Former U.S. President Bill Clinton has turned to a Vegan diet on a journey for good health, according to an interview with CNN.
Well-known as a lover of junk foods like hamburgers, pizza, popcorn and more, Clinton has given it all up, taking his doctors' instructions to become a vegan.
Clinton told CNN about his new eating habits, which no longer includes dairy or eggs and barely any oil, curbing all desires for greasy fast food.
I like the vegetables, the fruits, the beans, the stuff I eat now, Clinton said in a CNN interview.
The former president decided to make a change after undergoing quadruple bypass surgery in 2004 due to a blockage from a build-up of fatty foods and cholesterol. It did not stop there; Clinton also has two stents placed during angioplasty in 2010, prompting the need to change his diet.
I was lucky I did not die of a heart attack, said Clinton, whose family has a history of heart disease. I essentially concluded that I had played Russian roulette. ... So that's when I made a decision to really change.
Since the adoption of the new vegan diet, Clinton has dropped 20 pounds and is starting to feel healthy again, he added.
The Clinton Foundation has also partnered with the American Heart Association to promote healthy eating habits in more than 12,000 schools around the nation, as complications from obesity figures continue to rise nationwide.
In honor of Bill Clinton's new healthy vegan eating habits, let's take a look back at the former U.S. President's notorious love for greasy grub.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton posing for pictures with two unidentified waitresses at The Varsity restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia on January 15, 1996. Clinton was admitted to a top New York hospital September 3, 2004 for quadruple heart bypass surgery after experiencing chest pains and shortness of breath.REUTERSFormer U.S. President Bill Clinton laughs as he cleans some of the 'Peachy Paterno' ice cream off his nose outside the Creamery store during a stop on the campus of Penn State University July 10 in State College.ReutersFormer U.S. President Bill Clinton makes his way down the food line as he celebrates Thanksgiving with U.S. soldiers based at Camp Bondsteel in Kosovo, November 23, 1999.REUTERSFormer President Bill Clinton and wife Hilary try an Ice Cream sample before placing an order at Whitey's Ice Cream during a campaign stop in Davenport, Iowa, July 3, 2007. ReutersFormer U.S. President Bill Clinton looks over a half-cooked Turkey on Thanksgiving morning during his stay at Camp David, November 23, 2000, a day after he 'pardoned' another bird and sent it to a Virginia petting zoo.ReutersU.S. President Bill Clinton eats an apple grown in Washington State during a visit to a transit shed at the Port of Seattle December 1, 1999.ReutersPresident Bill Clinton east chips at "The Malt House" pub on the banks of the Worcester and Birmingham canal May 15, 1998.REUTERSFormer President Bill Clinton and Al D'Amato (L) eat popcorn together as they sit in the box of New York Mets co-owner Fred Wilpon (fourth from L) during the game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets game April 15, 1997 at New York's Shea Stadium. ReutersFormer President Bill Clinton cuts his 50th birthday cake at a reception in New York, August 18, 1996. The 300 pound cake features the names of all 50 States and will be eaten by 2,000 guests.REUTERSFormer President Bill Clinton eats a platter of BBQ at Gates and Sons BBQ June 14, 1994 in Kansas City.ReutersFormer US President Bill Clinton is introduced to the chef Jean-Paul Lacombe of the restaurant leon de Lyon by French President Jacques Chirac (C) shortly before eating at the restaurant with the other G7 leaders June 28, 1997.ReutersFormer U.S. President Bill Clinton (C) shakes hands with a student volunteer as he hands out food at the San Diego Food Bank April 3, 2011. The food will be given to targeted local low-income military and non-military families. The event was part of the Clinton Global Initiative conference being held at the University of California, San Diego. Reuters
