hugh-jackman

A Vegan Wolverine? Hugh Jackman May Bulk Up With All-Plant Diet

12
by Michael dEstries September 21, 2010
Categories: Eats, Film/TV
Tags: .

Could the future Wolverine you see on the big screen actually be vegan-made? That’s the question posed after reading a new interview from VegNews with vegan nutritionist Brendan Brazier. The 35-year-old endurance athlete, author, and creator of an award-winning line of plant-based whole food nutritional products called Vega has been hired to work with Hugh Jackman as he bulks up for X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2, which will be released in 2011.

In the interview, Brazier talks about how Jackman became interested in working with Brazier after trying out his Vega products (something we speculated on back in April ’09 when Hugh was caught with a product bag) and incorporating some of the ideas from his best-selling book Thrive.

“In the past he had eaten a lot of chicken for his role, but he took a lot of Vega, too,” said Brazier. “It turned out I was going to New York City so he said “well why don’t you just come over,” so I went over to his place and we had a great chat and he told me how he was trying out veganism for environmental and health reasons and to set a good example for his kids. It’s not just for his own career anymore, which he wrote in the forward. He was listing the reasons why he was interested in Thrive, and he was concerned for the environment. That’s definitely something that he was aware of, and wanted to help instead of hurt.”

You can read the rest of the excellent interview with Brazier here — but it’s worth noting that he’s still not completely sure if Hugh will go 100% vegan while bulking up for Wolverine.

“There’s a very good chance [he’ll go vegan], and even if he doesn’t completely, a large amount of his diet will be,” says Brazier. “And I think that’s huge, I mean he’s not going to be eating all this chicken; he’s going to build up naturally. What I’m really excited about is that I think it’s going to draw in a whole new audience that would know nothing about it—they wouldn’t even know what vegan is—a lot of teenage kids who love his Wolverine character and want to eat like him.”


Categories: Eats, Film/TV
Tags: .
Photo: INFphoto.com

About Michael dEstries

Michael has been blogging since 2005 on issues such as sustainability, renewable energy, philanthropy, and healthy living. He regularly contributes to a slew of publications, as well as consulting with companies looking to make an impact using the web and social media. He lives in Ithaca, NY with his family on an apple farm.

View all posts by Michael dEstries →
  • David

    “…he’s going to build up naturally.”

    Are chickens unnatural in some way?

    • http://www.kissmyvegan.blogspot.com Lindsay

      Yes – the chickens raised on factory farms today (which make up 99% of the chickens raised and killed for food) are totally unnatural – they’ve been bred to be huge (with their breasts especially overgrown due to the demand for breast meat – I’m not even going to get into how unnatural eating a breast is, chicken or otherwise – that’s for another day!), they’re pumped with hormones – to become large in an unnaturally short amount of time – and antibiotics, and often, they are fed an unnatural diet that includes waste, other chickens, and fish meal. Totally unnatural.

  • don miguelo

    Cool! Thanks, bub! Sabretooth would be suitably horrified! This an example any Dad could follow to teach their kids a holistic way to live. Good luck!

    By the way, in case someone misreads the full sentence in the quote, (which loses the context), is: “And I think that’s huge, I mean he’s not going to be eating all this chicken; he’s going to build up naturally.”

    ‘All this chicken’ meaning ‘an unnatural amount’ of chicken. He’s going to build up without an inordinate amount of chicken, or say, carrots, tofu, or whatever else. Eating an unbalanced amount of something isn’t a good thing to teach your kids. That’s what Brazier means.

    • David

      OK don, lets not misread the sentance in the context of the full statement.
      “And I think that’s huge, I mean he’s not going to be eating all this chicken; he’s going to build up naturally. What I’m really excited about is that I think it’s going to draw in a whole new audience that would know nothing about it—they wouldn’t even know what vegan is—a lot of teenage kids who love his Wolverine character and want to eat like him.”

      Hmmm, “…they wouldn’t even know what a vegan is…” well if he is still eating a ‘natural’ amount of chicken, however much that is, then he isn’t a vegan, so the statement about an new audience not know what a vegan is wouldn’t make any sense unless he becomes a vegan. Otherwise it would not bring veganism to a new audience, it would bring a more ‘natural’ amount of chicken eating to a new audience.

      • don miguelo

        Yes that is correct. His full comment is literally off, agreed. I think I know what he’s trying to say but he didn’t say it that well.

      • Debora

        Actually, even a little chicken would be unnatural. Most chickens are factory farmed and therefore pumped full of hormones and antibiotics. They also live in a completely unnatural environment – one on top of the other, unable to spread their wings or engage in other natural behaviors (dust bathing, perching, feeling the sun).

  • Jamie

    As far as chicken being unnatural, I think it depends on your definition of what unnatural is. Considering we have flat teeth, short intestines, fingernails instead of claws and long, cumbersome legs, it’s clear that we aren’t designed to hunt and kill with out bare hands. We have to create tools, not only to catch and kill animals, but also to eat them and store them. We have created so many methods and hoops to jump through just to make it work that, no, I don’t think you can call eating any animal natural.

    Try to catch, kill, rip apart and eat a cow without tools or fire. Now try to catch, kill, rip apart and eat an orange. It’s pretty obvious what is natural to us.

    • David

      Short intestines is actually a sign of a carnivore/omnivore.

      “Because meat is relatively easily digested, their small intestines (where absorption of food molecules takes place) are short&151;about three to five or six times the body length. ”

      “The ruminants are the plant-eating animals with the celebrated multiple-chambered stomachs. Herbivorous animals that eat a diet of relatively soft vegetation do not need a multiple-chambered stomach. They typically have a simple stomach, and a long small intestine.”

      http://www.vegsource.com/news/2009/11/the-comparative-anatomy-of-eating.html

    • Tim

      Humans are natural omnivores- the majority of our pre-agricultural ancestors primarily came from gathering plant products, but the human body is wonderfully designed to be one of the most efficient long distance predators in a relatively hot grassland/Savannah environment. Our bipedal movement and ability to efficiently cool our bodies by sweating are two major adaptations that allow us to outrun large ungulates in the right conditions. Ungulates are typically sprinters that quickly overheat and expire if they are pushed over long distances in hot weather, and this is what made humans major competitors among grassland predators before we began farming practices. In the broad scope, very few animals are capable of running marathon (or even half marathon) distances in warm to hot weather, yet the human body is perfectly designed to do just that.

      Someone suggested that using weapons is a clear indication that humans weren’t made to eat meat. It’s been documented numerous times how bands of chimpanzees use tools to collect termites and hunt other animals, including some smaller species of primates. Does that mean chimps are eating unnatural foods? Of course not. Another adaptation by humans is to require a very varied diet- it allowed our ancestors to accommodate a number of changes in food availability our environment presented them. Here’s another example even closer to home: Consider the Inuit tribe that’s able to exist in the Arctic Tundra. I think it’s safe to say that their subsidence off the land indicates a fairly natural diet. Are they eating “unnaturally” because they consume meat that comes from caribou, seals, whales, and polar bears? Of course not. Meat is a nutrient-rich source of food, and while it didn’t form the bulk of most of our ancestors, it no doubt was an ingredient in all of them. To say eating meat is “unnatural” for us is simply ignorant. From what sources we get our meat is essential (which is why I am such a strong advocate for ethical hunting and fishing), but don’t make sweeping generalizations by condemning all meat products.

  • don miguelo

    Wolverines are carnivores.

    …Ok, it was funny only to me.

  • Pingback: Hugh Jackman’s ‘Vegan Diet’ Sure Includes Lots Of Chicken « ecorazzi.com :: the latest in green gossip

  • Pingback: Ironman Triathlete Brendan Brazier Says Vegan Diet Is Best For Athletes | ecorazzi.com :: the latest in green gossip

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