cover image Skinny Bitch Bun in the Oven: A Gutsy Guide to Becoming One Hot and Healthy Mother!

Skinny Bitch Bun in the Oven: A Gutsy Guide to Becoming One Hot and Healthy Mother!

Rory Freedman, Kim Barnouin, . . Running Press, $14.95 (329pp) ISBN 978-0-7624-3105-2

Vegan Skinny Bitch authors Freedman and Barnouin are back, this time focusing on nutrition and diet during pregnancy. Their commentary will be familiar to Skinny Bitch fans who prefer fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, grains and legumes to meat, fish and dairy. Characteristically feisty and foul-mouthed (e.g., they refer to the reader as “dumb-ass”), these in-your-face, incisive authors have done their research, exposing a host of health issues related to the use of bovine growth hormone and antibiotics in farm animals. Repeating the mantra “you and your baby are what you eat,” they explain the effects of pesticides in foods (with links to learning disabilities, developmental delays and behavioral disorders), how a high protein diet in pregnancy can lead to high blood pressure, stress and diabetes in the child, and the connection between mercury in fish and birth defects. Insisting that a vegan diet is healthy for both baby and mom (a claim substantiated by the AMA), the authors also include sample menus and vegan tips to satisfy food cravings. Passionately questioning the status quo, Freedman and Barnouin make a compelling case for a vegan pregnancy. (Sept.)