What’s With All the Hulla-“Bill”-oo?

If you haven’t already heard, President Bill Clinton has announced that he has adopted a plant based diet.  While he still has the occasional piece of fish, Clinton has not only transitioned into a plant based diet, he is singing its praises. Talking about it on Wolf Blitzer a few weeks back, it sent shock waves through the vegan community and surprised the rest of the nation.

Sure, we all noticed his dramatic weight drop for daughter Chelsea’s wedding but who was to know that her nudging would help him and his doctor’s take action.  After having read The China Study and with his doctor’s behind him, Bill made the switch. I’m guessing he finally saw that he needed to get serious about his health after his heart attack close calls, quadruple bypass surgeries and emergency hospital visits. I guess it’s better late then never!

But my question is, why, of all the celebrities who have come out as vegans, did this one get so much attention? Is it because he’s not a flash in the pan, pretty faced starlett? Rather someone who is taken seriously? Or that he was once (and still very much is in many ways) the leader of the free world? What it is is a message that someone in his position, who can touch so many lives and set big things in motion, has just made the single most important decision of his life. He finally stopped hitting the snooze button on his wake up call and took his health into his own hands.

This is a huge step for Americans as one of their own, one of their most important politicians, one who is still very much involved in world affairs, has turned the health world on its head. After numerous health scares, Clinton realized that modern medicine and his current “All-American” diet was what was killing him slowly. For Bill, he heard the message loud and clear and chose to not only make the change, but to shout it from the rooftops so others could take an active role in their healing.

So while it’s wonderful to hear celebrities touting the glory of a plant based diet for health, animal and eco reasons, it takes someone with a strong voice on the world stage to really get folks to listen. Here’s hopin’ that more big wigs get on board and Bill actions cause a fabulous ripple effect on this great nation and beyond!