Bill Clinton is perhaps one of the most famous presidents of the modern age, famed for benign the first Democratic president since Roosevelt, his affair with a White House intern, and his eventual impeachment, but how does this familiar face start his day?
Bill Clinton typically starts his day with a berry smoothies that The Guardian newspaper referred to as the ‘Breakfast of Champions.’ While an infamous lover of fast food for many years, the ex-president changed to a healthier diet after health scares back in 2015.
To find out more on what this superstar breakfast is, some of what Bill Clinton has been up to since being President, and more on his health, get stuck into today’s post!
The Breakfast of Champions
So, what is it exactly? We know you’re eager to know.
Well, the berry smoothie that kickstarts Mr. Clinton’s day may not sound like the kind of smoothie a superstar athlete would have.
According to The Guardian, Clinton starts with 200ml of unsweetened almond milk, of which he prefers the homemade sort, that’s poured into a blender. He then adds 150g of berries, preferably fresh seasonal ones, but will opt for frozen if he needs to, and then simply blends it all until no lumps remain.
As you can see, the recipe is rather simple and pure. There’s no added sugar or sweeteners, or anything unhealthy at all, really. Sometimes he may add in a little teaspoon of natural honey to sweeten the taste or a spoonful of vegan protein powder.
He reportedly serves it over ice and drinks it immediately. No keeping it in the fridge or any of that jazz.
We know what you’re thinking. Bill Clinton? Drinking berry smoothies with vegan protein powder? Are we talking about the same guy who was President back in 1993? We are, but there are perfectly good reasons as to why Bill changed from being a burger-lover to basically living on a vegan diet.
Bill Clinton’s Heart
No, we’re not talking about his relationship with Monica; we’re talking about his actual heart.
It’s been publicly known for decades that Bill has suffered from various heart conditions over the years and even had quadruple bypass surgery back in 2004 and further operations in February of 2010. This basically means that he had two stents fitted to his coronary artery, which, despite how it sounds, is a relatively low-risk operation.
These skin graft operations are all about keeping the main valves and arteries in the heart open, so blood can pass through without clogging up at the bottlenecks that can sometimes be created.
This is a classic condition that is typically found among people who have poor diets, as Mr. Clinton had for so many years.
A great example of this was back in 1992 when Clinton took a jog with reporters that ended up at a Mcdonald’s restaurant chatting with customers and staff alike. This wasn’t the only time he did this, as reported by CBS News.
Goodbye, Unhealthy Bill. Hello Healthy Bill.
After years of operations and binging at fast-food joints across the US, Bill has finally changed his ways and is reportedly looking after himself through his diet. It seems that he is taking it all very seriously, and over the years, has changed into a full-blown vegan.
Back in 2010, after his heart surgery, he said;
I live on beans, legumes, vegetables, fruit. I drink a protein supplement every morning — no dairy, I drink almond milk mixed in with fruit and a protein powder, so I get the protein for the day when I start the day up.
I did all this research, and I saw that 82 percent of the people since 1986 who have gone on a plant-based, no dairy, no meat of any kind, no chicken, no turkey — I eat very little fish, once in a while I’ll have a little fish — if you can do it, 82 percent of people have begun to heal themselves.
The 82% he is referring to comes from the 1998 Dean Ornish study that looked into patients with heart disease and put them into various groups that had treatment like diet changes, stress management, and the sorts. Over the course of five years, those who changed to a vegan diet showed the best results.
While we’re not advocating for or against vegan diets, it’s nice to see that such a high-profile face in US politics is taking their health so seriously and hopefully opening the eyes for others who could be dealing with such issues in their own life. He even inspired actress Michelle Pfeiffer!