Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #64780 in Books
• Published on: 2004-12-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Customer Reviews

Makes a lot of sense

This book makes sense. I also liked the recipes. What I particularly like about it is the fact that Carol Alt does not try to convert anyone to become a "raw only" person, or a vegetarian. So, it is good book for just anybody; unlike the books by Butenkos, in which I found some exaggerated claims.

Amazon.com suggests buying this book together with "12 Steps to Raw Foods" by Butenko, but I absolutely disagree with that choice. Firstly, for the reason just mentioned above; secondly, why would you buy two books on the same topic? I find that adding "Can We Live 150 Year?" by M. Tombak would be a more appropriate choice, as Mr. Tombak is also as down-to-earth as Ms. Alt; in addition he broadens the topic of health by so many other issues outside of proper nutrition that very well complement raw eating. Before buying the book, you may want to check www.starthealthylife.com to read many free excerpts provided by the publisher, or to download some free Ebooks about alternative life styles.

Pretty good, but many readers will want more
I like this book, basically. It gives a non-faddish, well-researched, sensible set of guidelines for eating raw foods and foods cooked on extremely low heat (foods that are prepared in such a way as to leave their enzymes and vitamins in tact and available for the human body). Overall it's pretty good.

I just was a bit bored with reading so much about Ms Alt herself. I'm not interested in her biography, not even in her road-to-raw biography -- all of that could have taken up a few paragraphs and left more room for more information suitable to the reader's life. To be fair, though, the last third of the book is full of recipes that don't require a lot of rare equipment.

But this is the only book out there by a raw foodist who is *not* a vegan (Alt eats sashimi, ceviche, steak tartare, and seared tuna, etc.), so if you are interested in eating organic, local, seasonal produce and other healthy foods without becoming a vegetarian, this is the raw food book for you.

Overall, refreshingly non-faddy and non-foody-fundamentalist, but a little light.