There are several diet books which advocate predominately vegetarian,
very low fat eating plans. Most of the books focus on weight loss,
but can be used by those interested in vlf diets for other reasons.
I don't recommend any particular diet and feel that those who are most
successful at following a very low fat diet plan (for whatever reason)
are those who read these recommendations with a critical and skeptical
mind and then design their own personal plan based on the principles
they've learned and their own situation. I will say that the diet
that I am most impressed with is that recommended by Terry Shintani.
The diet summaries included here are based on the published works of
each author. I recommend that if you find you are particularly
interested in one or more of these diets that you purchase their books
-- they contain much greater detail on implementing the diet,
nutritional information, and recipes.
Dean Ornish, MD, works primarily with heart disease patients.
After noticing that most of his patients lost weight on the diet, he
wrote a weight-loss oriented book called the "Eat More, Weigh Less".
It's an lacto-ovo vegetarian diet with less than 10% calories
from fat.
Terry Shintani, MD, is on the clinical faculty at the University
of Hawaii School of Medicine. Like Ornish, he calls his diet "The Eat
More, Weigh Less Diet". It's vegan, with lots of guidance on
building a well-rounded and balanced diet.
John McDougall, MD, has two published formal diets: the Twelve-Day
Diet, and the McDougall Plan for Maximum Weight Loss for those with
stubborn weight loss problems. His dietary plans are nearly vegan
(they allow honey).
Gabe Mirkin, MD, recommends a predominately vegetarian diet with
no more than 20 grams fat per day. The diet does permit seafood in
moderation, but not meat or poultry.