Bill Clinton working to Stay Healthy for Grandkids...Becomes a VEGAN!

[KoKo]

Clinton: Working To Stay Healthy For His Grandchildren (VIDEO)

Huffington Post | Willow Bay First Posted: 09-17-10 01:56 AM | Updated: 09-17-10 02:22 AM

On a mission to keep off the weight he lost this summer for daughter Chelsea's wedding, President Bill Clinton is experimenting with a low-cholesterol, vegetarian diet.

Clinton, apparently eager to fit some exercise into his busy schedule, walked across Time Square on Thursday evening for an interview with Yahoo! News and The Huffington Post. Clinton is in New York gearing up for the Clinton Global Initiative's (CGI) Annual Meeting.

In this part of the interview, President Clinton explains the way potential grandchildren motivate him to stick to the diet, and shares one of his favorite moments from Chelsea's recent wedding to Marc Mezvinksky.

See More Video at:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/17/bill-clinton-grandchildren-video_n_720492.html

[phasma ex machina]

1. Welcome aboard Mr President! nt

[jmowreader]

2. There's a difference between vegetarian and vegan

Veganism is a "put your money where your mouth is" moral stance that requires not exploiting animals in any way, shape or form.

What Clinton appears to be is a no-animal-foods vegetarian. He probably wears leather shoes, etc., which a vegan would not do.

[boppers]

3. +1

Not the same thing.

[Merlot]

14. Did newspaper write that headline?

There is a big difference between vegan and vegetarian. I wouldn't expect someone to go from regular meat-eating person to vegan, that's a big jump. And like you say, it's a whole moral, lifestyle change. But even going vegetarian is a good step forward.

I haven't eaten meat or fowl in over 25 years, but still don't call myself a vegetarian because I eat fish, cheese and yogurt. I try to go 1 day a week or more completely vegetarian. Imagine if everybody did just that for starters.

[Raine]

4. WONDERFUL news

that way we'll have him around that much longer! :bounce:

[fascisthunter]

5. good for him

if it helps his health why not?

The present culture war on veganism vs. ominivorism is stupid. Being healthy should have nothing to do with politics, but it does. How dumb os that?

[blue sky at night]

6. everyone should cut their consumption of meat....

it is a good thing, and easy to do. Chill out and have a salad!

[rainbow4321]

7. Definitely makes a difference (for me, anyway)

I started being a vegetarian in January. Since then, I have lost 20 pounds (and that is with a couch potato lifestyle..really need to work on that)

Let me add, though, when I did eat meat, I was not doing it in a healthy way. Frequent trips to fast food drive thru places at least 3 to 4 times a week, pizza with multiple meat toppings, meat based frozen processed foods at home.

But since stopping all meat, I have stopped all fast food...what would I get out of a drive thru trip? French fries for dinner? 95% of their menu stuff is meat based. I'm not "have a salad for my meal" person and I don't crave baked potatoes that some places have.

[Merlot]

15. Congrats on on the weight loss - and I'll bet you're feeling better too!

When I stopped eating beef I had so much more energy. I grew up eating a lot of beef, and it was very high quality (steaks, roast beef). No fast food ever. Still felt better after quitting beef.

[BoWanZi]

8. Love the fact that at the bottom of this thread was a big ad for Mcdonalds. -nt-

[nilram]

9. Anyone know what study he was referring to, about the 82%?

I've googled and googled, but the best I can come up with is that he's read nutrition books "... including books by T. Colin Campbell, Caldwell Esselstyn and Dr. Dean Ornish." I'm real curious what the study is. Anybody know?

Clinton: (...) I follow a pretty strict diet. And I try to limit how much I eat, and what I eat. And it's -- I lost 20 lbs or so.

Interviewer: And Vegan or Vegetarian, or...

Clinton: Pretty much. Once in a while I'll eat fish, but not often. Because I'm trying to be one of those experimenters. Since 1986, several hundred people who have tried essentially a plant based diet -- not ingesting any cholesterol from any source -- have seen their bodies start to heal themselves: break up the arterial blockage, break up the calcium deposits around the heart.

82% of the people who have done this have had that result. So I want to see if I can be one of 'em. I've got to try it a few more months before we'll have any idea if it worked.

 

[dsc]

10. my dad did this for a time

and it worked while he stuck to it. He lasted with it about a year and a half for so.

[Hannah Bell]

16. i think he's referring to ornish's diet. i seem to recall something about reversals in arterial

blockage being demonstrated.

[nilram]

17. ding ding ding! thank-you!

I googled +ornish and +82% and came up with several links. Ornish ran a study in the 1980s, low-fat diet, exercise, meditation, and social support, and "82% of them had significantly less blockage in their heart arteries and there was a drop of 91% in reported chest pain." Sounds like Clinton's on the Ornish program. It's a difficult one -- 10% of calories may be from fats 20% from protein, and the rest, 70%, from carbohydrates (preferably complex ones). My doc is suggesting anti-cholesterol meds, thus my interest...

[Maru Kitteh]

11. Good for the big dog! And, welcome aboard Mr. President. Cheers to your long and healthy life.

[SoxFan]

12. There's a crude joke to be made here...

But I'll leave that to others.

[Name removed]

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