Banger Bill bans burgers

[Gob]

The former president, known for his love of burgers, barbecue and junk food, has gone from a meat lover to a vegan, the strictest form of a vegetarian diet.

He says he eats fruits, vegetables and beans, but no red meat, chicken or dairy.

Clinton, 65, who had quadruple bypass surgery in 2004 and then stent surgery in 2010, is following this eating plan to improve his heart health.

He talked about his plant-based diet last year, saying he lost 24 pounds on it for his daughter Chelsea's wedding, and he chatted about it again recently on TV, drawing national attention to the potential health benefits of this type of diet.

"Veganism is the most extreme type of vegetarianism," says Marion Nestle, a nutrition professor at New York University.

Types of vegetarians:
Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian: Does not eat meat, fish or fowl. Eats dairy and egg products.

Ovo Vegetarian: Does not eat meat, fish, fowl or dairy products. Eats egg products.

Lacto Vegetarian: Does not eat meat, fish, fowl or eggs. Eats dairy products.

Vegan: Does not eat any animal products including meat, fish, fowl, eggs, dairy, honey, etc.

About 3% of U.S. adults are considered full-fledged vegetarians because they never eat meat, poultry, fish or seafood, and about 1% of people are vegans because they also never eat dairy, eggs or honey, says the Vegetarian Resource Group. "The percentage of vegetarians has doubled since 1994," says John Cunningham, consumer research manager for the organization.

Elizabeth Turner, editor in chief of Vegetarian Times, says, "A much larger number of people — 22 million based on a poll the magazine did in 2008 — are what I'd describe as vegetarian-inclined. These are the people who might have the occasional chicken or fish. They're interested in vegetarianism and moving in a veg direction, but they aren't all the way there yet.

"What the science shows is that people who are vegetarians have a lower risk of heart disease and cancer, especially colon cancer, and they tend to live longer," Turner says. "They're also less likely to be overweight."

But, "a vegetarian diet is not by definition a healthy one. You can't just replace meat with French fries," she says. "What makes a great vegetarian diet is eating whole foods that come from the earth like whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans and nuts. Beans are the ultimate source of protein, and they are loaded with fiber."

Clinton says he was inspired to follow a low-fat, plant-based diet by several doctors, including Dean Ornish, author of Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease. Ornish has been working with Clinton as one of his consulting physicians since 1993.

After Clinton's angioplasty and stents in 2010, Ornish says he contacted the former president "and I indicated that the moderate diet and lifestyle changes he'd made didn't go far enough to prevent his heart disease from progressing, but our research proved that more intensive changes could actually reverse it," he says.

"Heart disease is a food-borne illness," says Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr., author of Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. He's in a documentary about the benefits of a plant-based diet, Forks Over Knives, out next week on DVD. He advocates going "cold turkey from the typical fatty, meat-laden, dairy-rich Western diet" to this kind of plan.

Gina Lundberg, a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association, says a vegan diet is wonderful if people can follow it. "But it's so limited in variety and taste that people get sick of it, and they don't stick to it."

Nestle says that the vegan diet "is probably good for President Clinton, but whether it is good for everybody is a subject of much debate."

"Whatever they (vegans) do personally is fine, but I don't want them telling me that if I eat a little meat, there is something wrong with my diet. I think animal foods can have a place in a healthful diet."

http://yourlife.usatoday.com/fitness-fo ... 50111212/1

[dales]

Good on him.

[Long Run]

This makes a myth of heart "disease". His heart condition cannot properly be classified as a disease since it simply takes an act of willpower and he can eliminate and likely reverse the negative health impacts of his prior poor eating choices. Good for him though; if he loses a few pounds maybe the ladies will find him more attractive.

[The Hen]

I cannot follow a vegan diet.

Though I would never want to even try.

[Scooter]

I'm too fond of cheese to try it myself. And ice cream. And custards. And eggs benedict. And spaghetti carbonara.

[BoSoxGal]

I could never give up the incredible edible egg!

[loCAtek]

Going vegan now...

[Gob]

Where have all the real men gone?
Bryony Gordon
August 31, 2011 - 4:31PM


It was the ever erudite Bonnie Tyler who asked, all those moons ago, where have all the good men gone. Had she released Holding Out For a Hero today, she might as well have questioned where all the men had gone, full stop.

Consider the evidence: Shane Warne, cricketing hero and expert boozer, a man who once had a McDonald's burger named after him and a philanderer who romped with two models and a blow-up doll, has now become a doll himself - a walking, talking Ken-like creature who tweets about his favourite beauty products and reportedly now wears make-up. He's also said to have lost two stone in four months.
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Next into the witness box, we have one William Jefferson Clinton, former President of the United States of America, seducer of interns and a man who generally had the ability to make women's clothes fall off simply by looking at them.

He has abandoned his former diet of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, steaks and burgers, and is now a vegan, eschewing all meat, eggs, dairy and oil. He's raved about losing 24lb in a matter of months, as well as lowering his cholesterol levels. He says his goal now is to get down to 185lb - what he weighed when he was 13.

Last but not least, we have Hugh Laurie, now best known for his role as the grumpy doctor in House, but who once played Bertie Wooster. One wonders what Jeeves would have thought of his old boss using L'Oreal products, a brand for whom Laurie has recently become an "ambassador". Speaking about his latest role, Laurie said that: "At first I thought it was a mistake, but then I realised that L'Oreal wasn't looking for models but for people with strong personalities, who 'are' worth it... and who aren't afraid to proclaim that using cosmetics can be a very masculine decision after all."

So where have all the good men gone? To the tanning salon, it would seem, via the beauticians and nutritionists, not to mention the Bikram yoga studio down the road. Last week it was revealed that one in eight men is unable to travel abroad without a set of hair straighteners, while one in five admits to taking a hairdryer on holiday with them. The survey, by UK electricals retailer Dixons found that if allowed to travel with just one electronic device, four times as many men than women would take an iron. In fact, portable speakers for iPods come below hairdryers, straighteners and a male grooming kit in the list of travel products men claim they cannot live without.

"We are increasingly seeing men coming into our stores to pick up last-minute travel essentials, such as a hairdryer and travel iron," said Daryl Humphries of Dixons. "They often hope their girlfriend won't notice."

Newsflash, boys: we have noticed. We know that you sometimes use our Estee Lauder Advanced Night Cream (we can smell it on you), that you occasionally reach for our tweezers, and we have seen you studying your wrinkles in the bathroom mirror. And you know what? It's really OK.

From the moment that the term "metrosexual" was coined, way back in 1994 by the journalist Mark Simpson, people have mocked and pilloried all men who might fit into this category. David Beckham, strolling out in his sarong almost 14 years ago, is ubermetrosexual, as are other footballers such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Frank Lampard, both of whom look like they probably wax their chests and everything else.

But there has been a subtle shift in recent months, with previously macho men such as Warne, Clinton and Laurie taking to metrosexuality like ducks to water - and perhaps we should follow them in changing our views of girly men.

Manx (Spanx bodyshaping underwear for men, as sold in the UK's Asda supermarket chain under the name of "Bodysculpt Trunks") and Muggs (Ugg boots for men, yours for just pounds 12.50 in branches of Peacocks from September) might be pushing the feminine side a bit much. But I have come to the conclusion that far from being a horrific turn-off that indicates vanity on an epic scale, male grooming is actually a giant leap in the right direction in the battle for equality between the sexes.

For a start, it is a huge win for all those women who have previously felt as if they were "nagging" for telling a bloke to iron a shirt or tuck it in or even - gasp! - wash it. The partner of a metrosexual will never have to tut at his diet of curries, pizza and beer, or tell him to eat more vegetables. This is a very good thing, as long as he does not get so obsessed that he starts to question your own eating habits.

Metrosexual men also live longer, according to research from Glasgow University published in 2007 - another bonus. Finally - and perhaps the biggest bonus of all - they now understand why we ladies spend all that time in the bathroom. Plus, there is something undeniably endearing about a man who blushes when you find him trying to squeeze the last bit out of a tube of Nivea moisturiser ("it's only because I have dreadfully dry skin!"). You see, it is not true that women are attracted to ruthlessly macho men; there is, after all, a reason we have moved on from the Neanderthal seduction technique of being clubbed over the head and dragged back to a cave. Shane Warne may look a bit weird now, but in the process of becoming a girly man he has stopped philandering and settled down with the gorgeous Liz Hurley. And, one might argue, is far more attractive than an overweight bloke who eats McDonald's and has a penchant for blow-up dolls.

Who knows where this might end? Perhaps Buzz Lightyear is in the process of replacing his jet pack with a Mulberry man bag. Maybe Action Man will ask his manufacturers to stop dressing him in army fatigues and start thinking about a snappy little suit from Prada. And really, would that be such a bad thing?

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/executive-style/s ... z1We28XYJ0