UNDER THE MICROSCOPE: Adventurer and TV presenter Bear Grylls, 48, answers our health quiz

Can you run up the stairs?

I can and I do! 

Training is a habit built over many years and takes the form of a body weight routine (25 pull-ups, 50 press-ups, 75 squats and 100 sit-ups) then a weights session every other day. On alternate days, I swim or play touch tennis and I do yoga weekly.

Get your five a day?

I do in terms of fruit but not veg. I’m sceptical about the benefits, to be honest. 

My diet was vegan/plant-based for years, until I got Covid pretty bad. I doubled down on loads of veg and celery and all that stuff in smoothies but my kidneys got really painful. 

Then my eldest son [now 19], who’d been struggling with his energy, skin and stomach, got help and was weaned back to great health by eating red meat, butter, eggs, fruit and honey, and cutting out bread, pasta and veg. 

I couldn’t believe the transformation, but the same happened to me and I’ve now embraced an ancestral/carnivore approach — predominantly grass-fed red meat and liver, rice, eggs and dairy, with fruit and honey to finish.

If I want the odd treat, that’s fine: you’ve got to live a little! 

Ever dieted?

Yes, but I’d be lean yet lose strength and was always hungry. Now I feel full every day, yet am fitter and leaner than ever [at 6ft, he weighs 12st 4lb].

Any vices?

Pina coladas and Dairy Milk chocolate (a square or two after meals). If I want the odd treat, that’s fine: you’ve got to live a little!

Family ailments?

My father died a few days after having a pacemaker fitted. He was 66. It was the worst moment of my life. 

The truth is he probably wasn’t active enough and thought eating margarine and no red meat was healthy, when actually he needed natural foods.

Worst illness/injury?

When I was 22, I broke my back when my parachute failed to open. 

I was lucky not to be paralysed, and spent a long time in military rehabilitation [he was in the 21 (Reserve) SAS]. 

It made me realise life is so precious, and I vowed to live with total commitment, energy and gratitude.

Pop any pills?

I take Ancestral Supplements [his own range] which include a lot of the organs that are harder to eat in natural form, such as heart, lung, blood and bone marrow. 

They’re like nature’s best multivitamin.

Ever been depressed?

When Shara and I married [2000], we lost our fathers within a few months. 

I felt low but simple things helped: sunlight, cold water, good friends, sharing the struggles, being outside, training hard and setting goals.

What keeps you awake?

I worry about my 82-year-old mum because I know movement is so key to longevity but she is less mobile now.

Any phobias?

To this day, I feel the fear before I skydive. But never run from fears or they grow.

ancestralsupplements.com