Chace Crawford, 40, says he believes balance is the key to staying healthy. In an interview with GQ published Tuesday, the "Gossip Girl" actor spoke about his diet and pushed back on the modern obsession with optimizing health. "I generally eat healthy, but I don't exclude anything," Crawford told GQ, adding that he feels "lucky" to have naturally gravitated toward healthier habits early in his career. The actor said he enjoys cooking. "I make a lot of my own meals, my own food, and eat at home mostly, even if it's a quick lunch or breakfast. I usually make breakfast," he said. Crawford added that one thing he started doing differently is delaying his morning cup of coffee.
While coffee has been linked to a huge range of health benefits, like a reduced risk of certain cancers, too much caffeine can cause indigestion, anxiety, and an increased heart rate. Sports nutritionists and scientists previously told Business Insider that people should cut off caffeine by early afternoon to avoid disrupting sleep.
While this morning habit worked for him, Crawford says he is generally skeptical of wellness advice popularized online.
"None of that stuff is gospel to me. I think the optimization thing is funny. I listen to a million podcasts. Diet stuff has always interested me, and I take it with a grain of salt. It's never like, 'Oh, I got to do this' or hop on this fad or this trend. In fact, the trends make you more skeptical," he said. The actor said people can sometimes get too caught up in extreme health advice online. "Dude, it's gotten so crazy. If you listen to anything, you can go down a rabbit hole on Google, and you can find a whole negative argument against blueberries! You know how to eat right. It's the whole foods, the unprocessed things," he said. While Crawford tries to avoid ultra-processed foods, he says he'll still "eat any pizza, burger, or ice cream there is," although on rare occasions. "The elimination diet stuff, it's not good if it's not balanced," he said. Doctors and scientists previously told Business Insider that there are three common health mistakes that people make in their quest for longevity. These include following extreme routines, trying buzzy wellness treatments that lack strong scientific evidence, and waiting too long to build healthy habits. "There's just a lot of snake oil out there, and I wish that people would stop offering themselves up as guinea pigs for poorly evidenced interventions marketed under implausible claims," Daniel Belsky, associate professor of epidemiology at Columbia University, Columbia Aging Center, said. This article is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your qualified physician or healthcare provider.