Oscar winner Angelina Jolie, who looked skeletal while promoting her new film in New York earlier this week, goes on restrictive fasts as a show of solidarity for the starving kids she visits on her U.N. missions.
'If They Can't Eat, I Can't Eat'
"(Angelina) puts herself on fasts to make statements for the children she visits," an anonymous source told Us. "She says, 'If they can't eat, I can't eat.' "
The super-skinny 5'8" Jolie "does different cleanses from around the world. It's very dramatic, but that's how she gets," claims the insider.
If these claims are true, Angelina is apparently mirroring the behavior of another famous United Nations goodwill ambassador, the late Audrey Hepburn.
Hepburn, a longtime smoker who died in 1993 of colon cancer at age of 63, was rail-thin for much of her life. She too visited many impoverished third-world countries as a UNICEF ambassador in a bid to spotlight famine and violence against children.
'Vegan Diet Almost Killed Me'
While Angelina is the target of many tabloid reports that she has become unhealthy by starving herself on a 600-calorie-a-day diet, the mother of six has said that being healthy and aging gracefully are important to her because of her children.
“I lost my mother not so long ago and there is something about the years passing where you really appreciate life more each day," said Jolie.
"And it becomes important for you to stay healthy and age gracefully. I want to see my grandkids. I want to see my children grown and spend the years with Brad."
While tabloids decry Angelina's purported low-calorie diet, a growing body of scientific evidence supports the notion that restricting calories dramatically slows down the aging process.
Researchers claim that following a nutrient-dense, low-calorie diet can improve age-related health and dramatically curb the aging process.
Jolie, a lapsed vegan who loves red meat, reportedly makes an effort to eat well.
"I joke that a big, juicy steak is my beauty secret," she said. "But seriously, I love red meat.
"I was a vegan for a long time, and it nearly killed me. I found I was not getting enough nutrition."
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