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Going vegan could help shed pounds and fend off chronic diseases.

You can cook up a perfectly healthy, meat- and dairy-free menu that supports weight loss and reduces the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.

While vegetarians eliminate meat, fish and poultry, vegans take it a step further, excluding all animal productseven dairy and eggs. (Vegans are often animal rights activists who dont believe in using animal products for any purpose.) So say goodbye to refried beans with lard, margarine made with whey and anything with gelatin, which comes from animal bones and hooves, too. Fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, whole grains, nuts, seeds and legumes will be your staples.

Exactly how you shape your diet each day is up to you, but youll typically aim for six servings of grains, likely from bread and calcium-fortified cereal; five servings of legumes, nuts and other types of protein, such as peanut butter, chickpeas, tofu, potatoes and soy milk; and four daily servings of veggies, two servings of fruit and two servings of healthy fats, such as sesame oil, avocado and coconut, according to an American Dietetic Association guide. Theres also no need to give up dessert: Vegans can eat baked goods (cupcakes and cobbler, for example) made without butter, eggs or albumin.

Need more guidance? The Internet is full of good information, and countless books offer structured vegan meal plans and recipes. "The Kind Diet" by actress Alicia Silverstone ($21.99), for example, outlines potential benefits of going vegan, answers common questions, and contains a glossary of common terms. It guides readers through the process of converting and is packed with recipes. And the "Skinny Bitch" series which includes the cookbook "Skinny Bitch in the Kitch" offers nutrition tips and recipes.

You dont have to go cold turkey. You could start by preparing a couple meat-free dishes each week, and gradually make more substitutions tofu in stir fry instead of chicken, say, or grilled veggie burgers instead of beef. If your aim is also weight loss, amp up your exercise routine and eat fewer calories than your daily recommended max.

Likely. Research shows vegans tend to eat fewer calories, weigh less and have a lower body mass index (a measure of body fat) than their meat-eating counterparts. If youre doing it right i.e., eating lots of fruits, veggies and whole grains youll likely feel full on fewer calories than youre allowed each day. With that calorie deficit and a little physical activity, youre bound to shed pounds. How quickly and whether you keep them off is up to you.

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Vegan Diet -- What You Need to Know -- US News Best Diets ...

The years pile on, and so too, do those unhealthy pounds. And more stealthily, cholesterol, blood pressure, diabetes, blood sugar start creeping into the danger zone.

It even happens to a guy whos been running marathons for over 30 years and running, period, for over 40. That guy would be Mark Bittman, better known for his food columns in the New York Times and New York Times Magazine, and for the 13 cookbooks hes written.

His latest book is VB6, or in long form, Vegan Before 6. Simply put, its about his nearly-vegan or flexitarian diet with some one important rule: eating like a vegan diet before 6 p.m. and after that, like Count Dracula, he can sinks his teeth into animal flesh. (Or animal products.) Half the book is about the science of the vegan diet and half is a cookbook to guide you through a VB6 way of eating.

The idea is intriguing enough to have put the book at the top of the New York Times Advice and How-To bestseller book list.

Interviewed in Vancouver last Monday, Bittman looked fit and energetic and certainly not overweight. A conventional doctor, he says, would have put him on a low-fat diet and put him on a cholesterol lowering drug. His doctor, however, suggested a vegan diet. Instead of going cold turkey (pardon the inappropriate metaphor), Bittman decided to become an almost-vegan, freeing himself to eat meat and dairy for dinner. Why dinner? Because thats the most social meal and the one where hed be most likely say, fudge it, and cheat if restricted to a vegan meal. It was pragmatic. It made sense, he says.

He began his VB6 diet six years ago when his doctor read him the riot act. Bittman was 40 pounds overweight, hed been eating whatever the heck he wanted, he was pre-diabetic, had sleep apnea and his cholesterol and blood sugar were in the danger zone. His knees were complaining about the extra load it had to carry.

One month into the VB6 diet, hed lost 15 pounds. Two months into it, his cholesterol and blood sugar levels had normalized and his sleep apnea disappeared. In four months, he had shed 35 pounds I went into it thinking, Lets see what happens and it worked.

Another rule he set for himself was to avoid all processed foods and empty calories. The more processed food is, the less nutritious and the less green it is. A can of soda pop offers no nutrients and requires an average 2,200 calories to make; a typical TV dinner requires about 1,500 calories to make. Manufactured foods take at be least 10 times as much energy to produce than plants. None of that is calculated, he said.

The book, he says, is an entirely personal journey that worked. The fact that ramping up on vegan food benefits the environment livestock production is one of the worst culprits for greenhouse gas emissions and pollutes land and water, Bittman says is a bonus.

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Turning almost vegan

Its a well-documented fact that, even here in the vegetable-loving Bay Area, finding a restaurant that will please a mixed group of vegans and omnivores isnt always an easy task. And, even as Meatless Mondays gain traction, trying to convince the dedicated meat eater to willingly choose a vegetarian entre (or restaurant) can often seem like an exercise in futility. That said, here are four vegan dishes, served at non-vegetarian restaurants, that just might do the trick. Note: Some of these restaurants arent open on Mondays, but when vegan food tastes this good, it might inspire you to keep Tuesdays or Wednesdays meatless, too.

1. Vegetable Porridge at Spoon (933 Ashby Ave., Berkeley) The vegetarian version of Spoons signature dish, juk (a Korean rice porridge thats often made with milk), is dairy- and gluten-free. Its also delicious loaded with the natural sweetness of minced carrots. Enjoy your juk with complimentary banchan (side dishes) for a light lunch, or add an order of glazed, deep-fried potatoes if youre feeling decadent. As an added bonus, Spoons excellent kimchi (whose che base builds flavor through the use of oranges, apples, and pears no salted shrimp) is also vegan.

2. Vada Pav at Juhu Beach Club (5179 Telegraph Ave., Oakland) Juhu is best known for its pavs, or Indian street-food-inspired sliders, which chef Preeti Mistry serves on custom-made Starter Bakery buns. The vada pav, which I once declared a starch-on-starch masterpiece, features an airy, deep-fried potato fritter, pickled red onions, and a fiery ghost-pepper-spiked tamarind chutney. I might like the vada more than any of Juhus meat-centered pavs, and, given that one of those is filled with braised short rib, thats saying a lot.

3. Karaage-style Fried Tofu at Abura-ya (380 15th St., Oakland) Abura-ya is the most vegan-friendly fried-chicken pop-up that Im aware of, and, as good as the chicken is, I sometimes get a specific hankering for the organic tofu thick, dense cubes that are dredged in cornstarch, fried, and then tossed in the sauce or spice mix of your choice. Order one of the excellent izakaya-style vegetable side dishes, too, and youve got the makings of a hearty meal.

4. Vegetable Paella at Venga Paella (229 Brush St., Oakland) Vengas seasonal vegan paella, made with vegetable stock and gasp basmati rice, is about as non-traditional as paella gets. But if what youre in the mood for is a rice dish thats loaded with fresh produce (sugar pie pumpkin, dino kale, persimmon, and chiles de arbol during one late-autumn visit), this should hit the spot. Plus, as far as paella goes, the $10 price tag is tough to beat.

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Four Vegan Dishes to Tempt a Meat Eater