I’ve always been intrigued by the culture of motivational speakers, Tony Robbins being one of my top examinees. Over the last week, I’ve been thumbing through Mr. Robbins’ 1986 bestseller Unlimited Power. While I’ve been enjoying the book because of the depth and breadth of motivational information stored inside, something struck me as odd.
One chapter, entitled “Energy: The Fuel of Excellence” follows a section about how to use one’s body in a motivationally sound way. There’s a few good bits in there about breathing and posture, but the second half takes a strange turn. Robbins actually starts telling the reader how they should be eating, a strange angle for in the world of motivational speakers. Not only that, but the dietary ideas presented are (he admits that “much of what I saw will challenge things you’ve always believed”) unlike those I’ve seen anywhere else.
Examples:
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“70 percent of your diet [should] be made up of foods that are rich in water.” Robbins says quite a bit about the benefits of “water-rich foods” such as fruit and vegetables, things out mom and dad have always told us. However, he goes on to condemn actually drinking a great deal of water, calling it a “crazy” idea that will fill your body with “toxic substances.”
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Eating certain foods together, such as “meat and potatoes,” “cheese and bread,” “milk and cereal” and “fish and rice” is “totally destructive to your internal sytem” and will “rob you of your energy.” This, apparently, is because of unfavorable combinations of stomach acids that must go to work simultaneously.
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Eating less slows the aging process. “Undernutrition is thus far the only method we know that consistently retards the aging process and maximizes the life span of warm-blooded animals.”
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“You must always eat fruit on an empty stomach.”
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Protein ain’t all that greast for you. “No bigger lie has ever been told than the one that human beings require a high-protein diet to maintain optimum health and well-being.”
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“Eating meat for protien is one of the worst things you could do.” Meat, he says, contains ammonia, putrefactive bacteria and uric acid. Bad stuff.
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“If you want a clogged system, drink milk.” “What’s the main effect of milk on the body? It becomes a clogging, mucus-forming mass that hardens and clogs and sticks to everything inside the small intestine, making the body’s job that much more difficult.” Dairy is the enemy.
Tony Robbins himself seems like a very healthy guy, so I don’t have serious doubts about his diet plan, but it just seems a little odd that it runs counter to a lot of others’ ideas for a healthy diet.
Do any nutrition-minded dopers know if Tony’s ideas are on the up and up, or have they been disproven since '86?