What the First Lady of the United States eats is usually a pretty big deal. She tends to
set the "culinary tone" of not only the White House, but the entire country while she serves
as FLOTUS. Michelle Obama, for example, famously encouraged the country to eat healthy and
to exercise through the Let's Move initiative. Melania Trump is notoriously reclusive, and
we don't know very much yet about how much of an impact her food habits will have, if
any. Here's everything we know so far about what the First Lady eats.
The First Lady keeps breakfast light, often
having a smoothie in the morning. She shared her "every day delicious & healthy breakfast,"
with her followers on Facebook. The former model puts organic fruits and veggies, mixed
with fat-free yogurt in the drink, topped off with olive oil, flax seeds, Omega-3 supplements,
and vitamin D.
Melania doesn't always have a smoothie for breakfast, but she does always have something
healthy. When she's not drinking a morning smoothie, that she opts for oatmeal as a filling
way to start her day.
Melania eats a lot of fruit, consuming seven pieces every day. It might sound like a lot,
but researchers have found that eating more than five servings of fruits and vegetables
each day can significantly reduce the risk of several health problems, including heart
attacks and cancer. It’s estimated that if everyone in the world ate 10 servings of
fruits and vegetables each day, millions of premature deaths would be prevented each year.
It looks like the First Lady is on to something.
She may be a fruit lover, but the First Lady is a little bit more selective when it comes
to vegetables. In an appearance on The Martha Stewart Show, the Trumps prepared meatloaf
sandwiches (Donald's favorite). Melania said that she doesn't eat onions, and doesn't like
artichokes, keeping them off her sandwich. The only vegetables she allowed on her sandwich
were dill pickles.
Melania prefers to eat healthy, but it seems that she will visit a fast food joint in a
pinch. In 2017, Melania traveled to Texas to meet with victims and first responders
in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. While there, she and Karen Pence, wife of Vice President
Mike Pence, paid a visit to a Whataburger in Corpus Christi. There's no word on what
the First Lady actually ordered from the franchise, but she and Karen Pence left with several
bags, including fries for the press traveling with them.
Melania does enjoy a good meal out, and revealed
her favorite dish. "One thing I love most about New York is the variety of amazing foods
you can eat," she said. "My all-time favorite is the chicken Parmigianino at Jean Georges."
Healthy eating is the key to Melania’s trim
figure, but she’s not one to jump on the bandwagon with trendy fad diets. She said
that her eating habits are “not a diet. I just like to eat healthy because I feel
better and have more energy,” she said.
Chocolate is one indulgence the First Lady refuses to do without, believing that indulging
your cravings once in a while is important. This indulgence isn't as decadent as it sounds,
though. While chocolate is often high in fat and sugar, chocolate that is at least 70 percent
cacao (like dark chocolate) actually has several health benefits when consumed in small amounts.
It has been shown to improve cardiovascular health, reduce stress, and can possibly help
to prevent diabetes.
Along with chocolate, ice cream is Melania's other big sweet indulgence. She says it's
good to eat those things "once in a while." This is a sharp contrast from her husband's
dessert preferences. In a Time exclusive, it was revealed that at dinner, "he [Trump]
gets two scoops of vanilla ice cream with his chocolate cream pie, instead of the single
scoop for everyone else."
Melania and Donald Trump also have similar drink preferences — though the amounts they
consume are vastly different. They both prefer Diet Coke — though Melania prefers to only
drink hers from glass bottles. Her husband seems to care less about the container, but
he definitely drinks more of it. A lot more. According to the New York Times, the president
drinks 12 cans of the soda every day.
The First Lady is a stickler when it comes to taking her vitamins. They're an essential
part of not just her diet, but also her beauty regimen. "I take vitamins and use a moisturizer
that's an oxygen cream," she said. "Everything is natural. It's A, C, and E, and I mix them
together. It's so important to care for your skin — inside and out from morning to night
(especially in the night!). You need to take makeup off and moisturize!"
At the end of the day, everything is about
moderation. "It's good to indulge cravings and your tastes once in a while," she said,
"as long as you balance those things with healthy foods."