Kevin Hart on Eating Plant-Based, His Crash and Life After Near Death

It's rare to see Kevin Hart having a serious moment. We're used to watching him cracking jokes center-stage and leaving fans in tears from laughing so hard–sometimes about things that make us uncomfortable. Hart tapped into his serious side on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast and revealed that he has a newfound appreciation for life after his near-death experience in a car crash last September. "I'm a plant-based eater," he tells Rogan. For him, everything changed after the crash.  He also told Rogan that in the hospital and the days at home not able to walk, he masqueraded the pain and worked hard to get back into tip-top shape through eating his new diet and boxing.

A Change of Hart: Everything Can Go Like That

"It can change like that," Hart says to Rogan, snapping his fingers. The car Hart was a passenger in went off an embankment in Calabasas and the two other people in the car had to be cut from the vehicle, while Hart himself suffered a serious spinal cord injury.

Since the September accident, Hart hasn't said much about his recovery, but he told Rogan that he had to get serious about his health, and that part of the equation was to try to recover his full health and not be so dependent on his wife and kids, who in the first days of his recuperation, had to do everything for him while he was unable to do the smallest things like reach for the remote.

Hart talked to Rogan about everything from his childhood and growing up in North Philadelphia to his new health-minded lifestyle, post-recovery. The crash and having to work his way back to full health has led Hart on a journey in search of knowledge about how to be his healthiest self.

Health and Wellness Is Way Bigger Than You Think It Is

"Health and wellness sh*t is way bigger than you think it is," Hart declared. His diet is now totally free of red meat, fish, or any seafood. Hart admitted he does have the occasional piece of chicken but he identifies as being a "plant-based eater." His advice when switching your diet: "Learn it, understand it, and see if there are benefits that work for you."

Hart is following medical and science-based research: Plant-based eating has been linked to healing after injury by lowering inflammation, so doctors often urge patients who want to heal faster or recover from injury to stay off the meat and dairy. Chronic inflammation can slow down cell regrowth.

In the ensuing months, Hart found plant-based proteins he loves to eat such as Beyond Meat and even became an ambassador for the company. Along with celebrities like Joaquin Phoenix and Kate Mara, he joined the Feed a Million+ campaign which helped deliver food to hospitals and others on the front line of the pandemic. With Beyond Meat's help, in April Hart delivered burgers to the Northridge Hospital that treated his injuries after the crash.

The Only Thing That Kept Him from Being Paralysed Was His Core Strength

Hart got into the details of his accident with Rogan, explaining: If it had not been for his dedication to training and focus on fitness prior to the crash he would have likely ended up paralyzed and unable to ever walk again. But because of his fitness level, he was able to recover.

"Doctors looked me in the eyes and said, 'You're lucky to be alive. If your core wasn't in the shape it was, if you didn't have the strength to take whatever that impact was, you would've been snapped and wouldn't walk again.'" Hart believes that the work he put into his fitness over the years led him to recover fully.

Hart will turn 41 this coming July 6th and said that he has only one birthday wish: To have 8.5% body fat. That wish is pretty close to coming true already since he is already at about 10% body fat today.

We wish him that and more since Hart obviously has had a life-altering experience and is making the best of what happens next.