12 Steps to Raw Foods: How to End Your Dependency on Cooked Food
by Victoria Boutenko
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Book Reviews of 12 Steps to Raw Foods: How to End Your Dependency on Cooked Food
Book Review: Very informative - highly recommended
Summary: 5 Stars
I found this book to cover both the benefits of a raw foods lifestyle and the drawbacks of the standard American diet, especially about food addiction and ages. The book stresses the importance of a green smoothies as a way of getting all your greens in without holding your nose! Book Review: Very thorough
Summary: 5 Stars
Of all the raw food books I own, this is hands down the best. Viktoria Boutenko is very thorough, providing scientific information as well as anecdotes and advice. I especially like Chapter 7, What the First Humans Ate - its a completely different view of our diet based on Jane Goodall's work on Chimpanzees, as well as early hominids. Makes you think... hmm... raw foods does make sense.
The second thing I really enjoyed about 12 Steps to Raw Foods was the spiritual emphasis of raw foods, because when it comes down to it, its not JUST a diet. We must all battle our addictions, preconceptions, and social pressure in order to be successful.
Oh! And there are some great recipes at the end of the book!!
Book Review: Be sure to get the updated and revised version!
Summary: 5 Stars
Don't get me wrong. The first version is not bad, but the second version ROCKS...!
I have read probably 2 or 3 dozen books on raw foods and this is definitely one of my favorites. I "gobbled up" this book!
Book Review: A helpful first step into going raw.
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought this book as a second option, not being able to get hold of the Boutenko's first book 'Raw Family', either here or Stateside.
It is a really interesting read and one has to applaud the tenacity and determination of the family to go raw, when they had so little support and knowledge. For example, Mum got rid of her pots and pans and covered the top of the oven with a large chopping board. Not many people would make such an immediate and final decision.
I am a bit concerned that an example of an average day's food intake in the book seems pretty sparse; especially so having read now other books on the subject that include a fantastic array of dishes and ingredients. However, this book is a good general 'introduction' to going raw, and I recommend it.
Book Review: Powerful Personal Story Backed by Science
Summary: 5 Stars
I read the earlier edition of this book over two years ago, along with all the previous Raw Family publications. Victoria's characteristic Russian warmth and passion always come through, and I so appreciate the love and dedication she brings to her readers. Starting with Green for Life, though, she now also offers scientific evidence, studies and research to support her stories, suggestions and claims. If Green for Life impressed me, the revised and expanded edition of 12 Steps to Raw Foods blew me away!
This book is so thorough that even a skeptic would find it difficult to argue. Victoria includes 12 pages of footnotes and a one and a half page bibliography. As her chapter on clarity explains, one need not turn away from intuition to listen to experts; however, it's also nice when spiritual nudges, personal experience and science converge.
In addition to the scientific and psychological references, Victoria has clearly grown as a teacher during the past seven years. She has become a teacher of teachers, and this shift works to empower her readers. Throughout the text, she reminds us that we each have gifts to share and encourages us to find our purpose. Perhaps the most refreshing thing about this book is Victoria's reminder that the "main goal" is not to become a raw foodist. Rather, a raw food diet provides energy that we can use to propel dreams into reality. By assuming that each reader can go on to teach raw food "cooking" classes or encourage others on their spiritual path, Victoria also reframes the way new raw fooders view themselves. Instead of perpetual students grasping for answers, Victoria treats her readers as future teachers who will have valuable insights and experiences to share.
Although I eat a high-raw vegan diet, I am not myself a 100% raw fooder. I would still recommend this book to anyone who wants to lose weight or who finds him/herself obsessing about food, body image, or health issues. Reading 12 Steps to Raw Foods goes beyond just trying to change one's diet. Victoria asks us to look at our relationship to food, to ourselves and to the entire world, but she does so in such a humble, graceful way. This is a book whose wisdom unfolds over the course of time, and thus a book that offers rewards in each rereading. Victoria ends by asking, "How many people can you influence in your lifetime directly and indirectly? Eventually, I think, the whole planet. Is it worth a try?"
After spending any time with Victoria through lectures or her books, the answer bubbles forth as an emphatic, "Yes!"