I’ve just woken up from a dream about a slice of chocolate cake. Yesterday at lunch, I hovered outside a restaurant sniffing their noodles. And that evening, I found myself sitting by the refrigerator, hoping something new might appear.
For the past four days, I have followed a diet consisting of foods Meghan Markle has said she eats. I put together a menu of breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks based on previous statements made by Markle and recipes shared by her.
When setting out on the experiment, I expected delicious and well-rounded meals — served, of course, with a side of edible flowers and perhaps a jar of her now infamous jam.
The truth, however, was far less satisfying.
My Markle diet consisted of pasta, salad, edible violas, green juices and — what I thought — was not enough protein.
The result was, predictably, a constant nagging sensation of hunger that refused to go away. By the end, I could only dull it by gulping down a nightly glass of red wine.
I was slow and lethargic. By day three, I felt dizzy whenever I took a short walk outside. At times, I remarked out loud (a bit dramatically) that I thought I might die.
I’ve eaten like several celebrities in the name of journalism, testing the meat-heavy diet of Robert F Kennedy Jr and indulging in the refined tastes of Melania Trump’s to try to find out what makes the world’s most influential people tick.
But after eating like the Duchess of Sussex, I found myself unable to think about anything except my next meal. Even moderate exercise felt out of reach.
Meghan Markle says she is a foodie and has regularly posted and spoken about recipes and her diet. I used this information to eat like the Duchess of Sussex for three-and-a-half days
I am shown above cutting into the main meal of my Markle diet adventure, a cacio e pepe spaghetti dish, complete with edible flowers
The diet
Markle says she mostly sticks to a flexitarian diet, where adherents eat primarily plant-based foods during the week and then occasionally consume meat, fish or dairy on the weekend. She is known for eating clean, natural, non-processed foods.
On her Netflix series, With Love, Meghan, she said she makes a fruit platter daily.
In interviews and on her old blog The Tig — named after the $160 (£120) Italian red wine, Tignanello — she’s spoken about and posted a wide variety of foods and recipes. Speaking to journalists, she calls herself a ‘foodie’ and said she enjoys trying new dishes.
‘I definitely try to eat as clean as possible,’ Markle told women’s health magazine Shape. ‘I definitely just try to avoid the things that I know are going to make me feel lethargic or sluggish. I eat mostly fish and veggies, but I am also a foodie.’
‘I’m conscious of what I eat,’ she added to Best Health Magazine. ‘I try to eat vegan during the week and then have a little bit more flexibility with what I dig into on the weekends.’
I designed the diet based on the multiple interviews and comments Markle has made about food. It may not be an exact representation of what the Duchess consumes on any given day.
According to multiple sources, Markle begins her mornings with a cup of hot water and a slice of lemon.
Some writers have waxed lyrical about this, saying it ‘feels luxurious’. I found it a nightmare. The lemon would invariably fire juice all over my clothes and keyboard when it was cut or squeezed into the drink.
She follows this up with her ‘favorite breakfast’, which — according to the 2020 book Finding Freedom — consists of steel-cut oats, almond or soy milk, bananas and a drizzle of agave syrup.
I made a breakfast of a 1/4 steel-cut oats, two cups of almond milk, a banana and an agave drizzle.
It was pleasant enough, although by day four I was starting to find it a bit bland. It also only tended to curb my appetite for two hours and left me with a two-hour hunger gap to lunch.
Texas-based dietitian Amy Goodson warned me that the breakfast set me up for an ‘energy crash’, saying it contained very little protein — just eight grams — to help slow digestion and stabilize blood sugar.
The above shows a Markle grocery haul for four days’ worth of food. I added violas for decoration to this image. Markle also eats fish. I didn’t include it above as I didn’t want to carry fish around in my bag for lunch, swapping it out instead for chicken breast or ham
For lunch, Markle usually eats a salad ‘with some protein’.
For this, I cooked about 1/2 a cup of quinoa, 1 cup of green leaves, a few slices of a red pepper, a handful of cashews.
For the protein, I opted for chicken breast, Bresaola uncured beef or rosemary ham depending on the day. Markle may opt for fish here, but I decided not to as I don’t think my colleagues would appreciate the fishy smell overtaking the office.
I decorated it with flaxseeds and flowers.
For dressing, I used a squeeze of lemon juice.
This meal was good, and actually the best of the day. It offered a welcome respite from the morning starvation.
If she starts to feel sluggish, Markle says she has a green juice around 3 to 4pm — made by blending apple, kale, spinach, lemon and ginger.
The first day I had this was OK, the second day was unpleasant, and by the third day, I couldn’t touch it. It was boring and did nothing to satisfy my mid-afternoon hunger.
‘While rich in nutrients, it is very low in calories and protein,’ Goodson warned. ‘As a beverage, this is fine, but it will not keep someone full for very long’.
Markle does enjoy snacks, however, which was a welcomed treat for me.
She has a sliced apple dipped in peanut butter on some days and, on others, may opt for French Fries.
‘I love a French fry, but there’s no shame in that,’ she told lifestyle blog Eyeswoon.
‘I’m always hoping I’m having lunch with people, so we can share fries,’ she added to Delish. ‘It’s its own food group for me.’
Markle starts her day with a glass of warm water and a lemon (left). For breakfast, she has steel-cut oats with almond or soy milk, banana and a drizzle of agave syrup
Markle’s lunch typically consists of a salad and a side of protein. Shown above is a lunch I had while on the Markle diet
For dinner, I turned to one of Markle’s go-to comfort dishes: cacio e pepe.
She has said she can make this pasta and cheese dish ‘with her eyes closed’ — suggesting it’s a staple in her kitchen — while other reports suggest her routine also features pasta dishes with lean protein like chicken.
While her evening meal likely varies, one thing is clear: Pasta is firmly on the menu.
Cacio e pepe is a classic Roman pasta dish that takes about 20 minutes to make. It involves mixing spaghetti with black pepper and a helping of grated Pecorino Romano cheese. I, of course, added violas for decoration.
One evening to mix things up, as Markle says she does, I made the sauce from her Zucchini Bolognese for the spaghetti. This involved slow cooking onion, zucchini and bouillon for four to five hours to create a rich sauce.
I was only able to slow cook it for about two hours before giving in. (It was late and her lunch and snacks had stopped holding me over). But, even with half the cooking time, it was delicious.
In the evening, I also enjoyed a Markle favorite: A glass of red wine.
There is no evidence the Duchess drinks daily, but she is known to be a fan of wines, particularly reds.
My biggest takeaways
It has to be said that after the first day, I felt fine. A little hungry, but I managed. I was able to exercise and live my day pretty much as normal.
By day two, this began to fray. On day three, I felt dizzy all morning until I rebelled and ate a Cadbury’s creme egg at lunchtime, which powered me through until 8pm. On day four, honestly, I’d had enough.
The major problem I had with Markle’s diet was that, based on the plan I devised after reading her interviews, there was not enough protein. I think an extra turkey breast or some tofu would have really turned this diet around.
Eating sufficient protein is essential for maintaining muscle mass and avoiding falls, frailty and injury in old age. From age 30, we lose about one percent of our body’s muscle mass every year. This accelerates from age 60.
Shown above is another lunch I had while on the Markle diet
Markle is known to be a fan of wines, particularly reds. Because of this, I worked a daily glass of red wine into the diet
The Duchess of Sussex’s diet was cheap, with a shop for four days of food at a Manhattan Trader Joe’s costing $58. That may have been because, however, I didn’t buy much food at all.
I am a young male who lifts weights four times a week and cycles for 30 minutes every day to and from work, whereas Markle is in her 40s and a mother-of-two.
So, there is no doubt these differences influence our diet needs and preferences.
How the diet affected my health
Overall, this diet purported to be followed by Markle contained 1,680 calories, below the 2,000 per day recommended for women and 2,500 for men.
It also contained an estimated 67 grams (g) of protein, less than the 103 to 138g per day recommended for someone of my size, and 243g of carbs, well above the minimum 130g. There were also an estimated 67g of fat.
There was a huge issue in this diet with timing, too. By 2pm, on the Markle diet, I had consumed just 747 calories and 42g of protein — less than half my daily needs. By 7pm, just before dinner, I was at just 1,007 calories.
Goodson was not at all surprised that I was extremely hungry while on the diet.
Of particular concern on day three was when I went for my lunchtime walk around the block. Almost instantly, I started to feel dizzy and lightheaded while walking.
This may have been because, with the low calories and protein, my body was struggling to stabilize blood sugar, causing the dizzy sensation.
Shown above is a dinner popular with Markle: cacio e pepe
What the experts had to say
‘While rich in nutrients, this diet is very low in calories and extremely low in protein,’ Goodson told Daily Mail. ‘This is not ideal for anyone, as protein is required to maintain and repair lean muscle mass.
Markle is also a fan of French Fries
‘It’s also important to remember that adequate calories are required throughout the day for optimal energy, focus and overall health.
‘And if someone exercises, their calorie and protein needs increase.
‘Maybe not for Meghan, but many people would overeat pasta with no protein present. Protein is what helps someone get full faster and stay full longer, ultimately helping with portion control.’
Reviewing Markle’s diet, she said that almost every meal was missing adequate protein.
For breakfast, she said it should be made with dairy or soy milk to boost the protein content. (Two cups of dairy milk contain 16g of protein, compared to the 2g in almond milk).
To her green juice, she recommended adding protein powder, while to the dinners, she recommended adding a protein like salmon, chicken, lean beef or tofu.
Goodson did support Markle’s love of edible flowers, however. ‘Violas are highly nutritious and packed with Vitamin C, Vitamin A, calcium and magnesium,’ she said.
‘Traditionally, they have been used to soothe digestive issues, act as an anti-inflammatory and support respiratory health.’