The US might be the birthplace of the Quadruple Bypass Burger (available with 20 slices of bacon), but it's also home to the Meatless Monday movement and some of the most passionate promoters of plant based diets. There's Michael 'eat food; mostly plants' Pollan and former President Bill Clinton whose own bypass (a real one, not a burger) was the nudge he needed to eat less fried chicken.

Now there's another high profile name to add to the list: Mark Bittman, the New York Times food writer – and meat lover - whose new book offers a semi-vegetarian approach for anyone who's not prepared to forgo animal foods entirely, but does want the health benefits of eating more vegetables and grains.

Snap happy ... sometimes tourists should put the camera away. Credit:Getty Images

Like Bill Clinton, Bittman's decision to overhaul his diet was prompted by bad news about his health. Six year ago he was 15 kilos overweight, his cholesterol was going north and his blood sugar levels were edging towards type 2 diabetes. While other doctors might have prescribed medication, Bittman's doctor prescribed a vegan diet - all the plant food you can eat, but no meat, no fish, no eggs, no dairy.

Knowing that he couldn't sustain this way of eating full time, Bittman came up with a compromise: he'd go vegan for breakfast and lunch but include animal foods for dinner. After a month of eating this way he'd lost six kilos; after two months his cholesterol and blood sugar levels had dropped to normal levels, and his sleep apnoea had disappeared. Within four months he'd lost 15 kilos.