Mayim Bialik is making the move from Big Bang Theory to Bodhi Bowl! The highly anticipated series finale of the long-running CBS sitcom is slated to air on Thursday, May 16, and Bialik has already made her next move.
The 43-year-old actress recently partnered with chef and friend Ali Cruddas on Bodhi Bowl, a vegan restaurant in downtown Los Angeles that is dedicated to inspiring people to choose a healthier, greener and more compassionate lifestyle through plant-based eating.
Bialik, who has been a vegetarian since she was 19, began following a vegan diet about a decade ago. “It was always a dream of ours to have vegan food be accessible to more people and more reasonably priced because, when I became vegan, there really wasn’t vegan options at all,” Bialik tells Us Weekly exclusively. Now, however, thanks in part to stars such as Beyoncé and Kim Kardashian jumping on the vegan bandwagon, that has changed. As the Blossom alum puts it: “We’ve seen the vegan world explode, which is awesome.”
Still, even with a handful of powerful celebrity endorsements, numerous misconceptions about the vegan lifestyle remain. “I think that there’s still a lot of people making jabs like, ‘Oh, how do you get your protein?’ like, ‘Aren’t you going to fall over and die?’” Bialik tells Us.
Yet the sitcom star does sense a slight shift happening as people begin to realize how going vegan can help the environment (by cutting down on animal agriculture) and potentially improve one’s health. “While being completely vegan may not be the solution for everyone, I think it’s pretty clear, especially for young people, we need to have more options,” she says. “And we need to have people expand their idea of what a healthy palate of food is like.”
One way Bialik encourages others to give veganism a shot is by easing into the eating regimen. “I think the notion of Meatless Mondays is really smart, and I think that’s one way that people can start,” she explains. “But I always tell people just to start having awareness of what foods they eat that are already delicious even without meat or cheese.” For Bialik’s own family – she shares sons Miles, 13, and Frederick, 10, with ex-husband Michael Stone – that means eating plenty of Asian food and “simple” meals like rice and beans.
“I think starting small and realizing things that you eat that already are vegan and good for you is a good place to start,” she notes of making the switch to a plant-based diet. “And [embracing] the notion, like I said, that eating simply is also OK.”
With reporting by Travis Cronin
