Billy Bob Thornton explains reasoning for 'very restricted' diet
Billy Bob Thornton has a "very restricted" list of foods he can eat due to various health issues.
Billy Bob Thornton's diet is "very restricted" due to rare health issues.
The Landman actor has a number of food allergies and believes his rare blood group has led to additional stomach issues, despite no studies definitively showing a clear link between blood type and help.
Speaking on the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast, Billy Bob explained: “Well, I'm allergic to wheat, dairy. I have type AB-negative blood, which is the rarest type in the world. It's, like, less than 1% of the population of the world has it.
"It means you have less digestive enzymes. That's one of the things that goes along with it."
The 70-year-old actor “grew up with a lot of allergies but “ate everything" and just assumed most people didn't feel good after meals.
He added: “I just assumed everybody felt like s--- after they ate. I didn't know. But anyway, I can't have dairy, wheat… can't eat meat, like, you know, pork or beef or any of that stuff.”
Host Howie quipped: “You've just listed the entire pyramid."
The presenter then quizzed the Bad Santa star on what he is actually able to eat, and Billy Bob said he had enjoyed a "bowl of blueberries" and a decaf coffee before the show.
He added: “But when I get home, it's, like, wide open.
“I'm going to have some gluten-free chips with some dairy-free cream cheese. So, I'm really looking forward to that.”
The discussion about Billy Bob's diet came after Howie recalled his son Alex, who is friends with the actor's son William, had an unusual snack at their house, “Bagels, cream cheese and ketchup.”
Billy Bob said: “That's a hillbilly bagel."
And Alex, who was at the recording, pitched in: “Yeah. No, it was really good.”
The Devil's Peak actor's restrictive diet recently lead to him creating another bizarre snack combination while at a Landman event with co-star Sam Elliott.
He said: “We were at this place, and normally in these green rooms, they got a spread. You can usually find something.
“And they had one little silver tray that was nothing but like salami and prosciutto and another tray full of crackers and stuff that I couldn't … all the starchy things were over here on this tray. But that's all they had. And I'm like, ‘Well, s***. I can't have any of this.'
“But in the middle of the cracker thing, they had some grapes. And I got a white grape. I'm like, ‘Okay, so I'll be bored as hell with this.' And then I saw some spicy Dijon mustard and I thought, ‘Now, I wonder.'
“It was one of the best things I ever had in my lifetime. So now it's become a thing for me.”
