A vegan bodybuilder says eating meat "doesn’t" make you ‘manly’ and you can be "big and strong" even if you eat a plant based diet."

Fitness fanatic Paul Kerton, 49, used to eat 500g of animal protein a day to fuel his muscles - the equivalent of four chicken breasts.

Paul ditched meat 10 years ago and went vegan after partner Gemma, 38, did and he saw the benefits of it – and the side effects of eating so much meat.

He realised he "didn’t need to eat steak and salmon" to be fit and healthy and now he has less pain in his joints, feels better and is in the "best shape"."

He hit back at comments on a study from

the Australian National University (ANU) which revealed men are less likely to go vegan and say they find eating meat 'manly'.

Paul, a personal trainer and nutritionist, from Norwich, Norfolk, said: "People say meat makes you ‘manly’."

"I don’t think it does."

"We did have to eat animals to survive. Now we don’t."

"I feel amazing now."

"I got into the best shape of my life."

"You can be big and strong and ‘manly’ and be healthy and fit and we don’t have to eat animals."

Paul believed he had to eat meat to achieve the muscly physique he wanted.

He said: "I thought if I want to be big and strong that’s what I need to do."

"I thought I needed to eat steak and salmon."

"I was going through 500g of animal protein a day. "

"It was crazy amounts."

Paul had a change of heart after partner Gemma, who works alongside Paul on his social media, tried veganism to help her autoimmune disease – Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.

He said: "She looked into the nutrition and saw how eating meat can succumb you to health problems."

"It scared me."

Paul went plant based in summer 2012 and hasn’t looked back since.

He said: "I didn’t want to be the cause of my own death."

"It’s a cheat code for fat loss."

"I quickly lost the taste for it [meat]."

Paul now eats 200g of protein a day from legumes, wholegrain, vegetables, nuts and seeds.

He lifts weights for an hour a day and feels better than he did in his 30s.

He said: "I feel so energised."

"My eyesight is twice as strong."

"I have a new lease of life. It was the best decision of my life."

"I was eating tuna and egg – I didn’t even like them."

"In the first year of being vegan I ate 500 new foods."

"I’ve really expanded my palette like crazy."

Paul says losing body fat as a vegan is "a doddle" and wants to "lead by example" for other men."

He said: "There is a stereotype of the ‘angry vegan’."

"I have compassion for people but once you see what animals go through to end on your plates it hurts."

"I can’t believe I was complicit."