8/03/2022

Ganz Entspannt Vegan by Carina Wohlleben

The cover and the summary made me curious about the content and I hoped for much new information about being vegan or becoming a vegan. In the end, I learned that I am apparently a flexitarian and that there is no “perfect vegan”. This book is interesting to read, no doubt, but some things still sound very complicated. Too complicated…

Ganz Entspannt Vegan*

by Carina Wohlleben
Publisher Ludwig on June 20, 2022
Genre Nonfiction
Pages 223
Format Paperback
Source Ludwig
Goodreads
✶✶✶½

Diverse, sustainable, healthy – and not difficult at all!

"I couldn't live vegan" - Carina Wohlleben shows that it's not as difficult as many believe - and certainly not monotonous. She lives vegan herself and is a certified vegan nutritionist. She now shares her knowledge and her very personal experiences with everyone who is wondering how to get started with a vegan diet. Carina Wohlleben talks about her vegan everyday life, presents her personal basics, and clears up the common prejudices about vegan nutrition. All this without pointing fingers at others because there is no such thing as a "perfect vegan". Every step counts, no matter how insignificant it may seem to you.

Style

In a relaxed, almost jolly tone, the author shares many anecdotes from her childhood and her life as an adult and mother. She tells openly why she switched to a vegan lifestyle and how she gradually integrated it into her everyday life. Talks about the often unexpected and sometimes unpleasant challenges and how she deals with them. The language and tone of voice are always friendly and easy to read. Well, one or the other repetition of information was unnecessary in my opinion, and it also didn't have to be that she called a person by name just to underline a point in the book's content where she otherwise avoided it. That had an unpleasant aftertaste.

Even when it came to dietary supplements, she couldn't really convince me. As much as I liked the entertaining style, at some points, it got too complicated or sounded very awkward.

Conclusion

Carina Wohlleben couldn't really convince me with this book. No question, it is pleasant to read and one or the other new piece of information was included for me. Nevertheless, some things in this non-fiction book sound complicated and some of the author's anecdotes sound anything but relaxed and easy. If you haven't read anything on this topic yet, you're sure to find out a lot of interesting and new things here. Personally, I expected a little more from the book.

Happy reading

*This book was kindly provided to me by Ludwig in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Thank you. The title was, at the time this review was published, only available in the German language.

Deutsche Rezension

Stil

Im lockeren, ja fast schon vergnüglichen Tonfall gibt die Autorin so manche Anekdote aus ihrer Kindheit und ihrem Leben als Erwachsene und Mutter zum Besten. Sie erzählt dabei offen, warum sie zum veganen Lebensstil wechselte und wie sie diesen nach und nach in ihren Alltag integrierte. Spricht von den oft unerwarteten und manchmal auch unangenehmen Herausforderungen und wie sie damit umgeht. Dabei bleibt sie sprachlich und vom Tonfall her immer freundlich und einfach zu lesen. Gut, die eine oder andere Informationswiederholung war in meinen Augen unnötig, und es hätte auch nicht sein müssen, dass sie eine Person beim Namen nannte, nur um einen Punkt vom Buchinhalt zu unterstreichen, wo sie das ansonsten vermied. Das hatte einen unguten Beigeschmack.

Auch beim Thema Nahrungsergänzungsmittel konnte sie mich nicht wirklich überzeugen. So sehr mir der unterhaltsame Stil auch gefiel, an einigen Stellen wurde es doch zu kompliziert bzw klang es sehr umständlich. 

Resultat

So ganz überzeugen konnte mich Carina Wohlleben mit diesem Buch nicht. Keine Frage, es ist angenehm zu lesen und die eine oder andere neue Information war für mich auch dabei. Trotzdem klingt so einiges in diesem Sachbuch kompliziert und so manche Anekdote der Autorin alles andere als entspannt und einfach. Wer noch keinerlei Lektüre zu diesem Thema gelesen hat, der erfährt hier mit Sicherheit eine Menge Wissenswertes und Neues. Ich persönlich habe mir von dem Buch jedoch etwas mehr erwartet.

Carina Wohlleben

Carina Wohlleben, born in 1991 in Adenau (Eifel), studied geography as well as nature conservation and landscape ecology in Bonn and has been a partner in the Forest Academy founded by her father since 2017. In 2021 she completed further training as a vegan nutritionist and has since been offering nutritional advice, vegan cooking courses, and online courses. She shares her experiences and recipes with a growing number of followers on Instagram (@vegan.wohl.leben). Carina Wohlleben lives with her husband and their two children in the Sauerland.

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10/20/2018

Für Immer Zuckerfrei-Meine Glücksrezepte by Anastasia Zampounidis

I haven’t read the other book, where she talks about the “how and why” she cut sugar out of her life. But this one was an offering from the publisher, and the cover alone made me want it. Which is exactly what a cover should achieve, right? That a reader wants the book… Sure, you will find a page in here as well, where she talks a bit about her reasons why she wanted to cut off the sweet poison – as she calls it – from her life. And it makes total sense. At least it did for me.

Für Immer Zuckerfrei-Meine Glücksrezepte*

by Anastasia Zampounidis
Publisher Bastei Lübbe on September 28, 2018
Genre Nonfiction
Pages 206
Format Hardcover
Source Publisher
Goodreads
✶✶✶✶

Our diet significantly influences how we feel. Anastasia Zampounidis has personally experienced that sugar causes extreme mood swings – since she has renounced the sweet poison, she is much more balanced and free of hunger attacks. But food can do much more! Negative emotions are often based on the undersupply of individual organs, and if we give our body what it needs, the good mood returns. Inspired by Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurveda and the Mediterranean cuisine, Anastasia Zampounidis has developed dishes for every mood that has helped her to live sugar-free for twelve years now. From relaxing millet and cinnamon porridge to comforting quinoa sushi to encouraging mango ice cream, everyone will find something that is good and tastes good. (personal translation by ©Vi at Inkvotary)

Style

Her tone is light but yet professional. You won´t find boring technical terms nobody can understand. Instead, she explains it in a kind of joyful manner without losing the seriousness this topic deserves and needs. We all know that sugar isn´t the healthiest stuff you can consume and yet it is contained in almost every grocery we eat. Except for veggies or fruits (they contain more or less sweet by nature).

Anastasia Zampounidis shares a bit of her experience and knowledge with her readers. The recipes are very easy to cook and the text between tells you a bit about the story behind some ingredients. The author combines since many years sugar-free cooking with Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and the style of the Mediterranean cuisine. Good, some of the spices you might not like, but in that case, you can use something you like. Nothing´s chiseled in stone. And that is good. Besides that, you´ll find some very beautiful looking dish pictures, no matter if it is something you can eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner. They literally make your mouth water. The ones that show the author herself, are not really mine. She kind of looks strained in them, which gives those pictures an affected look. But they aren´t a reason to look away generally. Important are those where you see all the delicious meals you can cook, and that´s what counts most. For me, that is.

Conclusion

I can´t compare it to her other book about a sugar-free lifestyle - since I haven´t read it so far -, but this one is nice to read and has for sure some really good recipes. At least it convinced me to make some more changes in my life and that is quite something, I´d say.

Happy reading

*This book was, at the time this review was published, only available in the German language. The title was kindly provided to me by Bastei Lübbe in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Thank you. Therefore, the cover of the German edition is shown first in this review.

Anastasia Zampounidis

Anastasia Zampounidis, born in 1968, started her TV career on the music channel MTV. It was followed by moderation for Wetten, dass…?, Sixx TV and ZDFneo. Most recently, she regularly exposed consumer traps on behalf of ZDF as a WISO consumer agent, including in the documentary Die Zuckerfalle. She has been refraining from sugar for twelve years and has gained many times as much energy and joie de vivre. 

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