Bruce Lee was more than just a martial artist; he was a philosopher, actor, and a dedicated student of fitness. His incredible physique, agility, and strength were not accidental; they were the result of a rigorous training regimen and a carefully planned diet. This article delves into Bruce Lee's nutritional philosophy and eating habits, exploring how he fueled his body to achieve peak performance.
The Importance of Nutrition in Bruce Lee's Life
Bruce Lee's wife, Linda Lee Cadwell, noted that he began taking nutrition seriously after moving to the United States. He understood that "the wrong fuel" would cause the body to perform poorly. Lee saw food as fuel for workouts, not as an indulgence. He shifted his focus to the importance of good nutrition in his lifestyle, avoiding junk food, baked goods, and refined flour, which he described as providing empty calories.
Dietary Principles
Lee's food choices were influenced by ancient Chinese medicine, which emphasizes the importance of eating the right foods for optimal body function. His diet consisted of carbs, protein, and fats, without strictly avoiding any particular food group.
- Eat Real Foods: Bruce Lee's diet focused on whole, unprocessed foods.
- Variety: His diet included a variety of foods prepared in different ways.
- Moderation: He avoided over-indulging and believed in eating everything in moderation.
- Fuel for Activity: Lee regarded food as fuel for exercise and martial arts.
- Listen to Your Body: He encouraged others to try his dietary rules, keep what made sense, and discard what didn't.
Meal Frequency and Portion Size
Bruce Lee typically consumed four or five smaller meals a day instead of three large ones. This approach aligns with the idea of eating "little and often." He also incorporated healthy snacks like fruits throughout the day to boost his metabolism.
Macronutrient Sources
- Carbohydrates: Bruce Lee's diet relied heavily on pasta, noodles, and rice for carbohydrates. He also consumed fruit and green vegetables every day. The larger amounts of rice, noodles, and vegetables often used in Chinese food provided high-energy carbohydrates.
- Proteins: For protein, he ate meat, including beef in oyster sauce, shrimp or chicken with vegetables, and tofu. He also consumed protein shakes.
- Fats: Healthy fats are important to the body as well. Certain fatty acids are essential to life and can be found in peanut butter, egg yoke, avocados, Brazil nuts, mackeral, cheese and many more.
Foods Bruce Lee Enjoyed and Avoided
Lee enjoyed a variety of foods, particularly Chinese and other Asian dishes, because of their variety. Some of his favorite dishes were beef in oyster sauce, tofu, and liver. He also enjoyed steak occasionally and even visited McDonald's from time to time.
Read also: The Hoxsey Diet
Bruce Lee hated dairy products and only consumed them in powdered form as part of his protein drinks or on cereal. He also avoided baked goods and sugary foods.
Bruce Lee's Protein Shakes
Bruce Lee would make his own juices in a blender, consisting of celery, carrots, apples, and other fruits and vegetables. He was especially fond of carrots, which could make up to nearly half of these juices. He felt that most of the vitamins were lost when vegetables were cooked. He had enjoyed protein drinks and tried to drink at least two per day; these would contain wheat germ, peanut butter, brewer’s yeast, Inositol, Lecithin, banana and non-instant powdered milk. Later, he discontinued drinking these in favor of his own juices.
When Bruce Lee did drink protein shake smoothies, he usually used wheat germ (or wheat germ oil), peanut butter, banana, eggs (sometimes with shell), brewers yeast (for Vitamin B and releasing energy from carbs), Inositol and Lecithin supplements. His wife Linda recalls that he “drank his own juice concoctions made from vegetables and fruits, apples, celery, carrots and so on, prepared in an electric blender.” Bruce especially loved carrots, using them in half his drink to offset the bitterness of the parsley and leafy vegetables. Bruce Lee believed juicing allowed one’s body to assimilate nutrients more easily. The enzymes in juiced vegetables act as organic catalysts that increase both metabolism and nutrient absorption.
Supplements
Bruce Lee was known to use a variety of supplements to enhance his performance and overall health. Some of the supplements he used included:
- Vitamins C and E
- Lecithin
- Rose hips
- Acerola-C
- Shilajit
- B-Folia
- Royal jelly and ginseng
- Bee pollen
- Wheat germ oil
- Brewer's yeast
Lee would further drink royal jelly and ginseng; the combined B-Complex vitamins and amino acids allowed for improved circulation, decreased recovery time and a boost in energy.
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Special concoctions
He also had an energy supplement of his own making, which he referred to as ‘Royal Jelly’. This consisted of honey ‘from queen bees’ mixed with ginseng and made into a drink. “I take a little Royal Jelly beforehand and Voom!
For extra energy in between meals, Bruce had his wife prepare congee, made by boiling rice to the point of soup-like consistency, mixed with organ meats like heart, kidney, brain or liver.
Tea Consumption
Bruce Lee enjoyed black tea sweetened with honey or with sugar and milk. He also liked chrysanthemum tea and milk tea. Bruce felt tea drinkers had strong immune systems.
Bruce Lee Inspired Meal Plan
A typical day’s diet consisted of 120-130g of protein, 250-275g of carbohydrates, and 40-50g of fat.
Nootropic Use
Inositol, sometimes referred to (somewhat inaccurately) as vitamin B8, is used to strengthen cell walls and further encourage the transportation of lipids to prevent the body from storing fat and supply more energy.
Read also: Weight Loss with Low-FODMAP
Inositol actually has a lot in common with choline though, as a powerful nootropic. Inositol triggers the release of calcium in the brain, which is critical for all communication between neurons. It release serotonin and acts on GABA receptors, making it one of the safest methods for combating anxiety and insomnia.
Moreover, choline is found naturally in the form of lecithin, which was also in Bruce’s mix. Again, Bruce was way ahead of his time - consuming a popular nootropic stack way before the internet made it cool. Even the wheat germ makes sense as an addition to this stack, as another good source of inositol.
Training regime
Bruce used a wide variety of exercises including weight training, body strength training, circuit training, isometrics, ab workouts, stretching, diet and cardio fitness.
- Cardio: Bruce ran 2-6 miles on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On the other days of the week, he rode his bike about ten miles, followed by twenty minutes of jump rope work.
- Flexibility work: Bruce took his flexibility work very seriously, doing it every day.
- Martial arts: Martial arts training focused on punching on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. On Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, he focused on kicks.
- Weight training: Bruce prioritized barbell compound movements over single-joint isolation work.
- Abs: One of Bruce Lee’s most distinctive features is his shredded six-pack abs.
Legacy
Bruce Lee’s diet mainly consisted of healthy Chinese food, protein shake juicing and vitamin supplements nutrition.