What Did Steve Jobs Eat for Lunch? Exploring His Peculiar Diet

December 22, 2025 •

5 min read

Steve Jobs was a vegetarian for most of his life, often adopting an extreme fruitarian diet where he would eat only one or two kinds of fruit or vegetables for weeks at a time. What did Steve Jobs eat for lunch was therefore anything but conventional, and his dietary patterns reflected his intense, minimalist philosophy.

Quick Summary

Steve Jobs had highly peculiar and restrictive dietary habits that involved phases of fruitarianism and fasting, often eating the same food for weeks. He favored simple, organic fruits and vegetables, a pattern deeply intertwined with his minimalist philosophy and obsessive nature.

Key Points

Strictly Vegetarian: Throughout most of his life, Jobs maintained a vegetarian or vegan diet, avoiding meat and often dairy products.
Fruitarian Phases: He went through periods of strict fruitarianism, where he would consume only fruits for weeks at a time.
Extended Fasting: Jobs practiced prolonged fasting, sometimes for a week or more, based on his reading of the Mucusless Diet Healing System.
Single-Food Fixations: A key characteristic of his diet was an obsessive focus on one or two foods, such as apples or carrots, for extended periods.
Finicky Eater: Even in his later years, Jobs was notoriously picky and would often reject dishes prepared for him.
Philosophical Roots: His eating habits were linked to his ascetic and minimalist philosophies, believing they would heighten his clarity.
Later Diversification: Post-cancer diagnosis, his diet was reluctantly diversified to include fish and other proteins, though he remained selective.

Steve Jobs's Lifelong Obsession with Ascetic Diets

From his early days, Steve Jobs's relationship with food was driven by philosophical and minimalist ideas rather than simple nutrition. After reading Diet for a Small Planet in college, he swore off meat permanently and began a series of intense dietary experiments. These were not casual choices but extreme, obsessive behaviors that influenced his life and even the products he created, famously naming his company after returning from an apple farm. His search for heightened sensations and clarity through asceticism shaped his approach to every meal.

The Fruitarian and Vegan Phases

Jobs was a devout vegetarian for the majority of his life and, for many periods, adopted a strict vegan or fruitarian lifestyle. A fruitarian diet is one of the most restrictive forms of veganism, focusing primarily on consuming fruits. This often meant his lunches and dinners consisted of very simple fare, such as a large quantity of a single fruit or vegetable. For weeks at a time, he might eat only apples, carrots, or a simple salad. This extreme focus led to some notable anecdotes, such as his skin taking on a yellowish-orange hue from consuming so much carrot juice.

The Influence of Mucusless Diet Healing System

Jobs's diets became even more obsessive after reading Arnold Ehret's book, Mucusless Diet Healing System. Ehret's theories claimed that only fruits and starchless vegetables were healthy, as they supposedly prevented the body from forming harmful mucus. This led Jobs to fast for days, sometimes a week or more, breaking the fast with only water and leafy greens. This practice, which Jobs believed cleansed his body, was a key component of his dietary regimen for years and influenced his belief that a clean diet negated the need for daily showers or deodorant.

Evolution of Jobs's Diet in Later Life

After his cancer diagnosis in 2003, Jobs's dietary habits became even more complex. Initially, he used his extreme diets as a way to try and heal himself, against his doctors' advice. Following surgery and as his health deteriorated, his wife, Laurene Powell, began to incorporate more varied foods, including fish, into his meals to encourage him to eat and gain weight. Despite this, Jobs remained a finicky eater, often tasting several dishes before dismissing them all.

The Lunch Routine at Apple's Campus

During his time as CEO, lunch was a functional, rather than social, part of Jobs's day. Instead of using the break to unwind, he often used it as a testing ground for his employees' ideas and performance. This made lunch with him a high-pressure experience, resembling a job interview more than a casual meal. While he would typically eat simple fruit or vegetables from the company cafeteria, the real focus was on the intense discussion and challenge of his employees.

A Comparison of Steve Jobs's Diet Phases


Dietary Phase	Typical Lunches	Key Philosophical Drivers	Health Implications (Anecdotal)
Early Fruitarianism (Teen/College)	Apples, carrots, dates, almonds; carrot juice	Asceticism, purification, heightened senses	Carotenemia (skin turning orange), nutrient deficiencies
Mucusless Diet (Early Career)	Simple vegetables and water, long fasts	Arnold Ehret's mucus theory, body cleansing	Weakness, fatigue, potential ketosis-induced euphoria
Mid-Career Veganism/Vegetarianism	Simple pastas with vegetables (no butter), varied organic options	Minimalist living, focus on work, simple tastes	Picky eating, occasional deviation (eating eel sushi)
Post-Diagnosis (Later Years)	Fruit smoothies, fish, simple vegetable soups	Desperate attempts to heal, guided by doctors (sometimes ignored)	Severe weight loss, persistent pickiness, eating disorders

A Legacy of Minimalism and Obsession

Ultimately, what Steve Jobs ate for lunch was less about the food itself and more about his broader life philosophy. His diets, characterized by extreme simplicity and intense focus on specific foods for prolonged periods, were a manifestation of his obsessive personality. This same intensity that drove his dietary quirks was the force behind his revolutionary designs and relentless pursuit of perfection at Apple. His food choices were not just a personal habit but an expression of his core principles, linking his internal world with his public life and creative output.

Conclusion

While the exact composition of what Steve Jobs ate for lunch varied over time, his food choices consistently reflected his deeply ascetic, minimalist, and at times obsessive personality. From his periods of strict fruitarianism and fasting to his later, more moderated but still finicky eating habits, his diet was always a matter of intense personal philosophy. His lunches were not simple meals but a microcosm of his larger quest for purification and clarity, a pursuit that undoubtedly influenced his innovative vision and shaped the company he built.

Lists of foods and habits

List of Foods Steve Jobs Consumed

Apples (often for weeks at a time)
Carrots (including fresh carrot juice)
Dates and almonds
Simple pasta with raw tomatoes and corn
Steamed cauliflower and carrot salad
Odwalla organic juices
Lemongrass soup
Vegan pasta with basil
Fish (primarily in later years)
Vegan cake at his wedding

List of Food-Related Quirks and Habits

Fasting: Would undergo extended fasts lasting several days to a week.
Monogamous Eating: He would often eat only one or two foods for weeks on end.
Extreme Pickiness: Had a reputation for being exceptionally picky, and would dismiss dishes as inedible after a single taste.
Restaurant Demands: Insisted on special vegan meals, sometimes angering waiters when expectations were not met.
Purification: Believed his diet eliminated body odor, a theory his coworkers found flawed.

Key Takeaways About Steve Jobs's Diet

Asceticism: His extreme diets were rooted in a belief that minimalism and asceticism could heighten his senses and creativity.
Varied but Restrictive: While his specific food choices changed, they remained consistently limited, swinging between phases of veganism, fruitarianism, and simple vegetarianism.
Linked to Business: His dietary habits influenced his naming of Apple and his demanding approach to work, which he often extended to lunch meetings with employees.
Later Life Challenges: Post-diagnosis, his refusal to follow conventional dietary advice complicated his health and caused immense family strain.
Beyond the Meal: What Steve Jobs ate was never just about fueling his body; it was a deeply personal, philosophical act tied to his identity.

Frequently Asked Questions

Steve Jobs was a lifelong vegetarian and, at various times, a strict vegan or fruitarian. He was known for adopting extremely restrictive diets, sometimes eating only one or two food types for weeks on end.

No, he did not eat fruit exclusively throughout his entire life, but he did have extended periods of fruitarianism. His diet included other vegetables, simple pastas, and eventually some fish, particularly in his later years.

As a young man, Steve Jobs read Diet for a Small Planet and swore off meat for good. He was very strict about this and his biography notes an incident where he spat out soup after learning it contained butter.

When at Apple, his lunch was often a simple, minimalist affair, consistent with his fruitarian or vegan diet. The meal itself was often secondary to the intense business discussions he would hold with employees during the lunch break.

Ashton Kutcher, who played Jobs in a biopic and followed his diet, developed pancreatitis, and some nutritionists suggest Jobs's extreme diets could have caused nutrient deficiencies and placed a heavy burden on his pancreas. However, experts disagree on the exact connection between his diet and his pancreatic cancer.

According to his biographer, Walter Isaacson, the name 'Apple' came to Jobs while he was on one of his fruitarian diets and had just returned from an apple farm.

Inspired by books like Mucusless Diet Healing System, Jobs believed that fasting and purges would cleanse his body. He claimed it provided him with a sense of euphoria and enhanced his vitality.