Warren Buffett is one of the world’s most famous investors and at 92 years old, you would think he’s eating spinach like Popeye to keep himself healthy at that age, but you would be wrong. Instead, he avoids his vegetables and absolutely loves McDonald’s, horrifying mothers around the world.
The funniest part about this story is that Buffett hinted that it is his diet that has played a part in the longevity of his life because eating the way he does makes him happy, and it is happiness that’s the key to long life.
“I’ve gotten to 92 with the habits of a 6-year-old. So far, it’s working,” Buffett told CNBC, “And Charlie’s [Munger] 99 and doesn’t eat any better than I do pretty much.”
Buffett does admit that he’s “been lucky” having not “gotten that sick” but continued to joke about having “found everything I like to eat by the time I was six.”
“Why should I fool around with all these other foods?” said Buffett. “[If] somebody told me I would live an extra year if I ate nothing but broccoli and a few other things all my life, instead of eating what I like to eat, I would say, ‘Take that year off the end of my life and let me eat what I like to eat.’”
Buffett instead claimed that “happiness makes an enormous amount of difference” in terms that “can’t [be] measure[d] very well” rather than eating well. Hence, Buffett concludes that “I’m happier when I’m eating hot fudge sundaes or drinking Coke.”
Drinking Coca-Cola is one of Buffett’s greatest pleasures as in 2015 he told Fortune that he’s “one quarter Coca-Cola.”
“If I eat 2,700 calories in a day, a quarter of that is Coca-Cola,” he continued. “I drink at least five 12-ounce servings. I do it every day. I have three Cokes during the day and two at night.”
He might be onto something as continued to say that he “checked the actuarial tables, and the lowest death rate is among 6-year-olds. So I decided to eat like a 6-year-old. It’s the safest course to take.”
It should be no surprise that Buffett’s investment portfolio includes Coca-Cola, Dairy Queen, and Kraft Heinz.
So is the key to a long life eating what you want? No, make sensible decisions when it comes to your diet and understand that a lot of this has been said in jest.
