We can always count on celebrities to promote myths about plant-based food (PBF) when they decide to revert to eating animals. Cue Hollywood’s latest victim of veganism: Anne Hathaway. Hathaway recently stated that she experienced a low energy level eating PBF. Rather than find the cause of her sluggishness, Hathaway eschewed PBF and ordered a fish. It’s sad for the animals she’ll eat considering that choices as simple as sweet potatoes, maca, goji berries, oatmeal, dulse, matcha tea, or a B12 supplement may have resolved the issue if it’s even food related.
I’m vegan, and I have the energy of a football team, and I’m much older than Hathaway. I have no health problems, and I’ve never felt better. We’re supposed to eat about one-third of our body weight in protein in grams per day. I can get that in a single meal–and it’s much healthier protein absent steroids, antibiotics, cholesterol, and saturated fat.
Sadly, Hathaway’s departure from PBF generated a wave of porous articles about the challenges of being vegan and the benefits of meat. Celebrities should be more aware of the impact of their public statements and ensure they’re making responsible claims. People who eat pasta and bread may feel lethargic, but people eating fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, seeds, and beans don’t feel sleepy. These foods are filled with complex carbohydrates which boost energy metabolism. They’re also easier to digest than animal protein. PBF like bananas, kale, spinach, walnuts, and avocado also contain vitamin B6, which boosts sleep. If you sleep better, you’ll have more energy. Hathaway’s admitted history of heavy alcohol use, which reduces energy levels, may have contributed to her lethargy.
Hathaway’s statement about feeling sluggish from eating PBF–and the media’s enthusiasm for the story–is especially ironic given America’s obesity epidemic. About 97% of Americans eat animals–and millions of Americans feel tired and suffer various health problems from the animal-based food they eat. As a result, Kaiser-Permanente advises the 17,000 doctors in their network to recommend PBF to their 10 million patients because they know it will keep people healthy and reduce costs. This video from NutritionFacts explains their rationale.
When Hathaway ordered fish at a restaurant, she reportedly asked if the fish was local. Simply because animals are killed locally doesn’t make them healthier to eat, less environmentally harmful, or more humane. Fish feel pain–and whether they’re pulled from a local river or a distant ocean, they suffocate and suffer the same. Hathaway said she felt her “brain rebooting” when she “ate a piece of salmon.” I agree that her brain needs a reboot, but with a book, not a fish.
I’m vegan for the animals, my health, and the planet, so I’ll be vegan for the rest of my life. If there’s an option to be vegan after I die, I’ll be vegan then too. As for my brain, it rebooted the day I realized eating animals is cruel, unnecessary, and indefensible.
Kirschner's Korner 
That’s very disappointing about Anne Hathaway. You’re so right, Andrew, that these celebrities have a lot of influence and to mislead people because of a lack of their own education can do irreparable harm. Thanks for speaking out about this. I wish she could read your article.
My thoughts exactly. It was annoying to see all the meat/dairy industries jumping up and down with excitement at her fallout.
Veganism can lead to you feeling sluggish. I’ve been vegan for over a dozen years and feel worn out after hauling 500 pounds of grain, 50 hay bales, feeding 150+ animals and dealing with omnivores telling me they need meat to work their desk job. Of course, my dietary choices may actually be helping combat that exhausting lifestyle. 😀
I’m so sorry that she’s made such a rash decision, otherwise I find her such a sweet and sensible person, I must confess I’m indeed disappointed in her about that. Nevertheless, I hope she has a change of heart and reconsiders this unfortunate move later on her life. Although I’m not exactly vegan (for some minor details which do not exactly interfere with my diet itself but do clash with some tenets of veganism), I do support the movement with all my heart, as it´s primarily concerned about animals’ well-being and all that this implies.
Yours was a brilliant defense of a compassionate diet, Kirschner, and I thank you so much for being such a staunch advocate for animal’s rights, for being who you are and doing what you do:-)!
I’m a 65 yr old middle school counselor, and have been doing so for 31 years. I have boundless energy even though I’ve been a vegan for 10 years. Anne has money, hire a vegan chef if she doesn’t understand a vegan diet.
Fantastic writing, as always. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. It’s really been bugging me since she so publicly blamed her vegan diet for her lack of energy. I’ve been vegan for 17 years and I have tons more energy than when I ate a diet laden with animal fats. I am vegan for animals but there are so many health benefits as well.
Yeah, I guess she wouldn’t blame feeling bad physically on smoking that cigarette, huh ? So-called celebrities are often unfortunately the worst examples of what living and being vegan actually is about. The last place any person should look for ethical and moral examples are the self-obsessed trend-following flakes who populate the film industry. Those people just follow veganism for a little while like it’s a cool health trend bandwagon they can jump on for simple personal improvement or abandon veganism at will when it’s inconvenient or takes actual sustained effort to maintain.