Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow is known for trying extreme diets, the latest of which she has recently developed with the aim of putting fun into healthy eating, coming up with new gluten-free cookbook It's All Good. And now it seems that The Great Gatsby star Leonardo DiCaprio is to thank for the lifestyle choice that has shaped her eating habits over the past 20 years.
Speaking to The Guardian, Gwyneth said: "I hung out with Leonardo DiCaprio when I moved to New York. He was vegetarian and he'd talk about how dirty meat is and how bad factory farming is," adding, "I haven't eaten red meat in 20 years and although Leo's not totally responsible, he definitely planted a seed. When I turned seriously macrobiotic, it coincided with my father having been diagnosed with cancer [in 1999]. I felt I could heal him by proxy. "Since cutting meat out of her life and becoming more aware of her diet, the Hollywood-actress-turned-lifestyle-guru has become known for juggling the duties of being a mum of two to daughter Apple, eight, and Moses, six, while maintaining her onscreen career and penning her own kitchen tomes.
Gwyneth Paltrow with Robert Downey Jr at the Iron Man 3 photocall
The svelte blonde, who is married to Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, has recently been in the spotlight, not only for her new cookbook but for keeping her children on her own strict diet. The diet change came from doctors when she was banned from eating eggs, sugar, shellfish, wheat and meat, along with many other products.She says that her daughter Apple is allergic to cow dairy while Moses is gluten intolerant. "All I do is try to eat and cook real food, the way our ancestors would," the Iron Man star explains. While dashing American actor Leonardo, a known environmentalist, may have kept her away from red meat for 20 years, it was Gwyneth's dad who taught her about food. "My father was working class and going out to eat was a big deal to him, always. He relished every bite and wanted me to weigh in with opinions. I remember his delight when, aged six, I ate my first oysters and I wish he was alive to feed my kids their first oysters. Because food is so associated with him, since he died I've had melancholic associations."