> Food and Nutrition > Diets > vegetarian and vegan

by Brendan Brazier
Penguin, 320 pages

In light of current environmental changes and the growing awareness of how animal-based diets impact the health of our planet, this new edition of The Thrive Diet is not only welcome, but it’s also timely.

Here is a guide that promotes long-term health habits by introducing readers to the pitfalls of “nutritional stress” and how to avoid it by eating plant-based foods. Author Brendan Brazier is a Canadian success story: a self-made professional Ironman triathlete who, for years, forged his own way against a crowd of carnivores resistant to his fervent belief in vegetarian nutritional principles. While in training, this athlete developed “Vega” plant-based meal replacements and energy bars. The Thrive Diet is refreshingly free of self-promotion, however; I had to search hard to find mention of Vega products.

Brazier is a young man with a promising future as a health advocate. He is able to explain in simple terms how stress not only taxes our bodies but also how the body shifts between fuel sources. A stressed body reacts by storing body fat instead of burning it for energy, and “stress-free people are fat-burning machines,” he tells us. The associated hormonal imbalances brought about by modern-day physical and emotional duress can lead to many unhealthy conditions.

The Thrive Diet distills all that Brazier has learned from years of study and practice, looking at how optimal nutrition can improve athletic performance and overall health. While it is intended for the general public, those with fitness goals will benefit most. There is an impressive offering of easily prepared nutritious alternatives to electrolyte sport drinks and sport gels, energy bars, vegan burgers, pizzas, dips, and more. With each recipe and meal plan, readers are told how ingredients will work in harmony with the body for overall health. These recipes from Brazier’s busy lifestyle as a pro athlete can be made quickly and easily, with just a few ingredients.

Brazier’s Thrive Diet is one of the most accessible and easily incorporated guides to plant-based health. The author’s gift is his ability to share what has taken him years to discover and validate personally. We the readers have it easy–all we have to do is read with willful intent, and the rest will fall into place.

Hélène Meurer is no triathlete. She does, however, benefit from daily exercise and healthy foods for stress management.

Source: alive #298, August 2007