“Essential guide” is a very accurate description of this book. The first 2/3 of this book reveals dozens of studies about how to live a healthy vegetarian lifestyle through getting the proper balance of nutrients. It also mentions the myths regarding malnutrition or problems that vegetarians face when changing their diets.

It takes its time. Page by page, nutrient by nutrient, it’s a rather thorough examination of how much nutrients we need and what kinds. The big concerns are here, namely iron and protein, but the authors take the time to explain why some concerns are more myths than anything else.

The book is a good resource about basic nutrition overall, not just nutrition for vegetarians. Anyone could learn from this book how to live a better nutrition-filled life (and maybe want to eat some more vegetables).

That’s the first 2/3 of the book. The last 1/3 goes deeper into putting vegetarianism into practice. It has chapters dedicated to how your nutritional needs will change in the course of your development and how to work with them, how to handle social situations around food and food choices (especially if you have someone unsupportive or ignorant/passing bad information) with positive outcomes rather than defensiveness or fear, recipes and meal ideas, etc.

I think it’s a good reference book to have on hand, especially regarding the nutrient interactions, amounts, etc. There’s so much to know about our own nutrition and too much to remember offhand. I’ll be hanging onto this one and referring back to it often. I should probably keep it next to my vegetarian cookbooks just in case.