Born again bean king Clinton is a vegan hero

He was the president who famously couldn't jog past McDonald's without grabbing a snack, which makes Bill Clinton a most unlikely candidate for vegan hero.

But that is what swapping burgers for beans has done for the former fast-food fanatic, says a leading animal rights campaign group.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) has bestowed its Person of the Year award on Clinton, in recognition of his rebirth as a paid-up member of the mung bean-munching fraternity.

Clinton opted for the ultimate in new year cleanses - a largely vegan diet - to purge his body after realising it had taken one burger battering too many. This is, after all, a man who ordered a double hamburger and fries to fuel up for an anti-obesity speech.

Peta's decision has attracted some criticism - Clinton has admitted eating the odd piece of fish.

But the organisation said it was pleased to name him as its 2010 Person of the Year "because he uses his influence to promote the benefits of following a vegan diet".

The former president recently revealed that he now lived on "beans, legumes, vegetables, fruit" but absolutely "no dairy".

He was scared into making the switch after doctors followed up quadruple bypass surgery by inserting two stents - tubes that keep the coronary arteries open - in his heart last February.

The prospect of waddling his vegan daughter, Chelsea, down the aisle last summer hardened his resolve.

His new vegan(ish) lifestyle has resulted in Clinton losing 11kg, returning him to his high-school weight.

He said he researched the past 25 years of medical evidence about the benefits of turning vegan and found that 82 per cent of those who switched to a plant-based diet had unclogged their arteries naturally.

"I thought I'd become one of those who have a self-cleaning mechanism."

Clinton's award has also earned him a nomination as Peta's Sexiest Vegetarian Celebrity of 2011.

- INDEPENDENT