Hi, Roy I've seen some of their fights on TV, but don't know much about the Gracie clan and their diets . Got interested, tho, and did a quick search about the Gracie Diet. Went through this excerpts from the websites. More about not mixing groups of foods and chemicals involved in the digestion of each group. Interesting stuff. They are selling a book about the diet at GracieAcademy's website. Helio Rickson Gracie http://www.rickson.com/ "Maynard: So in the reverse...if you eat something that is difficult to digest and has no nutritional value... Rickson: Exactly. You waste even more energy. We are not cows. We don't have to eat all day long to maintain. We eat, digest, absorb, then rest. For me, I think three meals a day is enough. I spend at least four hours in between without anything but water. Maynard: A very traditional Brazilian dish is black beans and rice, but in your diet this is a bad combo. Rickson: That's right. What you really want to fight in your body is the fermentation process. Fermentation basically is a bad combination between acids you produce to digest your food. For example, when you eat rice, your mouth produces specific acids to break down the rice so your stomach can begin the digestive process. When you eat ice cream, or an apple, or watermelon juice, your mouth produces completely different acids. And that can create a bad chemical reaction in your body. You feel heavy or sluggish which is not good. It's not only uncomfortable, it's counter productive." Gracie Diet Tips http://www.gracie.com/ "The Gracie Diet is not just about fruits, it's about how you combine the foods you eat. If you're new to the Gracie Diet, we suggest that you start with just one of the basic rules and make it a daily habit. After you've incorporated the first basic rule into your lifestyle, then add additional rules, one by one. A good basic rule to start with is the basic rule about carbohydrates. Basic Rule About Carbohydrates Never combine Wheat or Rice or Potato with one another; they don't go. This means that you don't eat Bread or Pasta if you are having Rice or Potato with your meal. Corn combines OK with the other fuel foods (i.e., Corn goes with any of Bread, Pasta, Rice and Potato); however, watch out for Cornbread (as well as some of the commercial corn tortillas), because they often contain Wheat flour as well as Corn. Banana does not go with Bread, so if you're having a banana for breakfast, forget the toast. This tip added 5/22/96 Group D -- Foods That Must Be Eaten Alone Some foods do not combine with other foods, and must be eaten alone. Carlos Gracie (creator of the Gracie Diet) referred to these as "Group D" foods. After you eat one of the Group D foods, you need to wait 3 to 4 hours for your body to digest it before you eat something different. The fruits and other foods that are in Group D (and must be eaten alone) are: Apple (if green or acidic) Apricot Cherries Currants (fresh) Grapes (if acidic) Peach Pears (if acidic) Plums (if acidic) Blackberries Raspberry Strawberry Mango Pineapple Cider Loquat Pomegranite Quince Grapefruit Lemon Orange Tangerine Acidophilus Milk Curdled Milk Kefir Yogurt Note, none of the individual fruits and foods listed above combines with any other food or even with each other. That means don't blend the juices of different citrus fruits, don't combine blackberries with raspberries, and watch the blend in fruit salad, if you want to follow the Gracie Diet. " ------------------------------------ http://www.gracieacademy.com/ "When Helio got involved in Jiu-Jitsu at the age of 16, Carlos stopped teaching, leaving the responsibility of teaching to his other four brothers, especially Helio who later became the mastermind of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu._ Carlos then dedicated his attention to the development of the principles of the Gracie Diet. Although he was never formally trained in nutrition, Uncle Carlos accomplished amazing results with his dietary combining expertise. Through his dietary combination research, he developed a body of knowledge of the effects of proper and improper food combinations, especially as they could effect various ulcer and heart conditions. In fact, Carlos became very well known for the effective treatment of ulcer and heart illnesses. One time, one of the leading doctors in ulcer therapy in Rio sought out Uncle Carlos for treatment of his own ulcer. Within one month, Carlos had cured the doctor who became forever grateful. In addition to the treatment of various illnesses, Uncle Carlos' dietary principles gave the many people who followed them better metabolism, increased energy and longevity. Today, the principles of the Gracie Diet are regarded by many people as a lifestyle and as essential for a healthy life. I must tell all of you, my friends, that the work of my Uncle Carlos has been a major influence in my life. His development of the Gracie Diet has been such a positive impact on me that I am confident to say that, besides my respect for God and my love for my family, the Gracie Diet is the only thing more important to me than Jiu-Jitsu. " Roy: >The focus of the article is Rickson's yoga practice. The last >paragraph mumbles something about his unusual diet. I have heard >from various Gracie sources that they are raw foodists of varying >levels. They seem to have been influenced by NH. I think some of >them may be raw foodists by our definition. I do know that their >stamina is phenomenal, and their skill unmatched world wide >in several full-contact no-holds-barred competitions (UFC, Extreme, >Pancrase, Vale Tudo, etc..) Clearly the diet hasn't hurt :-)