What do you think of the book Skinnny *****?!
Answers: I read it and Im freaked out. Do you guys believe anything it says? should I become Vegan?
I believe in some of it, but not all of it. As I said before in a similar question, tt's alright as a starting point, maybe, but I'm not a big fan.
I think it's a mixed bag of information - some of the books they list as sources are far more reliable, like Dr. Miriam Nestle's books "What to Eat" and "Food Politics". She's a much more fair and balanced writer and she is an actual medical doctor - this book was written by a model and a magazine writer, it's not exactly medically accurate, and because both authors are hardcore vegan, they kind of twist the truth (and even I'll admit that, even though I'm vegan).
The language in it is supposed to motivate women to get up and become vegan, to make the change and to feel empowered. However, some of the language in it is sort of abusive, and I think if someone with an eating disorder were to read it they'd be especially manipulated into being even more unhealthy - they refer to the reader as a fat a-word, they write in this sort of style: " HEY YOU! Yeah you, get off your behind, look at your dimpled fat thighs, that's because eating meat turns into nothing but rippling cholesterol and death on your thighs! Look at how fat you are! You're killing animals! You are murderer by proxy! Stop eating animals! Hoorah!"
I kind of find it demeaning and annoying about 2 chapters in, despite how invaluable some of the sources and information they bring up are.
There's some great starting points and some good information. Some other things in the book I found unfounded, biased to the point of completely stretching or fabricating the truth when they couldn't find a source to draw the connection themselves. Having had done most of my own research (but also being fortunate enough to having access to it through the schools I've attended) I know that some of what they say is pure baloney, in an effort to force people into a vegan lifestyle. But other things are totally right on the money.
Also, they talk about how bad processed foods are throughout the book and then in the back of the book they have daily food menus for people to follow and the menus are littered with brand-name companies and (you guessed it!) processed fake cheese, pretend meats and tons of sodium, fat and lard-inducing grossness. And while the products they mention in the back are vegan themselves, the companies that produce them might not be as ethical as they'd like them to be (like BOCA, which is owned by Philip Morris cigarette co.).
If you want to go vegan, don't do it because some two hot babes that wrote a controversial, slanted book want you to. Do it because you genuinely think being vegan will make you healthier, or because you genuinely care about animals and don't want to exploit them any longer.
Also, do MUCH more research, don't trust the meal plans these two women made up, as I said, they're far from perfect.
Oh, man! What a horrible, negative book to read when you have an eating disorder! I'm sorry that you ever found it, I read it once I was already recovered and I still felt triggered. Report It
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