Paul Dalgarno, 10 April 2005, sundayherald.com

ANIMAL rights groups are sexing up the health benefits of eating greens in a bid to move their message from the butcher’s to the bedroom.

Vegetarians International Voice for Animals (Viva!) will bring its roadshow to Edinburgh at the end of the month with the claim that ditching meat products will spice up life between the sheets.

The group not only points to the aphrodisiac nature of certain fruits, vegetables and nuts, such as asparagus and almonds, but also claims that removing dairy from a diet will improve both male and female fertility and keep menopausal women lusting for sex.

For men, the benefits of a plant-based diet are claimed to include a helping hand for impotence and a possible cure for premature balding .

Viva! director Juliet Gellatley said: “People are much more savvy now than they were 10 years ago.

“Over that time the medical evidence has become much stronger, not just that vegetarians lead a longer life, which they certainly do, but also that they lead a healthier life.”

The Edinburgh roadshow – which urges visitors to “rise to the occasion” – will be the first of its kind in Scotland. It marks a departure for the group from its “meat is murder” message and hard-hitting exposés, which in the past targeted suppliers of food to Marks & Spencer and Bernard Matthews.

Graeme Wotherspoon, who has been a fundraiser with Viva! since its inception in 1994, explained: “There has always been a focus on the health aspects of vegetarianism as well as the cruelty aspect of a diet including meat, but when we launched our roadshows to mark the organisation’s 10th anniversary there was a shift to a more positive, less blood and gore image.”

The change reflects a growing trend among vegetarians to drop the slogans of the 1980s and early 1990s in favour of an emphasis on individual choice for better living.

Campaigner Justin Kerswell said: “If we simply focused on animal issues then we wouldn’t necessarily get people through the door. A growing number of people are going vegetarian for health issues first and then finding out about the animal issues as they go along.”

Chris Olivant of the Vegetarian Society, the oldest organisation of its kind in the world, put Viva’s health drive in context: “Most active animal welfare groups are concerned with the ethical implications of eating meat.

“However, health-based promotions generally get more coverage than the militant side of things, allowing these groups to gain more friendly press than was possible in the past.”

The claims by the Bristol-based Viva! group, whose patrons include actress Hayley Mills and actor-turned-singer Jerome Flynn, that vegetarian men and women will outdo their meat-eating counterparts in both the looks and love departments have been met with some concern.

Dr Jane Scott, senior lecturer in public health and nutrition at Glasgow University, said: “It’s hard to tease out the effect of diet as opposed to the other aspects of a person’s lifestyle.

“A lot of studies focus on cultures that don’t eat meat, but then they might not drink or smoke either, and this is quite important.”

Although she said she supported any campaign that might lead to a healthier lifestyle, she warned: “The chances are, if your dad was bald, you will be bald too.

“As for claims that a vegetarian lifestyle cures impotence, I would be extremely dubious and would like to see some proper evidence.”