Actress Ellen Pompeo has been gradually cutting back on the use of animal products in her home for years, but it wasn’t until she visited her physician for a routine checkup that she decided to cut the animal products from her diet altogether.

Her doctor, Dr Kristi Funk, who has just written a book called “Breasts: The Owner’s Manual”, explained how a vegan diet can help prevent various forms of cancer, including breast cancer. A 2013 study by Loma Linda University School of Public Health found that women who ate vegan had a 34 percent lower rate of “female-specific” cancers such as breast and ovarian cancers. Dr Funk’s advice was enough for Pompeo to not only change her own diet, but have the whole household go vegan, including their three children!

One benefit, according to Pompeo, is how much ‘fun’ it is. “It’s super fun,” she said, adding that her husband and children are adjusting well to veganism. “I don’t think it’s tricky at all — it’s actually easier because meat you have to cook it before it goes bad. Grains and lentils and rice and beans, everything’s in the pantry already. You just have to get vegetables, but vegetables stay good for a week — and I think we all feel better.”

Pompeo also said that her decision to go plant-based was based on not just for its health benefits, but also for its far-reaching impact for the Earth. She recognizes the impact of animal agriculture on global warming in particular, and doesn’t want to have any part in it.

For Pompeo, who shares daughters Stella, 8, and Sienna, 3, and son Eli, 18 months, with husband Chris Ivery, the most difficult animal product to get her children off was bacon.  She had to explain to Stella where bacon comes from to get her to stop eating it – a difficult but necessary lesson!