Olympic bronze medalist Sushil Kumar would endorse a pro-vegetarian ad for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals India.

Sushil, who won India a broze in Beijing in wrestling follows a healthy, humane vegetarian diet.

In the new ad, Kumar shows off his championship form alongside the tagline, "Wrestling with health problems? Be fit and strong: Go vegetarian".

India has one of the highest rates of heart disease and diabetes in the world, thanks to the general atty, cholesterol-laden, meat-based diet.

A press release, announcing Kumar's endorsement also highlighted the disadvantages of eating meat.

"Eating meat is not only bad for your health but also disastrous for environment. In a groundbreaking 2006 report, the UN determined that the meat industry generates more greenhouse-gas emissions than all the cars and trucks in the world combined.

"Nobel laureate and chief of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Rajendra Pachauri has strongly suggested that the world should curb its consumption of meat to counter climate change.

"The UN's food agency has estimated that direct greenhouse-gas emissions from meat production are at 18 per cent, which is greater than the total emissions generated by the transport sector."


Kumar is living proof that a healthy vegetarian diet is a winning formula for athletes and non-athletes alike. "Look at me; I defeated non-vegetarians from America and Kazakhstan in the Olympics. So, you can see that vegetarians have a lot of strength", says the victorious vegetarian.