Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life

I didn't totally finish this, but whatever. It would be a good reference in the event that I ever ramp up my exercising. For the moment, though, I think I eat a pretty balanced, mostly-whole-foods diet. The most interesting takeaways were the list of alkaline foods, what to eat before, during, and after exercise, and the concept of nutritional stress.

In short, I'm not going to incorporate dates into everything I eat, but I would like to find some chlorella somewhere around here.

This book has some pretty good ideas, but as a vegan who doesn't really train super hard-core, I don't feel like much of what the author says applies. I don't really buy the idea that the food I eat is less nutritional because it's cooked, I've had my blood taken and my vitamin levels are all right where they should be even without supplements, without eating a raw diet. I already eat whole foods that are nutritionally sound, and they work for me as a half (and sometimes full) marathoner, so that's what I eat.

I do like what the author has to say about reducing levels of stress, but it seems to come from a somewhat privileged viewpoint. I'm not going to stop being a grad student because it gives me stress, and most people can't just up show more and change their jobs because of stress. That said, it is a good idea to eliminate the stress that you can, and I'm all for the idea that people eat healthier food, as vegan as possible, from as much from scratch ingredients as possible.

I almost feel like this book would scare off all but the most intense health nuts, and I would love to find a book that's somewhere in between. Another book I've read, Vegetarian Sports Nutrition is a great book, but I don't think it includes recipes for things like sports drinks, energy bars and energy gels, which I feel would be awesome to make from scratch, as commercial brands are filled with junk. show less

Read this in search of "better stuff to put in my belly to not tank on 11 miles of bike commute a day" after seeing his latest recipe book which has a delicious bunch of greens on the front. I should probably have just stuck with the recipe book?

Heavy on supplements but also steeped in common sense, rest, and whole foods, this seemed at times mostly a promotion for Brazier's supplement line. I wasn't convinced by the discussion of getting enough nutrients and keeping hormones & good cholesterol in balance when eating only vegetables; it seemed glossy and simple at best while neglecting to specify many problems that easily arise when one omits most foods on a raw vegan diet, though I know it's wholly a your mileage may vary issue. I show more can't argue with eating more plants, but it would be nice to know what to do when one can't afford supplements or miracle fruits & seeds shipped halfway across the globe.

I appreciated most that this book was not at all full of vegan industry propaganda and tirades against factory farming. Brazier's attitude toward getting enough rest and keeping one's brain going through good food and stimulating exercise was really refreshing. show less

One of my goals for the year was to read Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life by Brendan Brazier.

I must say that while this book has several strong points, it was not at all what I was expecting. I anticipated this book being written by an athlete for other athletes. Instead, it appears to be heavily directed toward couch potatoes and it contains many ads for the author's food products... Not really what I was looking for.

The author claims that if everyone follows his diet plan they will experience weight loss, younger biological ages, less stress, happier lives, and oh yeah - the world will be a better place. All without any citations to his references.

To sum it up, it is written like any other show more fad diet book.

However, it is not a total fail - in fact, it has many fine points. The guy has to know quite a bit in order to be a professional athlete, and much more to be a professional athlete on a plant only diet. His commentary on how plant based diets are easier on the environment ring true as well. And he does have a lengthy list of references if you want to wade through them to discover how he crafted his practices. Overall, I think the author's material is solid and perhaps his editors/marketing goons just ran away with it.

So, despite my bashing - I would still definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about performance nutrition or nutrition in general. I haven't tried any of the recipes yet, but will post reviews of any I do try. Keep an eye out for them on my blog, Rock. River. Run. show less

Very interesting read. It showed some new aspects of nutrition that I haven't thought of before. I also like the recipes of sport gels and drinks and I will definitely try them out. I did not like the redundancies in this book though. I read the german translation which was awful, unfortunately the original is too difficult language-wise for me. I will need it though for the recipes because the translation is incorrect at many points.