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Nov 05, 2024

Here's What Woodrow Wilson Ate For Breakfast

When you look over the favorite foods of every U.S. president, you'll find several that make you shake your head, and a few that might have you running for the hills. But it's hard to get much

When you look over the favorite foods of every U.S. president, you'll find several that make you shake your head, and a few that might have you running for the hills. But it's hard to get much cringier than the way President Woodrow Wilson often started his day. Believe it or not, the favorite breakfast of the 28th president was reportedly two raw eggs stirred into a glass of Concord grape juice.

This "healthy breakfast," as he called it, must have been purple, viscous, and cold like a smoothie. Historians speculate that the White House doctor may have come up with the recipe to get more calories into Wilson, especially after a 1913 stroke seemed to sap his previous energy. The doctor also noted that the president was disinterested in food, but with items like this on the menu, who can blame him?

Let's look at what President Woodrow Wilson might've gotten out of this recipe. To start with, there was Salmonella. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) makes it clear that it is usually not safe to eat raw eggs, which may be contaminated with this bacteria. In fact, Salmonella is a leading cause of foodborne illness, hospitalizations, and deaths around the world, causing around 26,500 hospitalizations and 420 deaths per year in the U.S. alone. Yes, raw eggs are also a source of protein, calcium, and other important vitamins and minerals, but if you must eat them, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends choosing eggs that have been pasteurized to kill the Salmonella first.

How about the grape juice? Just 1 cup offers 70% of the daily recommended intake of vitamin C, so at least Wilson was getting plenty of that. Red and purple grapes, like the Concord grapes used in Wilson's recipe, also contain resveratrol, which may have some heart healthy benefits like protecting arteries from bad cholesterol and preventing blood clots. In the long run, though, if you're looking for a healthy breakfast drink that you can actually stomach, we recommend checking out our refreshing smoothie recipes instead.