The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook: 125 Easy and Delicious Recipes to Jump-Start Weight Loss and Help You Feel Great Paperback – June 8, 2010

In The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook, Dr. Neal Barnard and nutritionist Robyn Webb offer a comprehensive guide to adopting a vegan lifestyle, underscored by the groundbreaking findings of Dr. Barnard’s two-year study on type 2 diabetes. This essential cookbook demonstrates how a plant-based diet can effectively control diabetes while also promoting weight loss, heart disease reversal, and overall improved health.Featuring 125 delicious and accessible recipes, this cookbook ensures that readers can enjoy a variety of flavorful dishes without the use of animal products. Each recipe is designed to be low in fat and features ingredients that have a low-to-moderate glycemic index, making it easy for anyone to incorporate healthy meals into their daily lives.With practical menus, sound scientific advice, and testimonials from individuals who have successfully adopted Barnard’s recommendations, The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook is a valuable resource for anyone looking to enhance their well-being through diet. This cookbook not only equips readers with the tools to eat well but also inspires them to embrace the positive changes that come with a vegan lifestyle.

New in 2010, Dr. Neal Barnard and Robyn Webb's book, The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook, is going to be one of my go-to cookbooks. More than just a book of recipes, there is an opening section that addresses the research and science behind plant-based, whole foods eating, supplementation, losing weight, lowering cholesterol and blood pressure and staving off Type 2 Diabetes and cancer. Recommendations for what to keep on your pantry shelf are also included.Since I am trying to get my blood sugar normalized, I was particularly interested in the Diabetes section. I learned about low-glycemic index foods and as a result have added pumpernickel and rye bread to my diet. I also learned how daily cinnamon can help reduce blood sugar levels.The "recipes and menus" section is organized by breakfast, lunch and dinner, snacks, dips and desserts, and recipes for entertaining. There is also a 3-day menu plan. The appendixes are useful as well, featuring a "quick and easy shopping list" and lists of convenience foods.One really nice feature is the "Did You Know" boxes that appear on many recipe pages. For example, on the recipe for "French Country Stew," you also get a bonus recipe for making butternut squash French fries. On the "Hummus Pizza" recipe, this little box tells you about beans and fiber and how fiber helps control blood sugar and provides a steady supply of energy.On the down side, there is a centerfold of 8 pages of color pictures. I would much rather have seen the pictures placed on the recipe page itself. Also, I have to admit that the index could use improvement. For example, I was looking to see what there were for veggie burger recipes, and did not find "burgers" in the index. I thought that was curious seeing as Dr. Barnard is pictured on the cover with a veggie burger in hand. So I searched and found three burger recipes in the lunch section. So why "burgers" does not appear in the index is beyond me.For recipes, so far I have tried the "Italian Chickpea Nibbles," which were "OK." The "Basil Pesto Spread," made with tofu, is very tasty but definitely not pesto. I am experimenting with ways to use this tasty spread. I made the "Smoky Barbecue Sauce" which came out a little thick, but thinning it down was easy. It's delicious! I found the "Black Bean and Corn Salad with Lime" needed more flavor. Another easy fix!This is a great cookbook! I totally recommend it!

Good Lord. I'm only two days into this "diet," and I've only had the chance to make 4 or 5 of these recipes, but I simply had to write this review because I'm in ecstasy over this hummus pizza. I made it yesterday but left it in the oven too long because the soy cheese wasn't fully melting, and so the hummus dried out and the pitas got flaky. I tried it again tonight, with the prescribed cook time (let the soy cheese be d****d), and I can't tell you how good it is. I'm not even sure what's making it taste so darned good.In any event, for the time being, I'm sold. The book's recipes do take some time to prepare (the hummus pizza claims a 5 minute cook time; it took me 20, and I hustled my butt). And I can't speak to weight loss or other vital signs because it's been a day and a half (plus I'm not a huge or health-troubled person to begin with). Also, a fair warning may be due that I was more or less a vegan already and so the diet may be less of a sea-change for me (though it still is one). But I LOVE getting real, legit veggies and legumes into my diet in large quantities, in amazing variety, and as the staple of my diet, whereas I used to rely too much on simply brown rice, avocado, onions, black beans, corn and nuts, plus breakfast cereals, day after day.We'll see if I can stick to this diet; the preparation time, plus the food shopping I'm not used to doing so frequently, are major issues for me and are a major reason why I haven't been eating more vegetables on a daily basis up to now. But I feel great, and even more regular than usual, and am delighted with the variety, taste and apparent healthiness of this diet already.Great idea from Dr. Barnard to combine his dietary advice and Robyn's excellent cooking into one book; if I can keep up with the cooking (and/or hunt out the recipes that take the least time to prepare), I feel as though I will be a far healthier individual.***Update: I've downgraded my review from 5 stars to 4 stars. I'm no longer as excited about this book as I was. Everything I wrote above still stands, but I have a couple points to add.One, these recipes rely very heavily on agave nectar. I'd estimate that more than half include it as an ingredient. I try to stay away from "added" sugar. While I know agave nectar is a popular and purportedly "healthy" alternative to cane sugar, I have serious doubts about its long-term healthfulness. None of us knows for certain whether it's healthy, but if you do one Google search you'll find article after article raising serious concerns about the healthfulness of agave nectar. These articles aren't from quacks, and, while you never know about these things, the concerns they raise seem plausible at the least. Agave nectar does seem to avoid the blood sugar spikes that sugar causes, but the long term effects of isolated fructose are far from certain. And though I can by no means condemn agave flat-out, I can also by no means rule out major concerns about its long-term healthfulness. (It could be significantly worse than sugar itself.) I just don't want to take this risk. With many if not most of Dr. Barnard's recipes, you're taking the risk.Two--less significantly but still relevant--I have not found that fats like those found in avocados, nuts and olives/olive oil, which Dr. Barnard swears off, cause weight gain in me, and I haven't found in any way convincing evidence that they're unhealthy. Yes, they have fats, but they're unsaturated, plant fats. And eliminating these foods from your diet, particularly if you're already vegan and have somewhat limited dietary options, just makes things all that much harder.Three--and this is very significant--is that, as noted, these recipes take a ton of time to prepare. It would be nice if Dr. Barnard would include some tips for days when you don't have the inclination--or time--to cook.That said, many of the recipes are delicious, and they are all vegan. Two big pluses.