An ethical trend in lifestyle, veganism has been picked by one too many over the years. The list of vegans boasts of A-list Hollywood celebrities, sportsmen, politicians and many of the who’s who you can think of. Whilst overhauling one’s jet-setting lifestyle to gravitate towards this most eco-friendly of choices is, by no means, an easy task, this pivotal shift toward a plant-based diet on the A-list horizon is not merely motivated by its blatant health benefits but is propelled by its ability to exhort more and more citizens around the globe to make healthy lifestyle choices- not just at the personal level, but at the environmental level too!

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Vegan celebrities have not only brought the nutrition benefits of an all-vegan diet to the fore, they have also helped outline the egregrious forms that hide behind a meat diet. This includes obvious health risks, uninhibited expenditure of resources, industrial livestock farming and its unabashed cruelty toward animals among many. As such, it isn’t surprising that more and more big names are hopping onto the vegan celebrity wagon whilst a mass following seems to follow close on the heels.  Today, 3 percent of American adults—over 7 million people—never eat meat, fish or poultry, up from less than 1 percent in 1994. The Meatless Monday campaign—a successful voluntary reduction effort in the U.S. during both World War I and World War II that was relaunched in 2003 at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to help Americans cut down on saturated fat—has become a full-blown movement.

In the face of such widespread support, it is merely a matter of time until the hottest celebrities get on board with veganism.  As of now, the numbers on the list of ‘hottest vegan celebrities’ are no less but there’s still a long way to go. And we have brought to you a list of the top 15 hottest vegan celebrities that are stand out prominent, for their personal, health and environmental connections with the cause. Take a look at our top picks for famous vegan celebrities:

Carrie Underwood–VEGAN, albeit not strictly vegan

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Growing up on a farm, Carrie became vegetarian when she was all of thirteen. Witnessing the animal-killing first-hand pushed her to make the choice. This sexy country siren who was PETA’s sexiest vegetarian celebrity of 2005 and 2007, became a vegan in 2011. However, it is not a strictly meat or dairy-free diet and she concurs,

“I am a vegan but I consider myself to be a practical vegan. If I order something on a menu and it has a sprinkling of cheese on top I’m not going to send it back.“

Jennifer Lopez- A true-blue vegan celebrity

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Our favorite J-Lo has gone all vegan and says that this is the best choice she could have made. Having been surprised by the amount of energy she had when she made a transient shift toward veganism, she adopted it whole-heartedly.

“Being vegan, it’s basically no dairy, no meat, everything is just plant based and just from the ground…I love that I’m eating more greens. It makes you feel so much better,” she says but is quick to add her craving for butter. “Butter is the one thing I miss! Butter makes everything taste better.”

Jay Z and Beyonce– Took a bite of the vegan life

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The queen bee and her darling beau, who recently slipped up the raving fans a snippet of their secret marriage on the eve of their seventh wedding ceremony went vegan for three weeks. Remarking on his plan to embark on this dedicated three-week vegan trip, the rapper wrote on his Life & Times blog in December 2013,

“On December 3rd, one day before my 44th birthday, I will embark on a 22 Days challenge to go strictly vegan, or as I prefer to call it, plant-based!! I will post my progress… Any professional vegans out there that have any great food spots please help out! Please ha. I don’t know what happens after Christmas. A semi-vegan, a full plant-based diet? Or just a spiritual and physical challenge? We’ll see…”

And of course, his lovely songstress wify joined him too.

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Bill Clinton– Strictly vegan

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Yep, the former US President Bill Clinton adopted a vegan diet in 2010, after undergoing a quadruple bypass surgery in 2004 and a later stent surgery. He’s since lost 20 pounds, and has become an advocate for vegan and meatless diets.

“I like the vegetables, the fruits, the beans, the stuff I eat now,“ Clinton told a CNN reporter. “All my blood tests are good, and my vital signs are good, and I feel good, and I also have, believe it or not, more energy.“

Al Gore– Strictly vegan

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Having hopped on to the vegan wagon in 2013, this former vice-president seems quite pleased with his choice of adopting an animal and dairy-free diet, not unlike the 42^nd US President whose likes he joins through this dietary endeavor.

Natalie Portman– Strictly vegan

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Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals pushed long time vegetarian Natalie Portman to go vegan in 2009. She even went on to blog about it on The Huffington Post.

“The human cost of factory farming — both the compromised welfare of slaughterhouse workers and, even more, the environmental effects of the mass production of animals — is staggering.”

However, the actress reverted to vegetarianism during her 2011 pregnancy to satisfy her cravings for food made of eggs and cheese. Post-pregnancy the actress reverted to her vegan lifestyle. In fact, her 2012 wedding too boasted an all-vegan menu!

Mike Tyson– Strictly vegan

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Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson turned vegan in 2010, and has since loss 100 pounds.

“Becoming a vegan gave me another opportunity to live a healthy life. I was so congested from all the drugs and bad cocaine, I could hardly breathe, [I had] high blood pressure, [was] almost dying [and had] arthritis. And once I became a vegan all that stuff diminished,“ said Tyson on Oprah: Where Are They Now?

Ellen DeGeneres– Strictly vegan

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Akin to Natalie Portman, our beloved Ellen’s love for animals pushed her to adopt a vegan lifestyle. After having read several books on the subject, she switched sides and turned vegan.

“I do it because I love animals,” says DeGeneres, “And I saw the reality and I just couldn’t ignore it anymore.”

Degeneres’ wife, Portia de Rossi, shares her views and has adopted the vegan lifestyle. Their 2008 wedding featured a vegan menu, setting a precedent for Portman’s. Perhaps one of the more vocal celebrities on this diet, she even has her own vegan blog, “Going Vegan With Ellen,” and she and de Rossi are slated to open their own vegan restaurant soon!

Joaquin Phoenix– Strictly vegan

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This award-winning actor has been in the vegan race far longer than any vegan celebrity on the list. Born in Puerto Rico to eco-conscious parents, he was raised along with siblings River, Rain and Summer as a true vegan. Recalling the formative days of his vegan views, he says,

“I was 3 years old. To this day it is a vivid memory. My family and I were on a boat, catching fish … The animal went from a living, vibrant creature fighting for life to a violent death. I recognized it, as did my brothers and sisters.”

Having turned down several huge endorsements for meat and milk products, this vegan ambassador for animal cruelty prevention charity, PETA stands tall and proud in his choice. He was also a part of the ‘Go Vegan’ controversial campaign by PETA.

Woody Harrelson– Strictly Vegan

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This Hunger Games star satiates his hunger with all things meat and dairy-free. His is also a long round with veganism and he recalls how he began gravitating toward the choice:

“I was on a bus and some girl sees me blowing my nose,“ Harrelson is saying of his early years trying to make it as an actor in New York. “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 twenty-four. And I was like, No way. But three days later: gone,“ he told Esquire.

Not only does the star’s dietary choices reflect his eco-friendly penchant, but his abode- an organic farm in Maui, his reluctance to talk on cellphones due to electromagnetic waves, his energy-efficient fleet of cars and his ownership of Sage, an all-vegan restaurant and an organic beer garden are all indicative of the man’s environment-conscious conscience!

Casey Affleck–Strictly vegan

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It ain’t no surprise that joining Joaquin Phoenix’s family by marrying his sister Summer, being a part of an all-vegan legacy would come naturally to the Good will Hunting star. A keen animal rights’ supporter, he maintains that he was propelled to make the choice due to the memories of a childhood pet.

“The first dog I had was owned by an abusive couple. He was very skittish. He wouldn’t let me hold him. It was explained to me that it was because of how he was treated,“ he said.

Alec Baldwin– Strictly vegan

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When Baldwin was diagnosed prediabetic in May 2011, he immediately went about changing his diet, switched to veganism and, naturally, took up some yoga and pilates along the way, too. One of his most famous quotes related to veganism says it all:

“I quit eating beef when I was somewhere between 10 and 13 because we do have cows and I did bottle feed them and stuff like that. They were like my pets. I had an incident one day that made me refuse to eat beef ever, ever again. Later on, my neighbor had pigs, and I thought they were cute, and it just kind of went on and on from there. I phased it out over a period of time. My parents were actually banding calves. I don’t know if you know what that means. I’m not going to explain it to you. … Basically, it was to make them grow bigger so people could eat them, and they were so cute, and it just made me sad.“

You can often find him dining at the gourmet vegan eater Pure Food and Wine. The restaurant, a popular healthy retreat for celebs,is well-known for its deliciously awesome animal-free cuisine and artistic food presentation.

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Thom Yorke- Strictly vegan

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There are contending theories on what prompted Radiohead’s founder and lead singer to adopt a vegan lifestyle. While one of these records that the song “Meat is Murder” by The Smiths inspired him, when he told GQ that meat consumption was tearing up his diet, another rather unorthodox theory, by his own self-admission maintains,

“I started going out with this girl and I wanted to impress her so I pretended I’d been vegetarian all along… And I immediately felt a lot better, a lot healthier. I was concerned, as many people are, about that ‘you’re not going to get all the things you need in your diet, you’re going to get sick all the time’, but the exact opposite happened to me, so I never looked back. It was never a problem straight off.”

Petra Nemcova– Partly vegan

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Czech model Petra Nemcova ditched meat and animal products in 2007 after learning about the planet’s rapidly depleting fish stocks.

Alanis Morissette– Strictly vegan

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After reading Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Furhman and feeling unhealthy from weight gain and processed food, the singer-songwriter adopted the vegan approach in 2009. On her reasons for the diet switch, she told OK magazine:

“Longevity. I realized I want to live till I’m 120. There’s a lifestyle that I am now happily creating that can, as best as is possible, prevent most forms of cancer and other diseases.“

This songstress is happy with the choice ahe made to lose weight and feel happier.

“I’m back to what I was born to be, at my best… I feel very alive… I have no more aches and pains, and my allergies are gone, too,“ she said.

And the Freebie hottie of the list of ‘hottest vegan celebrities,’ ohh-so-hot-it-burns-well-umm…quite a lot:

Brad Pitt– Strictly vegan

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Yep, our Troy hottie is a vegan since a long time, although wify Angelina Jolie isn’t. I wonder if the kids are! An ardent animal rights activist, he gets annoyed at the sight of meat and has quite a few strong environmental contentions going for him on the side of vegan debate. Well, all we can say is let’s make him the poster boy for veganism, we might have people switch to the healthy choice for the heartthrob alone!

That’s all on the hottest picks for vegan celebrities! See ya all soon, on the vegan side!

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