Brad's Raw Made Easy

Brad Gruno, founder of Brad's Raw Foods, is coming out with a new book called Brad's Raw Made Easy. This is Brad's story told in his own voice about his journey to a raw foods diet and how it changed his life.

Brad wrote this book to demystify and simplify the raw foods diet so I think it would be a great book for someone who knows nothing about this type of diet. For me, I felt like it was entirely too simplified and was missing much of the science behind the benefits of eating raw. But, I am not the audience he wrote it for and I had to remember that as I read through this book.

I really like that he talks about acid versus alkaline foods as I think it is really important to focus on alkaline-forming foods. He includes a list of these foods in the book. In fact, there are lists for a lot of the topics he discusses, which I found quite helpful for reference.

I found it interesting his views on how his old diet had contributed to his sleep issues. He talks about how he only drinks water a few hours before bed to ensure he is hydrated and that his digestive system isn't working overtime. Now he sleeps much better.

Then, he goes into how to go raw in three phases. I enjoyed reading through his plan, but thought it was way too specific. He actually lists everything you should eat every day for weeks. The reality is that you can not eat something different for every meal if you live alone as you will be throwing away most of the meals you prepare if you don't eat the leftovers. This is not addressed in the plan at all.

He avoids using the word "vegan" throughout the book, which is appropriate given that he recommends one eat honey in this diet, but then uses it in the FAQ where he refers to the diet as a raw vegan plan. This is pretty inappropriate considering that there are nonvegan recipes in the book.

I also think the nutritional recommendations are completely irresponsible. He states that if you eat a 100% raw food diet, that you do not need any supplements. The truth is that no diet is perfect. And while I'm not a big proponent of supplements, there are two that are crucial in a vegan diet. One is B12 -- it is very important to ensure you get enough B12 and usually a supplement is the best source. And the second is Vitamin D as most people are deficient in this vitamin whether they are vegan or not.

I didn't like how he would state things like, "If I want a steak once in a while, I'm going to eat one, and I'm going to enjoy it," because it goes against everything he recommends in his diet.

At the end of the book are a bunch of recipes. I tried two and neither turned out to be very good. The first was the Rawkin Red Bell Pepper Soup, which wasn't all that great.

The other was the Energy Bars, which, again, were okay, but definitely not good enough to go into a book. There was way too much banana and ginger and not enough of the other ingredients.

So if you are looking for a really basic book on raw foods, you may enjoy Brad's Raw Made Easy, but it is not for an experienced vegan or raw foodist by any means. You can preorder the book here for $23.

Full Disclosure: Although the book was provided to me for free to review, that in no way influenced my veracious opinion.