Is Hollywood going vegetarian (or vegan)? Check out which celebrity parents choose lentils and tofu over steaks and chicken. Some of them may surprise you...
So many celebrity parents are going veg these days! So we thought we'd do a roundup. Click on to see who's vegetarian/vegan in Hollywood! Some may surprise you....
A vegetarian for 20+ years, Natalie Portman, 31, announced her newfound veganism in a 2009 Huffington Post article, "Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals Turned Me Vegan." But she couldn't keep it up while pregnant with her son, Aleph, now 21 months. "I actually went back to being vegetarian when I became pregnant, just because I felt like I wanted that stuff," she explains. "I was listening to my body to have eggs and dairy and that sort of stuff."
These days, Natalie's a vegan at home and vegetarian elsewhere. "I consume my own weight in hummus every day," she tells Vogue Magazine. "I cook a lot, and I even do vegan baking."
Photo: Miguel/Rocstar/FameFlynetVictoria Beckham, 38, is reportedly vegetarian. "The only thing I can cook really is mince meat," she has said, "which is ironic because I'm a vegetarian."
Indeed, Victoria's one of the reasons the vegan diet book Skinny B*tch made it big: When she was photo'd holding the book, sales of the book skyrocketed.
Photo: Teach/FameFlynetKate Winslet has been a vegetarian for years. She's quite an animal activist as well; she recently launched a major campaign against foie gras.
It's tough on a relationship when one person's a vegetarian and the other isn't. That's reportedly the case for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Brad's been a vegetarian for years, and he'd like their six kids to go veg, as well; but Angelina's vehemently against it. Indeed, she's claimed the vegan diet was detrimental to her own health. "I was a vegan for a long time, and it nearly killed me," she has said. "I found I was not getting enough nutrition." Check out: Celebrities who have lots of kids>
Photo: API/FameFlynetBritish-Australian actress Naomi Watts, 44, is a vegetarian. In fact, she was recently named Hollywood's Sexiest Vegetarian in the February 2013 issue of Vogue Australia Magazine.
Check out: Hollywood's healthiest families>
Photo: Pablo/Goodwin/FameFlynetThey say new The Voice judge and dad of two, Usher, 34, went vegan after his father died of a heart attack in 2008 (he didn't want to follow suit). According to Radaronline, Usher's loving being vegan so much — particularly what it's doing for his famous abs — that he's been urging his buddy Justin Bieber (admit it, you love him, too) to go veg with him.
Check out: Celebrity dads we love>
Photo: MOE/FameFlynetActress Christina Applegate, 41, is a vegetarian. The mom of one first went veg on the set of one of our favourite old sitcoms.
"I was eating lunch on the Married With Children set, and they served me some kind of meat (I don’t even know the names of them all anymore because it’s been so long)," she explains in a PETA interview. "I looked down and there was blood on my plate, and it was that realization, that I can’t eat something that has been alive, I just can’t do it. So I stopped, and that was it. That was the last time."
Photo: Dmac/CPR/FameFlynet—
The biggest challenge for raising her kids vegan is "trying to find the balance between giving age-appropriate information to children and letting them come to an awareness about food on their own," she tells the mag. "I don’t want them to feel superior or deprived."
For her family, healthy fats are where it's at. "I create lots of cheeses out of nuts," she says. "We’ll put nut cheese on crackers and eat it with veggies.... I make spanakopita with it. And avocado — my favorite — is one of the best foods you can give kids." Yum!
Photo: ER/FameFlynetAlicia Silverstone, 36, is a serious vegan — you could even call her a macrobiotic vegan, since her cookbook, The Kind Diet, is a lightly adapted version of macrobiotics, and she recommends macrobiotic counsellors on her vegan website, The Kind Life.
Alicia's son Bear, almost two, is vegan, as well. "Bear was grown on vegan food, and we’ll continue nourishing him with a healthy diet," she explains. "He'll be eating an organic, plant-based diet.... We want to keep his immune system strong so that he'll be super healthy, which is just one of the many reasons he'll eat vegan."
Check out: Scandalous? Celebrity parents who are causing a stir>
Alyssa Milano, 40, has been a vegetarian for years. And she remained vegetarian when she was pregnant with her son, Milo (now 1.5).
"I'm still craving things like broccoli and pizza, which isn't much different from my normal diet," she told People Magazine at the time. "I'm a vegetarian, but I do eat cheese."
Check out: Former child stars all grown up>
Photo: Miguel/FameFlynetOn December 30, 2012, singer Ne-Yo, 33, resolved to go vegan. "What's everybody's New Year's resolution?" he tweeted. "I'm gonna try to go Vegan. Discipline test. NOT looking forward to it. Wish me luck!!"
He didn't last that long. In February, the dad of two tweeted, "Love for all the vegan support but I had to bring back fish. JUST FISH. Need the protein for the way I move. Lasted 35 days tho! #victory."
I suppose that makes him a pescetarian, then. He's adorable!
Check out: Celebrities who have had back-to-back babies>
Photo: FameFlynetUK/FameFlynetMarried actors Ben Stiller, 47, and Christine Taylor, 41, are vegan.
“I had to tell my parents I was a vegan; I came out to them,” Ben recently said on Conan. “They were a little bit confused at first, but now they’re supportive.”
Though Ben admits to enjoying fish now and then, Christine is all vegan, and it looks like their kids are, too. “We have friends that are vegan and their kids came out vegan,” she says. “I’m so jealous that they had the information and they started the kids early because now to go back, it’s a little harder.”
Check out: Favourite Hollywood couples>
Photo: KM/FameFlynetBones actress Emily Deschanel (perhaps better known as Zooey Deschanel's sister), 36, has been a vegan for over 20 years, and she stayed vegan when she was pregnant with her son, Henry, now 18 months. Check out her vegan pregnancy diet.
Photo: KM/FameFlynetI Heart Huckabees and Rushmore actor Jason Schwartzman, 32, is a dedicated vegan. That's his voice in the Farm Sanctuary PSA video What to Eat: The Environmental Impacts of our Food.
He's often spotted carrying his daughter, Marlowe, 2, around the farmers' market, as he is in this photo.
Photo: Coqueran/EEK/FameFlynetMom of two Pamela Anderson, 45, is a vegetarian. "I don't think I'd be a very good juror," she told Ellen Degeneres. "You know, if you're not vegetarian — guilty!"
The Canadian actress is also an active animal-rights advocate for PETA.
It's no surprise that health enthusiast Gwyneth Paltrow's hubby, Chris Martin, 36, is a vegetarian. PETA named him World's Sexiest Vegetarian in 2005.
Not surprisingly, it looks like their daughter, Apple, 8.5, is also a vegetarian — with both her parents' blessings. "She's totally vegetarian," Gwyneth told Chelsea Handler. "She came to it on her own. Sometimes I can get her to eat a little fish or something, but almost never."
Photo: FameFlynetPaul McCartney, 70, has been a vocal vegetarian for years. Check out his recent article in The Huffington Post UK, "My Life as a Vegetarian" (and his cool new recording of "Heart of the Country"). Really interesting.
Photo: CHP/FameFlynetPaul McCartney's daughter, fashion designer Stella McCartney, 41, has been a vegetarian all her life. Indeed, the mom of four is famous for offering animal-free shoes and apparel.
Photo: FameFlynetIn 2001, Canadian country singer Shania Twain was named PETA's first ever Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity. Check out Shania's recipe for tofu scramble (video)!
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