Featured Image Credit: Alamy/Channel 4
Topics: Bear Grylls, Celebrity, Vegan, Vegetarian
Gabriella Ferlita
Topics: Bear Grylls, Celebrity, Vegan, Vegetarian
Bear Grylls is now ‘against vegetables’ and mostly eats meat, he has revealed.
The ex-vegan, born Edward Michael Grylls, explained in a recent interview that he is actively ‘against’ eating nuts, grains, wheat and vegetables after they impacted his health in a negative way.
Now, the British adventurer, who is responsible for shows like Man vs. Wild, has swapped out his ‘raw juice and vegetable’-forward diet for a carnivorous one after recovering from coronavirus a few years ago.
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Grylls told GQ about his diet: “Super against nuts. And against grains, wheat, and vegetables. They affected my health negatively. I was a massive advocate of the vegan lifestyle for years, and wrote a book on it, but my health tanked on it.
“When I got COVID a couple of years ago, I doubled down on what I thought was healthy – raw juice, vegetables – and got mega-sore kidneys, almost kidney stones. The more research I’ve done, I’ve noticed raw vegetables are really not good for you,” he said.
Now, the television presenter has moved away from an all-vegan diet, having added in animal-derived sources of protein and fat.
He added: “I’ve started incorporating quality grass-fed steak and liver. My lunch is meat, eggs and dairy, a lot of butter, and fruit. I have liver probably every other day. I started to get strong again.”
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Grylls said he's done a lot of research himself, and found his different diet works better for him.
"I’m not super strict. I changed my mind-set away from 'vegetables are great' to realizing we’ve had millions of years of evolution where we’re designed to eat meat and milk and eggs. And fruit – sweet, bright colors – and a lot of honey. It’s made eating a lot more fun. I have combinations of eggs fried in butter, greek yogurt with honey and berries. Before I’d think, 'Oh, I have to have a salad'. It’s a revolution to me."
The adventurer also said he's swapped his usual nuts and oat bars for 'good quality jerky' while he's out on an expedition.
And while he's a big meat fan, it's not often the raw, extreme diet we've come to know Grylls for from his TV shows.
"I’ve done so much over the years: Drinking blood from a buffalo artery, munching on raw liver and heart. It’s not difficult, but it’s not very pleasant. If I’m at home, I’m not going to be tucking into raw steak and liver. Food is a great pleasure, and it can be cooked so beautifully. I tend to have it rare, but I like it cooked, unless I’m in survivor mode."