The Bruce Lee Diet

Having a good diet and comsuming the right nutrition is paramount for all dedicated Martial Artists and can dramatically improve performance. This article discusses what is needed for a well balanced diet and which nutritional aspects are particularly recommended for Martial Artists. Every sport requires specific advise on diet and Martial Arts is no different.

On analysis of Bruce Lee's body, if you didn't know who he was, you would be forgiven for thinking he was a nutrional expert. In fact he was. Bruce Lee was devoted not only to Martial Arts but also his body. Always wanting to perform at his highest potential, Bruce had rigid controls on his diet which gave him prime physical conditioning. It is obvious just looking at the legend that Bruce was in excellent physical condition and it was once said by someone who met him that "touching his body was like hitting Mahogany". Although Bruce trained his body to it's peak performance at all times, he was only able to acheive this, as stated by himself because of his attitude towards his diet. There are many references made to 'The Bruce Lee Diet' however, this is a term used which only names the patterns and regimed of Bruce Lee's food and diet habits. These regimes are of no secret with Bruce openly discussing them in his books and in documentaries. This article puts together the key and relevant information that you may wish to bring into your diet.

Bruce Lee - "When you are a Martial Artist, you only eat what you require and do not get carried away with foods that do not benefit  you as a Martial Artist"

Bruce Lee Diet Rule #1 - Avoid empty calories

By empty calories, Bruce meant refined flour - describing this as calories as doing absolutely nothing beneficial to the human body. Such calories are often found in biscuits, cakes and most notably pastry. Linda Lee (Bruce's widow) said: "he didn't eat a lot of baked goods, primarily because they were made from refined flour and contained nothing but empty calories. He had no interest in consuming calories that would do nothing for his body". Pasta, spaghetti and rice were what Bruce considered to be his most valuable sources of carbohydrates.

Bruce Lee Diet Rule #2 - Less, more frequent

Smaller portions of food more frequentlycan prevent your metabolism slowing and in turn help prevent the body from turning those calories into fat. Eating large amounts of food at a time cause the bodies metabolism to slow down and this results in the excess calories being stored as fat. Eating portions of lower volume means that the excess calories per meal are less and it also means that you can eat more often. Eating more often will train the body into knowing that it does not need to store the calories, again preventing fat depositation. However it is important that you combine eating more often with loess portions, otherwise benefits gained will be minimised. Linda Lee stated that "he would eat up to 5 meals a day but didn't eat large portions" - this would also help him fit in his workouts without having a heavy stomach.

Bruce Lee Diet Rule #3 - Honey and Ginseng

His favourite drink for energy was 'Royal Jelly' (a drink apparently comprised of honey of the Queen Bees) mixed with Ginseng. He would often take this drink on set  as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recalled that he would open them during breaks between filming 'The Game of Death'. The reason for this drink was because it would give him a quick source of energy, rather than having to rely on slow releasing carbohydrates constantly which can make oneself tired upon consuming. As Bruce said "I take a little Royal Jelly beforehand and Voom! My energy levels are perfect".

Bruce Lee Diet Rule #4 - Balance your diet

Although this is a broad term, what Bruce meant was to ensure that you consume not only carbohydrates, but a good level of protein, fats and vitamin rich food too. Protrein is an essential substance found in many foods, however most people consume way less than the recommended daily consumption. For people attempting to gain muscle and strength, 1g of protein is recommended per pound of body weight. The best sources of protein are eggs, milk, cheese, soybeans, nuts and quorn. Fats should also not be neglected and is vital for the human body, possessing many potential benefits. However it is important the correct type of fats are consumed. Certain fatty acids are absolutely essential to life and can be found in egg yoke, peanut butter, avocados, brazil nuts, mackeral, cheese and many more.

Bruce Lee Diet Rule #5 - Drink Tea

Bruce would drink tea every day, sometimes mixing honey with it. Tea contains many anti-oxidents and has certain substances that  can increase the bodies immune system dramatically. It is a common fact that people who drink more tea have a stronger immune system. His favourite kind of tea's were Lipton (mixed with honey) or a Chinese tea called Li-Cha. This is a black tea and should be mixed with a small amount of milk and sugar. Tea is an excellent way of hydrating the body along with giving it essential ingredients to improve many bodily functions. Bruce drank hundreds of types of tea's and was his favourite beverage.

Bruce Lee Diet Rule #6 - Supplements

Supplements were part of his diet, as being essential for the muscle building side. Most commonly he would consume two protein drinks a day. Along with the protein powder, other ingredients he would mix into the drinks included eggs, non-instant powdered milk, wheat germ, peanut butter, bananas, brewers yeast, inositol and granular lechitin. He also took regular vitamin and mineral supplements.

 Any fans of this Martial Arts hero will know that he suffered a serious back injury which temporarily paralyzed part of his lower body. He was told by doctors he would never fight again. However so the suprise of his health advisors Bruce made an incredible recovery and it is beleived that this would never have been achieved if it was not for his fantastic physical attributes which he would never have had without what we call today - 'The Bruce Lee Diet'. 

Some beleive that Lee's strict healthy diet played a role in ensuring he achieved a taller height than expected of 5 foot 7.5. Although this seems short by today's standard, it is in fact taller than average for his generation, ethnic background and parent's heights.