Alona Pulde - Forks over knives family : every parent’s guide to raising healthy, happy kids on a whole-food, plant-based diet

We hope you enjoyed reading this Touchstone eBook.

Join our mailing list and get updates on new releases, deals, bonus content and other great books from Touchstone and Simon & Schuster.

C LICK H ERE T O S IGN U P

or visit us online to sign up at
eBookNews.SimonandSchuster.com

Thank you for downloading this Touchstone eBook.

Join our mailing list and get updates on new releases, deals, bonus content and other great books from Touchstone and Simon & Schuster.

C LICK H ERE T O S IGN U P

or visit us online to sign up at
eBookNews.SimonandSchuster.com

Touchstone

An Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

1230 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10020

www.SimonandSchuster.com

Copyright 2016 by Forks Over Knives, LLC

Photographs copyright 2016 by Matt Armendariz

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Touchstone Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

This publication contains the opinions and ideas of its authors. It is sold with the understanding that the authors and publisher are not engaged in rendering health services in the book. You should consult your own medical and health providers as appropriate before adopting any of the suggestions in this book or drawing inferences from it.

The authors and publisher specifically disclaim all responsibility for any liability, loss or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this book.

First Touchstone hardcover edition September 2016

TOUCHSTONE and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or .

The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

Cover design by Laurie Carkeet

Cover photographs by Matt Armendariz, except for the front top and third photos. Top front: Adie Bush/The Image Bank/Getty Images, Third front: GI/Jamie Grill/Blend Images/Getty Images

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Pulde, Alona, author. | Lederman, Matthew, author. | Stets, Marah, author. | Wendel, Brian, author.

Title: Forks over knives family : every parents guide to raising healthy, happy kids on a whole-food, plant-based diet / Alona Pulde, MD, Matthew Lederman, MD, With Marah Stets, And Brian Wendel ; Recipes by Darshana Thacker.

Description: New York : Touchstone Books, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016011411 | ISBN 9781476753324 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781476753331 (pbk.)

Subjects: LCSH: Natural foodsHealth aspects. | VeganismHealth aspects. | Cooking (Natural foods) | ChildrenNutrition. | LCGFT: Cookbooks.

Classification: LCC RM237.55 .P84 2016 | DDC 641.5/637dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016011411

ISBN 978-1-4767-5332-4

ISBN 978-1-4767-5334-8 (ebook)

We dedicate this book to all the courageous families who dare to step away from what is comfortable and customary to seek better and healthier ways of living, for themselves and for their children.

And to Kylee and Jordan, who motivate us every day to stay on our path. Watching them grow healthy and well is the most rewarding gift of all.

E very year, more and more people learn about the enormous benefits of a whole-food, plant-based lifestyle. Millions of men and women have learned that simply by eating well they can prevent and even reverse disease, increase their vitality and strength, improve mental clarity, and reach an ideal weight. Perhaps you recently made this discovery yourself and have just begun to eat this way. Or maybe youve been living the Forks Over Knives way for many years. You might be thinking about starting a family and want to know what to expect during your plant-based pregnancy and your babys first year. Or you may already have older children and need the tools to help everyone in your house transition to the whole-food, plant-based lifestyle. Wherever you are on your own journey, you are there because you understand that the food-as-medicine concept isnt only about your gaining the best possible health for yourself. Its about making changes that will help the whole family achieve and maintain the best possible healthnot just for now, but for a lifetime.

In our previous book, The Forks Over Knives Plan , we explained in great detail why a whole-food, plant-based diet is the optimum choice a person can make for him- or herself. We also laid out a program to fully transition to the lifestyle in about a month. If youd like more information on the research behind this way of eating and a week-by-week plan for transitioning, we encourage you to refer to that book.

This book is a little different, and we were moved to write it first and foremost by our experiences as doctors. For years we ran a medical practice using this diet as a primary treatment, and we continue to counsel people daily on how to implement or maintain the lifestyle. We have been privileged to see countless success stories manifest right before our eyes, not only for our patients but very often for their families, too. We love the opportunity to work one-on-one with so many people, but the world is vast and were impatient to reach as many others as we can. This book is our chance to help you apply these changes in your own life. Whether youre brand-new to this way of eating or youre already eating a whole-food, plant-based diet yourself, the fact is that it becomes easier for everybody when the whole family is doing it.

There are two other, very important reasons for our writing this book, and they are at the heart of our nonprofessional lives: Kylee and Jordan, our beautiful little girls. When we started our whole-food, plant-based journey we did not have children, and now that we do, we are even more profoundly grateful that we discovered the lifestyle and are raising our girls this way. Weve certainly faced many of the challenges that come with having plant-based children in a Standard American Diet world. Just like parents everywhere, were learning along the way, and we hope that some of what weve learned can be useful to you and make your path a little smoother.

We are grateful and delighted for the opportunity to share what we know as doctors and as parents in this book, with which we aim to make living a whole-food, plant-based lifestyle with a family not only manageable but also as joyful and as tasty as it can be. We jump in to the hands-on advice in Chapter 1, but first we will briefly outline the basic concepts of the diet. Whether you are very familiar with the lifestyle or its entirely new to you, reviewing the Forks Over Knives foundation in this section will allow you to read without scratching your head when we refer to these key principles throughout the book:

The definition of the whole-food, plant-based diet

Focus on the best food package