That's Fit

Ice cream a favourite indulgence of yours? Would you still eat it if it was made from breast milk? I know what you're probably thinking -- ick. But it's no joke. PETA recently urged ice cream giant Ben & Jerry's to start using milk from human mothers instead of milk from cows to make their famous frozen treats. The idea came after a revelation that a Swiss restaurant owner intended on carrying breast milk at his eatery.

I know I shouldn't find this gross ... but I do. Breast milk is full of important nutrients, but I still think it's best left for babies. What do you think? Is breast milk best? Would you eat this ice cream?

PETA is holding is third annual world's sexiest vegetarian contest. Past winners, including Kristen Bell, Carrie Underwood, Alicia Silverstone, and Tobey Maguire are all in the running again. You can cast your vote here.

According to PETA, each vegetarian saves the lives of more than 100 animals per year -- cutting down on the environmental impact of raising animals for food as well as, hopefully, reducing demand and the cruelty that is sometimes practiced in meat production.

PETA also states that, on average, vegetarians are 10 to 20 pounds lighter than those who eat meat. And, PETA's research indicates that many vegetarians state that they feel better, have clearer skin, and have more energy on a vegetarian diet. If you're considering a vegetarian diet, be sure to do your research. It can be a very healthy way of living but it requires taking steps to get enough protein and iron.

We talk a lot about reading labels here at That's Fit, like how whole wheat bread isn't always whole wheat, and "natural" and "organic" can mean several things. However, more than just your food is labeled -- so are your cosmetics.

In honor of Earth Day this past Tuesday, I wanted to tell you a bit about how you can find cosmetics and beauty products that are truly cruelty-free. After all, causing pain for an animal just isn't pretty.

Companies use several different types of wording to make the extent of their animal testing ambiguous. For example, if the label says Final product not tested on animals, that means that while that particular lip gloss might not have been put on an animal, the ingredients going into it might have. Or, if it says This brand does not test on animals, it could mean that a supplier or lab that brand works with tests on animals.

I was so disappointed when I first learned what the true definition of "free range" was. I was comfy and secure in my naivete thinking that the chicken I was buying was at least treated ethically while it was alive. But, alas, that's not necessarily the case. And, with the videos that have hit the Internet in recent months, we know that ethical treatment of cows is not necessarily the case, either.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has long promoted vegetarianism. But now, they're offering a $1 million prize to the first person to make in vitro chicken meat and sell it to the public. According to PETA, more than 40 million animals are killed inhumanely each year in the US. In vitro meat production would use animal stem cells to grow an edible meat product without ever having a living animal. A truly humane solution for hard-core carnivores.

Veganism is hip and trendy, but can it be used to sell sex? A Portland, Oregon strip club owner recently tried. The Casa Diablo Gentlemen's Club featured pleather wearing dancers and a soy-based menu. Johnny Diablo is a long-time vegan, and many of his dancers were vegetarians themselves.

The club is up for sale, a sign that perhaps customers just don't care that much if their exotic dancers care about animal rights. (As my spouse pointed out matter-of-factly, "They're strippers. It's what they don't wear that matters.")

But this isn't the first time that the vegans and sexuality have met. In fact, sex is often used to sell the lifestyle, including PETA's naked celebrity ad campaigns and peta2's latest: Ink, Not Mink. It's causing a stir in the vegetarian/vegan world, where many are complaining that women's rights are being trampled on in the effort to support the rights of animals, and that though sex may sell, people become drawn to the lifestyle for the wrong reasons.

The NYT has an excellent article on the topic. Learn more here. What do you think?

Need a little encouragement to become a vegetarian? Hollywood star Alicia Silverstone is trying to do just that. The Clueless star is now appearing in this sexy ad for PETA, advocating a vegetarian lifestyle.

It's well-known that Silverstone is a strict vegan, and she's not shy about letting the world know just how much doing so has helper her life. In one interview, she says, "when I stopped [eating meat], my skin became clear, I lost all this weight, and I started pooping right. I also had energy and was sleeping well."

What do you think? Would celebrity endorsement make you consider becoming a vegetarian or vegan?

Weeds star Kevin Nealon has been a vegetarian for 18 years and he's using his fame and experience to help PETA spread the word about the benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle. In his public service announcement, he plays a pathological liar and claims he's Brad Pitt, from NASA.

Whether or not animal rights are the reason you avoid meat, you still might find this video funny. And if you do, check out the interview that follows where Kevin talks about his millions of pet fish who live in the ocean. "Most of them are not house fish..." Priceless.

Michael Moore -- whose movie Sicko is set for release this month -- isn't known for backing away from an issue, and either is animal rights group PETA. So when Ingrid Newkirk, president of the organization, wrote Michael Moore a letter, he had to know that he may not like what she had to say. Newkirk took Moore to task on his "weighty health issue" and challenged him to take up a vegetarian lifestyle so that he could "become less reliant on the government's shoddy healthcare system," himself. Newkirk urged the filmmaker to take up the 30-day Veg Pledge and take some personal responsibility in creating his own healthy lifestyle by eliminating animal products from his diet.

Will Moore take her up on it? He hasn't said, but he is working on losing a few pounds. What do you think? Was Newkirk's letter over the top or an appropriately worded wake up call?