When I first went vegan I was living in Ann Arbor Michigan and feeling very alone as a black vegan. Tracye McQuirter, author of Ageless Vegan was one of the folks I discovered during my research. I was hungry for other black vegans to learn from and to help me feel less isolated. Her book By Any Greens Necessary was a great find and I’ve often recommended it. Tracye has been very involved in promoting the plant-based lifestyle for many years. We had the pleasure of meeting her in Atlanta and she was one of the first people I interviewed on this site. You can read her interview here.
Tracye is joined in this book by her 80 year old mother Mary who went vegan along with Tracye some 30 years ago. They share their stories of how they chose the vegan lifestyle, how they made it work for them and the impact it has had on their lives. Tracye and Mary go on to share their secrets for maintaining radiant health for more than 30 years and 100 of their favorite plant-based recipes.
The first half of the book is a resource for how to become vegan and plant-based nutrition. It offers Tracye’s Fab Five Food Rules which help you make choices about what you should eat. I like her emphasis on eating whole food, minimally processed, and including a wide variety of fruit, veggies, grains, nuts and seeds to provide the nutrients you need. This is what we teach our students and clients as well.
She offered a list of protein rich foods such which I thought was unnecessary because it reinforces the idea that getting enough protein is a problem. She did go on to say that there is protein in all whole foods but it seemed almost as an aside. Rest assured that if you are eating enough whole foods to fulfill your caloric needs you will get enough protein. Here’s Nana Kwaku’s advice on that.
She also suggests Fourteen Steps To A Healthier You to help make the long-term commitment to the plant-based lifestyle. Steps I always recommend such as Know Your Why and Explore New Recipes. She also suggested Keeping a Stash of healthy snacks in your purse or bag so you won’t be tempted when you’re hungry. These 14 steps are a good start on building a sustainable plant-based lifestyle.
And then come the recipes. Tracye and Mary share 100 of their recipes. The look really good! I have marked quite a few as recipes to try. I had to stop looking though because I’m currently doing the Optimum Juice Fast and it was making me want to eat! But I know I’ll be trying her avocado toast, her Thai coconut curry soup (who doesn’t love Thai food?!), Vegetable Pot Pie and more. She has some interesting looking smoothies and salads too for the raw foodist, but most of the recipes are cooked.
The recipes use a nice variety of spices and herbs etc. and will be a great way to learn how to become a healthy gourmet. It’s important to try a wide variety of dishes so you’ll learn the skills and techniques of a vegan kitchen. This will help you learn how to experiment and create your own recipes. You’ll also be able to avoid boredom when you have a variety to choose from.
All in all I think Ageless Vegan is a good read and worth adding to your plant-based diet library. I believe having multiple resources is good. It reinforces what you know and offers you a different perspective. And, it’s a great resource for more recipes. I don’t know about you but I’m always on the lookout for new things to add to our meals.
Congratulations Tracye on your new book. Keep on spreading the truth and building the food revolution!
Have you read Ageless Vegan? What are your thoughts? Share them in the comments below and share this post with your vegan friends and family.
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