That said, I'd avoid this book until you've read some more sane and well documented books like Dr. Norman Walker's "Enzyme Nutrition," which is the most scientific and documented of all the literature on the subject. Other good books are Ann Wigmore's wheatgrass book and some of her other books; any of the books by Steve Myerowitz; and the "How I Conquered Cancer Naturally" book. I have also heard that two books called "The Raw Life" and "Blatant Raw-Foodist Propaganda" are good. The Natural Hygiene literature is generally very good as well. Take advantage of all the raw food related web sites out there.

Sorry to diverge from the review, but after getting off coffee, soda, aspartame, refined sugar, and other obvious evils, I have been increasing the raw food in my diet gradually to the point where my diet is 80-95% raw most days. The results have been incredible. I feel amazing (everyone always says that, but it's true) and the pounds are just falling off. I don't feel deprived at all, and eating takes on a new meaning when you can feel the food nourishing your body in a way that cooked food never did. You owe it to yourself to try this, especially if you are infirm or overweight in any way. Take it one step at a time. No need to switch 100% your first day.

38 of 39 found the following review helpful:


Where did they get their information?  Jan 19, 2002 By Jennifer Smith
When you write a non-fiction book, you are supposed to include references. This book has very, very few. Some of the so-called "references" shouldn't even be included. Here's an example of a reference from Appendix C of the book: "The reason scientists do experiments on animals is because cooked-food addiction has severely clouded everyone's mind. They cannot think for themselves. They cannot see reality, so they need their proof demonstrated to them by torturing defenseless creatures(p.206)." The entire book consists of this type of emotionally charged but scientifically unsound propaganda.

It's a shame, because I really believe that eating a raw food diet is one of the most healing things you can do for your body. But this book doesn't focus on the positive aspects of eating raw fruits and vegetables nearly as much as it does with statements like "dead, cooked corpses are the sources of unnatural diseases (p.19)."

47 of 50 found the following review helpful:


Motivational, but in a cult sort of way  Jan 04, 2003 By Marcus T. Brody
The Raw Food Diet. It's a very controversial diet. Why? David Wolfe, Stephen Arlin, and the other Nature's First Law guys.

God's diet shouldn't be controversial. I agree with what the authors are saying, but they say it in a way that makes you dislike them. Drilling the message into your head like a drill sergeant that "Cooked Food is Poison" might do it for some, but not for me. To me, these guys approach raw foodism as if it's a cult following. Kind of like, "Hey, jump on OUR bandwagon and live right. Everyone else is living wrong." They poke fun at every single diet on the planet, even vegans, who don't even eat animal products.

The abrasive way they deliver their message is unique, but it didn't do it for me. Give me scientific data, not catch phrases and slogans. Give me SOME science at all, not what is 'believed' to be the truth. Do raw foods energize? No doubt they do. Is everyone who eats processed, devitalized foods poisoning themselves? Yes, they are. But are the ones who eat wholesome nutritious foods, mostly vegan, poisoning themselves? No. Poison is a harsh word. Raw foodists can "poison" themselves even worse by overeating on sweet fruit, nuts, seeds, and aggravating a vata condition with the dieuretic action of the sweet fruits. This isn't mentioned in this rah-rah book.

All in all, not a very good intro to raw foodism. This diet is not a cult. It's a healthy way of life, but you must know how to do it properly. For this, I recommend "Conscious Eating" by Gabriel Cousens.

45 of 50 found the following review helpful:


Work of Plagiarism  Nov 23, 2004 By Raw Mark
Nature's First Law is a mockery. The original work. Raw Eating by A.T. Hovanessian, was stolen, reworded, and repackaged as Nature's First Law with no acknowledgment to the original author who was imprisoned and probably killled for speaking his mind in Iran. To think in this day and age that we would allow these men to build a successful business on a lie of this magnitude and to allow several follow-up additions to be made without prosecution is beyond me. Here a man rots in prison for writing a great book while three nobody's steal his work, use their names and build a business. Not only is this plagiarism but downright disrepect for a tortured soul. Do not buy this book. Instead, get the original and make sure you send NFL a message afterward and let them know you know about the lie and will not buy Mr. Hovanessian's book with their name on it!

25 of 26 found the following review helpful:


HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!  Apr 01, 2003
Could this book be anymore poorly written?! It is basically a collection of the author's passionate opinions. There are no facts or even decent arguements for their views. Throughout the entire book they tell you what they believe and that they are right, no doubt about it. It is so sad that they wasted so much time and energy writing this horrible book. The saddest part is that it has potentially good information in it, but the authors' writing styles ruin it.
While reading the book I kept asking myself. "Hmm, are these guys really horrible authors or is this what happens to your brain when you start eating a raw diet?"
Please, don't waste your money!!!

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