Alicia Silverstone is in a sexy new ad for Peta promoting a Vegetarian/Vegan Lifestyle. Peta is taking a page out of Madison Ave and banking on the adage "sex sells."
Alicia alternates labeling herself as a vegetarian and vegan in her statement on the Peta website:
"Like most people, I wasn’t always a vegetarian, but I’ve always loved animals. If you ever have a chance to meet a cow, pig, turkey, or goat, you will see that they are just as cute and funny as your dogs and cats and that they, too, want to live and feel love. They don’t like pain. Now when I see a steak, it makes me feel sad and sick because right away, I see my dog or the amazing cows I met at a sanctuary. I’ve been vegan for 10 years, and it’s the single-most important and helpful decision I have ever made. Physically, the effect has been amazing. Once I went vegan, I lost the weight I wanted to lose, my nails were stronger, and my skin was glowing. I feel great, and I look better now than I did 11 years ago.
Being vegan truly is the secret to my life’s joy and peace. I feel physically and spiritually better than I could have ever imagined knowing that I am doing everything I can to reduce animal suffering with simple lifestyle choices like being vegan, never wearing any products made from animals (like wool and leather), and buying only from companies that NEVER test their products or ingredients on animals."
Celebrity Diet Doctor Weigh in...
Provocative ad to say the least. Alicia is clearly taking an ethical stance on her decision to go vegan/vegetarian.
From a nutritional perspective we clearly need to get more unrefined fruits and veggies into our diet. However, remember there are junk vegan and vegetarian diets. Refined carb products full of sugar and white flour are technically vegan and vegetarian. A vegan diet can be a very healthy diet when it consists of unprocessed fruits and veggies, but it is deficient in B12 vitamins and the Marine form of Omega-3. While the plant form of Omega-3 has shown some health benefits, the majority of cardio-protective and neuro-protective benefits have been with the marine form.