What is Cristiano Ronaldo’s diet?

FT Desk
FT Desk
  • 28 Sep 2021 07:01 CDT
  • 4 min read
Cristiano Ronaldo, Juventus, 2020-21 season
© ProShots

Cristiano Ronaldo is famous for being one of the fittest and most physically honed athletes in the world but what does he eat to remain in such perfect shape?

Article continues under the video

What food does Ronaldo eat?

Like most footballers, fish plays a big role in Ronaldo’s diet. He eats a lot of swordfish, bream and sea bass.

Ronaldo’s favourite food is bacalhau a braz, which is a traditional Portuguese dish (see in tweet below) made with salt cod, potatoes and eggs.

Cristiano also eats lots of fruit and lean proteins and everything he puts in his body must be fresh.

On his breakfast menu, Ronaldo often has fruit, cheese, ham, a very low-fat yoghurt and avocado toast.

The attacker employs a personal dietician and eats six small meals a day, eating a meal every three to four hours. This helps with digestion.

He avoids all alcohol and carbonated liquids, and drinks lots of water.

"A good workout must be combined with a good diet," Ronaldo has said. "I eat a high protein diet, with lots of wholegrain carbs, fruit and vegetables, and avoid sugary foods.

"I eat regularly. If you train regularly it’s important to keep energy levels high to fuel your body for better performance. I sometimes eat up to six smaller meals a day to make sure I have enough energy to perform each session at a top level.”

Ronaldo instructed Man Utd’s chefs to incorporate his personalised diet into the team’s food choices.

The Sun claims that this hasn’t been received well by a number of Manchester United players.

What is on Ronaldo’s food menu?

Cristiano Ronaldo, Man Utd, 2021-22
© ProShots - Cristiano Ronaldo, Man Utd, 2021-22

Man Utd backup goalkeeper Lee Grant went into some detail about Ronaldo’s diet in September 2021.

"To give you one instance of the impact he is having on the group, this was Friday night in the hotel,” Grant told TalkSport.

"So, as you guys will be aware, you finish your dinner and usually on a Friday night you've got some cheat stuff out. You've got some apple crumble and custard or you've got a bit of brownie and cream.

"One of the lads said to me, 'What has Cristiano got on his plate?' Obviously it is the cleanest, most healthy plate you can imagine."
- Lee Grant on Ronaldo's diet

"I tell you now, not one player touched the apple crumble and custard, not one player went up for that brownie because everybody was sat down.

"One of the lads said to me, 'What has Cristiano got on his plate?' Obviously it is the cleanest, most healthy plate you can imagine."

"I'll tell you one of his plates - he had several. One of them was quinoa, avocado and a couple of boiled eggs. This guy is in incredible shape."

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