For households across the country, dog-eared copies of Apple Cider Vinegar Miracle Health System— and the other nine titles in the Bragg Health library—are a familiar sight.
Patricia Bragg, ever recognizable in her colorful cowboy hats, is the heart and soul of the brand. She cowrote the series of books with her father, Paul C. Bragg, a health evangelist who was instrumental in shaping the health food industry in the U.S. For decades, Bragg’s father, who passed away in 1976, lectured on the health benefits of eating whole foods and consuming apple cider vinegar daily, along with exercise and mindful eating. “I always say you have to earn your food,” Bragg says. “People tend to eat because we are taught when meals are supposed to be served. I only eat when my body tells me it’s hungry, sometimes just once a day.”
Bragg and longtime colleague Lesley Tippitt are now relaunching the 10 titles that make up the Bragg library under the imprimatur Patricia Bragg Books, reediting and updating the information and covers with the goal of reaching a new generation of readers. “A lot of people were brought up as ‘Bragg Babies,’ raised on the healthy principles my father and I wrote about,” Bragg says, “and that continues through generations of their families.”
“We want to make it easier for today’s audience to access the books,” says Tippitt, associate publisher at Patricia Bragg Books, “including through indie bookstores, mom-and-pop shops, grocery stores, and of course online.” The books are wildly popular worldwide, with copies sold and distributed in English in the U.S. and in the open market, as well as in Latin America in Spanish by National Book Network. Millions of copies have been sold to date and are also available in Russian, Polish, and Japanese, among other languages.
Bragg is herself a testament to the benefits of the Bragg Healthy Lifestyle. Taking apple cider vinegar—which Bragg has been using as part of her diet since she was young—has long been the cornerstone of their health and wellness teachings. Bragg says it helps maintain a healthy balance of pH and alkaline levels, leading to the proper assimilation of foods. “Just add one tablespoon to a glass of water each day,” she says. “It’s delicious!”
Dietary trends come and go, but the lessons of the Bragg lifestyle have persisted for more than 90 years. To reach new readers, Patricia Bragg has launched a new website for the books, patriciabraggbooks.com, as well as a robust marketing campaign with magazine and online advertising, plus social media outreach. Patricia Bragg Books is also releasing a new audiobook adaptation of The Miracle of Fasting, one of its bestselling titles, which is particularly popular—especially with growing awareness of the health benefits of intermittent fasting. The book is read by Julia Loggins, author, health specialist, and former spouse of music legend Kenny Loggins.
Loggins, who calls Patricia Bragg her “lifelong hero,” first encountered the Bragg teachings as a teenager. At the time, she was suffering from a debilitating autoimmune disease, severe allergies, and asthma. “With every organ failing, doctors told my parents that I would not live past 17,” Loggins says. Fortunately, she came under the care of a progressive doctor who was influenced by the Bragg health system. “I was written a ‘prescription’ for the Bragg Healthy Lifestyle, tossing out sugar, wheat, dairy, and all processed foods,” says Loggins. “We also eliminated all the medication I was on: 15 years of steroids and a suitcase of other drugs. It saved my life!”
With the help of Loggins, who is coauthoring a new book with Bragg, Revolutionary Beauty (2021), Tippitt is confident that Bragg’s books will be embraced by millennial readers seeking to make food and lifestyle shifts. Together, Patricia Bragg Books and Loggins have a blog, patriciabragg.com, and a significant social media following. And Tippitt says they are just getting started. “We are focusing more on social media now than ever before because that is the world millennials engage with,” she says. “And I’ll be working with our team to continue retail and online promotions, social media updates, and international market expansions for the books in 2021.”
“The books will always be important because the simple teachings that we share with our readers are important: you are what you eat, drink, breathe, think, say, and do,” says Bragg. “What you eat and drink today, walks and talks tomorrow.”
