Ep 656 | Rethinking Breakfast: The Fruit-Only Experiment

Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick, and welcome to the No Days Off podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. I have been on a Jesse Itzler kick as of late. Uh, Jesse has built companies, he's done all sorts of endurance races, He even lived with Navy SEALs and monks, as we've been talking about in some of the past episodes. But there's one thing that Jesse does that I've probably called to question more than most anything else he's shared. He's got this daily habit, and it comes from this 1980s diet book. Jesse only eats fruit in the morning. That's it. He just eats fresh fruit, no eggs, no oatmeal, no bacon, just fruit. Having heard him say that many a time, I had to ask the question, where did this come from? Why does he do it? And probably most importantly, should I be trying to, trying to do it, trying to do it myself? Should I be considering this? And I am a few days into this test right now as I'm sharing this episode. So let's back up. What's the origin of, of this whole process of Jesse's? In 1985, a gentleman named Harvey Diamond wrote a book called Fit for Life. The book was sold to millions of people, millions of copies sold, and it became at the time a cultural phenomenon. The core idea of the book was that the body works in daily cycles. From 4 AM to noon, it's in what Harvey called elimination mode, where it's clearing waste and rebalancing and detoxifying. Diamond taught— Harvey Diamond taught that heavy breakfasts interrupt this process, this elimination mode. So he instead recommended eating only fruit in the morning. Now, why fruit? Because it's water-rich. Because it's easy to digest and it's quick to digest. It hydrates the body. And according to Harvey, it supports elimination without bogging down the system. Now there's other phases throughout the day, but I want to focus just on this elimination mode, this 4 AM to noon when Jesse's just having fruit. Jesse apparently read this book early in his life, and he adopted the, the fruit in the morning rule. And now, many decades later, he still follows it. Why does Jesse do this? Why does Jesse do this? He's not very— I wouldn't call him dogmatic about all of Diamond's, you know, food theories. But fruit in the morning really stuck. And why is that? Jesse says that first, it makes him feel lighter. It makes him feel lighter, no sluggishness. No heavy digestion to start the day. Let's just pause on that one. I know that some mornings I do have a pretty big breakfast. And I probably am a little bit sluggish as a result of that. So, it makes them feel lighter, number one. Number two, it's pretty simple. Grab a banana, grab an apple, grab some berries. There's no cooking, there's no cleanup, there's nowhere you have to go. So, it's pretty simple. Next, Jesse will tell you it's energizing. And that makes sense to me. The natural sugars are going to give you some degree of quick fuel. And that water from all the fruit, that water is going to hydrate you after you, especially when you just, you know, kind of got dehydrated over the night. And then lastly, Jesse would tell you it's sustainable. When you travel, when you're busy, fruit's pretty much available anywhere. For so— for— so for someone like Jesse, entrepreneur, athlete, family guy, this habit seems to fit seamlessly into his life. And again, I could understand the approach that, hey, I feel lighter because I can relate to that. Hey, it's simple, definitely can relate to that. It's energizing. Yeah, I could see how that happens. And it's certainly sustainable. What are the pros now of eating fruit in the morning? Again, hydration. Most fruits are 70 to 90% water. So they're great for hydration. There's this digestive ease. We kind of already talked about around this. Fruits digest faster than protein. And they digest faster than starch-heavy breakfast meals. There's an energy boost because of those natural sugars. There's simplicity. And then, most importantly, maybe there's this alignment with modern science. While Diamond's detox language isn't very scientific, the idea of light mornings overlaps with what's all the fad right now, intermittent fasting, circadian rhythm eating. These ideas of Diamond's are aligned with that, with that, you know, what I would call modern science. Now, there are some criticisms to this. There's some cons to this based on my research. Number one, there's a lack of protein and lack of fats. I think we could see that. For some, fruit alone may not sustain energy. It may not stabilize blood sugar, especially those who have higher caloric needs first thing in the morning, which are those athletes or if you're working out. There's also no one-size-fits-all. In other words, people with blood sugar issues or certain digestive problems, they may not feel great on these fruit-only mornings. And then lastly, in terms of criticisms or cons, there is some scientific pushback. Nutritionists do reject Diamond's claim that you've got to avoid mixing food types, which is not something Jesse's paying attention to, but some of what Diamond has taught, many nutritionists disagree with mixing food types, or that even eating heavy food in the morning blocks detox. Not everybody agrees on that. Because the body's capable of detoxing constantly through the liver and through the kidneys. So, and that has nothing to do with meal timing. So you'll get some pushback there. So while Jesse thrives on fruit mornings, others may not. I think for you and for me, the real test is just how you feel. So why might you consider trying this like I'm doing right now? I'm kind of curious to see if experimenting with fruit will make me feel a little bit lighter, more hydrated. If it'll make life a little bit easier in terms of simplifying my morning routine? Will I actually have better digestion and energy as a result compared to what I presently do? And then, and then, you know, for me, why I might consider trying it, it's actually a pretty low-risk experiment. Like, I'm a few days in, I can't really say— I mean, I don't really— I don't usually eat a heavy breakfast, but I'm only a few days in, so we'll see how this goes after, call it, 7 to 10 days for me. But I'm really interested to see how I feel. I think worst case, you decide it's not for you and you go back to eggs. Best case, maybe you discover a new daily habit that boosts your clarity or gives you more energy, just like it did for Jesse. So, not so many action items today. I'm not your nutritionist. It's just something I hear Jesse talking about all the time. And I'm like, you know what? What's the science behind that? Why is he doing it? And maybe I should try it. So if you are interested, try a fruit-only morning for, call it, 5 to 7 days. Melon, berries, oranges, grapes. This is what Diamond would tell you to go to. Jesse has every fruit. But in the book, Diamond talks about having more of the water-rich fruits, which would be the melon and the oranges, the berries, those things. So try it for 5 to 7 days. Notice how you feel. What's your energy like? Digestion, mood. See what it looks like until lunch and then adjust if needed. If you crash mid-morning, maybe you add a small protein source or maybe you transition to a fruit and a smoothie to balance things out. I don't know what you do, but I think this is a good thing or a fun thing to test out. I love experimenting with different food and combinations and timing and fasting and all of this. This is just another one for you to try. So a unique episode here today. No Days Off means we are aiming to get better each and every day at something. So today, we're going to try a few things out with our health. That's all I have for you today. The No Days Off podcast. Thank you so much for listening. And remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. So let's get after it.