Arnold Schwarzenegger ‘Wants to Help People Get Healthier’ After Multiple Heart Surgeries: ‘Obsessed’

Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn’t go for expensive skin creams and lotions — his solution to staying fit and younger looking is a healthy, mostly plant-based diet, and he boasts that at 77, he has fewer wrinkles than a 40-year-old.

“Arnie loves to lecture people on what they’re doing wrong and what they need to do to look great like he does,” an insider exclusively tells Closer. “He tells them his secret whether they ask for it or not, at the gym, on the sidewalk, restaurants, wherever he goes he wants to help people to get healthier. He’s obsessed, and part of the reason is he must watch his cholesterol following multiple heart surgeries.”

The source says the Kindergarten Cop actor has made some changes to his diet to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

“It’s about staying quality of life and staying active, and he won’t touch anything processed and no added sugar,” the insider adds. “Fruits, veggies, salmon are what he stocks up on, plus healthy fats and foods high in antioxidants like kale, apples, berries. He’s also convinced weightlifting keeps him young on the outside and inside, that and a good attitude.”

In his Arnold’s Pump Club newsletter, the Terminator actor gave fans more insight into his wrinkle-free diet.

“They say, ‘You are what you eat,’ and that advice might be more valuable than most of the expensive anti-aging solutions,” the newsletter said. “Research suggests a healthy diet could be more effective than creams and lotions at giving you healthier, younger-looking skin.”

The newsletter urged people to follow diets “rich in antioxidants, vitamins and healthy fats — from sources like fruits, vegetables and fish” because they “appeared to have the strongest association with fewer wrinkles,” according to a recent study.

Prioritizing his health has always been at the center of Arnold’s mind, as the former bodybuilder has undergone three open-heart surgeries in the past three decades. Earlier this year, Arnold revealed that he became “a little bit more of a machine” after getting a pacemaker. He explained why he decided to publicly share the news of his pacemaker surgery.

“I could have kept it a secret. But I know that we have more than 750,000 subscribers now — the village is a city now — and a lot of you are probably dealing with your own health challenges,” he said during a March episode of “Arnold’s Pump Club” podcast. “I want you to know you aren’t alone. And if you’re putting something off out of fear, I hope I inspire you to listen to your doctors and take care of yourself.”

An insider previously told Closer about some of the other things that Arnold has cut out of his diet since undergoing his most recent surgery.

“He used to be blasé about it but he’s finally trying to kick bad habits, including cigars, because he’s feeling the effects at long last,” a source told Closer in July. “He’s cutting back on the wine and pasta, not that he overindulged, it was only once a week at most, but he just feels better without the sugar and carbs.”