Vincent Van Gogh’s birthday is coming up March 30th, and I sure wish he’d eaten more bacon, the ultimate “feel good” food. Van Gogh spent most of his short life lonely, impoverished and certifiably mad, with self-mutilating behaviors that included burning his fingers, cutting off part of his ear, killing his brain cells with absinthe, and ending it all at age 37 with a gun.
Would bacon have made everything better? Hard to say, but it’s certainly possible. As discussed in depth here, bacon could have increased his Vitamin D levels, improved his fatty acid profile, helped his body detoxify turpentine, aided his attempts to quit absinthe, stabilized his blood sugar, stopped the mood swings, reduced anxiety, enhanced his coping skills and even him helped him sleep. What’s more, bacon’s salt and savory sweetness could have reduced any feelings of deprivation and lack.
Van Gogh though preferred not to eat meat. In W. H. Auden’s 1961 book Van Gogh: A Self-Portrait; Letters Revealing His Life as a Painter, we learn he would eat only a “little morsel on Sundays, and then only after being urged by our landlady for a long time. Four potatoes with a suspicion of gravy and a mouthful of vegetable constituted his whole dinner.” No wonder he was mentally and physically malnourished. Vegans, I suppose, will claim the fault lay in that “little morsel” of meat and the “suspicion of gravy.”
Would Van Gogh have been pleased to see “Starry Night,” his most famous work, swirling about the internet in a version done with strips of bacon? Probably not, but the good news is if he’s rolling in his grave, he might get up and start painting again. As for the rest of us, laughter is good medicine, an invitation not to take ourselves too seriously, and a much needed reminder that bacon the “feel good” food might be just the thing to support our inner pig.
Kaayla Daniel
Kaayla T. Daniel, PhD, CCN, is The Naughty NutritionistTM because of her ability to outrageously and humorously debunk nutritional myths. A popular guest on radio and television, she has appeared on The Dr. Oz Show, ABC's View from the Bay, NPR's People's Pharmacy and numerous other shows. Her own radio show, "Naughty Nutrition with Dr. Kaayla Daniel," launches April 2011 on World of Women Radio. Dr. Daniel is the author of The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America's Favorite Health Food, a popular speaker at Wise Traditions and other conferences, and recipient of its 2005 Integrity in Science Award. Her website is www.naughtynutritionist.com and she can be reached at Kaayla@DrKaaylaDaniel.com.
There is a controversial article in the December 2014 issue of Vanity Fair about Van Gogh. While he was indeed ridiculed where ever he lived and did in fact mutilate his own ear, the researchers assert he did not commit suicide with a gun. He was shot by a local teenage boy.