Most influential author or book

[Troy]

If you could pick one book or author, which one book or author would you say is most influential with regards to your nutritional plan?

[Jason]

My favorite author and speaker is John Robbins.

[inteja]

If I had to pick just one it would be:

 

The China Study by T. Colin Campbell & Thomas M. Campbell II

 

But here's another I just finished reading that was quite good also:

 

The Ethics of What We Eat by Peter Singer & Jim Mason

 

EDIT: Just a side note that The China Study also had a profound influence on my Dad. I recommended it to him and he switched to vegan from the Atkins diet - I was amazed . He has gone on to purchase and apply The Thrive Diet by Brendan Brazier (which I have not read myself yet).

[offense74]

John Robbins.

[kjs]

John Robbins for the animal ethics side and The China Study for the health side.

[Live_Simply]

Neal Barnard, M.D., particularly his book Food for Life. Though, I can't yet follow is recommendation to forgo nuts, nut butters, and olive oil.

[cubby2112]

For my nutritional plan I would say Dr. Fuhrman.

[BodhiDave85]

Gabriel Cousens

[Troy]

Gabriel Cousens

 

Any specific book in particular?

[BodhiDave85]

Gabriel Cousens

 

Any specific book in particular?

 

Any book he has written is breathtaking, I use his work as a reference for many things, but I will have to say Spiritual Nutrition is the most comprehensive book on veganism for beginners and experts. It focus's on the whole lifestyle, not just nutrition. Some people may be thrown off by this book because the first few chapters are somewhat hard to follow if you are unfamiliar with Kundalini. This book really spoke to me due to its hollistic encompassing of the lifestyle.

[Troy]

Any book he has written is breathtaking, I use his work as a reference for many things, but I will have to say Spiritual Nutrition is the most comprehensive book on veganism for beginners and experts. It focus's on the whole lifestyle, not just nutrition. Some people may be thrown off by this book because the first few chapters are somewhat hard to follow if you are unfamiliar with Kundalini. This book really spoke to me due to its hollistic encompassing of the lifestyle.

 

Very interesting... I haven't really approached the hollistic/spirtual sense of the vegan lifestyle yet. I'm still a rookie so my focus right now is the food... so I may be just vegetarian as I've read many posts where this is debated over and over... but as of right now, I consume a vegan diet. I have yet to grasp on to the hollistic/spirtual sense... I guess the only experience I've had is watching videos of David Wolfe speak of the cosmos, the sun, energies. I'm not sure what the general consensus of David Wolfe is here, so forgive me if he's a poor example. He may be a good example, like I said, I don't know much about that aspect... I'm sure I will have more interest once I get a few books under my belt... Thanks for your recommendation.

[CollegeB]

Just in general Ed Abbey. Nutritionally it's been Robert of course. Who needs books when there's Rob?

[beforewisdom]

Most influential book in regards to my eating habits?

 

DIET FOR A SMALL PLANET by Frances Moore-Lappe

 

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ZXRQFK01L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_OU01_AA240_SH20_.jpg

 

 

http://tinyurl.com/32kmsg

 

Throughout everything I've been through nutrition-wise since I read the book at 14, legume & whole grain combinations have been the staples of almost every single meal I have eaten.

[DV]

Becoming Vegan although I wish they would update it. I think many books on nutrition are outdated within a year or two of publication. Nutritional science is such a dynamic field that you really have to stay current and weed through a lot of conflicting studies and questionably funded studies.

 

I don't think any one author has all the answers. There are no nutritional gurus, IMO, and no one should claim to be one. Therefore, I don't follow authors so much as the topics they cover.

[beforewisdom]

Their second edition of "Becoming Vegetarian" is more up to date, includes vegan issues, and does not advocate the use of non-vegan foods. Though, I agree, an update to the book with "Vegan" in the title would be nice.

[veggieprincess]

Hands down it was Body For Life by Bill Phillips along with the Body For Life transformation video.

 

It's such a great base for someone truly wanting to reshape their body. I know so many people who got involved in fitness as a direct result of doing the BFL Challenge or reading his book.

 

Although the diet has nothing to do with Veganism, the principles and training program are a solid foundation that anyone can build on and change around to suit their needs.

[offense74]

Paul Hawken have changed my perspectives a lot. Anyone who is interested in the environmental aspect of veganism have to read Ecology of commerce.

It's a really, really good book that for some reason have not caught the eye of vegans yet. It's a book about unsustainability (on chapter is named "The death of birth") and how to fix it with a green economy.

[DV]

Looks like he's written some good books. I'm sure I would disagree that we can fix anything at this point but I'll add his name to my list.

[beforewisdom]

Hands down it was Body For Life by Bill Phillips along with the Body For Life transformation video.

 

It's such a great base for someone truly wanting to reshape their body. I know so many people who got involved in fitness as a direct result of doing the BFL Challenge or reading his book.

 

Although the diet has nothing to do with Veganism, the principles and training program are a solid foundation that anyone can build on and change around to suit their needs.

 

Seriously.........that is a thought provoking snippet...at least for me.

 

It makes me think of my sister who catastrophizes everything. I don't think she could find a solution in her head that she couldn't rip apart so she would never find an exercise like that soothing.

[offense74]

Looks like he's written some good books. I'm sure I would disagree that we can fix anything at this point but I'll add his name to my list.

Yeah, I know. I'm where you are. The few small steps in the right direction we're making now is too little, too late.

He does however give a (working) example on an alternative economic paradigm. If we started implementing similar ideas in the 70's when we first got aware of the problems, we could have been there now. If we started to implement it now it would ease the pain of peak oil and climate change. But at this point there are no easy solutions anymore.

But first and foremost he describes the problem with the current paradigm in a better way than I've seen anyoune else do.

[DV]

Sounds good then. I'll definitely check him out. Thanks!

[veggieprincess]

Paul Hawken have changed my perspectives a lot. Anyone who is interested in the environmental aspect of veganism have to read Ecology of commerce.

It's a really, really good book that for some reason have not caught the eye of vegans yet. It's a book about unsustainability (on chapter is named "The death of birth") and how to fix it with a green economy.

 

yep. I'll check it out too. Thanks!!!

[phillipeb]

wow what a great question, that i unfortunately have no real answer for. It seems that once i changed to veganism as a logistical moral choice i ate a crap diet, i bought the book vegan planet I started to cook for myself more but still i don't think it changed or was that influential in regards to thinking about my diet. Weirdly enough it was this website that got me thinking about appropriate food portions and vitamin deficiencies and what not, that and a a few articels about CSAs when i started to read about the slow food movement it hit home and i started slowing down and paying attention to what i ate.

 

So thanks you all for being my source to change my diet to a better one, from vegan to healthatarian.

[Mike]

Hands down it was Body For Life by Bill Phillips along with the Body For Life transformation video.

 

It's such a great base for someone truly wanting to reshape their body. I know so many people who got involved in fitness as a direct result of doing the BFL Challenge or reading his book.

 

Although the diet has nothing to do with Veganism, the principles and training program are a solid foundation that anyone can build on and change around to suit their needs.

 

Have you known anyone who's had success with the actual program in the book? From what I've observed, the book and the BFL challenge have inspired numerous people to improve their fitness levels, but it seems that all of the winners won the challenge using a completely different program. Don't get me wrong; I commend Bill Phillips for the positive impact he has made on people's lives. (If i'm not mistaken, I think the BFL challenge is what got Rob into bodybuilding, and look what that led to-besides the creation of this forum.) I'm just curious how the actual program has worked out for people.

 

Mike

[veggieprincess]

Hands down it was Body For Life by Bill Phillips along with the Body For Life transformation video.

 

It's such a great base for someone truly wanting to reshape their body. I know so many people who got involved in fitness as a direct result of doing the BFL Challenge or reading his book.

 

Although the diet has nothing to do with Veganism, the principles and training program are a solid foundation that anyone can build on and change around to suit their needs.

 

Have you known anyone who's had success with the actual program in the book? From what I've observed, the book and the BFL challenge have inspired numerous people to improve their fitness levels, but it seems that all of the winners won the challenge using a completely different program. Don't get me wrong; I commend Bill Phillips for the positive impact he has made on people's lives. (If i'm not mistaken, I think the BFL challenge is what got Rob into bodybuilding, and look what that led to-besides the creation of this forum.) I'm just curious how the actual program has worked out for people.

 

Mike

 

well, myself and Robert Cheeke to name 2 people that followed the program and were successful, although Robert followed it as a Vegan. I did it exactly as outlined in his book in 2000. I know 2 other people personally who followed it as written and were successful. So to answer your question... YES. I know people who followed it as closely as written as possible and were successful.