The Healthy Diet Michael Caine Credits With His Long Life
Sir Michael Caine is that bridge between old and new Hollywood. His iconic career spans multiple decades and his longevity as an actor is the stuff that movie magic is made of. Many of us think of Caine as Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne's loyal butler in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, which featured Christian Bale as the cape crusader. But per IMDb, the British actor truly captured the world's attention by playing the lead in the 1966 movie Alfie, which earned Caine a nomination for an Academy Award for best actor.
Caine's movie career only got better from there, starring in film upon film, showing his breadth and depth as an actor. Whether he is playing a comedic role alongside the likes of Mike Myers in Austin Powers or something more serious, like The Cider House Rules (for which he won his second Oscar), Caine brings an incredible presence to the story being told on the big screen.
Britannica shares that the legend has starred in well over 100 movies. And while age is just a number, it does make us wonder: Where does the 88-year-old actor get all of his energy, and what has contributed to his healthy and productive life? It might surprise you to learn that according to Hollywood.com, Caine credits his wife of 48 years — his "right hand man," as he calls her — along with his restrictive diet for his good health and long life.
No sugar allowed
Hollywood.com explains that Caine was heavily influenced by the Golden State, where he lived and worked for over 50 years. Per the entertainment site, Caine revealed to the UK publication, The Times in 2016, "I lived in California for 10 years, and have been working there for 50, so I am very Californian about diet. I don't eat sugar and salt and stuff like that. I walk about two miles a day and all the bread is gluten-free."
But there's more to it than just having fallen under the California influence. Caine really had an understanding of how healthy life can be without sugar's sweetness well before he graced the big screen. In 2018, the award winning actor shared with NPR's Ari Shapiro that, "In the war, the only food you could get was organic food, because they used all the chemicals in explosives. And so for six years, all we ate was organic food, and there was no sugar. And all these things that we worry about so much now, in the war you couldn't get them, so — so we all grow up, sort of, very healthily in the war." In fact, Shapiro is quick to point out that in Caine's book Blowing the Bloody Doors Off: And Other Lessons in Life, Caine details how his childhood and World War II actually shaped him into a "healthy person."
His guilty pleasure involves bacon
But Caine, who is clearly a gifted actor and full of wisdom, is no different from the rest of us. While he is able to resist sugary confections and desserts, Caine admitted that he can be tempted by the siren song of a bacon sandwich. Who can't, right? That salty, crunchy meat has a magic all its own and can indeed be kryptonite for dieters. But Caine notes, "If you don't eat them (often) you can have them and really enjoy them."
Of course, California and Hollywood life can also impart other influences that negate all of the positive healthy living. The state ranks 24th in excessive and binge drinking according to the United Health Foundation's America's Health Rankings for 2020. Caine acknowledge in a conversation with Radio Times, a weekly British magazine, that he turned to alcohol to relieve stress. Per The Guardian, Caine said, "I was a bit of a p*** artist when I was younger. I used to drink a bottle of vodka a day and I was smoking several packs a day."
His wife saved him
Caine went on to explain, "I wasn't unhappy, but it was stress. You know, 'Am I going to get another picture? How am I going to do this part?'" But his wife Shakira (pictured with him, above) brought him back on track and got him to stop the heavy drinking, putting him on a healthy path. In fact, Caine said that his life would be very different if it weren't for her and he might very well be dead on account of his bad habits. Shakira sounds like an incredible all round partner, wife, and human being.
So, what motivates The Dark Knight costar? His grandkids, of course! Caine told The Sun that he wants to be healthy so he can be around for them. We definitely wish that for Sir Michael and his family, and that he makes a few more movies in the process. And lucky for us, Caine feels the same way. He quipped to The Sun about his future working in the movie industry: "The film business will have to give me up, not the other way around."