Oprah going vegan

Did you hear that Oprah announced she's going vegan? For 21 days, that is. This means she's cutting out all meat, eggs, dairy -- any animal foods or foods associated with animals for three weeks. Interestingly, a vegan diet can be very healthy if it's done properly -- meaning you get all the necessary nutrients from plant sources. There are certainly some vitamins and minerals that can be in short supply (B12, iron, calcium) on a diet like this if not careful. Oprah, of course, has a chef preparing all the meals - many of which are based on soy and tofu with an abundance of fruits, vegetables and grains. Check out what she's eating -- it seems pretty time-consuming to make all of the foods everyday if you're doing it yourself, although I admit I didn't try the recipes yet. But, even without going fully vegan, adding a few meatless recipes to your repertoire is beneficial both to your health and to the environment's, so it's worth checking out.

I'm glad to see that Oprah is interested and gets her tremendous audience interested in following a healthy lifestyle. I just hope anyone out there thinking of jumping on the bandwagon (longterm, especially) thinks to consult a dietitian before trying a diet that could potentially cut out many important nutrients.