David Bowie's Wildest Years Were Fueled By This Bizarre (And Dangerous) Diet

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Peeking behind the curtain into the private lives of superstars is a perennial source of public fascination, and sometimes, the results are surprisingly wholesome. Who knew that glamor puss Elizabeth Taylor's favorite comfort food was fried chicken, for instance? Or that Princess Diana loved bread-and-butter pudding? In other cases, however, furtive peeks into stars' offstage habits are painful and hard to stomach — like the period when David Bowie was surviving on peppers and milk.

In the 1970s, Bowie was hitting his stride creatively and becoming enormously popular. By the middle of the decade, he'd relocated to Los Angeles and fully realized his Thin White Duke persona. He was recording his album "Station to Station" as well as producing music for fellow legend Iggy Pop. But that success had a seriously dark side. 

According to biographer David Buckley, who penned "Strange Fascination: David Bowie: The Definitive Story," Bowie's heavy cocaine use at this time left him a restless insomniac who refused to eat anything but red and green peppers washed down with milk straight from the carton. Bowie's "mealtimes" were 4:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. By his own recollection, he'd shovel in chunks of pepper that he cut with a small knife — definitely not following Gordon Ramsay's tip for cutting bell peppers.

During the darkest days of his drug abuse, David Bowie would work all night and barely nourish his body. His weight dipped below 100 pounds as his eclectic and frankly harmful activities took a toll on his frame. According to the American Addiction Centers, malnourishment secondary to poor eating is a known side effect of long-term cocaine use. 

Why Bowie opted for milk and peppers while using hard drugs is impossible to say, but, looking at the nutritional profile of both whole cow's milk and bell peppers, it logical to theorize that any human would start to break down eating such a limited diet. Healthline estimates that an adult male looking to maintain their weight needs around 2,000 calories per day, although this obviously varies widely based on numerous factors. 

Unless Bowie was chugging milk and chowing on peppers 'round the clock, there was no way he was approaching his minimum calorie or protein needs, and that's to say nothing of countless other vitamins and minerals missing from his mealtimes. You probably didn't need facts and figures to inform you that Bowie's diet was lacking, to say the least, but the hard figures are nothing short of shocking. Thankfully, he managed to survive those days in part by moving to West Berlin and focusing more on his art than substances.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).