Weird things that sports stars eat

How do top athletes fuel their bodies? Spoiler: it's not just protein balls

Anthony Joshua is set for a big challenge this weekend when he tries to take New Zealander Joseph Parker's WBO Heavyweight title.

Joshua will have been studying Parker’s style, movements and tactics in his preparations for the fight at Cardiff's Principality Stadium, but he might be surprised to find out what his unusual diet consists of.

Firstly, the 26-year-old is an avid lover of pies, which is probably why he’s gained the unofficial nickname 'King of Pies'.

“When I’m back in New Zealand, as soon as I get off plane, I go to the bakery,” Parker said earlier this week.

So that’s the carbs sorted, but what about the protein? Well that’s where things become a little more strange (or disturbing, depending on how you feel about these things). Parker eats fish, but rather than cook them, the fighter appears to like eating them raw - and has even claimed to have devoured them while they’re still alive, external.

Speaking of the first time he ate a live fish, the unbeaten boxer said, “I bit a fish's head off and killed it – it tasted good.”

After eating one raw fish, however, Parker claims he was left paralysed for three days, external - but that didn’t stop his appetite for nature’s wild creatures, as he’s also reported to eat tarantulas, scorpions and centipedes, external.

This got us thinking of what other interesting additions might be on the menu for athletes from around the world and it turns out that they eat all kinds of stuff, depending on their discipline or their theories around nutrition.

Here’s a list of a few athletes and what they put in the tank. And we should probably emphasise that we are absolutely not recommending or endorsing any of the following dietary habits.

Usain Bolt. The world’s fastest man. What does he power himself with? Swordfish? Antelope hide? Raw, unsaturated electrolytes?

Nope. Chicken nuggets. Not even posh ones. Ones from a well-known fast-food franchise, which we won’t name, but at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, (where he smashed three world records), Bolt estimates that he consumed around 1000 chicken nuggets over the course of ten days. 

That’s about 100 a day (around 5000 calories).

In his autobiography, Faster Than Lightning, he writes, 

“At first I ate a box of 20 for lunch, then another for dinner,” he wrote. “The next day I had two boxes for breakfast, one for lunch and then another couple in the evening. I even grabbed some fries and an apple pie to go with it.”

Yep, that's an old photo. No more of that.

Former world number one ranked star Venus was diagnosed with Sjögren’s syndrome in 2011 (an immune system disorder that often accompanies rheumatoid arthritis and lupus).

Since that diagnosis, she’s adopted a raw, vegan diet - which means plant-based food only and nothing cooked above 48 degrees Celsius – so, basically, cold or lukewarm vegetables.

It may not sound like everyone’s cup of tea (at least not if you take animal milk in your tea), but Venus has credited, external that change of diet with saving her tennis career. 

Nicknamed “the round mound of rebound”, Barkley’s pre-game super-food pre-load involved two fish fillets, large fries and a diet cola. Diet? Live a little. 

In a recent interview with VICE Sports, external, Jayson Williams, former team-mate of Barkley from Philadelphia 76ers, told a story about how Barkley came in late to training, with a booty of nutritional treats that included eggs, pancakes, sausage, maple syrup and butter, which he proceeded to enjoy whilst doing about one mile an hour on a stationary bike - yelling muffled expletives at his team-mates through mouthfuls of syrupy, buttery pancake.

He confirmed that to be true…

He has since become a spokesman for a weight loss company.

What does it take to fuel the twice-crowned world’s strongest man?

In a piece in the Observer, external from 1980, Capes’ breakfast was discussed, which consisted of “three pints of milk, cereal, half a loaf of bread, six eggs, half a pound of bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes and a can of beans”. Lunch included a 2lb steak, a pound of potatoes, three green veg and a milk pudding.”

That is strong. 

In an interview with Boston.com, external, Tom Brady’s personal chef revealed what makes it onto the plate for the New England Patriots quarterback. Basically, it’s about 80% organic vegetables, with whole grains and lean meats.

On the banned list, amongst a few usual suspects (white sugar, white flour, MSG, caffeine, dairy etc), are tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers and aubergines. 

Why? They all belong to the family of foods called ‘nightshades’, which some believe can cause inflammation. It might explain why Brady is still playing like the GOAT, well into his 40s.

An article in the LA Times, external revealed how the Panamanian jockey, considered one of the best of all time, kept to a strict diet of 600–750 calories per day. Breakfast would be an appetising bowl of dry cereal with substitute sugar and protein powder, and the rest of the day he would subsist on oil pills and protein wafers, diet pop and water – before a dinner of one piece of chicken/fish with rice or beans.

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas also tells a story, external of how, on a long-haul flight, as food was being served, Pincay took a single peanut, split it in half, chewed the first half for around three minutes and then saved the other for the end of the flight. 

Pincay did reveal that he indulges in the odd treat occasionally, “my wife makes cake and I'll chew a piece, take the taste and spit it out." 

YOLO. 

Brazilian middleweight fighter Machida held forth in a Brazilian magazine, external on the benefits of drinking one’s own urine in order to boost the immune system.

“I drink my urine every morning like a natural medicine.”

Waste not, want not hey…

Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch’s love for Skittles is well-documented, ever since cameras picked him out eating handfuls of the sweets after a touchdown for the Seattle Seahawks in 2011, external. Apparently, it all started through his mum, who would encourage him to come and get his ‘power pellets’ before games.

Fans have since taken to showering him with the sweets during games and he’s all-too-predictably gone on to become a spokesperson for the brand too.

There you go. Basically, we’re a bit more confused than we were when we started this whole thing. Worked up quite an appetite too. Tall glass of tepid urine anyone?

Originally published 16 November 2017

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