The Terminator won’t be saying “hasta la vista, baby” to his plant-based lifestyle anytime soon.
Weeks after escaping a Los Angeles car crash, Arnold Schwarzenegger has revealed that leaning into a mostly vegan diet has lowered his bad cholesterol significantly – so much so that his physician thought his lab work belonged to someone else.
“My bad cholesterol number is so low that my doctor thought I might be a different person,” the 74-year-old action star wrote in the latest edition of his email newsletter, Insider reported.
Low-density lipoprotein, a type of cholesterol, is sometimes called “bad” cholesterol because it’s linked to higher risk of heart disease.
The avid gym-goer revealed that about 80% of what he ate over the last five years was vegan, with the occasional exception for steak or Austrian wiener schnitzel.
Schwarzenegger said the eating habits made him feel “healthier and younger overall.”
In October 2020, he revealed on social media that he had undergone his third heart surgery, sharing that he had his aortic valve replaced at the Cleveland Clinic medical center in Ohio.
The former Californian Republican Governor also offered a physical fitness pep talk in his latest entry on his website.
“You have to trick your mind and your body,” he wrote. “If you’re like me, you have at least two voices in your head. One is saying you can do it, and another one is telling you it isn’t worth it, just get back in bed. You have to trick the negative voice by loving yourself, breaking through the inertia, and making small wins.”
A professional weightlifter since his teens, the “Pumping Iron” star won the Mr. Olympia bodybuilding contest seven times before launching his career as a box office superstar with films such as “Conan the Barbarian,” the “Terminator” franchise” and “The Expendables” series.
