Both in their mid-to-late 60’s, Las Vegas mogul Steve Wynn and former President Bill Clinton are leading the baby boomer generation in a trend toward veganism. Though going vegan is a social choice for many, with respect to animal welfare and the environment, these two icons have revealed that the decision to cut out meat and dairy was largely for health reasons.

Rumors began circulating about Wynn a few months ago when he announced that all of the restaurants in his resort casinos (yes, all – right down to the 24-hour cafés) would have vegan options on their menus. But it wasn’t until November that the Las Vegas Sun interviewed Wynn and confirmed that he has indeed made the switch to a plant-based diet. In fact, his epiphany happened on June 22, 2010, and on June 23 that was it … Wynn was done with all meat, eggs, and dairy.

Wynn has never been one to mess around, so when a friend gave him a DVD called Eating to watch, he was inspired to immediately make the change. He even supplied a copy of the DVD to all of his employees.

Wynn has been known as healthy overall and quite vigorous for his age. However, he has battled high cholesterol, which dropped another 40 points upon changing his diet. He implied that the drop was a benefit of going dairy-free, “Did we not all grow up saying we had to have four glasses of whole milk a day for healthy bones? It’s ridiculous. It’s liquid cholesterol.”

Last year, Wynn also had several surgeries due to joint pain and degenerative damage to his spine. He recently stated, “It turns out that one of the things that goes along with an animal-based diet is disc disease.”

It is rumored that Bill Clinton’s motivation was driven completely by his daughter, Chelsea. He wanted to slim up for her wedding, so he decided to follow her lead into veganism. However, it seems the vegan trial has stuck, for the most part, as he announced on CNN in September, “I live on beans, legumes, vegetables, fruit. I drink a protein supplement every morning. No dairy.”

The diet worked for Clinton’s weight loss, he slimmed down by 24 lbs before Chelsea’s big day. However, he is now on a healing mission fueled by the two heart stents he had to have put in earlier this year. Though his Big Mac habit is a thing of the past, Clinton doesn’t proclaim that he is a strict vegan, as he does occasionally eat fish.

Sources:

• Las Vegas Sun, "No bones about it: Steve Wynn's a vegan"
• Newser, "Meet Bill Clinton ... Vegan?"

Article by Alisa Fleming, author of Go Dairy Free: The Guide & Cookbook, founder of Go Dairy Free, and blogger at Alisa Cooks.