The Crazy Sexy Diet: Eat Your Veggies, Ignite Your Spark, and Live Like You Mean It!

Review

 

Diagnosed with cancer in 2003, author Kris Carr undertook a dramatic lifestyle makeover to better her chances of beating the dreaded disease. Following the old adage “you are what you eat,” Carr customized for herself a low-fat, vegetarian diet of raw foods and juices that are meant to balance the body’s pH levels. It appears to have worked. Carr has been in remission for years, looks and feels healthier than ever before, and has taken her concept national – building a mini hippie health and wellness empire on the back of a successful documentary film made about her cancer struggle called CrazySexyCancer. She and her company were recently the subject of a flattering profile in the New York Times.

There is a substantial amount of research on the subject of “alkaline” diets, and many vocal advocates for it out there in addition to Carr. Generally, alkaline diets require fresh, low glycemic (low-sugar) and citrus fruits, raw and steamed vegetables, tubers (arrowhead root, jicama, yams, etc.), nuts, and beans. Prohibited foods include grains, dairy, meat, sugar, alcohol, caffeine and mushrooms. The purpose is to maintain the balance of alkalinity in the bloodstream, which is theorized to boost immunity.

Carr presents two options for her diet, depending on your lifestyle and goals. There is a 60/40 option - 60 percent alkaline foods, 40 percent acidic foods – or an 80/20 option with 80 percent alkaline, 20 percent acidic. Carr posits that the 80/20 option is the ideal for those with chronic health issues, while the 60/40 option is ideal for those already in good health just looking to maintain it. A 21 day meal plan with recipes is provided.

Getting started on the Crazy Sexy Diet is not easy. You’ll need a juicer or a good blender to kick off a 21-day cleanse of daily green juice or green power smoothies, supplemented with vegan foods and a substantial intake of raw fruit and vegetables. It’s also suggested, though this is optional, that you fast on green juice, purified water and herb tea one day a week. You’ll then roll into your preferred percentage alkaline diet, and you’ll be exercising a good amount too. Carr asserts that the body heals eight times faster with regular exercise, and while this may not be scientifically proven – common sense suggests she’s essentially right. Carr recommends cardio exercise three to five times a week for a minimum 35 minutes – preferably outdoors, if you can manage it. She’s an advocate of exercise that can be enjoyable – dancing, yoga, hiking – and there’s no arguing with solid advice like that.

Will you lose weight on The Crazy Sexy Diet? Yes. Though it’s important to note that Carr is not specifically interested in weight loss here. Her real goal is to introduce readers to the broad range of detoxifying and health (reduced blood pressure, reduced cholesterol, etc.) benefits of a plant-based diet. Kris Carr is true-blue, dyed in the wool “health hippie,” who makes very good arguments for how consumption of animal products is harmful to both our health, and our environment. And in this book she covers a range of topics from the importance of stress management to gluten intolerance, colonic cleansing, skin care, nutritional supplements and superfoods in the quest for a healthy body and feeling and looking good.