The athlete Carl Lewis adopted a vegan diet in 1990.
Bill Clinton has a well advertised heart condition and recently adopted the vegan diet rules and it has made headlines:
Champion Of The Plant-Based Diet, Goes Vegan
Bill Clinton is a vegan -- or is, at least, very close to being one.
The former U.S. president told CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta this week that he doesn't eat any dairy, eggs or meat, and consumes very little oil. Clinton has turned to eating solely plants in order to keep weight off and keep his heart healthy.
Clinton underwent the diet overhaul to reverse the heart disease he's been plagued with in the past. He underwent a quadruple bypass surgery in 2004 because blood flow was blocked to his heart, and just last year he had to have two stents put into his heart.
There have been numerous studies linking a veggie-heavy diet with good heart health. For example, research shows that fewer vegetarians than meat-eaters have metabolic syndrome, a condition where you possess three of five heart-risk factors, Everyday Health reported. The factors include high blood pressure, triglycerides and blood sugar, low "good" cholesterol and a large waist size.
In addition, research shows that a nutrient-dense, vegetarian-based diet can lower levels of "bad" LDL cholesterol.
Another Politician: Elizabeth Kucinich, wife of Rep. Dennis Kucinich, told Eating Well that her and her husband's vegan lifestyle is inspired by compassion for living things, sustainability and health.
While Clinton's diet change is rooted in health reasons, there are many other power-players who are turning to the vegan lifestyle for other reasons, Bloomberg Businessweek reported.
From Businessweek:
Only 1 percent of the U.S. population is vegan, partly because veganism isn't cheap:
The cost comes from the value of specialty products made by speciality companies with cloying names (tofurkey, anyone?).
Don't eat vegetable (soy) disguised as meat and you can cut cost. Plus, the Ornish style of eating is not more expensive than eating expensive meat cuts... he can produce studies proving this. Web sources are available to prove the point but I've spent enough time on this post.
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