As she puts it, "Food is a political issue."
Her criticism of the food system becomes even more pointed when she says, “If you have the money, you can buy food. If you have the money and the political power, you can buy the nutrition advice you want.” And perhaps most bluntly, she has said, “The food industry is not your friend.”
In her newer 2025 book, What to Eat Now: The Indispensable Guide to Good Food, How to Find It, and Why It Matters, Nestle revisits and updates ideas from her earlier book, What to Eat.
Her message remains remarkably practical: eat real food, emphasize fruits and vegetables, choose less-processed foods, don't eat too much, and enjoy what you eat. She also emphasizes that food choices aren't just about nutrition - they also involve taste, price, freshness, environmental considerations, and how food is produced and marketed.
So, What Does Marion Nestle Actually Eat?
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Still, at 90 years old, it's hard not to be curious about what one day of eating looks like for someone who has spent a lifetime studying food.
So, let's take a peek.
Breakfast
Marion Nestle often starts her morning with coffee and milk, without sugar. She may not eat solid food until later in the morning, when she might have oatmeal or shredded wheat with fruit, such as blueberries.
Nestle believes people should eat when they're hungry, rather than feeling obligated to eat simply because it's breakfast time. She has also questioned the long-standing message that breakfast is the “most important meal of the day,” pointing out that some research supporting that idea has been sponsored by cereal companies.
She's less enthusiastic about many conventional breakfast cereals. In her book, she notes that some cereals contain so much sugar and so many additives that “they might as well be cookies.”
Lunch
Lunch is often simple and plant-focused. A salad with cheese, peanuts, and bread is one example of what she has described eating.
Dinner
Dinner often includes plenty of vegetables, along with foods such as eggs, cheese, or crackers. When dining out, she may also have fish.
Homemade meals are generally best. “If someone else prepares the food, you have no idea what is in it,” Nestle writes in her book. “Even salads and vegetables from takeout places will almost certainly have more calories, fat, sugar, and salt than you would use at home.”
Still, Nestle likes eating out, so when she’s at a restaurant, she simply tries to avoid overeating.
Treats
Nestle doesn't believe healthy eating means never enjoying treats. She has mentioned enjoying ginger ice cream, and peanut brittle.
Supplements
Interestingly, she says she doesn't take dietary supplements. She prefers to get her nutrients from food.
What's on her grocery list
Nestle focuses on real, minimally processed foods, often choosing foods with just one ingredient or a short, recognizable ingredient list. As she puts it, “I prefer organic if I can get it, and I'm fortunate in being able to afford it.”
Her grocery cart might include berries, lettuce, carrots, peppers, cereal, eggs, cheese, milk, and yogurt. And she has a particular soft spot for cheese, writing, “I view cheese as one of life’s greatest pleasures.” She enjoys it but pays attention to portions because cheese can be high in fat and calories.
Nestle does eat meat, but not very much. She also tends to skip the snack-food aisle, favoring simple snacks such as fruit, carrot sticks, and nuts. When she does buy packaged foods, she looks for products with short ingredient lists, recognizable ingredients, and as little added salt and sugar as possible.
Exercise
Nestle doesn't follow a formal exercise routine or spend time at the gym. Instead, she incorporates movement into her everyday life. As she explains, “I live in New York - that's it. I don't do anything else. I don't go to gyms. I take the subway. If you take the subway, you have to be able to walk upstairs.”
Her philosophy is to simply keep doing what she is capable of doing. A physical therapist once told her, “If you can do it today, you can do it tomorrow.” Nestle says she thought that was amazing advice - and she has made it part of her approach to staying active.