Fantastic story. Thank you very much. I know quite a few people who will use this to turn their lives around.

Great job! Keep up the good work!

While I don't always agree with Dr. Oz, its great that he's brought so much attention to going Vegan. So good for him... and Rocco.

I know they have to take an extreme example for television, but I'd like to see a less extreme example using a vegan diet to turn one's health around. As a vegan dietetics student and working with clients, I think most clients who aren't in as dire of a situation as Rocco, might think they don't need to be on a Vegan Diet because their health isn't as extreme as Roccos. It does show however that even someone who ate as extreme as Rocco can turn their health around on a Vegan diet, which I applaud.

Great news because of the publicity but nothing that Lappe, Robbins, Ornish, Esselstyn and Campbell haven't been demonstrating for years. The real question is: How do we move to a PREVENTION MODEL? What are Oz and Roizen doing at the primary school grades to educate parents and children so that the next generation doesn't end up requiring by-pass surgery when vegan diets can keep their arteries wide open? When will cardiologists begin to teach their patients that there has always been a better way and give them the option to choose a healthy, vegan lifestyle or the knife. The former prevents, cures and is sustainable while the latter painfully delays the inevitable. Is it true that it is easier to change one's religion than one's eating habits? I don't believe so. Education is always the answer. It is time to deprogram the brainwashing that the dariy and meat industry have been so effective at doing. It is time to get it right for our own Health Care, for the Planet and for the Animals. When will we all come out of our culture induced sleep and just wake up? Once we wake up, we will find out how powerful we really are. In the meantime we are just like sheep being led to sluaghter! When is enough enough?

Since when is drinking a gallon of milk in a plastic container considered vegan?

Rocco, if you are reading this. if you truly want to lose weight and be healtny you will jettison all plastic containers, especially for liquids.
Also dairy products are NOT VEGAN, but if you are going to have them, than get GRASSFED dairy, preferably raw. If you do have occaisional meat, make sure it is grassfed and NOT grain finished also. Best of luck to you Rocco, there are ao many depending on your success. Prayers are with you for the strength to keep discipline over what you build your temple with .

Definitely improvement, he's pulled back from the brink... but his HDL went
up. Yes, we want it to be higher than the LDL but we want total cholesterol
to drop. Rocco had a gallon of milk in the fridge. How can Dr. Oz be talking vegan while allowing dairy products in his diet??

He was clearly looking and feeling a LOT better, which is great. Giving up
just the meat was clearly a huge change for him and making improvements in increments can be necessary for many people.

As well as helping him, it was good press for vegetarian diet, thankfully!
Now hopefully, he has the time to get even better advice and results! After
all, his first 30 pounds is really just the beginning of what he needs to
accomplish. :-)

We're noticing more mainstream media doing stories on the advantages of giving up meat these days. The awareness is growing! :-)

Bets and Deborah, comments like yours are the reason MANY people laugh at the Vegetarian and Vegans out there. He did AMAZING in just 28 days, yet that isn't good enough for you two.

Who said that was his milk? He has grandchildren and a girlfriend, maybe it was theirs. Stop judging people before you even know what is going on.

I just love the "His first 30 pounds is really just the beginning of what he needs to accomplish" how fucking rude. That is more weight than most people can lose in six months, much less 28 days, not to mention how much better all of his stats were.

It is so annoying when someone starts changing their life for the better, but then there is that vegan who has tons of tips of how they can do better.

I think many people aren't happy unless everyone else is just like them.

I have been a vegetarian for over 20 years, but I never judge someone else for their choices or preach to them about how healthy a vegetarian or vegan diet is. People will makes changes when they want too, and then bashing them over the head when they do, because they are not doing ENOUGH is ridiculous.

I would LOVE to live in a world where everyone was Vegan and no animals had to die, but that isn't going to happen anytime soon, so for those people out there, like Rocco, that are making changes, good for them.

Those of you who have to put in your two cents about what he "isn't" doing or what he still "needs" to do, get a life!

WWJD - thanks for your post. I'm new to being a vegan and I get turned off by the holier-than-thou attitude. I've had slip ups in the past few weeks, but overall I'm doing really well with my transition. I get discouraged when I see comments like the ones above.

Cicely, you are more than welcome. I know! I still dabble in dairy (cheese), but don't eat eggs, or milk. For a while my SIL was a vegan, and she would scold us if we ate cheese, it really pissed me off. Now, not only does she eat cheese, she eats meat as well. I have not said a word to her about it, it is her choice. I really had to bite my tongue though.

Just do the best YOU can, that is all any of us can do. Take care and if someone tries to pull their holier than thou crap on you, eat a bite of cheese pizza and say "this is DELICIOUS!". Kidding, but you get the drift!

Hey Rocco, keep it up! I have been a vegan for 4 months. I am also Diabetic. I just got my blood work results back and my levels are under control now. I hardly ever take my meds because I don't need to! Stay on course and your aliments will disappear! Don't forget to pray! God Bless!

The good thing is that Dr OZ is mainstream media, and vegan issues rarely get the air time. Just the fact that a "tough guy" like Rocco is undergoing the "vegan thing" is absolutely great! It's an example for millions, and that's what veganism needs: exposure (because we're right ;)
Remember T. Colin Campbell on Larry King? He is a luminary, but Larry King didn't ask the right questions. I think Dr Oz was another opportunity for veganism on mainstream media and this time it worked 10 times better, because you can tell Dr. Oz digs veganism and believes in it (I can't say the same for Larry, although I love him)... The vegan message got out there for all to see, and the results did too. This helps animals, the environment, and the health of Rocco and others that are inspired by his resolve.
VegSource: I LOVE your new site!!!

Thanks so much for posting this clip! So many people love and trust Dr Oz. Hopefully he will continue to show more vegan stories and I hope he converts himself.

No. I couldn't see it. Always says, 'not currently available'.

Anyway, I highly admire your endeavor for propagating vegetarianism. Man is a born vegetarian, undoubtedly. Unfortunately, he is brainwashed and trained to be a meat eater. Circumstances will soon compel man to give up meat eating or perish, considering the wastage of valuable resources for the production of meat.

I have declared on my Facebook for all to see, 'Try to be a vegetarian if you can'. Vegetarianism is the best policy, from whichever angle you look at it.

Thanks Jeff and Sabrina,,

This clip on the cowboy "is not available"....did you know that. I would have loved to read it.

My husband was a cowboy and his dad before him....told me he would NEVER give up "his meat and taters", but has now been a strict vegetarian for 4 years and tells EVERYONE how and why he converted...he is 78 years old and an active artist and works around this large home we have....and helps with our pet sitting as well. I have never seen such an active and still very handsome 78 year old man in my life.

I come from a family of grocers and butchers and accidentally went into a slaughter house when I was just 4 years old and that memory is embedded in my brain still...I remember thinking that lamb chops and steak grew on trees. I would have become a vegetarian at that point if not for my parents forcing me to "appreciate" all they were able to provide for me in the way of meat, while "the poor kids in England had nothing". By the way, my family of grocers and butchers all died in their 50's of heart ailments and cancer.
I am 72 and look and feel 52 and can run circles around those 20 years younger.

We are still not COMPLETE vegans, because hubby eats cheese and we both eat eggs (cage free) but still eggs. We do not drink milk and get the soy milk and soy ice-cream and butter and I eat soy cheese, but with all of the "non-meat" soy products out there, and an abundance of fruit and vegetables, there is no reason NOT to be a vegetarian. You will live longer and have a better quality of life and so will the poor animals.

If we were meant to eat meat, then we would have been born with claws and long canines like the lions and shorter intestines - not the long ones like the apes, that hold in the carcinogen flesh we put into our bodies, allowing it to putrify for 3 days at a temperature of 98.6. No wonder cancer and heart disease is on the rise. The gorillas with the same long intestines are natural vegetarians. And by the way, they are awake and alert 21 hours a day, unlike the lion who sleeps 21 hours a day.

And by the way there is enough food in this world for the entire population.....if only we all ate the grains and the fruit of the land instead of giving it to our cattle to eat and to breed more cattle and farm animals..Less cattle would mean more grain for the people. And if that isn't convincing enough, let it be known that the cattle in the rain forest are also depleting the vital natural medicinal plants used to make drugs here.

WHAT IN THE WORLD IS MANKIND DOING and HOW INTELLIGENT IS HE REALLY?

Just wanted to share...and keep those emails coming.

Blessings and Love, Joy Ray Rayofjoy@aol.com

Joy Ray,

I am so so happy to note your attitude. I wish you health, happiness and long life.

No. Man is a born vegetarian, as you say.

Man drinks water with his lips like all herbivores such as cattle, deer, horse, camel, elephant. But carnivores like cats, dogs, lions, leopards, etc. etc. drink water with their tongue.

New born babes of herbivores including man and other mammals mentioned above have eye sight from the very moment of birth. But carnivore babes open their eyes quite some time after their birth.

The night vision of herbivores is nearly nil. On the contrary, carnivores have marvelous night vision.

All herbivore mammals including man can move their lower jaw upwards and downwards as well as sideways. No carnivore can move it sideways.

Oh. I can go on and on. My point is, man is intended by nature to take only plant-based food, not meat.

Regards.

Thank you so much for sharing this. If we truly want to reform health care, changing how we eat has to be part of the equation.

Deborah, is your nickname "Debbie Downer"? If not, it should be.

Where are you getting that he is eating dairy or that Dr.Oz is saying that eating dairy is being Vegan? Are you referring to the "milk" that was in his fridge? If so, that may not have been his, and MAYBE just maybe, it was soy milk. Some soy milk or rice milk look like regular milk, I know of one at our local grocery store.

I think most people realize that Vegans don't eat any animal products. This is Vegsource, not Vegan Source.

What I think is disturbing is those that judge others for what they eat or what they "think" they are eating or drinking. You are basically reiterating what you already said, and still don't have your facts correct.

If it were true, that cheese causes heart issues, then why do the countries with the highest consumption of cheese (Greece, and France) don't also have the same heart attack risks as countries with high heart diseases, such as many Eastern European Countries, U.S. and Great Britain? Both of those diets (French and Greek) are also high in vegetables, nuts, and fruits.

Instead of trying to shove YOUR beliefs about food down every one's throat, try and just be happy that people like Rocco are making the changes they are making instead of judging what he isn't doing.

If I was doing EVERYTHING I could to improve my health, and make tremendous progress, and then had to hear from someone such as yourself with all the nitpicking and that I still had so far to go...I would get discouraged. Most people do the BEST they can, and he is proof of this.

As a vegetarian, I am turned off by the constant "dairy is horrible" from the likes of you, and PETA etc....because it isn't as bad as meat, no matter how you spin it. The rest of my diet is healthy, so eating cheese and yogurt isn't going to be cause all the horrible effects that you think they will.

Please provide a link as to where Dr. Oz is stating that eating dairy is Vegan. I saw the show and I also saw where Rocco showed how he eats, there was not one slice of cheese or dairy anywhere. The "milk" in his refigerator doesn't count, as you don't know if it is his or is in fact dairy milk, it could be something else.

If you didn't see him drink it, then it doesn't "count". Why are you keeping score? Why do you even care? He was showing Dr. Roizen the food that HE ate. I live with my husband and daughter, my daughter eats yogurt but I don't, does that mean that you would assume the yogurt was mine because you saw it in our refrigerator?

Just because I don't think dairy is the killer you do, doesn't mean I work for the dairy industry. You are sort of loony!

Where is the links to your assumptions that Dr. Oz was promoting dairy as Vegan?

Here is a link to a study on Greece having the lowest percentage of breast cancer, yet the highest cheese consumption of EU countries.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T6R-45CDF9P-6&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1087171402&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=c0aae39ab1a1fb6ed910284c3672a920

My main issue is that many people try very hard to live a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle, yet when they eat anything that someone thinks is "bad" (eggs, dairy,) then they get the "you really shouldn't be eating that" lecture" and it is beyond irritating. You do what works for YOU and let other people do what works for THEM.

My husband and I are total vegetarians and "semi-vegans"...still eat eggs sometimes (cage free of course) but they are still eggs, and he eats cheese from Cows milk once in awhile...we NEVER sit in judgement of those eating flesh even though it does repulse us. Especially in our own family, this hurts because we know what it is doing to their bodies. Our children are all grown in their 40's and 50's and we in our 70's are healthier and actually look younger than the and have much more energy and vitality...this is what hurts.
Joy Ray

I don't propose to quote statistics to show the relationship between vegan diet and consumption of dairy products.

Be it as it may, perhaps, India is the country where meat consumption is the lowest in the world as a percentage of population. But they are quite fond of milk and other dairy products.

The reason why I refrain from meat of any kind is because it involves violence and cruelty, not so much for health reasons. Maybe, even in the milk industry, when it is done on a mass scale, a certain degree of cruelty is involved. But, certainly, it is not as cruel and brutal as killing another animal and eating its flesh.

A wise female author wrote almost 100 years ago that the time would come when meat and dairy products would not be safe to consume anymore. And some in the medical community like Dr. Neal Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, are saying that not only are these foods unsafe, but that they are addictive. Here is the link to his video:http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3214100593069532942&ei=U5r6SqXQOZDArAKF7omVBg&q=meat+and+dairy+is+addictive#
WWJD, I gently urge you to take your journey to optimum health one step further to becoming whole and discard all dairy products. I guarantee that you will not regret this decision. I have found that my decision to go 100% vegan has strengthened my walk with the Lord. I am curious, what prompted you to change your diet?

DigitalPraise7, first off, my name is wrong, it should read WWJJD, as it what would Joan Jett Do? I need to fix that, it has nothing to do with God, so don't bring religion into this.

I would gently urge you to mind your own business when it comes to talking to others about their diet or religion. I guarantee you that my family and I eat healthier than 99% of the population and when we do eat dairy it is organic.

When you say what prompted me to change my diet? Do you mean to be a vegetarian or to eat some dairy (and I mean some, I only eat organic cheese or yogurt). I have never liked meat or eggs, and I go back and forth on the cheese. I do think too much isn't good for me, but at the same time I feel better when I eat some dairy. I have tried being Vegan and it didn't work for me. It is also difficult to obtain B vitamins for my daughter without eating dairy, her body doesn't absorb the supplements. See, everyone is different.

I am not sure why you feel that it is necessary to talk about "the Lord" in this conversation. I am Agnostic and find it odd that so many feel compelled to talk about their religion.

Again, we do what works for us, do what works for you and stop judging others for their decisions.

I have been a vegetarian for 25 years and I have not ONCE said anything to my friends or family about their meat eating, it is a personal decision. Just like religion.

I am really amused to see daily how people here in my country jog, run and what not in order to reduce weight. I am sure, you all have seen similar episodes.

What a joke it is! You first greedily eat all kinds of meat, dairy and eggs and put on weight and then struggle like a worm cut into two in an attempt to reduce weight!

Isn't is comparable to first set fire and then struggling to douse it? LOL

I am Jewish and have been searching all my life (72 years of age) to find "answers" to many questions I had - a little Budhism, Hinduism, even went into the New Age and belonged to a 12 step program.........experienced much in life and found ALL the answers to be in the Bible, and not just in the the Old Testament and the Jews believe, but the New Testament as well. If only they had read on they would have discovered more truths; including vegetarianism. It is ALL THERE. I became a Christian in 2000 and NO, I did not convert. I am what is known as a "Completed Jew". God gave Adam and Eve every herb bearing seed and the fruit of the tree to be their meat. This was the law from the Lord and for our animals as well. It was only AFTER the curse when man turned to eating flesh, and when the laws as set down in Leviticus came into play, the Lord then gave us very strict laws to help prevent sickness and disease since we were not made into puppets and used our free will given to us to bring harm to us and to this planet. This does not mean that God condones this; merely wants us to be as healthy as we can under our own laws; but we were not created to be meat eaters. Our bodies are not equipped to handle it or dairy products. There is enough protein in just beans and rice without having to resort to the carcinogens devoured in the flesh that is consumed; and truly this is everyone's concern, because we are depleting the planet by allowing the cattle and other animals we eat to breed and
eat the grains and vegetables and plants that produce nutrients and medicines for our planet.
THIS IS OUR BUSINESS. There is an increase in cancer and diabetes and new diseases with every generation, and with every drug discovered, there are such horrendous side effects and very many are being taken off the market. If they are not you can be rest assured that the AMA and the FDA and the FTC have a stake in it. WE ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LIFE ON THIS PLANET!!!

It truly is very easy to become a vegetarian and be healthy, with all of the delicious foods on the market these days - not difficult at all.. and life is so much more enjoyable when one is healthy.

Joy Ray

I too noticed the gallon of milk in the fridge but I figured it might belong to someone else in his family,(is he married? have kids?) who isnt doing
the same diet as Rocco. If thats not the case, then yeah, he needs to be told about all the many alternative milks.

OMG! He said he could go back to fish? AGH!!!! How stupid is that??!! Yeah, re-clog ur arteries w/what got u fat & sick in the first place! Geez! And I
just wrote a friend who loves Dr Oz to whom I had, in the past, criticized Dr Oz, taking back my criticism...well Ill have to put a caveat on that!!!

People who dont embrace the diet on an ETHICAL level never seem to fully get the concept 100%. Dr Oz needs to talk to Dr Esselstyn of the Clevelend Clinic!