Why 'Bizarre Foods' ' Andrew Zimmern Gave Up Eating a 'French Hooker's Breakfast'

Published on January 27, 2017 01:08 PM

Andrew Zimmern is known for taking his fearless appetite across the globe on his Travel Channel show Bizarre Foods, but an average day of eating for him sounds pretty all-American.

“I’d love to tell you that I wake up and eat avocado toast and a small acai bowl or whatever, but I don’t,” Zimmern tells PEOPLE. “I’m a protein guy in the morning. Give me some leftover pot roast from the night before slapped on a piece of white bread and I’m out the door with a cup of coffee.”

The chef, who has been open about his past struggles with addiction and homelessness, admits he hasn’t always had the healthiest morning routine. “My breakfast of choice for 25 years was the French hooker’s breakfast, which is a couple of cigarettes and a double espresso,” he jokes. “That’s not good for you.”

Zimmern also warns about the perils of how we start our days here in America. “I went through a 10-year period where I ate the traditional American breakfast—two eggs, couple of flapjacks, some bacon, fried potatoes—that almost killed me,” he says. “The traditional American breakfast, historically and culturally is the least healthy one on the planet.”

He is an advocate for a hearty mid-day meal, though. “I think like most working people, my biggest meal is lunch which is great because then you can metabolize the rest of the day.” And for dinner? “I forage for dead animals behind my house at night as everyone would expect I do,” he jokes.

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In the new season of Bizarre Foods, premiering Jan. 31 on Travel Channel, Zimmern will take his taste buds across America, stopping along landmark routes like the Lewis & Clark Trail, the Great Lakes coastline, and the Pacific Coast Highway.

Watch the video above to see Zimmern dish up barbecue raccoon (!) on PEOPLE Now—and if you’re on Instagram, be sure to follow along as he takes over the PEOPLE Food account for Super Bowl LI in Houston on Friday, February 3rd.