Bollywood Star Salman Khan to Millions: “Plant-Based Meat Is the Best Protein”

It’s always a good day when you convince a friend to try Meatless Monday for the first time or maybe win your roommate over with your favorite dairy-free smoothie recipe. But how about being able to tell millions of people to take the plant-based plunge?

Well, that’s exactly what Bollywood great Salman Khan did on the finale of Bigg Boss season 14 recently, telling an estimated 13 million viewers of the popular Indian reality show to embrace plant-based meat, as Plant-Based News reported at the end of last month. (If you’re unfamiliar with his work and want a sense of just how big Khan is, he’s received a laundry list of prestigious awards and has 38.2 million Instagram followers.)

During the finale, he proclaimed “plant-based meat is the best form of protein,” adding that plant-based meat “is identical to meat like chicken and mutton and has that non-vegetarian taste.” Shardul Dabir, an innovation specialist at nonprofit Good Food Institute India shared a video clip from the show in a LinkedIn post praising Khan’s words.

Khan’s statement came as fellow Bollywood celebrity Riteish Deshmukh spoke about his plant-based meat company, Imagine Meats, in the finale.

It’s hard to overestimate the reach of this duo’s impact on the plant-based meat movement. It’s quite the star power punch inspiring us to fire up some plant-based chicken on the grill.

Everyone’s favorite boy-band-rapper-Calvin-Klein-model-turned-actor-then-producer is now a member of team #nomeat. The “Good Vibrations” singer says he recently gave it up for his health and is feeling the benefits, big time.

Even the Terminator himself doesn’t eat much meat anymore. He gave up meat for the climate and has urged his fans to do the same. He says you don’t need meat to be “manly” or strong and further expands on this in the 2018 documentary “The Game Changers.” According to Schwarzenegger, the myth that “real men” eat meat is nothing more than marketing gimmicks.

When he’s not busy fighting evil forces in the galaxy, Han Solo is fighting them here on earth. The biggest offender? Meat. It’s bad for the climate (livestock production is heavy on the emissions) and now that Indiana Jones is well into his 70s(!), it’s not great for his health, either. He touted his new diet on a recent episode of The Ellen Show.

Five-time Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Billie Eilish has been raised without meat. She went further a few years ago eliminating eggs and dairy, too. She frequently uses her platform to speak out about factory farming and its negative impact for the planet and the animals. Last year when she appeared on Saturday Night Live with Woody Harrelson, the duo appeared together in a video campaign for the climate, which included a plea to reduce meat consumption.

The longtime raw foodist has been off meat for decades. And now at 58, Harrelson looks better than ever. He’s an outspoken advocate for animal rights as well the climate. He also uses his platform to promote America’s small family farmers and the challenges they face.

The Academy Award-winning actor is a staunch environmentalist. It’s core to the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation’s mission and it’s also finally having an effect on his diet, too. While DiCaprio still eats meat, he’s eating less of it these days than ever before. Last year in an Instagram post, he urged fans to decrease their meat consumption to reduce fires in the Amazon.

When America’s favorite talk show host, well, talks, people listen. And Ellen DeGeneres often talks about the climate, animals, and the many other reasons for giving up meat. She still eats fish and eggs, but the flexitarian keeps meat off her plate for the planet and her health.

The reality star and entrepreneur says she stopped eating a lot of animal products to help her battle her ongoing psoriasis. It seems to be helping. And while she was recently spotted eating at KFC with hubby Kanye West, she says she sticks to a mostly plant-forward diet at home. Now she says she’s given up meat as a climate resolution, too, and encouraged her 163 million followers to do the same.