Marilyn Monroe's daily diet

We’ve heard about a lot of weird celebrity diets, but Marilyn Monroe’s officially takes the cake!
In a 1952 interview with Pageant magazine (now out of print), the blonde bombshell revealed her rather unusual eating habits.
You won’t find any kale or quinoa on Marilyn’s shopping list – but she was definitely big on protein. Take her breakfast, for example:
"Before I take my morning shower, I start warming a cup of milk on the hot plate I keep in my hotel room. When it's hot, I break two raw eggs into the milk, whip them up with a fork, and drink them while I'm dressing. I supplement this with a multi-vitamin pill, and I doubt if any doctor could recommend a more nourishing breakfast for a working girl in a hurry.”
Interesting. I’m more of a peanut-butter-on-toast kind of girl, but if I had to have a liquid breakfast, I’d probably forgo Marilyn’s milky-egg mixture in favour of one of these delicious celebrity smoothies. But that’s just me!
At least the actress’ brekkie sounds pretty easy to make – nothing like the OTT recipes celebs enjoy nowadays. The actress’ dinner choices were even easier:
“My dinners at home are startlingly simple. Every night I stop at the market near my hotel and pick up a steak, lamb chops or some liver, which I broil in the electric oven in my room. I usually eat four or five raw carrots with my meat, and that is all. I must be part rabbit; I never get bored with raw carrots.””¨
It seems Ms Monroe was an early pioneer of the Paleo diet! One thing’s for sure: she wouldn’t have been low in iron. As for her veggie side dish? I love carrots, but five in one sitting? I’ll pass.
Marilyn stuck by her strange tastes, saying: “I've been told that my eating habits are absolutely bizarre, but I don't think so.”
The beauty supplemented her strange meals with a deeelicious afternoon snack. It turns out 1950s screen sirens indulged in a treat from time to time:
“It's a good thing, I suppose, that I eat simply during the day, for in recent months I have developed the habit of stopping off at Wil Wright's ice cream parlor for a hot fudge sundae on my way home from my evening drama classes."
Don’t believe her? Well, here she is looking absolutely gorgeous eating it:
Photo credit: alluringmarilyn.com
It’s safe to say celebrities ate way more simply back in the day. And whether or not Marilyn’s meal plan is your cup of tea, she’s still thought to have the most iconic beauty look of all time – so she was obviously doing something right!
Do you swear by any strange snacks? What's your ultimate food indulgence?
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66 Member Comments
wow. interesting.
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Eggs cracked into hot milk sounds like an egg flip to me.
I grew up on these flavoured with a tiny amount of brandy, nutmeg, cinnamon or vanilla.
Delicious and nutritious!
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What an interesting story! I don't think its a balanced meal but she was living out of a hotel room!
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Its a very healthy diet and her skin is glowing. I would eat liver too if I could stomach it! Very good for you I ate a few carrots a day when i was pregnant. Surprised my son wasnt orange when he was born
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How interesting... and slightly gross... I can’t have dairy and eggs currently because my breastfed baby is intolerant, but I can’t see myself having raw eggs stirred through hot milk, ever. However I do love scrambled eggs. And I love to indulge in ice cream.
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It all sounds edible but I have never had those combinations before, ie I've had scrambled eggs but not eggs broken into hot milk (which I presume cooks them pretty quick) and I each meat with veg just not 4 raw carrots. I could try both and see what they are like.
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I think everyone ate a bit more simply then. I've got so used to eating flavours from around the world that I would struggle with a more restricted palette!
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I would love a hot fugde sundae right now.
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Aim to keep it simple
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Good on her! She's stunning
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I love the comment- I must be part rabbit, I never get bored with raw carrots.
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She and Audrey Hepburn had simple tastes but adored food. I love that way of thinking. And they were both gorgeous women.
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I could not tolerate the taste of eggs curdling in hot milk.
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Well I do like carrots, but definitely no liver for me lol
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I imagine that the egg would begin to cook in the hot milk - ugh I don't think I couldn't stomach it! But that Sundae? Now you're talking :)
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If only I could eat something so simple for breakfast every day!
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I think simple diets are best
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Not too keen on a liquid breakfast but hey, whatever worked for her! She still looked absolutely stunning
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Her diet doesn't sound weird at all to me - I've been following Paleo for a few years now though & it's not that far removed.
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She is so perfect. The egg thing wouldn't be so bad
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I find this very interesting, especially given the fact Ms Monroe was always told by movie execs she was too fat.
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Interesting breaky choice :/
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Love to know just how much of it is accurate - it wouldn't surprise me if she "embroidered" it for press release. Doesn't really matter much, does it?
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Wow, her food choices were so untentionally meant for this modern day world..
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