Mario Lopez’s health — The reasons behind his extreme commitment to fitness

Mario Lopez

Apart from acting and hosting, Mario Lopez is an advocate of health and fitness. His extreme passion for the cause stems from a near-death childhood experience, wherein his failing health nearly claimed his life. Hence, even at 49 years old, Lopez considers training and staying in shape as his “number one priority”. He has gone on record to say:

“You have to try and take care of yourself. Health is a gift. You don’t earn it but you can definitely waste it.”

As a child, Mario Lopez nearly died from an under formed stomach – He was healed by a ‘Mexican witch doctor’

Mario Lopez was born with a stomach that was not “fully formed” and the condition was life-threatening when he was a child. Since his stomach could neither retain much food and fluids nor digest them, he experienced rapid weight loss.

“I was born as an eight-and-a-half-pound baby and I whittled down to four pounds because I could not hold anything in my stomach,” he explained in a 2021 podcast.

Lopez was rendered “deathly ill” and the hospital was certain that he was not going to make it. His parents even consulted a priest but things did not improve.

In one final attempt to save his life, his father “kidnapped” him from the hospital in California to take him to a bruja – also known as a curandero or a traditional native healer – in Ensenada, Mexico. The bruja had previously healed his father’s leg which was slated for amputation.

The bruja, whom he referred to as a “witch doctor”, prepared a medication from carnation milk which kickstarted his recovery.

“[The bruja] had [my father] mix this crazy concoction into this carnation milk and started giving it to me and slowly I got better. I guess I am a believer in alternate medicine,” he recalled.

Lopez struggled with stomach and digestive issues for most of his life

After keeping his health matters covert for years, Lopez finally opened up about his stomach and digestive issues in July 2022. His struggles with indigestion and stomach discomfort were a hindrance to his hosting gigs as they required him to make frequent trips to the bathroom while filming.

Despite consulting doctors, specialists and nutritionists, Lopez found that none of the medications worked properly for him. He was referred to Dr. Kellyann Petrucci, a naturopathic physician and a nutrition expert, by a friend.

His digestive issues gradually healed after being prescribed two daily cups of ‘homestyle bone broth’ by Dr. Petrucci.

“I have never felt better. My stomach is settled. My digestion has improved. I was pleasantly surprised that your Homestyle Bone Broth worked the way it did. I thought I was going crazy at first like there was no way adding this one thing to my routine could do so many things for my health…but it did. It absolutely did,” he confirmed in an interview with Dr. Petrucci.

Irrespective of the major progress, Lopez remains committed to working out and training every day to maintain a healthy physique. He credits his training (which includes boxing, wrestling, jiu-jitsu, and weight-lifting) for providing him the with energy to handle his demanding schedule.

But with age, he is slowing down the intensity of his workout and incorporating easier and “smarter” physical routines to prevent injuries. He told Men’s Health Magazine:

“As you get older… I was getting injured. I tore my rotator cuff, then the next year I tore my Achilles, then the next year I tore my biceps. Maybe with someone else, that would have been a sign to transition and start playing golf, but that’s not me. It just set me back a little bit. But I’m going to keep doing it until literally can’t, and I’m broken down and decrepit!”