An all-emoji diet could leave you with a smiley face or a sad face, depending upon your favorite foods.
One thing is for sure: it isn’t very healthy.
For one week, Atlantic writer Kelsey Rexroat consumed only the food items found in the emoji library. Emojis are symbols used in text messaging and emails to convey words, ideas and emotions.
There are a total of 59 foods in the official emoji library.
While this sounds like quite a bit of variety for a week, the food symbols lean heavily on carbs and desserts. There are 11 desserts and eight rice dishes in the emoji library. Alcoholic beverages are also plentiful.
Think average college student diet, with a few ethnic twists.
The 59 foods include a smattering of traditional Japanese foods. Rexroat was determined to eat all 59 foods represented in the emoji library. She expanded her culinary horizons by trying oden, a stew-like dish with fish cakes, rice balls stuffed with tuna and dango, which are sweet dumplings.
Temporarily, Rexroat enjoyed taking a break from her healthy normal diet and indulging in cheeseburgers, doughnuts, beer and ice cream. One night she ate ramen and three desserts for dinner. But there was a price to pay for eating so many carbs, which included bloating and weight gain.
On the positive side, she spent less money on food, because she cooked at home more and ate traditional delicacies that were cheaper than a typical lunch or dinner in New York City.
Rexroat does not encourage others to try the emoji diet, though she does look forward to seeing if her favorite food items are introduced in future editions of the emoji collection.
About the Author
