By Dana Shultz of My Little Celebration

Question: How do you make Valentine’s Day even sexier than it already is? Easy. Make it vegan. Because nothing says sexy like healthy, and vegans know all about that.  

Vegans not only enjoy countless health benefits from their diet – like lowered risk of heart disease and a trim figure – but they also save cows left and right and promote fair treatment of all animals in the process. Does it get any sexier than that? I think not.

And the best part? Going vegan doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s as simple as finding ingredients that don’t contain animal products to substitute into your favorite recipes, like flaxseed for eggs, soy milk for cow milk, and vegan butter for real butter.

Needing some recipe inspiration to get you started? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered for Valentine’s Day – morning, noon and night.

View our slideshow to see recipes for Vegan Black Bean Brownie Pancakes, Vegan Peanut Stew, and more!

Rumor has it that hotel developer billionaire and staunch vegan Steve Wynn has fallen off the vegan bandwagon.

Wynn became a vegan in June 2010 after watching a documentary on his yacht in the French Riveria. After eliminating meat and animal byproducts completely, over the next year, Wynn made it his mission to spread the word about the benefits of veganism, and even went so far as to provide a promotional vegan book and the accompanying documentary on DVD to his nearly 10,000 employees.

Some say his zeal for the vegan diet borderlined on obsession. Wynn has said in interviews, “The notion that you need animal food as protein is one of the great conspiracies of (expletive) by the government.” After decided to turn vegan, Wynn returned home and hired vegan chef Tal Ronnen to add vegan options to his hotel menus. His Christmas card even encouraged his loved ones to lower their cholesterol.

In May, he apologized for “preaching” at the Viva Las Vegan, an event he coordinated along with Vegas Uncork’d by Bon Appetit. “This is a matter of fundamental survival and continued vitality of our society and our population,” he told the Viva Las Vegan audience. “It is not some kind of fringe activity for tree huggers.”

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Doctors continue to remind us of the increased cardiovascular risk factors from eating red meat and other animal based products, and suggest we eat more vegetables to maintain good health. Environmentalists inform us how large production cattle ranches wreak havoc on the quality of our air and water, and urge us to go vegetarian. Animal rights activists protest the mistreatment of animals from dairy cows to egg laying chickens, in a concerted effort to promote total veganism.

With all of this anti-meat and animal rights campaigning, one might think eating animal products was just wrong, but new research suggests people who follow a vegan diet are at risk for developing blood clots and atherosclerosis, which are two conditions that can lead to a heart attack or stroke.

The vegan diet is completely free of any kind of animal products. That essentially means a vegan ingests absolutely nothing that comes from or is produced by an animal. Never are eggs, butter, sushi or chicken broth soup for the soul found on the diet list of a vegan. A diet of nuts, seeds and vegetables sounds like it could top the list of what is healthy to eat, yet this type of diet tends to be lacking in several important nutrients. Iron, zinc, vitamin B-12 and omega-3 fatty acids are difficult to acquire on a vegan diet, and these are key nutrients in helping to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease. In addition, a vegan diet is very low in fat and, as a result, these strict vegetarians tend to have higher levels of homocysteine and lower levels of HDL, the good cholesterol, both of which also contribute to the risk of heart disease.

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Beyonce is pregnant with her first baby, and she’s determined to keep her bootylicious figure. The 30-year old pop singer is due with her first baby in February, and she’s chosen to eat a mostly vegan diet to keep her weight in check. Her husband, 42-year old rapper Jay-Z, has decided to support her by following the same diet. She’s made this choice after hearing from friends who’ve counseled her to not make the same mistakes that they did during pregnancy.

In the past, the singer has been known to struggle with her weight. In 2006, she lost 20 pounds in 14 days using Master Cleanse, although it’s not a diet she’d recommend. Reportedly, she gained back all of the weight that she lost, plus extra.

Husband Jay-Z isn’t feeling any negative affects from following his wife’s dietary choice, and both have reported to have experienced an increase in energy. It’s not clear how the megastars classify a diet as “partially vegan”, but it appears that they are taking a great step towards beginning healthy choices for their growing family!

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While Thanksgiving can be a challenging day of the year for all dieters, it’s especially difficult for vegetarians and vegans who abstain from eating turkey. There is no shortage of vegetable dishes at most Thanksgiving tables, but the meal often revolves around turkey as a main course.

While the vegetarian diet is diverse and exciting, there are certain parts of the Thanksgiving meal that can be challenging to navigate on a meat-free diet.

Meat-Free Main Dishes
This year, whether you are eating a vegetarian diet, vegan diet or simply want to cut down your consumption of animal products, you can easily swap the turkey out of your Thanksgiving dinner without sacrificing tradition. While offering meat substitute like “Tofurkey” is one option, many home cooks prefer to take advantage of fresh seasonal produce and hearty grain salads.

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