Alicia explains how meat, fish, milk, and cheese - the very foods we've been taught to regard as the cornerstones of good nutrition - are actually the culprits behind escalating rates of disease and the cause of dire, potentially permanent damage to our ecology. Yet going meat- and dairy-free doesn't mean suffering deprivation; to the contrary, "The Kind Diet" introduces irresistibly delicious food that satisfies on every level - it even includes amazing desserts to keep the most stubborn sweet tooth happy. She also addresses the nutritional concerns faced by many who are new to plant-based diets and shows how to cover every nutritional base, from protein to calcium and beyond. Alicia knows that changing lifelong dietary habits is a process and that each person progresses at a different pace. For that reason, "The Kind Diet" encompasses 3 separate levels, from Flirting to Superhero. Flirts learn to dip a toe into the vegan pool, reducing their meat-eating and swapping out a few key foods for plant-based substitutes to see quickly how even small changes can reap big results. Vegans get to experience the life-altering effects of forgoing animal products entirely while still enjoying many convenience foods and meat substitutes in addition to the wonderful grains, vegetables, and fruits that form the core of that diet. True enlightenment comes with the Superhero program, based on the principles of macrobiotics and built on a foundation of whole grains, vegetables, and other Magic Foods that Alicia describes in detail.