Book Review: The Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone

The Kind Diet: A Simple Guide to Feeling Great, Losing Weight, and Saving the Planet by Alicia Silverstone (2009)
291 pages
Goodreads Summary: In The Kind Diet, actress, activist, and committed conservationist Alicia Silverstone shares the insights that encouraged her to swear off meat and dairy forever, and outlines the spectacular benefits of adopting a plant-based diet, from effortless weight loss to clear skin, off-the-chart energy, and smooth digestion. She explains how meat, fish, milk, and cheese—the very foods we’ve been taught to regard as the cornerstone of good nutrition—are actually the culprits behind escalating rates of disease and the cause of dire, potentially permanent damage to our ecology.

Yet going meat- and dairy-free doesn’t mean suffering deprivation; to the contrary, The Kind Diet introduces irresistibly delicious food that satisfies on every level—it even includes amazing desserts to keep the most stubborn sweet tooth happy. Alicia also addresses the nutritional concerns faced by many who are new to a plant-based diet, and shows how to cover every nutritional base, from protein to calcium and beyond.

Alicia knows that changing life-long dietary habits is a process, and that each person progresses at a different pace. For that reason, The Kind Dietencompasses 3 separate levels, from Flirting to Superhero. Flirts learn to dip a toe into the vegan pool, reducing their meat-eating and swapping out a few key foods for plant-based substitutes to see quickly how even small changes can reap big results. Vegans get to experience the life-altering effects of forgoing animal-products entirely, while still enjoying many convenience foods and meat substitutes in addition to the wonderful grains, vegetables and fruits that form the core of that diet. True enlightenment comes with the Superhero program, based on the principles of macrobiotics and built on a foundation of whole grains, vegetables, and other yummy foods that Alicia describes in detail.

Whether your goal is to drop a few pounds, boost your energy and metabolism, or simply save the world, Alicia provides the encouragement, the information, and the tools you need to make the transition to a plant-based diet deliciously empowering.

I’d heard of Alicia Silverstone’s book but wrote it off as being a fluffy book written by a celeb.  But I couldn’t have been more wrong!  This book is so full of information that is written in an easy to understand way.  I thought I already knew a lot about the negative effects of eating meat as well as the damage to the environment from factory farming (more on this in my review of Eating Animals).  But there was so much more I didn’t know about regarding dairy products and other issues.

I felt so informed by reading this book and she cites actual studies published in scientific journals.  There are also a bunch of other books referenced that I now want to read for myself and become more informed.

Even though Alicia is a vegan herself and feels this is the best eating option, she never judges or makes the reader feel bad.  She emphasizes how good your body can feel when you feed it right and some of the positive changes she’s had over the years.  By eating well and taking care of your body, your health can improve and you can even lose weight seemingly effortlessly.

She also demystifies some of the stranger or more uncommon foods and vegetables that she eats.  And her entire eating plan isn’t simply just vegan, she also talks about a macrobiotic diet and how to adjust the foods you eat to feel even better.  She outlines plans for people who are interested in learning more (flirting) all the way up to being a little more into it (superhero).

I recently started eating vegetarian and this book made me so enthusiastic and excited to make the switch to vegan which I’ll be doing gradually as I learn more about it.  This book makes it seem very easy and do-able, fun even.  I’ve also since visited the site connected to the book called The Kind Life and it’s full of resources.  I even saw some videos where Alicia interviewed people who became vegan and they were really interesting.  She even says she sometimes “cheats” and eats non-vegan things.  So it’s nice to see that she’s not strict with herself and doesn’t judge others for not being 100% vegan.

So if you’re curious about vegetarianism, veganism, or just eating healthier in general, then I highly recommend this book.  If you think nutrition is difficult to understand, then this book is for you too.  Overall it’s simply amazing and I’m so glad I picked it up!

My Rating: ★★★★☆