first year of eating meat again. But protein from animal sources isn't necessary for proper development, right?
Myself, I am 6’2 and have fluctuated between 170-180 lbs. since high school. I was vegetarian for three years in college, very briefly pescetarian after graduation, and am now a selective omnivore (I only eat animals products that are ethically produced). I will admit that I probably consume more bread than I should, but I commute by bike, run about 20 miles a week, do not drink alcohol/soda or smoke, never eat fast food and, again, have not seen a change in my body type for over ten years, regardless which of the aforementioned diets I abided by. I know genetics probably plays a part in this, but to chalk it up to that solely is a little too dismissive. Why not just make sure you are eating a variety of whole foods, raw and cooked, plant and animal, and not worry about whether you are getting 100% or 75% of the allicin in that onion? Brad is absolutely right in saying that processed foods are making people fat, sick, and lethargic, but why he ignores the obvious "eliminate processed foods" solution in favor for an over-the-top regulation of your diet just does not make sense to me.
Weekly Log:
Week 1 (week 3) 100% raw:
•I felt: No changes in digestion, energy, or sleep so far.
•Meals: I did not have time to do much grocery shopping/prepare meals, so literally all of my meals were either a smoothie or salad, which made for a pretty dull week. Brad’s Beginner Smoothie was tasty, but I’ve already found it more exciting to make up my own combinations. His Caesar dressing tastes incredible. Snacks consisted of nuts, raisins, and/or fruit.
•Activity: I ran just under 15 miles total. I did a 45-minute body weight workout on Saturday, as well as a few abdominal workouts.
•Weight: I forgot to weigh myself, so let's just assume I started out around 178.
Week 2 (week 4) 100% raw:
•I felt: crummy this entire week. Page 92 says, “you might still feel some flu-like symptoms, but health benefits… will also kick in.” The congestion, stuffy nose, and tiredness coincide with this, but the scratchy throat and cough lead me to believe it is an actual cold/flu.
•Meals: My appetite was only minimally affected so I did have the opportunity to try a couple of Brad’s entrée recipes – the burritos and stuffed mushrooms, specifically. I bought some raw granola and made almond milk for when I did not have time the night before to make a breakfast smoothie. Go Raw Granola costs $12.99 for a 1-lb. bag, so I will definitely not be buying that again. Snacks consisted of nuts, raisins, fruit, and a container of Brad’s raw kale chips ($6.99/2.5 oz – another absurdly overpriced purchase).
•Activity: I felt too sick to exercise. At least biking to/from work/errands counts for something.
•Weight: 172.
Week 3 (week 5) 100% raw:
•I felt: much better. My head remained plugged up until Thursday, but the aching and cough are all but gone. It is hard to gauge changes in my energy levels as pertaining to either the diet or recovery from sickness.
•Activity: I only got out to run once (4.1 miles), but it felt great.
•Meals: I’m not sure that I am getting enough protein or calcium. Brad recommends more nuts and seeds, but neither of those are whole proteins. Apparently spirulina and hempseeds are considered complete, but do not score perfectly on the PDCAAS (Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score). I tried Brad’s mac n’ cheese (delicious!) and papaya pudding (okay), but other than that have been sourcing most of my dinners and desserts from online recipes that require more accessible ingredients. Breakfasts have all been smoothies, lunches salads, and snacks are still nuts, raisins, and fruit.
•Weight: 172
Week 4 (week 6) 100% raw:
•I felt: normal. Now that I am no longer sick, I can safely and honestly say that this diet has not bestowed any outward improvements on my health. In fact, the only noticeable difference seems to be that I am significantly gassier. That doesn’t suggest improved digestion, does it?
•Activity: The temperature has been hovering around the teens, so I only managed 15 miles. I did a few ab workouts on the days I was stuck indoors.
•Meals: The only new recipes from the book I tried were the lasagna rolls and Pad Thai. Both were fantastic, although the Pad Thai tasted nothing like the actual dish. Smoothies for breakfast have really grown on me, except for when I work out because even with almonds and/or chia seeds they just are not sufficiently filling.
•Weight: 172
Week 5 (week 7) 90+% raw:
•I felt: fine. No changes. Having done the amount of research that I have and confirmed my suspicions with a degree of certainty that this is just another hype diet, I am more annoyed than anything about not being able to have a hot bowl of tomato soup and grilled cheese.
•Activity: The weather has been more moderate, but I still fell short of my normal mileage, with a total of 18.25. I did a few ab workouts and one upper-body workout as well.
•Meals: Even though I could have started eating 80/20 this week, I decided to stay 100% raw. Well, except that after reading an article on nytimes.com that said “no research has specifically addressed how roasting nuts may change their nutritional value,” I saw no reason to avoid the single-ingredient dry roasted peanut butter that I already owned. I made granola and a cauliflower pizza crust too, but since my oven doesn’t go below 170° neither of those dishes were technically raw either. Still, even with those exceptions, I assume that I remained more than 90% raw. Brad’s vegetable kabobs, red bell pepper soup and chocolate cupcake recipes were all excellent, although I am still not a big fan of gazpacho.
•Weight: 173
Week 6 (week 8) – 90+% raw:
•I felt: Fine. I’m not sure if store-bought or homemade nut/coconut milk has more calcium, but I allowed myself to buy some almond and coconut milk because I assume the factory-processed stuff is fortified with extra calcium, and my knees have felt achier and achier the higher my mileage climbs over the last few weeks.
•Activity: 22.3 miles cumulatively, and a few ab workouts.
•Meals: The only new recipe (from the book or online) I tried was Brad’s Chia Chai Pudding, which was really good, especially with granola when I ran out of almond milk.
•Weight: 169. I hypothesize that the lower-than-average exercise I got during the duration of this diet was probably for the better because even with a lower amount of performance, I still lost around 10 pounds in six weeks (assuming I was closer to 180 than 170, which was commonly the case).
November 1, 2019
I received this book through a goodreads giveaway. Unfortunately it has been on my TBR pile for much too long.
Though I may still not be convinced raw is "easy," I feel motivated to incorporate raw recipes into my diet. (Full disclosure--I don't cook or prepare food at all so my idea of easy is likely skewed.) The structure of the book was accessible and well organized and the author's passion and enthusiasm for the subject was encouraging without being condescending or exhausting. Thoughtfully placed were testimonies from other individuals that have chosen raw.
Even though I don't intend to dive into 60 days of raw I will definitely be exploring these recipes and techniques in the weeks to come.
Though I may still not be convinced raw is "easy," I feel motivated to incorporate raw recipes into my diet. (Full disclosure--I don't cook or prepare food at all so my idea of easy is likely skewed.) The structure of the book was accessible and well organized and the author's passion and enthusiasm for the subject was encouraging without being condescending or exhausting. Thoughtfully placed were testimonies from other individuals that have chosen raw.
Even though I don't intend to dive into 60 days of raw I will definitely be exploring these recipes and techniques in the weeks to come.
December 1, 2016
This book was a dollar tree find (score!) and pretty interesting. The only thing is it read very much like a boring text book. It has put me to sleep every night this week. So that's a plus, right?
May 26, 2017
Great book for those curious about the raw lifestyle or wanting to try transitioning into it - light and simplified for beginners.
January 4, 2014
Goodreads First Reads Giveaway Book.
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Just in time for many New Year’s resolutions is a book to help one lose weight and improve their health. Brad's Raw Made Easy: The Fast, Delicious Way to Lose Weight, Optimize Health, and Live Mostly in the Raw contains valuable information about food, both the good and bad. It’s also packed with helpful information about healthy lifestyle, diet, and grocery shopping.
Although the author, Brad Gruno, divided the book into three parts, there’s really only two: the health effects of a raw diet and a sample diet plan with grocery suggestions. As a scientist, I wasn’t too impressed with the first part with the author attempting to claim that raw diet improved his health, even with several personal testimonials presented. Yes, these stories were very inspiring, but they lack believable fact-based evidence to convince others to switch to the “raw” side. There’s more to a healthy lifestyle than just diet. There’s exercise, sleep, and community involvement too. One has to live a healthy lifestyle in everything they do, not just what they eat. Yes, the author does mention these other activities, but only in a supporting manner to the “raw” diet. Furthermore, the author didn’t convince me that cooking anything hotter than 115 degrees, or with a microwave, is always bad for us. Not sure what scientific research that he is basing this upon. Also, I don’t know where the 80% raw and 20% cooked ratio came from. I guess that we just have to just believe the author – just because he said so.
As for the second part, I was impressed with the variety of fresh and tasty recipes. I look forward to using several of them in the future, such as the smoothies and the burrito. Also, the 60-day plan provides some a detailed plan to improve their diet for two months. So, if you read this book, I recommend that you just skip to the second and third part for the recipes. However, I do look forward to finding some of his famous Brad’s Raw Chips and their yummy styles from hot kale to sun dried tomato, to name a few.
Brad's Raw Made Easy is just another in a large pool of diet books. If you’re looking for new ideas for healthy foods, this book has some great recipes for you. Otherwise, you should just talk to your family doctor about ways to improve your health.
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Just in time for many New Year’s resolutions is a book to help one lose weight and improve their health. Brad's Raw Made Easy: The Fast, Delicious Way to Lose Weight, Optimize Health, and Live Mostly in the Raw contains valuable information about food, both the good and bad. It’s also packed with helpful information about healthy lifestyle, diet, and grocery shopping.
Although the author, Brad Gruno, divided the book into three parts, there’s really only two: the health effects of a raw diet and a sample diet plan with grocery suggestions. As a scientist, I wasn’t too impressed with the first part with the author attempting to claim that raw diet improved his health, even with several personal testimonials presented. Yes, these stories were very inspiring, but they lack believable fact-based evidence to convince others to switch to the “raw” side. There’s more to a healthy lifestyle than just diet. There’s exercise, sleep, and community involvement too. One has to live a healthy lifestyle in everything they do, not just what they eat. Yes, the author does mention these other activities, but only in a supporting manner to the “raw” diet. Furthermore, the author didn’t convince me that cooking anything hotter than 115 degrees, or with a microwave, is always bad for us. Not sure what scientific research that he is basing this upon. Also, I don’t know where the 80% raw and 20% cooked ratio came from. I guess that we just have to just believe the author – just because he said so.
As for the second part, I was impressed with the variety of fresh and tasty recipes. I look forward to using several of them in the future, such as the smoothies and the burrito. Also, the 60-day plan provides some a detailed plan to improve their diet for two months. So, if you read this book, I recommend that you just skip to the second and third part for the recipes. However, I do look forward to finding some of his famous Brad’s Raw Chips and their yummy styles from hot kale to sun dried tomato, to name a few.
Brad's Raw Made Easy is just another in a large pool of diet books. If you’re looking for new ideas for healthy foods, this book has some great recipes for you. Otherwise, you should just talk to your family doctor about ways to improve your health.
January 22, 2014
(Got this book through the first reads giveaway.) As a "diet book" there are several good things about this book and a lot of bad. First the good: I like the inspirational stories about Raw dieting/lifestyles included in the book. There is great information on nutrition, trouble shooting suggestions for the diet transition, and my favorite the ingredient comparisons. I appreciate that the author recognizes that going raw is a big change for the average person and that he tries to make this transition more achievable through this 60 day plan and even compromises with a 80/20 diet lifestyle.
However, this leads me to the “bad” parts of the book. I find this whole concept unrealistic for the average person even with the compromises. I disagree with the author that the challenges of work, family, overall culture, money, time, cravings, etc. will not set you back when making the transition to a raw diet. There is a huge learning curve for such a drastic diet transformation and I don’t think people will stick with it especially not for 2 months. For example I do not enjoy drinking my meals and for the diet to suggest drinking 2 smoothies a day just won’t happen. I also feel that some of the nutritional/health statements are over-exaggerated to glorify the raw diet when in reality just increasing produce and reducing processed foods will have the same benefits with more chance of long-term success.
Overall this book offers a detailed plan of how one man successfully changed his life in amazing ways. There are guidelines provided to help people change their health mentally and physically in hopes of improving their overall lifestyle for good. There are also several recipes included in the book to help people stay on the raw diet without sacrificing variety in their meals.
However, this leads me to the “bad” parts of the book. I find this whole concept unrealistic for the average person even with the compromises. I disagree with the author that the challenges of work, family, overall culture, money, time, cravings, etc. will not set you back when making the transition to a raw diet. There is a huge learning curve for such a drastic diet transformation and I don’t think people will stick with it especially not for 2 months. For example I do not enjoy drinking my meals and for the diet to suggest drinking 2 smoothies a day just won’t happen. I also feel that some of the nutritional/health statements are over-exaggerated to glorify the raw diet when in reality just increasing produce and reducing processed foods will have the same benefits with more chance of long-term success.
Overall this book offers a detailed plan of how one man successfully changed his life in amazing ways. There are guidelines provided to help people change their health mentally and physically in hopes of improving their overall lifestyle for good. There are also several recipes included in the book to help people stay on the raw diet without sacrificing variety in their meals.
January 27, 2014
This review is for Brad's Raw Made Easy which I received from Goodreads.
This was a very informative and easy to read book. I love the fact that the recipes were made from normal everyday ingredients. Many raw books contain recipes requiring hard to find ingredients such as lotus root, zucchini flowers and strange mushrooms that you can only find while foraging in the woods. Brad's recipes all call for normal ingredients that you can find in any grocery store. And the number of ingredients in each recipe is relatively small so they are very quick to prepare.
I tried two recipes already, Morning Corn Soup and Rawkin' Red Bell Pepper Soup. The Bell pepper soup was my favorite. The Morning Corn Soup was good too, especially if you like coconut.
This is one of the best raw books that I've read (and I've read a lot!). Brad includes many stories of his friends and their journey into the raw food world. He doesn't try to convert anyone on the fact that cooked food is bad. He simply tells his story and includes advice that makes the raw food lifestyle seem accessible to anyone who wants to try it.
I am rating this 5 stars because I found several more recipes that I really want to try.
This was a very informative and easy to read book. I love the fact that the recipes were made from normal everyday ingredients. Many raw books contain recipes requiring hard to find ingredients such as lotus root, zucchini flowers and strange mushrooms that you can only find while foraging in the woods. Brad's recipes all call for normal ingredients that you can find in any grocery store. And the number of ingredients in each recipe is relatively small so they are very quick to prepare.
I tried two recipes already, Morning Corn Soup and Rawkin' Red Bell Pepper Soup. The Bell pepper soup was my favorite. The Morning Corn Soup was good too, especially if you like coconut.
This is one of the best raw books that I've read (and I've read a lot!). Brad includes many stories of his friends and their journey into the raw food world. He doesn't try to convert anyone on the fact that cooked food is bad. He simply tells his story and includes advice that makes the raw food lifestyle seem accessible to anyone who wants to try it.
I am rating this 5 stars because I found several more recipes that I really want to try.
January 16, 2014
RAW: uncooked, or heated to no more than 115’F
I’m going to use this book as truth to my friends and acquaintances who think they cannot live without meat. Author Brad Guno was that guy who enjoyed steak and potatoes, until he decided to take control of his health. After watching a DVD titled Eating, this decision came easy for Guno.
I live in Chicago and have been intrigued by two food establishments Karyns RAW and Soul Vegetarian. I have eaten lunch and dinner from them several times and I am always amazed at their menu. I feel good about adding RAW to my diet, as a diabetic since eliminating red meats my A1C has increasingly gone down, currently at 6.4.
I was blessed in receiving this book, I didn’t order it or the bag of Kale chips that was shipped with it, but I was thankful upon receiving it. I’ve always wondered about a RAW diet or adding RAW to my current lifestyle but how do I get started? Do I need one of those dehydrator machines? What is live or living foods? This book really does make the shift easy. Gruno offers an 8-week eating plan step by step to your RAW transition.
One of the best parts of the book can be found in Part II – resources. In this section you will find suggested items for your journey.
Thank you Brad for this great beginning
I’m going to use this book as truth to my friends and acquaintances who think they cannot live without meat. Author Brad Guno was that guy who enjoyed steak and potatoes, until he decided to take control of his health. After watching a DVD titled Eating, this decision came easy for Guno.
I live in Chicago and have been intrigued by two food establishments Karyns RAW and Soul Vegetarian. I have eaten lunch and dinner from them several times and I am always amazed at their menu. I feel good about adding RAW to my diet, as a diabetic since eliminating red meats my A1C has increasingly gone down, currently at 6.4.
I was blessed in receiving this book, I didn’t order it or the bag of Kale chips that was shipped with it, but I was thankful upon receiving it. I’ve always wondered about a RAW diet or adding RAW to my current lifestyle but how do I get started? Do I need one of those dehydrator machines? What is live or living foods? This book really does make the shift easy. Gruno offers an 8-week eating plan step by step to your RAW transition.
One of the best parts of the book can be found in Part II – resources. In this section you will find suggested items for your journey.
Thank you Brad for this great beginning
December 19, 2013
I won this book as a first reads copy and I'm really glad that I did! This was a super easy read and full of great ideas for someone who is thinking about "going raw". I've never given this topic much consideration, although I've recently made a lot of food changes including trying to become vegetarian (which hasn't been easy...and there have been lots of slip ups...) But anyways, this book is extremely helpful and encouraging! I'm not sure that I'm ready for the 60 day plan just yet, but I do hope to embark on it in the future. In the mean time, I'm gonna try some of the delicious sounding recipes in the back of the book, and try to implement some of his tips in my every day life. I'd definitely recommend this book to others who want to know more about the raw lifestyle. I think Brad explained the whole idea and concept very well!
And I REALLY want to try his kale chips. Seriously...gonna have to order some.
And I REALLY want to try his kale chips. Seriously...gonna have to order some.
August 14, 2016
This book was fine. It's not a bad guide for someone looking to try a raw diet. It's a 2 month plan to get to a 80/20 raw/not raw diet. There are plenty of tips on how to curb cravings, which is awesome. For the most difficult parts of the diet (the immediate detox parts) there are very specific daily plans to guide you. This can definitely be a very helpful book when investigating or trying a raw food diet.
BUT like a lot of self-help/diet type books a lot of the evidence is just personal anecdotes from a variety of people meant to manipulate you into identifying with a success story. That's pretty textbook. There's also a section about the "science" of a raw food diet which is not directly backed up by any science whatsoever. I also dislike anything that throws around words like "toxins," "detox," and "cleanse" because those words basically mean nothing.
Additionally, I should note that I got this as a Goodreads giveaway.
BUT like a lot of self-help/diet type books a lot of the evidence is just personal anecdotes from a variety of people meant to manipulate you into identifying with a success story. That's pretty textbook. There's also a section about the "science" of a raw food diet which is not directly backed up by any science whatsoever. I also dislike anything that throws around words like "toxins," "detox," and "cleanse" because those words basically mean nothing.
Additionally, I should note that I got this as a Goodreads giveaway.
January 3, 2014
It's a new year, and time for a new you. This book by Brad Gruno is a great read that can help you get on the right track to that new you. It is an 8 week plan for losing weight, optimizing health, and living an 80/20 raw lifestyle. Eat healthy and be healthy!
I won this book from Goodreads through their First Reads Giveaways. I was excited when it showed up in the mail!
This wonderfully educational book starts out with an explanation of what raw eating is. The benefits of this healthy way of eating include better digestion, weight loss, better skin, and overall better health. Following this little learning lesson, that includes personal stories, is the 60-Day Raw Plan. The book walks you through the 3 phases of this life changing plan.
Read the rest of my review here: http://www.flockedmedia.com/2014/01/0...
I won this book from Goodreads through their First Reads Giveaways. I was excited when it showed up in the mail!
This wonderfully educational book starts out with an explanation of what raw eating is. The benefits of this healthy way of eating include better digestion, weight loss, better skin, and overall better health. Following this little learning lesson, that includes personal stories, is the 60-Day Raw Plan. The book walks you through the 3 phases of this life changing plan.
Read the rest of my review here: http://www.flockedmedia.com/2014/01/0...
December 30, 2013
A very informative and helpful guide to changing your diet. The author is very knowledgeable when it comes to "Raw". I wasn't really sure what raw was until I read this book. This book explains the reasons why you should eat raw. There is a break down of what foods provide your body with what. This book is also packed with a ton of delicious sounding, raw recipes that are surprisingly not very difficult to prepare. I am an extremely picky eater but some of these recipes I am excited to try. The author also did a great job at breaking the plan down so that it is extremely easy to follow. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to lose weight in a healthy way.
I received a copy of this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
I received a copy of this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
September 1, 2016
Received as a GoodReads giveaway. It's well written, explaining the benefits of switching to a mostly-raw diet, along with testimonials from people who have made the change, and lots of recipes. For me, the 60-day detox diet looks a little intimidating. I'm planning to try out the recipes and will probably follow the two-week transition plan. Whether I can stick to the four-week full-raw detox period remains to be seen. But I can at least increase the amount of raw foods in my diet, even if I don't make it to the 80/20 mix.
April 11, 2015
I received an advanced review copy of this book for free. I read it in two days and felt it was very comprehensive. It can be useful for people that want to go raw completely or for people that only want a percentage of their meals to be raw. One huge plus is the number of recipes that are included. You definitely won't have trouble finding meal to prepare if you have this book.
If interested, I wrote a more comprehensive review over on the blog: http://readinghaspurpose.blogspot.com...
If interested, I wrote a more comprehensive review over on the blog: http://readinghaspurpose.blogspot.com...
February 13, 2014
*I rec'd this book via Goodreads Giveaways*
This book is a good read for anyone interested in making a change to a complete raw diet as well as someone just looking to learn more about raw food. I'm somewhere in the middle so it was nice to be able to read about Brad's journey and learn his tips and recipes for incorporating more raw into my diet without getting the feeling that it was all or nothing. He also shares his journey and why he made this choice very open and honestly which gives you a greater sense of confidence in making your own changes.
This book is a good read for anyone interested in making a change to a complete raw diet as well as someone just looking to learn more about raw food. I'm somewhere in the middle so it was nice to be able to read about Brad's journey and learn his tips and recipes for incorporating more raw into my diet without getting the feeling that it was all or nothing. He also shares his journey and why he made this choice very open and honestly which gives you a greater sense of confidence in making your own changes.
February 8, 2014
I won this book in a giveaway, and I'm very happy I did. The information was presented in an easy to understand, and very persuasive, manner. Brad clearly knows what he's talking about and his passion is evident on every page. For someone like me, who hates to cook and needs to take better care of herself, this book provides realistic recipes that don't appear to be too time consuming, which will fit perfectly into my life. The book has found a permanent home on my kitchen counter!
March 1, 2014
Have you heard the latest buzz about eating your food raw? Is this a new fad? To answer that question let me ask you another question for you to think about. Have you ever wondered what we ate before we discovered fire? The food we consumed must have certainly been raw or whatever roots and berries we could find on the ground or in the trees.
See Full Review Here:
http://meandu-justthinking.blogspot.c...
See Full Review Here:
http://meandu-justthinking.blogspot.c...
December 7, 2013
*I won this book through Goodreads.com*
I enjoyed reading this book. I have been curious about the Raw lifestyle plan for awhile and had no clue where to start. This book explains everything from start to finish with plenty of recipes to help you get started and continue the plan. I would recommend this book for someone who is curious but not sure of a starting point.
I enjoyed reading this book. I have been curious about the Raw lifestyle plan for awhile and had no clue where to start. This book explains everything from start to finish with plenty of recipes to help you get started and continue the plan. I would recommend this book for someone who is curious but not sure of a starting point.
April 30, 2014
there are some really great takeaways from this book that I can easily incorporate in to my life. As far as going fully raw, it's just not going to happen in this household.
"what to substitute when you have cravings for specific foods" is a really good section.
there are also some really good smoothie recipes!
"what to substitute when you have cravings for specific foods" is a really good section.
there are also some really good smoothie recipes!
December 31, 2013
Lots of helpful information that was easy to read. His story was very inspiring, and I felt extra-motivated to make healthy changes in my own life. I really enjoyed the recipe section at the back of the book and have already tried a couple that have turned out great.
January 12, 2014
I definitely did enjoy the recipes, there are a couple I will be going through and add to my collection, but it doesn't really give me anything over the personal anicdotes. I like the 80/20 idea but would have liked to see more information
March 24, 2014
Part testimony, part cookbook, Gruno's book espouses a raw-food lifestyle, showing the whys and hows to live it. Gruno founded Brad's Raw Foods, which now includes veggie chips, raw wine and even doggie treats - all uncooked.
January 1, 2014
Excellent book to read if you want to understand how your body works with the food you eat. Good recipes too.
December 13, 2013
Very informative! I plan on trying some of the ideas:)
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