What nutrition expert Walter Willett eats in a day
For decades, research by Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, has played a significant role in illuminating how diet and other lifestyle choices can impact chronic disease risk. He shared his daily diet in an Oct. 8 Washington Post article.
Willett likes to start the day with steel-cut oats topped with yogurt, nuts, and fruit—usually blueberries, which have shown to be protective against neurodegenerative diseases—in addition to a small glass of orange juice. He likes to have a plant-based meal for lunch, often choosing a large salad from the School’s salad bar, or a sandwich on whole grain bread (usually peanut butter with a little bit of jam or honey) and a carrot if he’s at home. For dinner, he and his wife will usually have chicken or fish with vegetables.
Known as the world’s mostly highly cited nutrition expert, Willett is principal investigator of the Nurses’ Health Study and co-chairman of the 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy, sustainable, and just food systems.
When asked his advice to readers, he said, “If I could put 40 years of research into one answer, it would be to eat a variety of healthy, mostly plant-based foods, and find a way to do it that’s enjoyable.”
Read the Washington Post article:
At 81, he’s the most-cited nutrition expert. Here’s what he eats in a day.
