Rickson on growing up with—and adapting—the Gracie Diet (part 2)

We've gone over how Rickson Gracie has managed for decades to stick to a diet that sounds unbelievably strict to most of us.

All of this links back to being raised under the influence of Helio and Uncle Carlos, creator of the Gracie Diet. We asked Rickson about his thoughts on Carlos's doctrine. Here's the second half of his answer (part 1 is here): 

“In my young age, eating cream cheese was just something established in the whole family, like: 'Okay, let's make a guava vitamin, so three guavas into the liquifier, a half-cup of cream cheese, coconut water, honey... or dates, and blend everything and eat.' 

“So every meal has a lot of cheese, has a lot of dairy, which I feel like, today, is completely against what I believe; I feel like dairy products are poison for you. So, if Carlos Gracie were still working on the diet up to today, of course he would cut a lot of things which, at the time, were in the... Even though the cream cheese fifty years ago was different than the cream cheese today. Still, like, not good for you. 

“Anyway, with this kind of plan of how to eat, how to, like... For example, I learned in the beginning, at least four hours, four hours and a half, between meals. At one point in time, I felt that this was too long for me. 

“I started eating less meals and spending two hours and a half between meals. And I felt good, I felt my energy better, I felt I kept my weight better, so everything was better for me in that matter. 

“So, little adjustments to the Gracie diet that I have done for myself, which doesn't invalidate the Gracie diet. I feel like there's a big value in that. But the idea of using organics, the idea of using superfoods, the idea of eating small meals more times a day, the idea of food-combining—I can alter it a little bit, but it's still the foundation of my routine up to today. And I feel that without that perspective of organizing my food routine, my intake of food and how my nutritional values... It's very important for any person, especially for athletes.”