SOME people call it a fad, while others believe it is a lifestyle. Well, whatever one chooses to call it, veganism is here to stay.

Back in the day, the only vegan celebrities most people would know about were Natalie Portman, Alicia Silverstone and Pamela Anderson.

Right? But nowadays, almost every other celebrity in Hollywood is a vegan, a vegetarian, a flexitarian (that’s flexible-vegetarian; someone who eats meat, but not too much of it) or god knows what other “-arian” that’s about to be the next dieting fad.

Lea Michelle is a vegan because she wants to lead a healhier lifestyle.

Celebrities like Lea Michele and Ginnifer Goodwin decided to go vegan simply because they wanted to lead a healthier lifestyle. When Michele moved to Los Angeles for her role as Rachel Barry in Glee, she decided that it was high time to give her diet a makeover and chose veganism, which some claim is beneficial to one’s health.

House M.D.’s Olivia Wilde however, became a vegan to boycott “torture factories” – known to you and I as slaughterhouses – and so did Ellen DeGeneres, after watching a documentary on caged animals.

Angelina Jolie quit being a vegan.

However, not all celebrities are crazy about the vegan diet/lifestyle. It was reported that Angelina Jolie quit veganism because it was making her sick. During a press briefing in 2010 for her movie Salt, Jolie was apparently heard saying, “I was a vegan for a long time, and it nearly killed me. I found I was not getting enough nutrition.”

Lack of nutrition is not something new among celebrities who are known to change their diets like they do their clothes. Before veganism was an in thing, celebs were often in the news for strictly following one diet fad or another, mainly due to the crazy pressure to look good on and off screen.

Remember the Atkins diet where followers were encouraged to reduce (though some people totally eliminated) carbohydrates from their meals? Or The Zone diet, made popular by Jennifer Aniston, which requires you to fix your meals with as much precision as a science project?

With celebrities’ insane quest for the perfect body, it’s no wonder that new Hollywood diet plans crop up every season, because what easier way for them to hide that extra 10kg the camera puts on than by controlling what they eat, right?

Remember, R.AGE doesn’t endorse any of these diet plans and if you do choose to pick one up, do consult your physician/dietician before you get started.

The 5-Factor diet
Created by celebrity trainer Harley Pasternak, the 5-Factor diet focuses on five elements – protein, complex carbs, fiber, fat and fluids – one should include in their meals. Followers get to eat five small meals (made from recipes that contain no more than five ingredients) and are allowed one cheat day per week.
Followers: Alicia Keys, Eva Mendes, Lady Gaga and Megan Fox.

Pressed Juicery
Ever seen those paparazzi photos of Nicole Richie holding a bottle of green liquid? Well, that’s because she’s on a Pressed Juicery diet, and that awful-looking green thing is what that keeps her lean and mean. “I don’t go a day without a Greens Juice – kale, spinach, celery, cucumber and romaine. It’s actually really good,” Richie was reported as saying.
While on this juice diet, followers receive a daily supply of fresh juices in the morning and they get to enjoy six 1,200-calorie juices a day. Each nutrient-packed drink helps replace meals and snacks and followers are advised to avoid all alcohol, caffeine and nicotine products.
Followers: Nicole Richie, Zooey Deschanel, Gwen Stefani

Nicole Richie swears on the Pressed Juice diet.

The South Beach Diet
This diet is also known as “a food-lover’s diet”. No, not because followers get to eat anything they want but because food-lovers have to forget about everything they like. Followers have to say goodbye to bread, potatoes, rice, pasta … basically everything they enjoy eating for at least the first two weeks. They are then encouraged to replace bad carbs with good carbs and introduce good fats into their daily diet plan.
Followers: Nicole Kidman, Oprah, Kim Cattrall

The Reverse Diet
This is the diet plan that allows you to have the things you enjoy during dinner for breakfast and vice versa. The experts behind the Reverse Diet claim that calories consumed in the evening are not burnt off effectively thus stored as fat. So, according to them, if you consume most of the calories throughout the day when the body actually needs them, you are less likely to put on weight.
Followers: Angelina Jolie and Beyonce.

Beyonce maintains her figure by going on the Reverse Diet.

Sharm says: Oh, who am I kidding? None of these diets will work on me. Now where’s that bucket of fried chicken?