--- title: Walt Whitman: Poet's Uncovered Writings Call for Paleo Diet description: Literary giant Walt Whitman was an early advocate of what today sounds's like the popular paleo diet canonical: https://time.com/4313243/walt-whitman-paleo-diet/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-29T21:38:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:09:48.902Z article:section: History og:title: Walt Whitman Was Into the Paleo Diet Before It Was a Thing og:description: Literary giant Walt Whitman was an early advocate of what today sounds's like the popular paleo diet og:url: https://time.com/4313243/walt-whitman-paleo-diet/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb5544894f948d58/6988913ef887dc6995e95a9f/walt-whitman.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Walt Whitman (1819-92), American Poet, Portrait, circa 1887. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images) og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Walt Whitman Was Into the Paleo Diet Before It Was a Thing twitter:description: Literary giant Walt Whitman was an early advocate of what today sounds's like the popular paleo diet twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb5544894f948d58/6988913ef887dc6995e95a9f/walt-whitman.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Walt Whitman Was Into the Paleo Diet Before It Was a Thing  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Apr 29, 2016 9:38 PM UTC  Walt Whitman (1819-92), American Poet, circa 1887. Walt Whitman (1819-92), American Poet, circa 1887.Universal History Archive/Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Apr 29, 2016 9:38 PM UTC Literary giant Walt Whitman was an early advocate of what today sounds like the popular [paleo diet](http://time.com/3614394/paleo-diet/), according to the author’s recently [uncovered writings](http://ir.uiowa.edu/wwqr/vol33/iss3/). “Let the main part of the diet be meat, to the exclusion of all else,” Whitman wrote, according to a New York _Times_ [report](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/30/books/walt-whitman-promoted-a-paleo-diet-who-knew.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=photo-spot-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&%5Fr=1). The advice is part of a 47,000-word series advising readers on how to live a healthy life that the poet published in the now-defunct _New York Atlas_ in 1858\. In 13 parts, Whitman offers advice on a range of topics including sex, hygiene and footwear, according to a Houston _Chronicle_ [report](http://www.chron.com/life/books/article/University-of-Houston-student-uncovers-an-unknown-7384053.php). The 13-part series was uncovered by University of Houston doctoral candidate Zachary Turpin amidst microfilm that has never been digitized. “It took about 24 hours for it to sink in,” Turpin told the _Times_ of his reaction to his discovery. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4313243/walt-whitman-paleo-diet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4313243/walt-whitman-paleo-diet/"},"headline":"Walt Whitman Was Into the Paleo Diet Before It Was a Thing","datePublished":"2016-04-29T21:38:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:09:48.902Z","description":"That's just one of his health recommendations in a recently uncovered document","url":"https://time.com/4313243/walt-whitman-paleo-diet/","keywords":["Books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb5544894f948d58/6988913ef887dc6995e95a9f/walt-whitman.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbb5544894f948d58/6988913ef887dc6995e95a9f/walt-whitman.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Walt Whitman (1819-92), American Poet, Portrait, circa 1887. 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