I’m really encouraged that more men have been trying the all-meat diet lately: It’s a great test of willpower, a known source of protein, and a quick ticket to embarrassing oneself in a public restroom. Semi-famous adoptees of the trend include podcast host Joe Rogan, who earlier this year said it gave him “explosive diarrhea” but helped clear his skin and, overall, made him feel amazing. Canadian pop psychologist Jordan Peterson, a figure beloved by the men’s-rights community, also revealed in 2018 that his diet of beef and water caused him to lose 50 pounds (possibly from pooping, we don’t know for sure). He also claims that it cured his gum disease and his lifelong depression.
“You’re Beautiful” singer James Blunt — no stranger to feats of heroism and endurance — has now admitted that he, too, once tried the carnivore diet. It didn’t go well. He got scurvy. But he lived to talk about it on Tuesday’s episode of singer Jessie Ware’s podcast, Table Manners.
According to The Sun, Blunt, 46, tried the diet way back during his years as a student of aerospace manufacturing engineering and sociology at the University of Bristol. At the time, 170 of the students in his program were men and only three were women, but all of the women were “vegetarian or vegan.” Blunt faced a crisis: He wanted to prove that he was not like these women and also that he was a man. He says that “out of principle, I decided I’d become a carnivore and just lived on mince, some chicken, maybe some mayonnaise.”
Six to eight weeks into this voyage of discovery, Blunt visited a doctor who told him he was exhibiting symptoms of scurvy, including bleeding gums, joint and muscle pain, and fatigue. In response to this diagnosis, Blunt drank orange juice every night and “nearly developed acid reflux.”
Honestly, this does not change my perception of James Blunt; I already assumed he was made of mayonnaise and meat. I did, however, learn in the course of my research that he is not the same person as James Blake.
