Nikola Tesla on Diet and Its Impact on Health and Longevity

The famous inventor Nikola Tesla lived 24 years longer than the average American man of his time. Tesla believed that our diet, food, and drink significantly impact our health and longevity. In an interview for the science magazine Electrical Experimenter, he spoke about his diet and eating habits, to which he believed he owed his vitality and eternal youth.

Tesla believed that the secret of his eternal youth was gastronomic abstinence. In his opinion, most people suffer from physical ailments due to a poor diet. People literally eat themselves to death by eating too much or inappropriate food – according to Tesla. When Tesla realized that tobacco and black coffee were detrimental to his physical well-being, he gave up both.

This is Nikola Tesla's simple daily diet:

Breakfast: one to two pints of warm milk and a couple of eggs, which I prepare myself.
Lunch: No lunch. I have only two meals a day.
Dinner: Celery or something similar, soup, a piece of meat or poultry, potatoes, and another vegetable: a glass of light wine. For dessert maybe a piece of cheese and always a big raw apple. And that's all.

Tesla was very picky and careful about his food: he ate very little, but what he did eat had to be of the best quality. He was a skillful cook who invented different kinds of delicious meals that he prepared himself.

"I am convinced that in less than a century, coffee, tea, and cigarettes will go out of fashion. Alcohol, however, will continue to be used, as it is not a stimulant but a true elixir of life," Tesla explained on one occasion.

Nikola Tesla was a wine lover

Tesla was also a great lover of wine, not just any wine, but wines sent to the USA by his relatives from his native Croatia. He declared that he did not like other wines. Several letters have been preserved in which he asked his uncle to send him wines from Varazdin, a town in Croatia where his uncle Pajo Mandic served as a colonel in the Austro-Hungarian army. It is believed that he was introduced to the seductive wines of Varazdin in 1892 when he visited his uncle in Varazdin. Learn more about Tesla's love for the top wines from Varazdin, which are still first-class and have received numerous awards.

This love of wine reflects the broader picture of Tesla's life and interests. Although dedicated to his scientific research and inventions, Tesla also had a deep respect for life's cultural and esthetic aspects, including art, music, and, of course, food and drink. His commitment to quality nutrition and his belief in moderation, as well as choosing to consume products that personally suited him, are part of his broader philosophical approach to health and well-being.

Nikola Tesla died in New York in 1943 at the age of 86. The average life expectancy of men in the USA at that time was 62 years, so he lived 24 years longer than the average. It is known that he was still very vital until a few years before his death. Unfortunately, Nikola Tesla was hit by a cab in New York in 1937. This incident occurred in the later years of his life. It resulted in serious injuries, including broken ribs and a collapsed lung. The accident affected his health, but Tesla continued to work on his projects and theories until he died in 1943.