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

I bought this book because I wanted to go from longtime pescatarian to a full-fledged vegan, but was worried about what I heard of vegans with iron and protein deficiencies. This book not only showed me that you can be a vegan athlete, but that it's actually desirable for a lot of reasons. The Thrive Diet had just been released when I took the plunge, so I didn't have all of these positive reviews - I just went with the only vegan cookbook directed towards an active lifestyle.The effect that the recipes in this book have had on my life has been overwhelmingly positive. Many of the foods described in here have become an everyday part of my life, such as the buckwheat pancakes and the nut "burgers". Other foods have inspired me to eat newfound staples such as nutritional yeast, dulse and hemp. While it took an initial investment to get many of the general use ingredients (coconut oil, hemp protein, bags of walnuts, etc) as well as a good spice grinder, food processor and blender, I have found that my monthly food bills have dropped since. All it takes is a few hours on one afternoon per week and I can set myself up with enough food to get me through the week. The key to this diet seems to be eating less in general. Of course, there's (almost) nothing "bad" in this book, so you can eat as much of anything as you want. However, if weight loss is your goal, you will still have to take in less calories than you burn daily. This was a hurdle for me as I love eating food, especially some of the recipes in this book! Since I've gained control of my intake, the fat has been melting off of me.There are some significant issues that I feel I should bring up. First - and this bugged me as I read through the book - Mr. Brazier does not cite his sources. There is an extensive bibliography in the back of the book, but you're left to discover for yourself which of those sources he used for which bit of information. Second, he does not point out that agave nectar is not very good for you and will actually pack on the pounds. To anyone who can read a food label, this shouldn't be a surprise. Agave nectar is very, very tasty, but also very, very sugary. I don't blame the author for this, but he does make a point in the book to say that you can eat as much of anything he lists as you like. Again, this is true, but you should always be wary of your caloric balancing act if you're looking to lose weight.Third, and lastly, I must issue a health warning. If you have an ulcer, acid reflux disease or both, be VERY careful when increasing the amount of raw food you eat. Raw foods are harder to digest and if you don't monitor yourself you may end up with a nasty case of gastritus that leaves you vomiting all over your front lawn. Coconut oil will also relax the various muscles that control digestion, causing heartburn and other issues. The best thing to learn from this book is mindful consumption, and if you have a sensitive digestive system, this is something to be very mindful of.In short, this book has changed my life, mostly for the better. I find some of the recipes unappealing (the soups) and others indispensable (pancakes, burgers, pizzas) and some I've yet to try (anything with popped amaranth - I can't get it to pop!), but all of it is interesting. One star was left off for the citation issue, as it seems such a shame to have extensively researched a book and then not cited specific claims. This matters very little since the food is all about 1) how you feel and 2) how it tastes. A resounding win on both counts!Here are some things I've found to help utilize the book:*Keep a stock of coconut oil, nutritional yeast, brown meso paste, hemp oil and hemp seeds. Even if you're just starting out, these will enable you to make the more interesting dishes in the book.*You can generally replace one kind of bean, nut or seed for whatever the recipe calls for if you've only got one kind and don't want to go to the store.*Get a coffee/spice grinder that has a removable blade, such as the  Hamilton Beach 80365 Custom Grind Hands-Free Coffee Grinder, Platinum .*Spend at least one day a week preparing some food that's easy to chow for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner. I like to have buckwheat pancake batter (eat with applesauce!), as well as nut burger for salads and bean salsa for topping. Even one or two thrive diet meals a day will make you feel better.*Eat less total food. I found the best benefits came from eating less food overall and focusing more on eating the fulfilling and nutritious foods as described in the book. Forget store-bought veggie burgers, eat a nut burger and salad with some black bean salsa and finish it off with a couple of clementines or a banana. Pick your portions before you eat and you'll feel better afterwards.

This book has had a huge impact on my life. I became a vegetarian for a variety of environmental and ethical concerns. I had hoped it would help my health and weight as well. I ended up eating a lot of cheese to substitute for the meat I wasn't eating and nothing was improving. A doctor had me do a blood test as part of a regular exam and the results said I had really high cholesterol, was pre-diabetic and had high blood pressure.I was a serious cyclist who put in over 100 miles a week without much problem. I weighed around 245 and at 6 feet it made me definitely overweight. I thought there wasn't really much that could be done about the weight but if I kept exercising a lot I'd still be pretty healthy overall. When I got the blood test results I knew I was wrong and had to improve my diet. I ate quite a bit of pizza and processed foods and the like and really didn't think I had the willpower to eat any differently and didn't even know if it would make all that much difference.I was tired of reading diet books that didn't work for me and decided to just focus on eating more healthy and getting enough protein. I knew I was eating too much cheese so I figure a book for vegan athletes might be good and getting healthier and even losing weight might be a nice side benefit. This book has had a positive impact beyond what I ever could have imagined.I'm 180 pounds right now. I lost 64 pounds in 6 months and I've never gone hungry. That is no exaggeration. I bought a Vitamix blender and used Brazier's basic formula of putting in a couple teaspoons of different powders/seeds like hemp, maca, chlorella, flax, etc. Navitas makes some excellent smoothie mixes for these sorts of things. Then I'd put in two parts organic vegetables and one part organic fruit. Maybe add a little beans/legumes. Sometimes I use water and other times I use coconut or almond milk. I drink a big one of these for breakfast and another for dinner. Didn't exactly taste great at first but I found combinations that worked and eventually my taste buds changed to where they're not bad at all. For lunch I pack a bunch of raw vegetables with some fruit and always bring some organic food type snack bars for snacking on (things like Brazier's Vega bars, ProBars, Organic Food Bars and the like). I snack on organic nuts as well. The results have been amazing.My last blood test was perfect. Doctor made me cut way back on cholesterol medication and thinks I may be able to quit entirely. Blood pressure was so much lower the nurses checked my chart a bunch of times and were very concerned at first. Pre-diabetes is completely gone. Even better, I am a much stronger bike rider now. I can really feel it on climbs. Virtually every person at work has commented positively on the changes in me, although none of them think they could eat like I do. I may be a little weird but I like the smoothies, I like having a set routine for eating and not having to worry so much about what to eat. I just load up at the local farmer's market and supplement it a bit with some items from a Whole Foods type of supermarket and I'm good to go. Brazier has a great food pyramid that really made it easy for me to get all the food groups I needed and make it work. If forced to change from eating as little vegetables as I could get away with to 40% of my diet.I look and feel better than I have at any time since college. I owe it all to a book I bought for under 10 bucks used on Amazon.

It's a must read for anyone thinking of healthy lifestyle and healthy diet. You don't have to be a professional athlete to find this book relevant.I am a fitness instructor and this book helped me to understand what fuel I need to run my body at certain level of performance without relying on chemically boosted stimulants or synthetic supplements. By implementing some of the Brendan's knowledge I've already seen benefits and my energy level is much higher than before. I've improved my sleeping patterns and understanding what is going on inside my body when I'm stressed or undernourished made me thinking twice what I eat now. It's becoming my bible even if I am not a vegan myself.

a diet that works.good insight on a vegan athlete's diet. great meal plan, fast to cook and delicious.a lot of information about food and how to get the most out of your meal. some recipes need a bit more playing with until reach the desire texture.

I loved this book, it opened my eyes to a new way of thinking about veganism and nutrition. I'm not following it rigidly or using the recipes too much but some of the concepts have improved the way I think about life - e.g. looking at things in terms of stressors and considering how to remove negative stressors from my daily routine (including certain foods)

Good information presented in an interesting understandable way

The book is great. Unfortunately the seller decided not to clean the front of the book as it had some kind of substance (food?!) on it. Luckily I was able to wash most of it off with a damp cloth. Great content in the book though