Meat fan Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie blames being vegan for "nearly killing" her.

The 'Salt' star says her guilty pleasure is to eat red meat and that when she restricted her diet to not include any animal products, it had negative effects on her health.

She said: "I joke that a big juicy steak is my beauty secret. 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."

The 35-year-old brunette beauty also admits she enjoys seeing her hands "grow older" as it is a sign of how much she has grown up and matured as a mother to six children - Maddox, nine, Pax, six, Zahara, five, Shiloh, four, and two-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne - whom she raises with partner Brad Pitt.

She added: "Happiness is when I look down at my hands and they are washing a baby. I can sort of see my hands grow older and I love it."