Understanding Gisele's Lunch: What does Gisele eat for lunch?

October 2, 2025 •

4 min read

According to Gisele Bündchen's former personal chef, up to 80% of the supermodel's diet consists of vegetables. This dedication to a plant-based, whole-food diet is at the heart of her meals, which explains the common answer to the question: what does Gisele eat for lunch?.

Quick Summary

Gisele Bündchen's lunch typically consists of a whole-food, plant-based salad or a hearty vegetable soup, emphasizing fresh, organic ingredients. Her overall diet focuses on minimal processing, eschewing white sugar and white flour, and incorporating small amounts of animal protein.

Key Points

Plant-Based Focus: Gisele’s diet is approximately 80% plant-based, with lunch featuring a whole-food salad or vegetable soup.
Organic & Fresh Ingredients: She prioritizes using organic and locally sourced ingredients, often from her own garden.
Avoids Processed Foods: White sugar, white flour, and other processed items are completely avoided in her diet.
Small Portions of Protein: While mainly plant-based, her diet is flexitarian, incorporating small, occasional portions of high-quality, lean animal protein like chicken or wild salmon.
Emphasis on Gut Health: Simple, easy-to-digest foods are favored to promote gut health and overall vitality.
Seasonal Lunch Options: In addition to salads and soups, she enjoys lighter, seasonal options like homemade vegetable spring rolls in the summer.

The Shift Towards a Nutrient-Dense Lifestyle

In her youth, Gisele Bündchen openly admitted to a less-than-healthy lifestyle, relying on cheeseburgers, cigarettes, and caffeine. This led to intense panic attacks and a health crisis that became a catalyst for change. Guided by a naturopath, she underwent a complete dietary overhaul, prioritizing nutrient-dense, whole foods to combat her anxiety and restore her vitality. This journey from processed foods to mindful eating is a key part of her wellness narrative, and the results speak for themselves. She now views food as medicine and a critical component of her overall well-being.

Core Philosophy: Whole Foods, Mostly Plants

At the heart of Gisele's eating plan is a predominantly plant-based approach, which her former chef Allen Campbell described as 80% vegetables. This diet is rich in organic fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes, with a minimal and careful inclusion of animal protein. She strongly avoids processed foods, believing her body is a temple that deserves proper fuel. Her philosophy is less about strict dieting and more about cultivating healthy, sustainable habits. This means cooking simple, flavourful meals that don't overburden the digestive system with complex sauces and heavy ingredients. Her cookbook, Nourish, reflects this focus on simple, family-friendly recipes.

A Look at Gisele's Lunchtime Choices

So, what does Gisele eat for lunch? Her meals are a direct reflection of her core nutritional principles: fresh, simple, and plant-focused. Her primary lunchtime options are a substantial salad or a hearty soup.

Salads: A typical Gisele salad is not a simple side dish; it's a complete meal packed with fresh, organic vegetables, healthy fats, and sometimes a source of lean protein. She often includes avocado for creaminess and fullness, and might add seed crackers for texture and extra nutrients. A specific arugula and chicken salad recipe involves pounded chicken cutlets marinated in lemon and olive oil, cooked and served over fresh greens.

Soups: For cooler months or when she wants something comforting, Gisele turns to hearty vegetable soups. These are brimming with vegetables and often include nutrient-rich additions like chickpeas for protein and fibre. A homemade broth is a key component she preps in advance, enhancing flavour without relying on unhealthy additives.

Summer Rolls: A lighter, seasonal option she enjoys during warmer weather are fresh spring rolls. These are filled with crisp vegetables like cabbage, carrots, and cucumber, along with apple and avocado slices, and served with a simple tahini dipping sauce.

The Importance of Ingredient Sourcing and Preparation

Gisele's commitment to quality extends beyond simply what she eats, but also to where her food comes from. She places a high priority on organic and local ingredients, and famously grows her own vegetables in her garden during the spring and summer. This emphasis on fresh, seasonal produce ensures maximum flavour and nutrient content.

Her former chef emphasized the importance of planning ahead to maintain consistency in a healthy diet. Gisele follows this practice, preparing a weekly menu and keeping fresh, raw vegetables like carrots and cucumbers ready in the fridge for easy, nutritious snacks. This proactive approach makes it easier to stick to a wholesome eating plan, even with a busy schedule.

A Simple Food Approach for Better Digestion

Gisele's culinary philosophy also focuses on ease of digestion. She prefers simple meals and avoids heavy, complex sauces that can be hard on the digestive system. This approach supports gut health, which she views as a crucial aspect of overall wellness. By prioritizing simple preparation methods and whole ingredients, her body can more easily absorb the nutrients it needs to thrive.

Comparing Gisele's Past and Present Eating Habits

To truly appreciate Gisele's current disciplined approach, it helps to contrast it with her past eating habits. This comparison highlights the dramatic shift she undertook for her health.


Aspect	Past Habits (Early Career)	Current Habits (Present)
Lunch Type	Often unhealthy, processed options like cheeseburgers.	Predominantly plant-based salads or hearty soups.
Key Ingredients	Processed foods, refined sugars, and white flour.	Whole, organic vegetables, fruits, and grains.
Drinks	Heavy consumption of iced coffee and alcohol.	Warm lemon water, green juices, smoothies, herbal teas.
Dietary Philosophy	Unmindful, fueled by stress and convenience.	Mindful, viewing food as medicine to improve vitality and mental clarity.
Snacking	Included unhealthy options like junk food.	Nutrient-rich snacks like hummus with veggies or raw almonds.
Protein	Included various animal products without much consideration.	Small, occasional portions of high-quality, lean protein like fish or chicken.

Conclusion

So, what does Gisele eat for lunch? It's more than just a meal; it's a culmination of a holistic wellness philosophy rooted in whole, organic, and plant-based foods. Her lunches, whether a nutrient-packed salad or a nourishing soup, are designed to fuel her body with vitality rather than weigh it down. By prioritizing gut health, seasonal ingredients, and simple preparation, Gisele demonstrates that healthy eating can be both delicious and sustainable, a testament to her belief that her body is her sacred temple. For those inspired by her approach, her cookbook Nourish offers accessible, healthy recipes for the entire family.

For more of her wellness insights, her cookbook Nourish: Simple Recipes to Empower Your Body and Feed Your Soul is available on Amazon.

Frequently Asked Questions

Gisele Bündchen typically eats a large, nutrient-packed salad or a hearty vegetable soup for lunch. These meals are focused on whole, organic, and plant-based ingredients to provide sustained energy.

While her diet is primarily plant-based, she follows a flexitarian approach and occasionally includes a small portion of lean animal protein, such as chicken or fish, with her meals. However, lunch is often entirely plant-based.

Yes, Gisele loves to cook and often uses produce from her own organic garden. She also emphasizes simple, healthy meals that she prepares for her family.

Gisele avoids processed foods, most notably white sugar and white flour, which she considers harmful to her body. She also minimizes her intake of dairy and caffeine.

Gisele prefers simple, clean flavours and often uses a light dressing made from extra-virgin olive oil and fresh lemon juice. For her spring rolls, she uses a tahini dipping sauce.

No, in her younger years, Gisele consumed an unhealthy diet of fast food, cigarettes, and coffee, which she credits with triggering panic attacks. Her current diet is a result of a major lifestyle change prompted by her health struggles.

Her philosophy centers on whole-food, plant-based eating, viewing food as medicine to nourish her body and maintain vitality and mental clarity. She focuses on organic, simple, and clean ingredients for optimal health.