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Guys, will you please stop dismissing vegans as wackos.  You sound like fucking idiots.  

It's not a ridiculous diet.  I haven't read that book, but there's a ton of sanity and health behind not consuming sugar, caffeine, gluten and alcohol.

I'm not even a vegan.  Look at the big picture: Oprah is not eating animal products for 21 days!  In America, where people eat more animal products than anywhere else in the world (contributing to a myriad of devastating problems), she's at least putting the idea of veganism into millions of people's heads.

Here's a handy chart of America's food consumption: www.treehugger.com/.../bush-blames-food-prices-on-india.php

I've got nothing against people with vegan diets, but this rings of "fad diet" in my mind.  The people she's suggesting this diet to aren't concerned with their health.  They want to lose weight.  While still being able to sit on their ass and watch television.

I'd like to propose the "Turn off the TV and go outside" diet.

And some people have to go without gluten for life - we have celiac sprue disease.  It's not that hard - and the diet that I HAVE to eat (sans gluten and a few of the other things, for health related reasons) sounds very similar to what Oprah's new diet is.  I'm not saying fad diets are good - or that this one is either - but take a deep breathe.  There are way worse diets to consume.  Plus, if it brings some awareness for people who can't eat gluten, I'm all for it.

um, hello? eating blanced portions of fruits,nuts, vegetables, and whole grains = healthy diet.

all the meat you can eat= fad diet.

People, people, calm down. We all know that Oprah's diet claims are bogus. Sure, she doesn't eat animal products... that's because she sustains herself by absorbing the adoration of her devotees, and devouring the attention lavished upon her.

C'mon, let's get it over with and sanctify Oprah. You know it's going to happen when she dies, why wait until then?

I think the diet is a bit strict. I mean, most vegans eat gluten unless they are intolerant. That being said, I'm sure it's very healthy because she's under a doctor's supervision (and personal trainer, and private chef, etc.). As long as someone understands nutrition, they shouldn't have a problem doing it. But most people don't and therein lies the problem. It's really not a matter of the diet being an issue, but the lack of knowledge from the people who might be doing it just because Oprah is.

Just to clarify, there is nothing ethical about eating grass-fed animals.  The meat is less fatty and the animal suffered less during its short life, but it was still slaughtered prematurely to satisfy a humans's desire to eat its flesh.  

Hmm... weren't we just told recently that alcohol in MODERATION is a good thing, contributing to heart health and other benefits? Weren't we just told that coffee and tea (the most commonly consumed caffeinated beverages) are full of antioxidants and good for your health as long as one doesn't overdo it? As for gluten, most people don't know what the hell it is, so it's nice and easy to scare people about it. Sugar - sure, consuming oodles of high fructose corn syrup in your 80oz or whatever sized big-gulp is bad due to the massive number of calories and whatnot it provides, but the occasional reasonably sized portion of soda is not going to kill you. Or cookie. Or whatever. The point is, ethical issues aside, all of those substances (except gluten, for those without allergies, although people don't tend to OD on baguettes in the same way they do with the others) are not harmful for most of us in moderation. Thinking of certain foods as bad and others good is not the right idea - certainly assigning certain qualities to food to judge it's nutritional value is important, and some foods are certainly better than others, but in the end I think food should be thought of as something that nurtures us--even alcohol and caffeine. Wine is a wonderful accompaniment to a meal, and tea is a nice light pick-me-up in the afternoon. I don't have time to further elaborate on this, but it's just food for thought (snicker).

If Oprah's doing it, it must be a fad. How many trainers, nutritionists, and different diets has she gone through over the years.

Everyone of them is just fantabulous at the time, but inevitably she winds up back where she started.

I also guessing she's been on this type of diet before.  Previous diets might have included some lean meat or fish with the fresh vegetables, fruit, etc.

Well planned vegan diets were proved to be just dandy, and actually beneficial about a decade ago. To get pissed off at a diet that promotes ethical and healthful eating while letting the standard American diet (heart disease and ass-cancer anyone?) off the hook is really short-sighted. Whatever your dietary choices may be, if you eat like shit, you're gonna get sick.

What's anxiety inducing about eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes?

Whoa! Fad diet? Obsessive and unrealistic? I'd recommend you read The China Study by T. Colin Campbell, PhD and Thomas M. Campbell II before you dole out erroneous information regarding a diet you clearly know precious little about. For your information, I've eaten a vegan diet (and lived a vegan life - it's not just about the food) for over a year. I've lost a bunch of fat, I've gotten my blood pressure down to normal range, and my blood sugar levels have never been better. My cholesterol is fine, and I've never felt healthier. As a menopausal woman, I'm inspired by the reduction of symptoms since going vegan.

It is not a "fad diet" and it is neither unrealistic nor obsessive. It is reasonable, well thought out, and benefits both physical health and mental health. It also reduces the pressure on the planet, since the consumption of 1 pound of ground beef is the equivalent of driving a Hummer 40 miles.

You and your contemporaries have a responsibility to do a little legwork before painting things like veganism with a very broad brush as you've done. It's irresponsible journalism.

Yay! I'm proud of Oprah.

I hope this is a change that lasts and leads her down a path of health, wellness and compassion for years to come. I'm definitely rooting for her.

I became a vegan at the beginning of the year for a multitude of health, ethical and environmental reasons, and it's the best decision I've ever made. Also, I am far from starving and malnourished.

As for the author of this post, I respect your choices. Naturally you can eat what you want to eat and believe what you want to believe. It's just a shame you aren't willing to think outside the meat box to discover how delicious, fun and even decadent vegan cuisine can be.

Oh well. More baja tacos, veggie jambalaya, pasta primavera, stuffed grape leaves, eggplant rollatini, lemongrass asparagus risotto and coconut curried vegetables for me!

Well, I'm vegan. I'm proud of Oprah and thinks it's a great thing that she is doing. Let's face it, if most people knew where their food was coming from, they wouldn't eat it. The "if slaughterhouses were made of glass, the world would be vegetarian" theory would apply in a huge way if slaughterhouses were indeed made of glass.

You can eat what you want, and I'll eat what I want- but I feel a lot better about what I'm eating than you do when you think about what happened to your food to get it onto your plate...

Yes. Of course it's a fad diet.. the people I speak to who have been vegan for over a decade and a half were just early in on the fad but it totally just started. I thought I went vegan because of my deep belief in animal rights followed by a bunch of health research to make sure I can do it and stay health.

And it's such a starvation diet. I'm vegan myself and I'm so unhealthy.. I mean sure I can bicycle 12 miles and I never seem to get sick but thats nothing. Sure I have no medical problems but I'm starving. Obviously I'm dying from... which untrue claim do you think it is effecting? Are you a not enough protein person or an iron person? Well whichever obviously I don't get enough of that.

Obviously the vegan dietitians I've spoken to are just in it for the suicide.

That or you are reacting without researching to form an educated opinion. Then you are talking about it like your uneducated "I don't know what it is that makes it scary" stance should be heard by people.

Read the china study or something.. yeah that book comes up a lot, but it's such an easy book to reference since when you go over it in full the way it goes over it's research so well makes it difficult to convincingly argue with even though it's from the health perspective and not my animal rights one.. it uses animal testing blah.

Vegan for 13+ years. My "fad diet" is hardly a starvation diet.

Happy vegan 5 years here.

I think the cleanse is a little too much for me (no alcohol? yikes!) but veganism includes so much! People just don't realize it because they haven't looked into it.

A well-balanced diet full of whole grains, beans, fruits and vegetables is not something that is going to cause one to become malnourised.  I just ate a big bowl of brown rice, black beans and organic vegetables and I am feeling just as full and healthy as can be.

Maybe I'll malnourish myself for the rest of the week with some Linguine with Asparagus and Tomato Coulis, Eggplant-Couscous Rolls with Black Olives and Minted Tomato Sauce, Portobello Salad with Spicy Mustard Dressing, Fresh Apricot Compote with Ginger and Spearmint and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Scones (all recipes I've made from my vast collection of veg cookbooks)... mmm, yeah, I can see myself finally withering away after all that.

Wow, 18 comments, most of them angry responses from vegans about how wonderful their diet is. Where would anyone get the idea that vegans are self-righteous and annoying?

Right, and the pesticides and lack of biodiversity required to maintain a population on a purely vegan diet is much less of a burden on the earth's ecosystem than a sensible diet. And supposedly "organic" diets aren't a good answer. We can't sustain this planet's population without proper use of fertilizers and pesticides, and letting masses of people die of famine isn't very "humane" at all.

As for the personal benefits of a vegan diet I have some questions. How healthy are you really? Are you monitoring your iron levels? How is your muscle tone? Are you pregnant? If you're carrying a child and refusing to provide them lipids and nutrients because of some whim then I have a major problem with you.

I'm fine with you eating whatever you want, I just don't want to have you try to force me to conform to your unrealistic diet or watch your kids suffer.