Book by surgeon Simón Álvarez, known on Instagram as @drsimonfit
Y vivieron sanos para siempre (And They Lived Healthily Ever After) is Álvarez's call to collective consciousness about how animal protein consumption is negatively affecting both the environment and people's health.
"One of the great strengths of this book is that I tried to convey medical and scientific information in such a friendly and humorous way that anyone without a biological background will understand the 'why' behind things," explained the author.
Simón not only shares the ecological message in his book, but also provides tools to improve or modify one's diet completely, effective methods for healthy weight loss, recipes, and even tips for grocery lists.
"Not only will you have a guide to losing weight, which is a goal everyone seeks. Readers will also understand the benefits of certain foods and the disadvantages of consuming others. Many believe this book is only for vegans, and that's not true, it's for everyone," he added.
Simón assures that his process of changing his eating style was not an overnight one. "I want it to be a guide and a tool for all those people who are beginning to take their first steps in search of a healthy option and lifestyle, and who at the same time make peace with the environment."
Despite Simón being a surgeon and even a veterinary doctor, the book is narrated from his experience as a patient, after being diagnosed with metastasis in his lungs, a battle he happily won and today celebrates being cancer-free.
"In the book, I recount from my own perspective how I lived the experience of the illness and also how I transitioned my transformation from someone overweight to achieving my ideal weight, but with health in hand," he affirmed. "More and more people are being diagnosed with cancer, even though we have more advanced treatments, and the reason is because we are doing prevention, which is prophylaxis, incorrectly. My goal with this book is for people to understand that they have a role, just like the doctor, in taking charge of their health."
Among the attendees at the ceremony held in Miami at The Cocinita, a vegan restaurant owned by Simón and his partner, chef and actor Lucca Vitrano, was Boris Izaguirre, a close friend of the author and godfather of the publication.
"Everything Simón proposes is healthy, and he is the proof. He is a man who is fighting, like many people, from the inside out with a terrible disease that he is defeating, and that is proving all his principles right," commented Izaguirre.
Simón warns that the book was also created with the child population in mind, a generation he considers his target audience. "My son has represented for me the greatest example that this is where I need to work with more force. Because they are the ones who will fix all the mess we are leaving behind, although I still trust that we are still in time to do things right," he assures. "I believe they will be the ones who will ultimately fix everything. When this generation of children believes in something, you can't get them out of it. If they grow up with a good foundation and schemes, they will surely be good citizens," he concluded.
