THIS GUY ATE PIZZA EVERY DAY FOR 25 YEARS, AND LIVED TO TELL THE TALE

[Gingersnap]

THIS GUY ATE PIZZA EVERY DAY FOR 25 YEARS, AND LIVED TO TELL THE TALE
Here's what he (and we) have learned from his oddball diet.

By Megan Friedman on July 16, 2014 267 35 1
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As the saying goes, pizza is like sex. Even if it’s bad, it’s still pizza. And just like sex, there are people out there addicted to pizza.

Meet Dan Janssen, a Maryland man who has gained a minor level of fame for eating pizza every day for 25 years. In a mini-documentary produced by Vice, Janssen talks about the repercussions of his oddball diet. Here are five key lessons.


Pizza obsession is deeper than just a food preference.

Janssen says his picky diet likely stems from a few traumatic experiences as a kid, and he’s working with a therapist to figure out his food aversion. Combine that with a vegetarian diet and a simultaneous hatred for vegetables, and you get his insistence on only eating plain cheese pizza every day.

But a weird diet won’t stop you from finding love.

The documentary introduces us to Janssen’s saintly fiancée, who puts up with his pizza diet – but certainly doesn’t like it. She encourages him to diversify his diet for the good of his health. She’s now convinced him to drink a healthy smoothie every day for breakfast.

It will, however, make you Internet famous.

After a Vice article introduced him to the world, he’s been bombarded with emails, spokesperson offers and interview requests. He’s been dubbed the Pizza King and a “hero” to gluttons around the world.

A pizza-centric diet might not kill you. At least not quickly.

Janssen, who has diabetes, insists his diet doesn’t affect his disease and that doctors have given him a clean bill of health. His fiancée is skeptical. “We’re all gonna die,” Janssen says. “I’m gonna die with pizza in my stomach.”

You should probably still eat vegetables, though.

Janssen says he almost never touches veggies, but once ate a pizza with mushrooms on it, and it was OK. “But why would I eat a carrot when I could eat a pizza?” he said in an interview. Medical professionals can likely come up with a few reasons.

Interesting. The guy is a thin, fit, Type 1 diabetic who is apparently hitting his A1C and other goals.

The emotional crazy stories like these generate is amazing. I belong to a picky eating group myself. Part of my issue is the OCD and part is sensory. I have a wide enough spectrum of foods to manage well although if left to my own devices, I'd normally eat only a quarter of those items. Frankly, eating exactly the same every day for a week not only doesn't bother me - I'd prefer it. There's a core menu I never tire of and it takes me about 1-2 months to tire of some other things.

This bothers other people a lot more than it bothers me. Somehow, the idea that person just never eats fruit or salad or whatever strikes a real nerve with people.

Esquire

[Adam]

I don't particularly care one way or the other. As noted, the guy is fit, trim, etc. I doubt one could really draw a straight line between an all-pizza diet and diabetes. Maybe, but I'd bet there's probably as much a genetic factor there as anything else.

Before I got towards the bottom, I was going to say that it's absolutely possible to include some perfectly good vegetables on a "pizza diet" and still get at least somewhat balanced nutrition. Lots of "white pizza" has spinach on it, I've had pizza with broccoli on it (surprisingly good), I personally love pineapple on pizza, onions and mushrooms do have some value as vegetables, as do olives and peppers and such. And despite all of the tittering over the years, one really can't deny that there is some nutritional value to the tomato sauce used on a typical pizza.

I certainly wouldn't advocate for an all-pizza diet, and I definitely wouldn't have one myself (I like too many other things), but pizza IS pretty versatile if one wants it to be. The biggest downside, I would think, would be that it's pretty difficult to have a pizza that isn't loaded with some less-than-desirable fats, either from the cheese(s) or from the meats. But I think that some of the worry over that is a bit overrated anyway.

[Gingersnap]

His Type 1 diabetes happened at or shortly after his his pizza thing. I doubt they are related since
Type 1 can happen to children and adolescents regardless of body mass or nutrition.

It might be that he determined that a specific amount of one type of pizza at specific times made it much easier to be in control of his blood sugar.

The current ADA guidelines virtually ensure that diabetics will experience erratic blood sugar due to the liberal use of "healthy whole grains". This guy has the right idea in terms of rigid times, types, and amounts of food.

[Celeste Chalfonte]

As an oldest child, I never had the option of being a picky eater. Somehow, even during what I call "the spaghetti years" (when dinner was usually some variation on spaghetti, because it was inexpensive and filling), my sister managed to be a picky eater. She still is. Like this clown, she styles herself a vegetarian, although she somehow exempts pepperoni and hotdogs, but unlike him, she is most definitely NOT fit and thin. Her diet is fairly heavily tipped toward the pizza end of the spectrum, but let someone try to plan a healthy, balanced meal and she self-righteously makes herself a massive plate of raw vegetables that are NOT on the menu for everyone else at that meal.

I did not tolerate classic picky-eater behavior from HRH, but neither did I force food on her. She has some issues with food textures, but she will try almost anything once, and has the grace to be sorry she doesn't eat what everyone else does. She doesn't make a production of it, and will happily eat plain white rice when there's nothing else she can eat. Oh, and she's fit and slender. She doesn't enjoy "food holidays" like Thanksgiving; now that she's able to drive, I just let her do something else while I spend Thanksgiving dinner with friends or family.

[Frostbit]

Interesting. The guy is a thin, fit, Type 1 diabetic who is apparently hitting his A1C and other goals.

The emotional crazy stories like these generate is amazing. I belong to a picky eating group myself. Part of my issue is the OCD and part is sensory. I have a wide enough spectrum of foods to manage well although if left to my own devices, I'd normally eat only a quarter of those items. Frankly, eating exactly the same every day for a week not only doesn't bother me - I'd prefer it. There's a core menu I never tire of and it takes me about 1-2 months to tire of some other things.

This bothers other people a lot more than it bothers me. Somehow, the idea that person just never eats fruit or salad or whatever strikes a real nerve with people.

Esquire

How do you know that?

[Gingersnap]

I have thought about this a lot. From my perspective, there are 3 kinds of people designated as 'picky eaters' and they aren't interchangeable.

Most commonly you have small children who absolutely prefer certain foods but will eat other foods if there is no alternative given for 48 hours or so. They don't like the new food but will eat it and keep it down.

Then you have kids who reject certain tastes and certain textures but they have a fairly wide food menu - just not one that encompasses parental/cultural favorites. They can eat aversive foods but it destroys their pleasure in eating and by extension - their pleasure in the social aspects of eating.

Beyond that you have people who reject foods by gagging or vomiting when they are forced to eat them. The trigger is usually sensory but the habit and aversion becomes psychological when well meaning people force the person to "keep trying" whatever.

Imagine that you were at a family dinner and your Mom put a healthy portion of hot shit on your plate and expected you to "just try 3 bites". Or worse, expected you to eat all the cold shit hours later.

I'm not advocating for custom foods for children - my mother didn't run a cafeteria as she often said. I'm just saying that nobody is going to die if they don't conform to current cultural demands when it comes to foods.

If a child will only eat butter sandwiches but they have a good weight, shiny hair, lots of energy, and do well in school - relax a little. Chances are, he or she will expand their menu a bit later.

[Michele]

As an oldest child, I never had the option of being a picky eater. Somehow, even during what I call "the spaghetti years" (when dinner was usually some variation on spaghetti, because it was inexpensive and filling), my sister managed to be a picky eater. She still is. Like this clown, she styles herself a vegetarian, although she somehow exempts pepperoni and hotdogs, but unlike him, she is most definitely NOT fit and thin. Her diet is fairly heavily tipped toward the pizza end of the spectrum, but let someone try to plan a healthy, balanced meal and she self-righteously makes herself a massive plate of raw vegetables that are NOT on the menu for everyone else at that meal.

I did not tolerate classic picky-eater behavior from HRH, but neither did I force food on her. She has some issues with food textures, but she will try almost anything once, and has the grace to be sorry she doesn't eat what everyone else does. She doesn't make a production of it, and will happily eat plain white rice when there's nothing else she can eat. Oh, and she's fit and slender. She doesn't enjoy "food holidays" like Thanksgiving; now that she's able to drive, I just let her do something else while I spend Thanksgiving dinner with friends or family.

That might be a deal breaker for me as her mom.

[Celeste Chalfonte]

I have thought about this a lot. From my perspective, there are 3 kinds of people designated as 'picky eaters' and they aren't interchangeable.

Most commonly you have small children who absolutely prefer certain foods but will eat other foods if there is no alternative given for 48 hours or so. They don't like the new food but will eat it and keep it down.

Then you have kids who reject certain tastes and certain textures but they have a fairly wide food menu - just not one that encompasses parental/cultural favorites. They can eat aversive foods but it destroys their pleasure in eating and by extension - their pleasure in the social aspects of eating.

Beyond that you have people who reject foods by gagging or vomiting when they are forced to eat them. The trigger is usually sensory but the habit and aversion becomes psychological when well meaning people force the person to "keep trying" whatever.

Imagine that you were at a family dinner and your Mom put a healthy portion of hot shit on your plate and expected you to "just try 3 bites". Or worse, expected you to eat all the cold shit hours later.

I'm not advocating for custom foods for children - my mother didn't run a cafeteria as she often said. I'm just saying that nobody is going to die if they don't conform to current cultural demands when it comes to foods.

If a child will only eat butter sandwiches but they have a good weight, shiny hair, lots of energy, and do well in school - relax a little. Chances are, he or she will expand their menu a bit later.

Exactly. And that philosophy (encouraging experimentation but not forcing it) has gotten me a healthy kid who not only prefers broccoli to McDonald's, but will stop eating when she has had enough.

[Celeste Chalfonte]

That might be a deal breaker for me as her mom.

She's happy to come visit with people after the gorging is over. She just doesn't enjoy sitting at a table watching people eat. And since the only Thanksgiving foods she likes are my homemade cranberry sauce and Nova's cornbread, the spread itself is no inducement. She'd rather have those two things for breakfast the day after.

[Adam]

I have thought about this a lot. From my perspective, there are 3 kinds of people designated as 'picky eaters' and they aren't interchangeable.

Most commonly you have small children who absolutely prefer certain foods but will eat other foods if there is no alternative given for 48 hours or so. They don't like the new food but will eat it and keep it down.

Then you have kids who reject certain tastes and certain textures but they have a fairly wide food menu - just not one that encompasses parental/cultural favorites. They can eat aversive foods but it destroys their pleasure in eating and by extension - their pleasure in the social aspects of eating.

Beyond that you have people who reject foods by gagging or vomiting when they are forced to eat them. The trigger is usually sensory but the habit and aversion becomes psychological when well meaning people force the person to "keep trying" whatever.

Imagine that you were at a family dinner and your Mom put a healthy portion of hot shit on your plate and expected you to "just try 3 bites". Or worse, expected you to eat all the cold shit hours later.

I'm not advocating for custom foods for children - my mother didn't run a cafeteria as she often said. I'm just saying that nobody is going to die if they don't conform to current cultural demands when it comes to foods.

If a child will only eat butter sandwiches but they have a good weight, shiny hair, lots of energy, and do well in school - relax a little. Chances are, he or she will expand their menu a bit later.

Watching the video and reading the longer article, it seems pretty apparent that this guy has some manner of fairly deep-seated psychological problem. I had managed to miss before that he will only eat cheese-alone pizza. He refuses to eat any manner of vegetable topping on a pizza and also will not eat any manner of meat because it offends his sensibilities (he just decided that vegetarianism was "morally correct" when he was 15 years old; I don't guess anyone has bothered explaining to him that eggs are used to make that pizza crust a lot of times).

This is rather different from someone making a lifestyle choice that may not be popular or "accepted" in modern American society. He's got some sort of problem when he has literally pigeon-holed himself solely into eating bread with some tomato sauce and some cheese melted on top. And his fiancée is not really doing him any favors by enabling him.

Guy can do what he wants, and I'm not saying he should be institutionalized or anything like that, but some people need a kick in the pants sometimes, and this guy is one of them.

[Gingersnap]

Watching the video and reading the longer article, it seems pretty apparent that this guy has some manner of fairly deep-seated psychological problem. I had managed to miss before that he will only eat cheese-alone pizza. He refuses to eat any manner of vegetable topping on a pizza and also will not eat any manner of meat because it offends his sensibilities (he just decided that vegetarianism was "morally correct" when he was 15 years old; I don't guess anyone has bothered explaining to him that eggs are used to make that pizza crust a lot of times).

This is rather different from someone making a lifestyle choice that may not be popular or "accepted" in modern American society. He's got some sort of problem when he has literally pigeon-holed himself solely into eating bread with some tomato sauce and some cheese melted on top. And his fiancée is not really doing him any favors by enabling him.

Guy can do what he wants, and I'm not saying he should be institutionalized or anything like that, but some people need a kick in the pants sometimes, and this guy is one of them.

He's not eating veggies or eggs because he has a moral issue, he's not eating it because he doesn't like it. The fact that his pizza crust may contain eggs or whatever is not his issue.

That's the thing - people who don't have this issue want to frame it in ways that are understandable. It's not understandable.

I have no logical argument against fruit. I know that berries have tons of nutrients and people love that stuff. I can gag down some strawberries or cherries. I can marginally deal with fruit pie. I can eat a raw apple with cheese (not without).

But if all fruit suddenly cost $14.00 per pound, I would never eat any and I wouldn't miss it. I only fake the fruit-eating thing to fit in. To me, fruit has a slimy texture and a somewhat repulsive smell. I eat it in company to to pass socially - I would never eat any fruit aside from tomatoes if I could get away with it without some tedious lecture. There are many fruits I won't eat regardless of the social cost - I'd barf.

This is my point - not eating some social food because you are making a psychological/egoistic deal isn't the same as being repulsed physically by a food.

People say, "Well, if you were starving - you'd eat it". Yeah, and if I was starving I might eat YOU. That doesn't mean that I'd be "okay" with cannibalism.

[phillygirl]

She's happy to come visit with people after the gorging is over. She just doesn't enjoy sitting at a table watching people eat. And since the only Thanksgiving foods she likes are my homemade cranberry sauce and Nova's cornbread, the spread itself is no inducement. She'd rather have those two things for breakfast the day after.

Like Michele, that would be a deal breaker for me as well. But good that she eats when she's had enough. I read something a few months ago that the French tend to ask their children if they are no longer hungry, rather than if they are full. Great way to look at food.

I have numerous food issues. However I generally love food, and most things i will try once. Deal breakers: tuna fish (not tuna, but that nasty stuff in a can, frequently mixed with mayo...I will barf) and manufactured coconut crap (but again, fresh coconut I will eat). And I can only eat one thing on my plate at a time. I drive people nuts at Thanksgiving because I can't stand the whole pile on the plate thingy. Because of that I can only take a few things at a time, so that they aren't overly touching each other. It's okay if there is a little spill over, but I don't really like for there not to be clearly defined places on my plate. And I eat meat first, vegetables second, starch third. It used to be in order of yuckiest first, now it's more to try to be full before I get to the stuff that I really love, but is bad for me.

[Adam]

He's not eating veggies or eggs because he has a moral issue, he's not eating it because he doesn't like it. The fact that his pizza crust may contain eggs or whatever is not his issue.

That's the thing - people who don't have this issue want to frame it in ways that are understandable. It's not understandable.

I have no logical argument against fruit. I know that berries have tons of nutrients and people love that stuff. I can gag down some strawberries or cherries. I can marginally deal with fruit pie. I can eat a raw apple with cheese (not without).

But if all fruit suddenly cost $14.00 per pound, I would never eat any and I wouldn't miss it. I only fake the fruit-eating thing to fit in. To me, fruit has a slimy texture and a somewhat repulsive smell. I eat it in company to to pass socially - I would never eat any fruit aside from tomatoes if I could get away with it without some tedious lecture. There are many fruits I won't eat regardless of the social cost - I'd barf.

This is my point - not eating some social food because you are making a psychological/egoistic deal isn't the same as being repulsed physically by a food.

People say, "Well, if you were starving - you'd eat it". Yeah, and if I was starving I might eat YOU. That doesn't mean that I'd be "okay" with cannibalism.

Meh. I don't eat or not eat anything because XYZ is healthy or not (within reason; I don't drink drain cleaner because I know that shit will kill me pretty much immediately, and my guess is that it probably tastes pretty bad). I don't ever make a conscious decision to, say, eat broccoli because I think/believe/know/understand that broccoli is good for me as a dark green vegetable. I eat it because I like it. I don't eat spinach because I think it's good for me. I eat spinach only a couple of ways: raw, as in a salad, or in rare cases in which it's cooked into something (spinach dip, white pizza, etc.), and I eat it that way because I like it.

By the same token, I don't really make a decision to eat or not eat something because it's supposedly bad for me, either: I won't not eat a steak or a burger or prime rib on Sunday or eggs or whatever because it's allegedly "bad for me." Sometimes I prefer chicken or pork or whatever, just a mood, I guess, but I don't let the other stuff dictate my life nor my eating habits.

I eat fruits that I like. I eat vegetables that I like. I like apples. I like pears. I like peaches. I like pineapple. I don't like grapefruit, honeydew, or cantaloupe, so I don't eat them. I like most vegetables, but some I don't: beets, brussels sprouts, cooked/steamed spinach all by itself, and mushrooms (I know: not really a vegetable) I don't really much care for (I'll eat mushrooms on a pizza or in a salad or something, but I don't much care for them on a steak or anything like that). I like most berries, but I don't like strawberries. With very little exception, I do not like fish at all (I like shrimp; I can't stand lobster).



The thing is, there's a pretty wide gulf between you not caring for fruit or me not caring for fish and someone who literally only consumes bread, tomato sauce, and cheese.

[Gingersnap]

The thing is, there's a pretty wide gulf between you not caring for fruit or me not caring for fish and someone who literally only consumes bread, tomato sauce, and cheese.

Nope, there's a huge gulf. I never do the food calculus that you have described.

I would cheerfully never eat any fruit under any circumstances. I would never eat most vegetables if I lived alone. I would eat nothing but homemade soup and homemade bread between September and June if I could. I would eat only meat/fish and very limited vegetables between July and September.

It's not a matter of "caring" for this or that - I actively dislike those foods. I entertain a lot and I am entertained a lot, I'm an excellent cook, as a person involved with chemistry - I have a deep curiosity with food preparation.

I just don't like the smell, texture, taste, or visual aspect of a lot of foods. It's not a preference - I think those foods taste bad.

[Celeste Chalfonte]

Like Michele, that would be a deal breaker for me as well. But good that she eats when she's had enough. I read something a few months ago that the French tend to ask their children if they are no longer hungry, rather than if they are full. Great way to look at food.

I have numerous food issues. However I generally love food, and most things i will try once. Deal breakers: tuna fish (not tuna, but that nasty stuff in a can, frequently mixed with mayo...I will barf) and manufactured coconut crap (but again, fresh coconut I will eat). And I can only eat one thing on my plate at a time. I drive people nuts at Thanksgiving because I can't stand the whole pile on the plate thingy. Because of that I can only take a few things at a time, so that they aren't overly touching each other. It's okay if there is a little spill over, but I don't really like for there not to be clearly defined places on my plate. And I eat meat first, vegetables second, starch third. It used to be in order of yuckiest first, now it's more to try to be full before I get to the stuff that I really love, but is bad for me.

Girl, you can't have your food touch, but somebody else's food issues are a deal-breaker? Seriously??????

What deal does this break? Would you and Michele force the kid to sit at the table? For what?