Random Famous People Recount The Moment They Became Vegan (20 items)

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  (#10) Alicia Silverstone

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  When Alicia Siliverstone was 21 years old, she watched a documentary about how animals are slaughtered. It was enough to make the young actress give up eating meat. She recalled:

  I just took a look at my dog and said, "If I'm not willing to eat you, how can I continue to eat these other creatures that have the same desire to live, are just as funny, just as cute as my dogs?"

  The decision to become vegan may have initially been an ethical one for Silverstone, but it also dramatically improved her health. She suffered from bad asthma and insomnia as a teenager. After going vegan, the Clueless star says that she now sleeps wells, keeps extra pounds off, and has a lot of energy. Silverstone published a vegan cookbook, The Kind Diet, in 2009. 
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  (#13) Ellie Goulding

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  Ellie Goulding lives an extremely healthy lifestyle. The singer-songwriter runs half-marathons, rarely drinks alcohol, has smoothies for breakfast, and has been a vegetarian since she was a teenager. She vows to never eat meat again and is trying to adopt a completely vegan lifestyle. The British pop star removed meat from her diet for good once she figured out where meat actually comes from. She said:

  In being vegetarian, I realized I could be an athlete and not need meat for the protein. There’s actually more protein in greens than meat. Once I fully understood where meat came from... I found that concept quite hard to live with. If you don’t need meat to survive, I don’t see why you have to have it. Also it makes you feel tired, it makes you feel lethargic, and your body finds it hard to process so much meat all the time.
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  (#8) Ellen Pompeo

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  Ellen Pompeo has played famed surgeon Dr. Meredith Grey on the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy since 2005. In 2018, it was her own doctor who inspired the actress to adopt a vegan diet in order to help prevent breast cancer. During a routine health check, Dr. Kristi Funk told Pompeo about her book Breasts: The Owner's Manual. The read inspired the actress to become vegan and to also turn her husband and three children onto a plant-based diet. 

  The dietary change turned out to be an easier transition than she originally expected. Pompeo explains:

  It’s super fun. I don’t think it’s tricky at all - it’s actually easier because meat you have to cook it before it goes bad. Grains and lentils and rice and beans, everything’s in the pantry already. You just have to get vegetables, but vegetables stay good for a week - and I think we all feel better.
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  (#20) Maggie Q

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  Maggie Q uses her celebrity and social media to be an advocate for animal rights and to help nonprofit animal organizations. The Nikita star has been a vegan for over 20 years.

  While attending a concert, the actress was approached by a PETA employee who made her aware of how animals were mistreated in the entertainment industry. It was a lesson that Q would take to heart. She talked about her shift to a vegan lifestyle in 2017: 

  I transitioned to a plant-based diet about 19 years ago while living in Hong Kong. I attended a concert, and a PETA Asia employee was tabling outside of the show. I was watching her, and it didn’t seem anyone was paying much attention to what she was offering. It made me feel bad for her, so I walked over. We connected, and she sent me information on animal-welfare in the fashion, food, and entertainment industries. It made me sick, but nothing prepared me for the truth of the environmental impact of meat production. I quit cold turkey and never looked back. I didn’t understand how I could have ever claimed to love animals but hadn’t made the choices to protect them.
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  (#19) Emily Deschanel

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  Emily Deschanel lives a totally vegan lifestyle, and she says her husband and two kids are 99% vegan as well (they do occasionally eat eggs). The Bones star is a strong proponent of the idea that when people eat vegetarian and vegan, it dramatically helps the environment and can even save the planet. The actress became vegan as a child after visiting the Farm Sanctuary in New York and saw that all of the animals had their own unique personality. She explained: 

  Everything started when I decided to become vegan 22 years ago after visiting their sanctuary in New York. It was life-changing to see animals growing up in a healthy environment. I like to take Henry [Deschanel's son] so that he can experience these animals and see that they have their own personalities - even the chickens! It’s very eye-opening to go there because they also do a great job of educating about the dangers of factory farms and where our food comes from.
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  (#1) Woody Harrelson

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  As a struggling actor in his 20s, Woody Harrelson was living in New York City. While riding the bus one day, a girl told him the secret to getting rid of his acne:

  I was on a bus and some girl sees me blowing my nose. I had acne all over my face, which I'd had for years and years. And she's like: "Hey, you're lactose intolerant. If you quit dairy, all these symptoms you got will be gone in three days." I was like 24. And I was like, No way. But three days later: gone.

  Harrelson is a raw vegan. The True Detective actor also does not eat sugar or flour. Harrelson lives with his family on a working organic farm in Maui. 

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