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In an interview with AARP the magazine, former president BillClinton sheds new light on why he decided to embrace a mostlyplant-based diet for health and family. "I just decided that I was the high-risk person, and I didn'twant to fool with this anymore. And I wanted to live to be agrandfather," Clinton says. "So I decided to pick the diet that Ithought would maximize my chances of long-term survival." When he first made the switch in 2010, the 66-year-old says thatgiving up meat wasn't the hard part — but cheese and yogurt wasanother story. "I love that stuff, but it reallymade a big difference when I did it," he says. From the AARP: For Bill Clinton, breakfast is almost always an almond-milksmoothie, blended with fresh berries, nondairy protein powder and achunk of ice. Lunch is usually some combo of green salad and beans.He snacks on nuts — "those are good fats" — or hummus with rawvegetables, while dinner often includes quinoa, the Incansuper-grain, or sometimes a veggie burger. While the magazine is quick to call Clinton a vegan, they don'tactually quote him as saying such. That's because while a majorityof the former president's food comes from plant-based sources, hestill admits to consuming "a helping of organic salmon or an omeletmade with omega-3-fortified eggs" once a week "to maintain iron,zinc and muscle mass." I'm not at all trying to diminish his trulyamazing diet — but he's not a vegan either; something he's touchedupon in the past as a sign of respect towards those that shun allanimal products. “I'm very careful," Clinton said during an appearance on "The Rachael Ray Show" in2011, "because strict vegans not only don't eat any meator fish or dairy products, but they don't ever eat any processedbreads and they're very careful what kind of oil goes into theirfood. So I, you know, I can't quite make that. My daughter, who wasa vegetarian most of her life, beats up on me to eat more fish so Imaybe have fish a little bit, once or twice a month, but I sort oflost the taste for all of it.” In concluding his interview with the AARP, Clinton says thateven if you lack the willpower to make the shift toward a healthierdiet for yourself, you should do it for your lovedones. "A lot of people who are busy and stressed feel that eating andbeing comfortable is their reward," he says. But for those who,like him, have children, he says "you have a responsibility to tryto be as healthy as possible." Check out Clinton speaking with Wolf Blitzer about hisplant-based diet below.
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