David Bowie's Diet In The '70s Wasn't Exactly Normal

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David Bowie was both a complex man and a surprisingly simple one. The singer who embodied Ziggy Stardust loved a good shepherd's pie as a comfort classic, and he wasn't afraid to contribute his penne puttanesca recipe to the odd cookbook. In the 1970s, however, Bowie lived a more minimalist lifestyle when it came to his diet. In "Strange Fascination: David Bowie: The Definitive Story," author David Buckley writes that, while producing the 1979 Iggy Pop album "Soldier," Bowie survived almost entirely on a diet of milk and red or green peppers. 

While this diet is well documented in Bowie's life during the late '70s, it occurred earlier as well. "Cracked Actor," a rockumentary filmed in 1974, featured interviews with Bowie while he was on tour in Los Angeles. In one of the film's first scenes, Bowie drinks milk straight out of the carton as he rides through the middle of the desert. It's one of the only times you see him touch any kind of sustenance in the entire film. According to those who worked with him, Bowie would sometimes pick at other dishes served to him, but he otherwise consumed very little, if anything at all.

As you might guess, this was hardly good for him. Bowie's weight plummeted during these long periods of not eating, eventually bottoming out around 90 pounds. For a 5-foot-10-inch man, this made him frighteningly gaunt and pale. Later, Bowie would re-embrace food, and he even became known as a croque monsieur devotee. Notably, though, that period of his life in which he'd ask for a glass of milk over food occurred not because he was a picky eater, but rather for a darker reason.

The 1970s wasn't a great decade for David Bowie's emotional state. His so-called "Thin White Duke" era was a time marked notably for his worryingly slim stature, dark musical themes, and increasing drug use. Likely stemming from depression., he became addicted to cocaine, which caused him to lose all desire for food. He almost never slept, either. His addiction led to drug-induced paranoia and an increasing reliance on hard substances in order to perform or function. In a world where cocaine can be delivered faster than pizza, that makes for a bad combination.

As for why he chose milk and peppers, he may have believed these items had enough nutrients in them for him to survive without needing anything else. It's also said that milk can ease some of the uncomfortable side effects of cocaine use, such as a runny nose. Bowie was obsessed with control of his life and his image, and an extreme diet may have helped him maintain that control.

Looking back, Bowie didn't have terribly nice things to say about his Thin White Duke character. He abandoned the Ziggy Stardust persona during his tours in the 1970s, instead gaining a fascination with the occult, fascism, and death. Upon reflection, he thought of this as a nasty character whom he regarded with scorn. Bowie later admitted that he had major gaps in his memory from that time, and he had rarely known where he was or what he was doing. So, while David Bowie's dependence on dairy may help drinking milk become cool again, it's one weight-loss plan you should definitely avoid.