Gwyneth Paltrow: Leonardo DiCaprio Taught Me "How Dirty Meat Is"

Actress and foodie opens up about diet, health and pregnancy cravings

By Rebecca Macatee Apr 22, 2013 6:23 PMTags
Leonardo Dicaprio, Gwyneth PaltrowCindy Ord, Dominik Bindl/Getty Images

When most girls were wallpapering their bedrooms with Titanic posters, Gwyneth Paltrow was getting diet advice from Jack Dawson himself.

Yes, back in the day, Leonardo DiCaprio taught the ultimate foodie a thing or two about the potential health hazards of red meat.

"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," Gwyneth, 40, tells The Guardian. "I haven't eaten red meat in 20 years and although Leo's not totally responsible he definitely planted a seed."

Now, the actress and author of four cookbooks tries to keep her diet simple. "All I do is try to eat and cook real food, the way our ancestors would," she explains. "It's funny how people react, as if it's revolutionary that I don't want my children to eat Oreos, or the English equivalent, every day."

"I believe in real food, things being delicious, and butter,in minimally processed delicious foods and raw milk cheese and properly raised chicken and line-caught fish," she adds. "But I'm a realist and I have kids and I love Oreos too, so honestly I'm not rigid at all."

And yes, when Gwynnie was pregnant with her son Moses, even she succumbed to her junk food cravings. "I couldn't stop [eating]," she recalls. "I was starving, the whole time. During a good portion of my pregnancies all I wanted was grilled cheese sandwiches, Baskin Robbins Jamoca Almond Fudge ice cream, yogurt and lots of apples."

That sounds pretty good to us!