Novak Djokovic’s Diet: Warm Water And…Licorice Tea To Unwind!
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The Wall Street Journal had a sneak peak at Novak Djokovic’s forthcoming book in which the World No. 1 details a road to happiness via the proper diet. Djokovic, who famously changed to a gluten-free diet just before his big rise in 2011, reveals some of his more interesting eating habits in the book.
According the the WSJ article:
Want to roll like the world’s top men’s tennis player? Start by drinking loads of warm water all day long, as well as shakes made with pea protein concentrate. Avoid dairy and stay away from alcohol during tournaments. Eat lots of avocados, cashew butter and very little sugar. Banish caffeine, other than the occasional energy gel bar before matches. Be sure to get seven to eight hours of sleep a night, meditate, do plenty of yoga and tai chi, take melatonin supplements, hook yourself up to a biofeedback machine that measures your stress level and, when you have a free moment or two, keep a diary. Feel free to unwind with a cup of warm licorice tea.
Warm water? The article explains:
Djokovic says he drinks mostly warm water because cold water slows digestion and “diverts blood away from where I want it—in my muscles.” He reveals perhaps a bit too much about his ideal hydration level—”I like to have a bit of color in my urine”—and tells of his first encounter with chocolate after a year-and-a-half hiatus. He ate some after he beat Nadal in the 2012 Australian Open final, which lasted nearly six hours.
And what does Novak do when he wakes up? Why he dines on manuka honey from New Zealand. Who doesn’t?
“The first thing I do out of bed is to drink a tall glass of room-temperature water,” Djokovic writes in “Serve to Win,” which is scheduled for release by Zinc Ink, an imprint of Random House, on Aug. 20. “The second thing I do might really surprise you: I eat two spoonfuls of honey. Every day.” He says he also eats it during matches.
The man behind this “madness” is Djokovic’s nutritionist Dr. Igor Cetojevic. And according to Novak, since hiring him in 2010 and adopting a gluten-free diet, “My allergies abated; my asthma disappeared; my fears and doubts were replaced by confidence.” He adds: “I have not had a serious cold or flu in nearly three years.”
The Djokovic book will be released on August 20. If you want to improve your game maybe this could work! Just make sure your honey is from New Zealand.
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