Thrive Diet

Most Westerners’ typical diet is absurdly unhealthy: junk foods, fast foods, big meals with artery-clogging red meat entrées, rushed breakfasts, sugary snacks, corrosive sodas and super-sized portions. Professional triathlete Brendan Brazier presents his “Thrive Diet” to introduce the gluttons stuck in this fat and flabby world to fresh, unprocessed, healthy foods. His main premise: Many people expend more energy digesting dreadful food than the food delivers, so they are tired and “nutritionally” stressed. Instead, Brazier argues, people should eat easily digested, nutritious whole foods. Based on raw vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, seeds, sprouts and other “nutrient-dense” foods, Brazier’s diet is as healthy as the typical Western diet is harmful. Yet some readers may find it hard to eat (popped amaranth hemp seed salad?), complex to stock, and time-consuming to prepare (how long do I soak my pumpkin seeds in purified water?). Of course, people should eat nutritious, whole foods, but Brazier’s seed beet pizzas and pomegranate green tea pancakes sound like lots of extra effort in the market and the kitchen. getAbstract thinks this heartfelt book raises two questions: Do you want to be healthier? And could this rigorous regimen be the way?