Customer Reviews

The Sunfood Diet Success System

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

*****
David Wolfe's Sunfood Diet Success System could be regarded as the raw foodist's bible. It is the latest edition of his classic book, updated and made gorgeous by library binding, spectacular Kirlian photography of raw foods throughout, and cutting edge information about raw foods.

The new Sunfood Diet Success System will appeal to entry-level raw foodists and experienced raw foodists. It is a "success system" rather than strictly a raw foods book because it is packed with David Wolfe's philosophy about raw foods and life in general---most of this is positve thinking and personal transformation philosophy applied to raw foods. In my opinion, it is all very helpful and inspirational.

It is difficult to say enough good things about this book. If you are interested in the healthy lifestyle of raw foods, buy it.

Negatives about the book would be David Wolfe's poetry---I'm not a big poetry fan, and there is quite a bit of it. However, it's inspirational and motivational too, so this is just a personal preference of mine.

Another negative to be aware of is that David Wolfe, as the number one raw foodist in the world, is very extreme and intense...he forages for wild foods when he is caught without healthy foods, something most of us would not have the knowledge or interest to do. This is part of what makes him such a committed raw foodist and raw food "hero" to me, but it may be hard for many people to relate to. That said, most of the book is very practical.

It is an expensive book, but a beautiful one, and well worth the price. This will be a classic, and is definitely my favorite raw food book of about 40 that I own.
*****

David Wolfe's book dicusses how you can create massive changes in your health using the raw food principles he teaches.

I've listened to all his audios and also attended an event of his in Montreal and I find his message to be fresh and sensible when it comes to nutrition. Though I will warn you, if you follow many of the FDA guidelines you might have a rub with this book and Wolfe's nutritional information. It is extremely cutting-edge.

David's main argument is that cooked foods are dead foods. Foods that contain life contain more "live value" or the enzymes, nutrients, and energy that we need to regenerate, rejuvenate, and re-energize.

The raw food diet has its benefits and his instruction will help you navigate through some of the challenges you may face. He also does have a disclaimer that will tell you that not everyone is meant for a 100% raw food diet for reasons that are physiological, mental, and social. I've never been 100% raw, but at times have gone a few months sustained at 90% or so. I think the major issues I've encountered have been my running schedule and not being able to get enough foods in me that will repair muscle. In my particular case, those foods are some cooked meats.

The book is jumpy at times, though still an informative read. One nice aspect is that you will find his outline of a weekly plan for someone who wants to go all raw or 80/20.

Kevin Gianni - CPT
Author of "The Busy Person's Fitness Solution" and Personal Trainer

After many months, almost a year of trying to get a hold of this book, I finally got my hands on this precious gem. The Sunfood Diet is everything I expected and much more. David Wolfe does an excellent job of explaining the art of consuming only raw food for optimal health and nutrition. This is not a book you will read once and put on a shelf to collect dust. You will read and reread it over and over again. This is not just a book about the raw food diet; it is a book about life and how to live it more abundantly with vibrant health. From the very first chapter to the very last puntuation mark, Mr.Wolfe captures and holds your attention. His prose is clear and easy to understand. Beautiful quotes and poetry adorn the pages throughout the book. An added bonus were the beautiful kirlian photographs showing the life energy emanating from live fruits and vegetables. I am convinced now more than ever that the raw food diet is for me. I wish all Americans would come to this truth. The sooner we realize that the Standard American Diet is killing us the better off we will be. Kudos to you Mr. Wolfe and thankyou for opening my eyes, and for writing an excellent book.

This is a good book for someone who is embarking on a raw foods diet. Like other reviewers I also enjoyed the fact that the author had meal plans in the back so you could get an idea on what you would eat in a day.
On the brutally honest side, I thought the volume of poetry was unnessecary, and I did find the degree of motivational hype in spots pretty distasteful. I also did not like all of the references to superfoods and expensive items that are currently being marketed by the author on the web.
If you prepare yourself for these pitfalls before reading the book however, you will find it a good resource. It has some great info about liver cleansing and is a good practical introduction to raw food philosophy. The advice about the types of food to eat while on this diet ie fruit:vegetables:fat is very comprehensive and good practical advice that should help you adopt a sustainable approach to the diet and ensure enjoyment of the lifestyle. In general I like the author and feel he is quite genuine in his desire to help people experience greater health. If it didn't have all the marketing in it, I would possibly have put it in the "great gifts to humankind" book category (now I'm getting cheesy!). Bit of a shame therefore that the author feels the need to capitalise on his great advice.

Whether you are interested in raw food or have been eating this way for years, this book is the bomb! David Wolfe is experienced in the area of health and continues in his studies to find the best lifestyle that is not only great for us but also the planet. This book provides up to date information on organic and wild harvested foods, the benefits of a sunfood diet and demonstrates how to transition into this healthy way of eating for a full energy filled lifestyle change. If you are interested in eating healthier or have "all the books" on raw food (and I have many), you are missing out if you don't have this one in your library.

This book is very intelligently written, and the most inspirational thing that I've ever read. Transitioning to raw food has been the hardest thing that I have ever wanted to do. I now feel armed with knowledge and power provided to me through the thoughtful words of Mr. Wolfe. I want to give copies of this book to everyone I know, health conscious our not. Only we hold the keys to our own happiness and Wolfe reminds us of that with every sentence. Even if you never actually eat any more raw food than the occasional salad or piece of fruit, the message of personal strenght and power in this book is absolutely priceless!

The nutritional information in the book is incredible. Not only are there great ideas about what proper nutrition should be, but there is scientific info and real information about the nutritional value of foods we eat and foods we should be eating.

I kind of scoffed when I got this book in the mail. Flipping through it and seeing so many pages filled with poetry, I thought, "well I hope I can glean at least a little useful information out of this expensive book." It looks kind of flaky to someone unfamiliar with the beauty of the raw diet. Furthermore, there are a lot of quotes attributed to authors with the last name Rainbow, or Wisdom. I doubted they could have anything serious to say to me.

But let me tell you that this book grows on you the more alive [read: raw] you become. The more you engage with the detoxing process, the more you just clutch this book, trying to squeeze in as much reading time as possible in between work, school, and sleeping. I've even taken this book to the bathroom with me, I just can't put it down. (My homework has seriously suffered this semester.) There's so much great scientific information in here that I am constantly looking up the nutritional benefits of everything I put in my smoothies. David anticipates so many of our questions because he's worked with raw foodists for so many years, that he knows how deeply and tenaciously we hold to our chemical way of life. We are psychologically attached to the saddest, most nutrient-deficient, chemically saturated, non-food in the history of civilization, and this book is David's attempt to help us see the light, that what we eat can change our life radically- mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. We don't have to feel like we're slowly dying all the time.

I'm now in my 4th week and I just wanted to share some of the changes I've noticed so far. The night I found out about the raw diet, I read and read about it for about seven hours until about 2 am when I realized that somewhere in that time, I'd become "raw". While reading, I did a good amount of emotional detoxing, like how you feel after a good cry. The next thing I noticed was that my lifelong cravings for carbohydrates, sugar, and chocolate dissapeared within the first week (I went 100% raw overnight). I now get grossed out by the sight of cookies! I went into a deep depression in the second week, but thankfully came out of it alive. (I think that was part of the detox process now.) I've lost about 5 lbs so far(although I haven't weighed myself, my pants are getting looser), my skin has cleared up a lot (I have bad acne), my skin all over my body is more radiant, I have more confidence, I feel so sexy, I smile more because I'm not ashamed of my food addiction anymore, I look people in the eye (I NEVER used to be able to hold eye contact- all my life I had a great fear of what people would see in me if they looked in my eyes- now I do it all the time, and I love it), I engage in more fulfilling conversations with people, and I strike up friendly conversation with strangers. They say raw foodists can recognize each other in a crowd. Well I struck up a completely random conversation with my first one last week. It's some kind of vibe I guess.

I used to be really cynical and dissaproving of everything about myself. But I'm starting to think really positive empowering thoughts just randomly. I can happily report that this book (which is kind of a Bible for anyone starting the diet) is now one of the most treasured books in my library. I reference it daily, and I anticipate I probably will for a long time.

I have read several raw food health system and this is one of the best that I have read. David Wolfe explains about the different foods a person should not eat and the reason for and the ones you should have in a Raw Food Diet and the balance in all the different foods we eat.

There's lots of Rah! Rah! Rah! for eating raw food in this book, but if a person is really trying to find out why they should go raw and how to prepare the food, I wouldn't recommend it. I see David Wolfe as the poster boy for raw foods. He talks a lot about how great he looks and feels since going raw, and that's okay. Maybe some people need that. But I could have done without this one. I didn't even bother to read the whole thing. The book is too much like a commercial with lots of pretty pictures for fill. I would recommend the LifeFood Recipe Book by the Jubbs and Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine by Cousens to anyone starting out with raw foods. The smoothie in the LifeFood Recipe book is worth the price because it's so great to stop cravings for unnatural foods, at least it did for me.

A lot of the inspirational material in this book is rehashed from other success others, just put into new words.

And the diet stuff, well...maybe it is helpful for some but to me it is boring. If your in good health, don't waste your money. If you are looking for answers, you might want to pick this book up.

Having owned the book in a previous edition, I would not have spent $40 on it knowing its contents. And I would not fork out $50 for a new copy, no way. There is a fat margin built into that price that no other book would dare try to pull, but David is the kind of guy who will try it. I don't recommend buying into it.

I do find David inspiring and enjoy his lectures much more than his writing. He is a much more gifted public speaker than a writer, that is for sure.

Check out his youtube videos first, there are at least a few hours of content on there for free, that are probably more valuable than this book. They would probably make up 2-4 DVDs worth of good material.