sport news The most incredible diets in sport: Erling Haaland 6,000-calorie regime ... trends now
Sometimes you know how bizarre a list is by what doesn't make the cut.
When compiling this feature, Mail Sport came across the dietary distinctions of legendary Panaman jockey Laffit Pincay Jr.
He totalled 9,530 career wins on horseback and did so by eating half of what a toddler should - about 600-750 calories per day. Sometimes he would stick a sweet treat in his mouth, delight in the taste, and then spit it out to avoid the calories.
But Pincay Jr. doesn't make this list of the most incredible and strict sporting diets.
Below you'll find how Erling Haaland tucks into cow's hearts and livers, the off-piste regime Tom Brady follows, a footballer who eats like a caveman, and a few others.
A word of warning: if you enjoy the occasional Coca-Cola like I do, you'll face scorn from some of the names on this list. They're not your biggest fan.
Legendary Panaman jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. consumed half the recommended intake for a toddler and won 9,530 races
Atletico Madrid star Marcos Llorente swears by the Paleolithic diet, from cradle to casket.
'Paleolithic,' you say. 'Sounds like a museum exhibit.' And that's where you're right.
It's a modern interpretation of what we think our ancestors ate around 2.5 million years ago.
It involves swerving favourites such as pasta, bread, rice, and ultra-processed foods, and opting for the likes of potatoes, sweet potatoes and cassava.
'It would be eating what was eaten in the Paleolithic. You would have to eliminate all ultra-processed foods. Don't even look at them. And also cereals,' Llorente told 'El Larguero', a Cadena SER programme.
'Everything that is pasta, bread, wheat, rice, and also dairy outside. Only high-quality cheeses. I eat everything. Meat, like the steak that I love. Fish, eggs, vegetables. And carbohydrates like potatoes, sweet potatoes and cassava.'
'With the Paleolithic diet I will go 100 per cent. It is a lifestyle and a way of living. With that I will live and with that I will die. That's how it is. I do it for health, not because of football. I am clear that when I finish my career, I will continue to take care of myself just as much or more than now.'
Nuts are all good for him to get stuck into, as are seeds, salmon, olive oil, and all kinds of fruits.
Marcos Llorente swears by the Paleolitic diet, cutting out pasta, bread, rice and other processed foods
He eats regular potatoes, sweet potatoes and cassava and says he can't even look at processed foods
The 29-year-old footballer went as far as to say he would live and die by his strict diet
But Llorente gives a wide berth to salt, starchy vegetables, beans, lentils, and the off-limits food he mentioned above.
Clearly his 'caveman diet' is paying dividends. The 29-year-old is a regular in Atletico Madrid's team and has chipped in with six goals throughout this season.
He has almost completed five seasons under Diego Simeone's watchful eye, having transferred from bitter rivals Real Madrid, his boyhood club, in 2019.
It takes a lot to fuel the most dangerous striker in the Premier League. Cow hearts and livers can often be found on the menu - as referenced in Haaland: The Big Decision - the documentary made around his move to Manchester City.
However, with 6,000 calories a day to devour, it can't all be left to clean living.
Don't be surprised if you see the gigantic Norwegian lumbering around your local kebab shop, like some Scandinavian facsimile of Luke Littler.
'I really like kebab (meat),' Haaland said, before clarifying: 'I love it.'
'That doesn’t mean I eat it all the time. I eat it a couple of times a year when I’m in my hometown - I almost never eat it, but it’s still my favourite food.'
Erling Haaland revealed that his bizarre diet of heart and liver has helped him develop
The Manchester City striker lifted the lid on his bizarre 6,000 calorie a day diet - including cow's hearts
His craving for meat doesn't stop there. Alongside kebabs, Haaland, 23, has a penchant for steak, lobsters, oysters, duck, Indian food, and Chinese sweet and sour chicken.
He has also been known to request cheese and ham omelettes from Manchester City's culinary whizzes at the training ground.
As he revealed in a documentary called Haaland: The Big Decision: 'You other people don't eat this [heart and liver], but I am concerned with taking care of my body.
'I think eating quality food that is as local as possible is the most important.
'Or the local cow eating grass right over there? I eat the heart and the liver.
'The first thing I do in the morning is to get some sunlight in my eyes — it is good for circadian rhythm.
'I have also started to filtrate my water a bit. I think it can have great benefits for my body.'
Oh, and don't forget milk. The boy likes his milk. Last season, he called it his 'magic potion'.
The 22-year-old also revealed that he only drinks water through a complicated filter system
There is plenty of milk, which Haaland called his 'magic potion' as he broke records last season
The Manchester City star is arguably the most formidable person in world football, so his diet clearly works
Why have three meals a day when you can have six?
That's the logic followed by Cristiano Ronaldo, who admittedly has the budget to allow such indulgence.
The Manchester United legend has six miniature dishes each day, all packed with protein.
He has indentured a nutritionist since his Real Madrid days - doesn't every footballer? - and loves tucking in to nutrient-rich foods such as avocado and fresh fish (as opposed to rotten fish, presumably).
His favourite options from the sea include swordfish, sea bass, sea bream and cod.
Chicken is a staple for him because it's high in protein but low in fat, while he is also staunchly opposed to alcohol and sugary drinks.
Eggs, sweet potatoes, broccoli, and quinoa also make up his diet.
When Ronaldo returned to Manchester United in 2021, third-choice goalkeeper Lee Grant said that he instantly raised the dietary standards of the team.
Cristiano Ronaldo finds the time to eat six small meals throughout the day
From chicken, a strict napping schedule and at-home cryotherapy, Ronaldo leaves no stone unturned in his bid to be the best
He said: 'Not one player touched the apple crumble and custard [after the first game], not one player went up for that brownie because everybody was sat down. One of the lads said to me, "What has Cristiano got on his plate?"
'So we were having a little goosey gander at what he has got and obviously it is the cleanest, most healthy plate you can imagine. And it just cracked me up how not one single player dared get up and have that junk food that was laid out.'
For breakfast, Ronaldo often opts for cheese, ham, and low-fat yogurt, while he also enjoys avocado toast as a snack.
Unsurprisingly, Ronaldo avoids alcohol and he is also notoriously adverse to sugary drinks.
At Euro 2020, he pointedly removed two Coco-Cola bottles which were sat in front of him in a press conference, proud sponsors of the tournament.
