Kale and Coffee by Kevin Gianni Review

The Diet Book for Those Who Hate Diet Books!

I am not an unhealthy person, but I have to say I also don’t think I am anywhere near as healthy as I should be. I don’t eat chocolate every day and (despite what many think) I actually only drink in moderation. Come to think about it, most of what I eat and drink is in moderation.

I do not over indulge and although I don’t calorie count or step on the scales each and every morning, I am very aware of my weight. So with all that taken into account, am I healthy enough? I’m not sure. I could exercise more and I could try harder but with two kids, a husband and a job, who has the time to worry about things like that?

So when Miss Pollyanna suggested that I be the one to read this week’s Book Club pick, I was a little hesitant. Kale and Coffee by Kevin Gianni is billed as “A Renegade’s Guide to Health and Happiness”. Oh god help me. I was sure this was more of a book for her than me.

I may just have to put my healthy diet aside for a moment to eat some humble pie!

Kale and Coffee is not at all what I expected it to be. The writing is funny and endearing and even though my stubborn mind was telling me ‘I won’t like this’ – I found myself reading more and more.

You see, what I didn’t expect was to find a common ground with this health blogger on a mission. Kevin realised he may have may have the hereditary cancer gene, and decided to travel the world looking for the perfect healthy diet. I have written an article about the Fear of Cancer myself, so I know how having such a worry in the back of your mind pushes you to find solutions and answers in the most unusual and unexpected places.

Gianni’s book takes you on a trip across North America with his wife in a bio-fuelled RV (Camper Van). Together they give up sugar and caffeine and try more nutritious plants and vegetables than I even knew existed.

But something unexpected happens. Whilst on a quest to find the world’s healthiest diet, Kevin finds himself getting sicker and sicker. Could his healthy living crusade actually be killing him?

This is no normal diet book – each chapter starts with a personal story before Gianni goes into the scientific explanations, leaving you feeling like you have had a really interesting science lesson with your favourite teacher. You feel a personal connection at the same time as walking away with an abundance of knowledge.

Gianni’s book is not at all what I expected. In fact, it wasn’t preachy, it wasn’t sanctimonious and it did not make me feel crap about myself (which most healthy living or diet books do). It made me realise that actually, there is no ONE right diet for everyone. What Gianni finds is that knowing your own body and what it needs is the best way to discover what does work for you and you alone. I love it. His book actually goes to prove that we are all unique, even down to our own dietary needs. That is a philosophy I can work with!

There is no quick fix, there is no master plan, there is just education, knowledge and understanding.

Emotional stress, technology and even a move from one place to another can change what our bodies require to function. Genetics play a part, exercise plays a part, but understanding how all this works together is the key to understanding what your own body needs.

The only part of the book that doesn’t sit well with me is the financial side of it. Although you feel a connection with Gianni throughout most of the book and you believe his research, you do start to feel a little disconnected from his story when it comes to practicalities in the financial sense. With blood tests every week, food testing, brain scans and water fasting supervised by medical professionals, it makes you feel like unless you are a millionaire or a celebrity, you will never be able to follow or understand your diet as well as he does.

Overall, I cannot say that I walked away from this book feeling that I had been given the answer, or that I finally understood what I needed to do to be ‘healthy‘. But I did walk away with a renewed desire to understand my own body and an inspiration to find other ways to ‘listen’ to my body.

At the end of the book, Kevin Gianni lays out a 21 Day jump Start, and I am even a little surprised to say I will be trying it myself. But what his book has taught me is that even with Kevin’s 21 day outline, it may not suit me and if it doesn’t, that’s okay – because within that 21 days I am likely to find a version of the diet that will.

For those of you who think that diets are a fad, this book is for you.
For those of you who think healthy living is incredibly important – this book is for you.
For those of you who don’t even realise how much healthy eating can change you life – this book is for you.
In essence, I don’t think there is a person out there who this book is ‘not’ for.

Kale and Coffee, by Kevin Gianni is published by Hay House.
ISBN: 978-1-401946-17-3