Warren Buffett has some pretty questionable eating habits

By Roberto A. Ferdman February 27

Warren Buffett drinks his first Coke of the day for breakfast. The second comes sometime not too long after. And the third he downs before heading out from work.

But that's not all: He actually has another two once he's home.

And he does it every day.

"I’m one quarter Coca-Cola," Warren Buffett told Fortune magazine this week. "If I eat 2700 calories a day, a quarter of that is Coca-Cola. I drink at least five 12-ounce servings. I do it everyday."

That's nearly 200 grams of sugar in soda alone, or roughly 8 times what the World Health Organization recommends anyone eat in total each day.

And it's not as though Buffett stops there. He also loves potato chips (Utz potato sticks, in particular), which he washes down with soda. And he has a soft spot for ice cream, which he admittedly eats for breakfast from time to time, too.

"I checked the actuarial tables, and the lowest death rate is among six-year-olds. So I decided to eat like a six-year-old," he told Fortune.

If that all sounds crazy, well, it should, because Buffett, who turns 85 in August, is a remarkable outlier.

Most people don't live until their mid-80s to begin with (life expectancy in this country is just over 78), much less when they subsist on the sort of dietary regimen Buffett seems to have.

Yes, some people might eat a less-than-ideal bucket of foods and be fine, but the consensus opinion among nutrition scientists is that things like soda, chips, and ice cream are indulgences, not everyday nourishment. They are, after all, linked to long-term weight gain.

Even small amounts of consistent soda consumption are associated with serious long-term risks of disease. Drinking just a single can of soda a day makes one 27 percent more likely to become obese, according to the California Center for Public Health Advocacy.

A diet like Buffett's should have serious repercussions. But Buffett has beaten the odds, it seems, not only in his financial investments but also in his long-term health, considering his pretty questionable eating habits.

Much like the crowds of fan-boy investors who mimic the famous thinker's every investment, and then see poorer results, anyone copying his daily food intake should probably expect the same.