The Pegan Diet: 21 Practical Principles for Reclaiming Your Health in a Nutritionally Confusing World
Published February 23rd 2021 by Little, Brown Spark, Hardcover 304 pages
Twelve-time New York Times bestselling author Mark Hyman, MD, presents his unique Pegan diet—including meal plans, recipes, and shopping lists.
For decades, the diet wars have pitted advocates for the low-carb, high-fat paleo diet against advocates of the exclusively plant-based vegan diet and dozens of other diets leaving most of us bewildered and confused. For those of us on the sidelines, trying to figure out which approach is best has been nearly impossible—both extreme diets have unique benefits and drawbacks. But how can it be, we've asked desperately, that our only options are bacon and butter three times a day or endless kale salads? How do we eat to reverse disease, optimal health, longevity and performance. How do we eat to reverse climate change? There must be a better way!
Fortunately, there is. With The Pegan Diet's food-is-medicine approach, Mark Hyman explains how to take the best aspects of the paleo diet (good fats, limited refined carbs, limited sugar) and combine them with the vegan diet (lots and lots of fresh, healthy veggies) to create a delicious diet that is not only good for your brain and your body, but also good for the planet.
Featuring thirty recipes and plenty of infographics illustrating the concepts, The Pegan Diet offers a balanced and easy-to-follow approach to eating that will help you get, and stay, fit, healthy, focused, and happy—for life.
User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
Really, Dr. Hyman?!?! You state in your book that you "wanted to create an easy, approachable, no-nonsense guide for everyone, regardless of their dietary beliefs." But I think you failed. I agree that food is medicine, and I'm all for healthy living. However, I don't want to eat sardines, elk, jicima root, teff or kefer. How approachable is a breakfast recipe that calls for 20 ingredients? Where does the average person find humanly-raised tallow for cooking? Can I get pasture-raised, hormone- and antibiotic-free ostrich at my local Price-Rite? And just what is natto? In a nutshell, this book is far from easy and not for everyone. At least not me.
Rating: really liked it
The Pegan Diet gives Dr. Mark Hyman's recommendations for healthy eating in the form of twenty-one rules. The rules involve eating, healthy whole foods, eliminating gluten grains, most dairy and most sugar. As a nutritionist I fully support his recommendations. They have helped improve both my own health as well as that of my nutrition clients.
The term "pegan" is a mixture of paleo and vegan, which Dr. Hyman coined a few years ago. It involves the low/no grains and dairy of the Paleo diet, plus lots of veggies from vegan diets. The diet is really just common sense, in my opinion. This book would be good for someone who is interested in eating a healthier diet, but is not sure where to begin. It might be repetitive if you already have a lot of nutrition knowledge.
The book includes a number of recipes at the end. They are fairly complicated in my opinion as someone who cooks a lot. The average reader would have been better served with some easier recipes or simple meal templates.
I received a complementary copy via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: really liked it
This is a very easy to read but very informative book. Dr. Hyman presents 21 guidelines to follow for the best diet, which he coined a few years ago from taking the best of paleo principles and the best of vegan principles. Hyman was once vegan but now eats some animal products, and is a big proponent of regenerative agriculture, which combats climate change and also produces healthier meat and dairy.
For a modern news item that really drives that home, see the recent news stories about butter no longer softening at room temperature because dairy farmers increased the palmitic acid from palm oil (a long-chain fatty acid linked to heart disease) in their cattle feed to increase the fat in their milk so they get more butter. Hyman recommends a diet that's free of grains, sugar, most dairy, starches and processed foods and that focuses on lots of vegetables and healthy fats along with smaller portions of grass-fed meats and healthy foods like berries and fatty fish.
The chapters are short, to the point and easy to follow, with a summary at the end of each chapter of the few key points.
Some recipes are provided at the end but I didn't find them very easy or appealing. The recipes contain nutritional information but no photos.
Dr. Hyman is one of our modern experts in dietary advice and he's filled his latest book with very accessible information to adopt some of his advice. Most of it was not new to me but I read about this topic often, and I did appreciate how short, to the point, and succinct each part was. I also appreciate how he focuses on the importance of regenerative agriculture not just for healthy foods (factory farmed meat and dairy really is toxic) but for the sake of the animals and because it's one of the most important elements of tackling climate change. He goes into that topic much more in his 2020 book Food Fix: How to Save Our Health, Our Economy, Our Communities, and Our Planet-One Bite at a Time. This is a great book for "bite sized" bits of information to drastically improve your diet and your health.
I read a digital ARC of this book via NetGalley.
Rating: really liked it
This is a really good book. Simple, informative and very useful. FOOD IS MEDICINE. They are the source of wellness, health and power.
We can heal ourselves if we choose to eat the right foods, have healthy habits and manage stress properly. You can follow this diet being a vegan and although I disagree with the author about how good and beneficial a well-balanced and responsible vegan diet can be for the entire planet and us, human beings, the Pegan diet becomes the path towards it, since it only promotes the intake of up to a cup of animal protein a day and only grass-fed, free-ranged ones (as well as eggs and certain wild fish). That's a start.
The stars of this diet are plants, which are supposed to take 75% of a plate (in volume) in every meal.
Rating: really liked it
I have been a fan of Dr. Hyman for years and have learned a great deal from him. I saw his Pegan Diet lecture on PBS recently and was suprised at just how hollow it was. He is usually good at explaining the science behind things, but this time he was glib and "too cute by half." I thought it was because of the time limitation by the show, so I got the book. I found the book lacking too. Dr. Hyman is like the Phoenix who keeps rising - and each time he reinvents himself a little. Since Paleo, Keto and Vegan lifestyles are getting all the press now he hopped on the bandwagon. Some books dairy is ok. some no. It is the same with beef. The only consistent belief is the bashing of wheat and sugar. I was also suprised at how he tiptoed around the beef industry. I would love to know the backstory on that.
Dr. Hyman used to be so informative and now, sadly, it seems he is just trying to stay in the spotlight and make a few more dollars. There are other authors that offer the same information with more science and explanations. I hope the genuine Dr. Hyman returns!
Rating: really liked it
As a nutrition professional, I enjoyed reading The Pegan Diet by Dr. Mark Hyman. The foundation of our health is and should always be quality, whole foods. Dr. Hyman gives easy-to-understand and useful tips that are simple enough for anyone to adopt.
Climate change is a hot topic right now and many do not realize the importance of regenerative farming and how it can improve our climate. While the media focus is on oil and gas, the food industry isn't getting the attention it needs and deserves. Dr. Hyman brings this to light.
He also recommends testing beyond that which most doctors offer or recommend. These tests can be invaluable in helping a client do a deep dive into learning and knowing their body's unique needs.
The Pegan Diet is a great resource for laypeople and nutrition professionals.
Rating: really liked it
So far the best book about food I've ever read. Looking at food as though it's medicine and understanding insulin resistance and all the bad things that happen to your body when you eat starchy foods and sugars, was really an eye opener.
I've started applying the Pegan Diet principles and of course I started losing weight and feelless bloated, but the best part is I no longer wake up in the middle of the night because my body is in pain due to muscle inflammation!
I do agree with most reviews I've read: amazing book, but the recipes at the end are way to complicated. As a full time working mum, when I read a recipe where the list of ingredients is an entire page long, I'm immediately discouraged.
Rating: really liked it
I've read a few books by this author and I think this is one of my favorites. Paleo + Vegan = Pegan. The author presented this plan with 21 principles to aim for. And he included further changes for those already suffering from disease like diabetes. I'm glad he didn't say this was a one size fits all. I also liked his own personal story on how he used to be vegan but has now shifted to incorporating some paleo guidelines into his diet.
This was interesting and if you are looking to clean up your normal diet, this would be a great starting point. So 4 stars.
Rating: really liked it
3.5 ⭐️ A little too in the weeds (skimmed over the super technical parts) and went on a little longer than it should have, but I wanted to keep reading and I learned!! The straightforward charts and summaries at the end of each chapter were especially helpful. I don’t agree with everything Dr. Hyman says, but I like his food philosophy and would recommend for those confused by the mixed messages of the food industry.
Rating: really liked it
The Pegan Diet is not a diet, but rather a set of 21 principles to live and eat by.
I am a big fan or Dr. Hyman and have learned so much from his content and colleagues’ content that has helped me on my own road to optimum wellness. This was the first book of his that I’ve read, and like his podcasts on the Dr.’s Farmacy, he keeps everything in simple terms that make it easier for us non-doctors to grasp.
At this stage in my journey, I’ve read many books science/health/food books and am used to and rather expect explanations of complex scientific reasoning and data. Personally, I don’t subscribe to the idea that just because a doctor wrote it, means it’s accurate. I want to know what studies were involved, what the mechanisms are that make something so... it’s not enough to hear a fact. I want to understand what makes it a fact.
This book was a little too simplified for my taste and didn’t offer much of that. Because I was already very familiar with the ideas, I didn’t really need the explanations, but a refresher with a little more “and this is why,” would have been great for me.
This is a great, quick read for those just starting out on their health journeys or who are easily overwhelmed and confused by lots of scientific explanations and references and just need to start somewhere. For me, it wasn’t quite robust enough.
Overall the principles are easy to follow and incorporate into your daily life. I’ve been living this way for a couple of years, long before I read this book, and it has made an incredible difference in my health.
I especially appreciate the additional resources in the back.
Rating: really liked it
I was watching Dr. Oz on television on I first heard of the Pegan diet. It is a blend of the best parts of the Paleo diet and the Vegan way of eating. Mark Hyman has expanded on the idea in this book which is chock-full of information. I found it to be an interesting and informative book to read, and I especially liked the charts of useful substitutes and best food choices.
If you are thinking this is one of those books where you have to end up eating really weird foods to follow the plan, I am here to reassure you that is not the case. Hyman mentions people who have turned their health around with this plan, and I found that to be inspiring. There are also suggestions for an elimination diet, so you can personally try to figure out if any of the foods you are eating don’t work well for you.
This is the kind of book I prefer to read in hardcover or softcover, rather than Kindle, so I can dog-ear the pages and draw arrows in the column. I don’t do this with most books, only non-fiction ones when I plan to look back at something. Friends have told me most of my books still appear new after reading, but books like this, with lots of useful information, end up looking well loved.
Rating: really liked it
I liked this book. I have read a lot of nutrition books. Perhaps I think that the more I read, the more disciplined I'll become. Many of the ideas in this book were not new to me, but felt like good, honest advice for eating to live a long, healthy life. Whole food, mostly vegetables, healthy fats, no sugar, cut the gluten, go easy on the dairy, and bag alcohol. Also, get exercise, a good night's sleep, meditate daily, and maintain good relationships. Sounds kinda blue zone! Over and over we get this advice - why don't we listen!!! Because we all love wine, cake, and ice cream! But really - moderation - it makes good sense and this book will show you how if you haven't figured it out. Americans have lost their way and it's killing us.
Rating: really liked it
Very informative and easy to read book on his 21 principles of the Pegan (paleo + vegan) diet. I love his podcast on functional medicine and find his Instagram content really interesting. It’s not a one size fits all approach, but instead lays out guiding principles. Anyone looking to clean up their diet for a variety of reasons would find this book helpful. I learned a lot and am eager to read his book Food Fix which focuses on how the current food system is the number one contributor to climate change. He believes that the Pegan diet is a regenerative, climate friendly diet and I will definitely be making some changes to my own diet and lifestyle after reading this.
Rating: really liked it
Regardless of whether or not you will follow the rules outlined in this book, I think everyone would benefit from learning about the impact that food has on our lives, mental health and physical well-being. Food is the ultimate medicine and we need to be more proactive in knowing about what we put into our bodies.
Rating: really liked it
I’m a big Mark Hyman fan. This was one of my favorites. Straight up great advice.
