Rapper Will.i.am went vegan in 2017 for health reasons. | Polly Haas for LIVEKINDLY
Vegan rapper Will.i.am is all about the black eyed peas.
The musician ditched meat, dairy, and eggs back in 2017 after a trip to the doctor. He learned he had high blood pressure and cholesterol and decided to make a change to his diet.
“I went to my doctor and he said, ‘Hey. Your high blood pressure is like you’re 60. And your cholesterol. Where heart disease and diabetes runs in your family, you should take control of that,’” he said during an episode of The Thrive Global Podcast.
“I had no regiment in what I was eating. I thought, ‘OK, I have to get this under control’. So I changed my diet, started working out more, and lost the weight,” he told the Mirror in early 2018. “After we finished filming [The Voice] in December I went home, I became vegan, I biked to work, and I lost 15 lb.”
After going vegan, Will.i.am noticed major health improvements. During the podcast, he said the dietary switch helped him lose 20 pounds and lower his blood pressure and cholesterol. “I switched my regimen, went plant-based and it changed my life. I lost 20 lbs. My stress levels came down naturally. I have more energy. My sleep regimen is awesome,” he explained.
“It changed my life, and I would encourage everybody to have a plant-based regimen,” the rapper continued. “You don’t need the meat, you don’t need to have decaying flesh in your body. The more I think about it I was like, ‘Ew.’ I was just, I had death in me. Decayed flesh and crazy chemicals I can’t pronounce.”
Since going vegan, the rapper has become a major advocate for plant-based living. In honor of Will.i.am’s birthday, here are some of the most impactful things he’s said about eating plant-based.
“As a matter of fact, you gotta make mistakes to get great. You gotta like, love your mistakes kinda. We was making so many mistakes. You know why? Because I’m vegan, and I don’t miss steaks. You know what I’m saying? I don’t miss steaks! I don’t miss steaks, I don’t miss chicken, I don’t miss fish. I’m vegan,” Facebook, 2018.
“VGANG: noun – a group of people taking a hardcore gangster approach to wellness and conscience living. The Lobbyists are doing an amazing job making sure their products they sell to us are able to stay on the shelves…and those companies spend billions of dollars combined to market to us… And the drug companies are sitting back like vultures waiting for someone to get sick to provide a their product… VGANG!!! Is me lobbying for me, and taking control of my life and what I eat… VGANG!!!,” Instagram, 2018.
“If we didn’t have these fancy utensils, would I have the ability to go up to a living creature and like, savagely kill it to eat it? Could I do that? It wasn’t ‘I love animals’, ‘let’s save the planet’ at first. What made me switch was, I went to the doctor and he said I had high blood pressure and high cholesterol. He told me he was [going to] give me some pills to bring it down. I’m like, why pills though? Why can’t you like give me a regiment on what to eat and what not to eat?” Instagram, 2018.
“Ten years ago I ate eggs all day every day… now that I’m vegan I am mindful of what I put in my body and I have love and [appreciation] for all living things… #plantBASED,” Instagram, 2019.
“Going vegan change my life. Ten years ago I was eating pizza and apart of the junk food GANG now that I’m proudly apart of the #VGANG I’m healthy and ready for the next #10yearchallenge,” Instagram, 2019.
“Anything with a face I don’t taste… Anything with an eye or two I don’t chew… Anything with a mouth stays out of my mouth… #VGANG,” Instagram, 2018.
“The FDA approves things for us to eat that’s harmful and approves drugs for us when we get sick from eating the bullshit we were eating… Being VGANG is beyond just protecting animals and the planet…it’s protecting my energy field from toxic chemicals,” Instagram, 2018.
“I’m fighting for a healthier me and a healthier planet. I started realizing, I was eating rotted animal lactate that came from freaking cow’s tit? That’s disgusting. We operate on frequencies that are wireless. We [launch] satellites that orbit the planet. Why are we acting like freaking savage predators still? Haven’t we evolved?” The Sunday Times, 2019.
“You eat the yellowtail, Imma [sic] eat the plant-based. I ain’t chewing on no food, with two eyes and a face. Got a new attitude, gotta stay elevated. If somebody hate, let them hate and kinda motivate,” Vibrations pt.1 pt.2, 2019
“I thought about what I was eating. I was gnawing on flesh, dead animal. If you think about it, it’s kind of sick. Imagine you’re hungry, almost starving. You have a bushel of broccoli and then a chicken walks by. Are you going to rush the chicken, no utensils, and just eat it? Defeather it, eat the skin and cartilage, no seasoning and salt? No, you’re going to dive into that bushel of fricking broccoli. Turns out gorillas are buff as f***. They have big muscles, they just eat leaves. Rhinos are tough as gladiators and they aren’t gnawing on people,” Evening Standard, 2018.
This post was last modified on March 15, 2021 5:29 pm