I ate like Kamala Harris for a day — and doctors say her diet could explain her word salads
Kamala Harris is obsessed with working out.
“I work out every morning, no matter how much sleep I’ve had,” she told former President Barack Obama in a 2020 interview. “It’s just the best way to start the day.”
But the Democratic presidential candidate admits she has a little less discipline when it comes to her diet, which can lead her to indulge in junk food.
Her favorite snack is Nacho Cheese Doritos and when it comes to cake, “caramel is my favorite,” Harris, 59, said during a campaign stop at a bakery in September.
Now a food blogger has put her diet to the test for a day to find out what makes America’s next potential president tick. It comes after he tried the diets of Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
Doctors told DailyMail.com that sugar rushes and dips could explain Harris’s giddy personality, trademark laugh and ‘word salads’.
WHEN THE CHIPS ARE OUT: Harris shops for her favorite snack, Nacho Cheese Doritos, during a campaign stop in August 2024
WAY THE COOKIE CRUMBLES: In an episode of Kamala Harris’ Cooking with Kamala YouTube series, she baked and enjoyed monster cookies
Bennett Rea, who is in charge TikTok channel Cookin’ With Congress used public comments Harris made about her diet to create her daily meal plan.
He said her diet was “all over the place… totally out of place.”
Kamala does not like fasting. She has said several times that she always eats breakfast, which usually consists of raisin bran cereal from the supermarket.
She makes it with almond milk and green tea, to which she adds honey and lemon. Her go-to snack is her favorite chips, Doritos.
Harris is an avid chef — she once had a cooking series on her YouTube channel called Cooking With Kamala — so her meals later in the day are often quite luxurious.
For a typical lunch, she eats cottage cheese rice with pomegranate seeds, coriander, green chili, coconut oil and spices. For dinner, she often eats homemade gumbo, a hearty Southern stew.
Based on her comments on the campaign trail in Georgia in September, Rea assumed Harris eats a chocolate and caramel dessert at night, so he chose a pecan cake with those flavors.
“It doesn’t really make sense together, like Doritos and curd rice and raisin bran and gumbo,” he said in the TikTok video. ‘It’s everywhere. It’s completely everywhere.’
‘ALL OVER THE PLACE’: Bennett Rea, 35, said Kamala Harris was unconventional but hot
SUGAR HIGH: In September, Harris visited a small bakery and went shopping for candy
However, he did say that her lunch and dinner were delicious.
Mr Rea added: ‘I just feel… I’m happy with it. I’m happy with it.’
He added that it wasn’t the “most normal diet for politicians” but her routine made him feel “damn presidential.”
Harris’s appetite was also highlighted on her old YouTube show, where she baked bacon-baked apples and monster cookies consisting of nuts, oatmeal, chocolate chips and M&Ms.
And she’s seen making several stops at bakeries to buy sweet treats during the campaign.
In early September, the presidential candidate sparked a barrage of memes online after looking at a cake and telling the audience that caramel was one of her favorite desserts.
She said, ‘What kind of cake is that… Oh, I want a piece of that. Caramel is my favorite. Oh, chocolate and caramel, fantastic.’
Doctors told DailyMail.com that a lot of sugar could be behind Harris’ dizziness and her unique smile.
KAMALA CHOPS IT: Sweets may be her favorite, but Harris also likes hearty food. She is pictured above eating pork at the 2019 Iowa State Fair
Dr. Stuart Fischer, an emergency physician in New York City, told DailyMail.com: ‘The famous laugh, which is sometimes inappropriate, may be related to increases and fluctuations in blood sugar levels.
‘These fluctuations certainly have a physiological impact (impact on the body and brain).’
Dr. Qin Rao, a gastroenterologist at Manhattan Gastroenterology in New York, warned that these fluctuations may also underlie some of her less desirable traits.
He said: ‘Eating excessive amounts of sugar, especially refined sugar, can lead to a sudden spike in glucose levels, giving you an energy boost.
‘This is usually followed a few hours later by a ‘sugar crash’ due to insulin production, which can lead to symptoms of lethargy, irritability and general fatigue.’
Kamala Harris made waves on social media after her visit to Dottie’s Supermarket in Savannah, Georgia, where her eyes were immediately drawn to a piece of chocolate caramel cake
In July, reports surfaced that Harris had developed a reputation as a so-called “soul-destroying” workplace bully. And only four of her original 71 staffers hired by the vice president during her first year in office remained in their jobs, according to analysis from the nonpartisan watchdog Open The Books.
In addition, there were reports of an “abusive” workplace atmosphere in her office published by Politico in 2021.
Meanwhile, Dr. Fischer said sugar crashes could also explain Harris’ “word salad” during her 60 Minutes interview.
He said: ‘Hypoglycaemia, or low blood sugar, can also lead to disorganized thinking and disjointed and scattered thoughts.
“When people think in a disorganized way for some reason, they grasp at straws and may construct a string of words that avoid the topic.”
The Mayo Clinic says that the symptoms caused by hypoglycemia occur because the lower sugar levels disrupt the brain’s ability to function properly.
Dr. Peter Brukner, a sports and medicine physiologist in Australia, told DailyMail.com that hypoglycemia could be a major problem for Harris this election cycle.
He said: ‘For someone like Kamala Harris, who is always traveling and meeting people all day, a sugar crash can be very difficult.
‘Remember that you have to make an important speech or talk to voters if your energy levels suddenly drop. This can make things quite difficult for her.”