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 - don't waste your timeThis book is a vegan propaganda piece. Crudely written with the intent to scare you out of your current eating patterns. Unfortunately, once they disgust you, call you names and generally make you feel pretty bad, they give no useful advice on how to embark on this new lifestyle. Hey, I don't offend easily, but I just paid money to get called all kinds of filthy names and go to bed hungry!!! Rating:  - YOU GO GIRLS!What a fun and interesting book! It took a lot of guts for these women to put themselves and their lifestyles out there in such an in-your-face way. I appreciated the fact that they pulled no punches and were unapologetic about their choices. I also have the cookbook and it is excellent. It's easy to give a negative review if something does not concur with what you already believe, but it's more difficult to be open-minded and try something different. Of course, since I adhere to a mostly vegan diet, I was already in agreement with their choices. Telling how animals are abused in the production of America's insatiable appetite for meat is not an "animal rights rant." It's a truth that everyone who eats meat should have to face before they make that choice. Another book, called Baby Boomer Bachelorette: How to Have Sex at Least Once More Before You Die recommends the same type of diet. She describes how the vegan diet helped her skate through menopause, unlike most middle-aged women, who suffer terrible symptoms, and usually end up on harmones or other medication. This book also contains some great dating advice for the over-40 crowd! Rating: - Scientifically unfoundedI have never been so angered by a book. First and foremost, I have nothing against the vegan lifestyle, if that is how someone chooses to live. What I have a problem with is the authors' "scientific proof" that a vegan diet is far superior to a non-vegan diet. Every time they make some scientific claim in their book, I checked their sources and I never found a credible scientific journal. They even mention in their book how average women do not peruse medical/scientific journals to learn all the ins and outs of all the foods and chemicals they are ingesting... well, neither do they. Here is an example of their inexcusable ignorance: As a biochemist with a strong background in physiology, I happen to know what enzymes are and what they do... these women DO NOT. They have this gross misconception that enzymes that function in plants continue to function in our digestive tracts and miraculously make it into our blood stream somehow and again, continue to function. Anyone with basic biomedical training can tell you their claims could not be farther from the truth. Enzymes are created to function in very specific environments, are dependent on many factors (temperature, pH, etc) and are tightly regulated. Can they honestly believe that an enzyme created in a plant, to perform PLANT processes, would actually continue to function in an extremely different environment? Not to mention the full on attack by our digestive enzymes would render them useless. And their "knowledge" of enzymes is just the tip of the ice berg. I could go and on about all their scientific inaccuracies, but I'm trying to make this readable. I guess my next big concern is if they were allowed to publish all these scientific inaccuracies, how can I trust the rest of their information? It's scary that these two women are allowed to sell their version of human digestive physiology and readers will believe it without questioning its validity. If this review stops even one person from reading this trash, I feel I have done a little good in this world :) Rating:  - An almost-convincing argument for becoming a veganI bought this book at a time when I was looking for motivation to change my diet and adopt a healthier lifestyle. I did not realize at the time that this is a pro-vegan book. Still, I found the tone of the authors enjoyable to read, and although I am still a ways off to eating soy cheese regularly, I am glad I read it. The authors advocate a vegan lifestyle to become skinny. And they have a point -- ever met a fat vegan? I'm not surprised that other reviewers are not particularly thrilled at this advice, because it is a bit preachy, and the approach seems rather hard-core. But, again, they have a point. Refer to my earlier question regarding fat vegans. The data in this book did not convince me on way or another that milk and steak is making me fat, but there are some rather convincing arguments regarding the food lobby's influence on the FDA and the treatment of animals in slaughterhouses (which I had to skim because otherwise I might have thrown up a little. And the characterization of meat as "dead, decaying flesh" was enough to keep me from a hamburger that evening). But, ultimately, this is nothing that your hippy card-carrying-member-of-PETA-friend wouldn't be happy to inform you of if you asked. However, if you don't have a hippy friend in PETA, then this book will do. Ultimately, as a result of having read this book, I'm cooking more vegetarian (but not vegan) meals, and I only rarely drink milk or eat ice cream. The authors have managed to get inside my head, and I am grateful. Recommended. Rating: - An animal rights rant. Not a diet book!I'd give this a 0 if I could. This book advocates a vegan diet, which, according to these girls is THE ONLY WAY to get skinny. About 2-3 chapters of this book is about the horrors of the animal slaughterhouses. While I agree that these places are atrocious, it has no place in a diet book. Diets motivated by emotion usually end up BADLY. And yeah, soyburgers/fake meat might taste great, but what are all the flavorings in them? Absolute "garbage". Pick tempeh or edamame instead. Sure you can be a healthy meat eater. I'm an example. Should you eat it at every meal in large portions? No, of course not. But if you want to eat meat/dairy, it's fine as long as you do it in moderation (just like everything else). Even better if you can get your hands on some wild game, like venison. Buy organic, free range (or kosher) meats and you'll be fine. A much better book is the "Women's Health Perfect Body Diet" which is actually written by a nutritionist and not a model and a modeling agent. Pick up a nutrition book before starting any diet and make a lifestyle change. :)
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