Tennis Champion Novak Djokovic Eats Gluten-Free But Does He Have Celiac Disease?

Celiac.com 09/14/2023 - As of 2019, Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic was crediting a gluten-free diet for on-court success. So what's the story now? Is Novak Djokovic still gluten-free? From what we can learn from his public statements, the answer is yes. But what about celiac disease? Here's what we know.

Djokovic is Gluten-Free

Back in 2010 Serbian Dr. Igor Cetojevic discovered Djokovic's sensitivity to gluten. Jordaan Sanford, writing in Tennis Magazine, describes the process of Djokovic's gluten sensitivity diagnosis as follows: "Cetojevic asked Djokovic to stretch out his right arm and place his left hand on his stomach. He then applied pressure to Djokovic's right arm by pushing down on it while Djokovic resisted the pressure. The Grand Slam champ's strength was solid, but when asked to hold a loaf of bread in his left hand while he pushed down on his right arm, Djokovic was left in shock. His arm felt significantly weaker."

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However unscientific that description sounds, it led Djokovic to make massive changes to his diet. 

That meant eliminating nearly all gluten and dairy, cutting out as much sugar as possible, and sticking to vegetables, beans, white meat, fish, fruit, nuts, seeds, chickpeas, lentils and healthy oils.

Djokovic wrote about the importance of his new diet, in his book, Serve To Win. Here's a sample of a single day from Novak's weekly meal and snack list.

Djokovic Goes 'Vegan'

Djokovic turned to a plant-based gluten-free diet in 2015. In 2016, his commitment to diet led him to open a vegan restaurant in Monaco, ‘Eqvita’. “My diet hasn’t just changed my game, it’s changed my life – my wellbeing," he told reporters at the time. According to Djokovic, the dietary change helped eliminate frequent on-court meltdowns, paving the way for numerous championships and Grand Slam titles. 

After beating Roger Federer in the final at Wimbledon in 2019, Djokovic talked about his diet in one of his press interviews with US journalist Graham Bensinger. He explained how he doesn’t use the label ‘vegan’ to describe his diet because of the misinterpretation of the word but added that he does eat a plant-based diet and has done for many years.

More recently, in an interview with the BBC, the 20-time Grand Slam champion spoke about being a "great student of wellness."

Does Djokovic Have Celiac Disease?

Djokovic has been coy about his celiac disease status over the years, but he has also indicated that his diet is not 100% gluten-free. If that's true, it's unlikely that Djokovic has celiac disease, as eating gluten would just be too risky at his level of professional competition. 

If he does occasionally eat gluten, it's more likely that he is simply following a gluten-free diet as part of a fitness and training program.

So What's the Verdict?

It doesn't seem that Djokovic has clinical celiac disease. If he does, he's not announced it publicly. It does looks like Djokovic is following a plant-based, gluten-free and dairy free diet as both a fitness and wellness choice. With a string of Grand Slam titles under his belt, the results seem to be speaking for themselves.