Former vegan turned meat-lover Bear Grylls said he's "embarrassed" that he used to promote plant-based diets.
During a recent interview with PA, the celebrity survivalist and "Into the Wild" star claimed a carnivore diet has done wonders for his health and wellness, the Telegraph reported. Grylls, 48, also said he looked back on his history of speaking out about the benefits of veganism for the planet and for an individual's health as shameful.
"I was vegan quite a few years ago in fact, I wrote a vegan cookbook and I feel a bit embarrassed because I really promoted that," he said. Grylls' 2015 cookbook, "Fuel for Life," shared over 70 dairy, wheat, and sugar-free recipes.
"I thought that was good for the environment and I thought it was good for my health. And through time and experience and knowledge and study, I realized I was wrong on both counts," he added.
Later in the interview, Grylls said he's now an advocate of what he calls the "ancestral way of living."
"I've found a counterculture way of living, of embracing red meat and organs natural food just like our millennia of ancestors would have eaten for hundreds of thousands of years," he said. "I've tried to listen to my body more, tried to listen to nature, and I don't miss vegetables at all. I don't go near them and I've never felt stronger, my skin's never been better, and my gut's never been better."
Grylls claimed, without citing his evidence, that a plant-based diet isn't "good" for the environment or for his health, and that instead, he prefers to adopt a carnivore diet.
As Insider's Allana Akhtar previously reported, carnivore diets have become increasingly popular in recent years, with social-media personalities such as Joe Rogan touting its benefits often through unsubstantiated claims.