Customer Reviews

12 Steps to Raw Foods: How to End Your Addiction to Cooked Food

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Ms. Victoria writes a convincing argument. I am one of those who likes to gather lots of information before comminting to a life style change. The author begins with providing one of the best rationale for going on a totatly raw food diet vs a cooked food diet. Conceptually, I had an idea of what she was talking about, having read some vegan and fasting books. What made this book immeditately garner my attention was a chart she has that shows the percentage-cooked food to raw food consumed vs the percentage of nutrition assimilated. The jump between 99% of your food consumed being raw and 100% of your food being raw is unreal. Read it. Fascinating. In addition the author points out how having a healthy body requires you have less food intake. Her son, a 16-year, goes snowboarding for 12 hours and takes two oranges to eat. And while his friends spend the day constantly eating, the habits the author's son has, allows him to consume more nutrients and perform better. Knowing how teenagers eat-this is an incredible approach. The remainder of the book adopts the AA approach to dealing with an addition of alcohol to the addition of cooked food. Many of us have tried to go raw, but it is hard to stick with, less than exciting to look forward to, and socially tough to deal with day in and day out. The author's 12-step approach seems to understand the pain levels we all go through and together, the 12 steps make the challenge seem more like a winnable fight. Each step makes you do some personal reflecting. Some of the steps include, living in harmony with no raw food folks, dealing with temptation, seeking more knowledge, recognizing you have an addiction, ect. I like the way the author thinks. Her logic doesn't make great leaps, and is easy to follow...rationale but enthusiastic. I wanted to buy her other book and hear more of her stories. Overall, I found the book fascinating, educational and motivation. Reading the book can be a life-changing event.

There are some great raw food books on the market now and one quickly becomes inspired to get rid of the pots and pans and embrace this healthy, life-enhancing diet. But of the few who actually take this step, the majority quickly relapse into our traditional, cooked food fare. Victoria Boutenko's book, 12 Steps to Raw Foods addresses the challenges that daunt us in making this dietary transition and provides inspiration and the tools needed to overcome them.

Loosely based on AA's 12 Step program, Step One convincingly addresses the addictive nature of cooked food and the importance of acknowledging our own addicted status . Perhaps this sounds a bit far fetched since diets based on cooked foods are THE standard fare in most places on the planet (at least among humans!), and hence, above reproach. But that's precisely the problem with any "norm"--it goes dangerously unexamined! (Keep in mind that cancer, arthritis and other degenerative diseases are also the "norm" in our cooked food society.)

The first part of the book outlines the most important underlying premises of the raw vegan diet: the enzyme factor; your own intuitive guidance system; our body's survival mechanism and the law of vital adjustment; rates of assimilation for diets of varying degrees of rawness; the true function and value of bacteria, parasites and other micro-organisms; detoxification as healing. These topics, clearly and simply presented, prepare us for Step Two, which states, "I believe that live vegan food is the most natural diet for a human being."

Other challenges to be met are addressed in the program, including: avoiding temptation; examining the habit of meeting emotional needs with food; creating the support we need; equipping a raw kitchen; learning raw food preparation techniques; living in harmony with our cooked food family and friends; dealing with holidays, special occasions, and dining out, and MORE! I found it really helpful to raise my awareness of all the issues that are interwoven with my food choices!

I love Victoria's straightforward and sincere style! Clearly it is her current mission in life to assist those who wish regain and maintain a high degree of health, vitality and spiritual awakening. She has been teaching raw food classes ever since she and her family healed themselves of debilitating diseases after adopting this lifestyle. But it was not until she incorporated this 12 Step approach into her teaching that her students were successful in making such a major dietary shift. With publication of this book, YOU can take advantage of this powerful approach! I'm glad I did!!

"I think," says Victoria Boutenko, "the whole planet." As a vegetarian trying to go raw, I picked up this book thinking it was a twelve step plan to gradually eliminating cooked foods from my diet. It isn't. Instead, "12 Steps to Raw Food" tries the novel approach of treating cooked food as an addiction, and so the "12 Steps" refers to an AA-like code of honor for dealing with a raw food lifestyle.

Author Boutenko was sick of being sick, and she and eventually her entire family went raw after much struggle and soul-searching. But when she tried to share the raw food lifestyle with others, she noticed something strange: Even people suffering from life-threatening illness would go on the raw foods diet for a while, get much better, but then fall off the wagon, "fall off the wagon" being the operative phrase. Once she geared her classes as if her students were recovering addicts, the results were much better (there's a hilarious story about Boutenko going to the library and checking out forty books on every kind of addiction, and the librarian's reaction).

So we have chapters on gathering information and making knowledgeable choices, on living with people who do not share your passion for raw food (one of the best and most compassionate chapters in the book) and avoiding temptation (Boutenko's advice: avoid it). Her explanation of the body's reaction to cooked food is medically sound, and the passage on bacteria and its role in the earth's cycles is outstanding and of interest to anyone, raw food enthusiast or not. There are a few recipes included, but the author explains why traditional recipes do not tend to work when you're dealing with raw foods, because every batch will be different.

This is needless to say an excellent book for those considering going raw. Boutenko's approach may not be for everyone, and quitting cooked foods cold turkey will have drawbacks she is upfront about (you are going to feel really, really crummy for the first two months). The book is well worth buying even if you're not ready for raw; the explanations regarding body chemistry are fascinating. I highly recommend "12 Steps to Raw Food" to anyone.

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU Victoria for writing this book!!

For ANYONE who is interested in raw foods or health, 12 Steps to Raw Food is a must read! Victoria compassionately and humbly shows you how to ensure your success on a raw-food diet, and why your body will be in better health than you could ever imagine. She also includes some easy, tasty recipes.

I used to struggle to eat 95% raw foods in our cooked-food world, but now I am staying 100% raw. I feel freedom and relief because I know how to stay successful. And to top it off, I feel great eating this way!

The book is fast, easy reading. Whether you are already raw or just hearing about it for the first time, you will find immeasurable value from reading this book!

I bought this book just this last week to figure out if the raw food diet would interest me. I had read a little bit about the diet on the internet, but I wanted to learn more. After researching a little bit I finally settled on this book. I admit that I was wary of reading it based upon the title, but after giving the book a chance I finished it within two days. It was very interesting, and easy to read. Not only has it given me some interesting and new perspectives about the raw food lifestyle, it has made me want to give the raw food diet a try! Her explanations about enzymes and how they work were very informative, and her personal stories about the struggles she and her family went through were encouraging. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in bettering their health.

One reason why I give it 4 stars and not 5 is because some of what she talks about (i.e. the benefits of eating partially raw as compared to 100% raw) were only based upon experience and not scientific research. I would probably be more convinced of all the benefits if there had been adequate outside scientific research contained within to support her claims.

The best thing a liked about 12 Steps to Raw is the author's using her own personal and family's experiences of going raw as a guide through the pages. I felt so very encouraged while reading it, that I am now attempting to eat raw for 3 months.

I enjoyed Victoria's wit and many theories on human nature. Right from the start, the author does not claim to be an expert, but uses her own personal knowledge and her 8+ years of being raw and working with people striving to go raw. That in itself is more valuable than an author solely basing his or her knowledge on studies and information, AKA an "armchair rawetarian".

The author has an 'all or nothing' mentality about being a raw foodest. She believes that if you are addicted to cooked food, you simply cannot stay raw unless you eat 100% raw all the time. She claims to have knowledge of many who were not 100% raw and would fall back deep into cooked food. It's hard to disagree with this, but also difficult for one to go 100% especially if he or she is the only one in his/her household doing so, or has a high social life with cooked food eaters. It does take a great deal of discipline and organization for a rawetarian to live in harmony with cooked food eaters, especially within the family. Victoria has been very fortunate to "go raw" with her entire family, and that kind of support I truly envy!

This book is a rough first draft and does have some kinks to work out, such as using charts and graphs where some of the information was harder on the eyes, and some basic editing due to the author speaking in a second language, which was certainly not easy to do. Many of us cannot write a book in our primary language, yet this native Russian has completed this task on her own. I give this woman tremendous credit for undertaking this task.

I highly recommend this book for anyone yearning to go raw and stay raw. It has proven to be very encouraging and inspirational, and I'm looking forward to reading the author's other book called "Raw Family".

Ask anyone who has given up or curbed their cooked food intake, they will attest that cooked food is an addiction! So I was looking forward to reading this book...

The author, Victoria Boutenko, and her family embraced the raw food diet to rid themselves of obesity, diabetes, asthma, cavities, you name it. They met with success, and understandably, want to inform others. Boutenko's enthusiasm is genuine, but this book contains little substance to support her claims. There is so much fiction mixed in with the facts that I found myself not believing the author at all. Many of these errors could have been rectified with a couple hours of web searching, so I felt that the oversights resulted from carelessness. I cringed at chapter titles like "Bacteria, My Favorite Animal in the World" (bacteria are completely unrelated to animals) or pseudofacts like " the hand has more than 100 little bones in it" (hand and wrist together have 27). Why bother mentioning these things at all? The dialogues from her group sessions are dry and mostly unhelpful. The book offers some encouragement to help people stay on the raw path, but one would be better off joining a raw foodist forum or community group. Boutenko's other book, Raw Family, is a better read because it avoids trying to prove the raw food diet and instead focuses on the family's experiences. Interestingly, the writer of this book's foreword, Gabriel Cousens, authored the science-laden raw food resource "Conscious Eating" which I highly recommend, along with David Wolfe's "Eating for Beauty".

Victoria Boutenko's book, Twelve Steps to Raw Foods, helped me to change my diet and my health. Since switching over to a raw foods diet, my illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic acne, and major mood swings have all but vanished. I have lots of energy, can sleep like a baby, my skin is clear, and I'm a much more peaceful and happy person. Ms. Boutenko's book has been an integral part of my healing process, and I highly recommend it to anyone who's ready to look and feel better!

Victoria Boutenko is a revolutionary. Like those who have come before her and those who will follow, it is not an easy path, nor will everyone see the truth in what she espouses. However, it is essential to to read this book (and her others if you wish to have a comprehensive view) to begin to understand how our food choices affect not only our health, but our surroundings as well. I was in a natural food store this morning in Eugene, Oregon and was delighted to see this title as well as many of her others above the shelf in the living food section of the store. 12 Steps is an important piece of the literature that is finally becoming available to the masses, shedding light on how to be healthy, prevent illness, and be a part of the sustainable movement that is necessary if we are to continue to inhabit this earth.

Through reading this book, attending her lectures, and learning new and creative recipes included in her newsletter, I have made profound and lasting changes in my life. It was Gandhi who said you must be the change you wish to see in the world. Victoria has accepted this wisdom humbly and wholeheartedly. It is easy to dismiss her work because she is self-published, hardly mainstream, and proposes radical changes in the way we think and eat, but to do so would be to miss out on evolving as a human being. I encourage you to read this book and her others. If you are not satisfied, chalk it up as research, and move forward in your search for answers. There is no one single book that will teach you everything, but this one will help to lead you in the right direction. I know from meeting this incredible woman that the goal of her work is to help people to be healthy, self-reliant, and free from the health problems that plague our culture. In today's world, that's a pretty remarkable thing.

Victoria Boutenko does an awesome job of just making it so simple. Raw food is so scary for us and she lets us know why. Ask yourself...why am I so opposed to this way of eating? I did and got some answers that had nothing to do with eating to sustain life. Great book, great author, I've made the recipes in this book as well and they turned out tasty. I have given this book to my family members to read as well as people in my church. I highly recommend everyone read it.