Travis Barker’s appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast covered everything from surviving a plane crash to his vegan diet, but one story stopped the conversation cold: a friend of Barker’s who reportedly fasts for half the year.
The topic came up as the two discussed human resilience and the ability of people to push through extreme physical circumstances. Barker brought up an acquaintance he described as a raw food chef with an unusual approach to eating.
“Like people, I have a friend who who fasts half of the year. He’s just drinking juice and water,” Barker stated.
Rogan, clearly surprised, asks, “For 6 months?”
“160 days a year. He does it every year,” Barker said.
Rogan’s response was immediate. “How?” he asked.
Barker explained the man’s background. “He’s a chef. He’s actually a chef that took a vow of silence 30 years ago,” Barker said. “A plant-based raw chef and for half of the year he doesn’t eat. He just fasts. And it’s more for like health reasons like cleansing and and to prevent disease, whatever else. But he gets really thin and then just goes back to his normal weight the second half of the year.”
Rogan pushed back on the premise. “I don’t know if that’s good,” he said.
Barker admitted he wasn’t fully sold on the practice either, though he respects the commitment. “I don’t know either, but he does it. He does it every year,” Barker said.
Rogan wasn’t convinced the routine made sense from a health standpoint, noting his own limits with short-term fasting.
“But I can’t imagine that just eating nothing but juice for 6 months is good for you,” Rogan said.
Barker agreed, saying, “Yeah, I have a hard enough time fasting a day before surgery or something, you know.”
Rogan pointed to his ketogenic diet as a contrast, explaining that a body burning fat rather than carbohydrates has an easier time going without food. He acknowledged the benefits of shorter fasts, three to five days, for triggering autophagy, but questioned extending that to half a year.
Barker noted that his own plant-based diet still relies on carbohydrates for fuel, which he said his body has adapted to as a steady source of protein through lentils and beans rather than through skipping meals altogether.
