Ron Jeremy: Porn Star! Living Legend! Health Advocate?

If you haven't seen The Hedgehog in a while, you might be surprised by how svelte he's become of late. That's right, everyone's favorite pudgy porn star, Ron Jeremy, has turned his life around and now he wants to help others to avoid the same dangerous habits that nearly cost him his life two years ago.

According to CNN (link below), Jeremy is the subject of a new documentary, Ron Jeremy: Life After the Buffet, which is currently available on DVD, iTunes, and On Demand. In it, he discusses his 2013 aortic dissection—the same condition that killed comic actor John Ritter—and what he's doing to both improve his own life and help raise awareness for others at risk.

"I want to be the poster boy to get your damn blood pressure checked," he said.

The porn actor said he comes from good genes with parents who were thin. His earlier movies attest to his trim and muscular physique.

But high blood pressure has always been a problem for him and became even more of an issue when coupled with his love of food, he said. That, and the fact that he stayed active -- even hang gliding -- made it easy to ignore, he said.

"I felt great being fat," he said. "It was just damned unhealthy."

The actor said he resisted taking blood pressure medication as he worried that it might affect his, er, work performance. But all that changed after his brush with death.

Now Jeremy, 62, is focused on getting fit, which includes a regimen of walks in Runyon Canyon near his Los Angeles home. He's lost some weight, he says but has a few more pounds to go to get to his goal of 190 pounds.

"The thing about heaviness is you can't do a 12-step program, you have to eat," Jeremy said. "(Loving to eat) is one of the worst addictions."

The Hedgehog also has a plan to help students get the advice and support they need to make good nutritional decisions.

"Why isn't there a nutrition resource teacher in our schools?" said Jeremy, who is a former teacher himself and has a master's degree in education. "There are plenty of Ph.D's and master's in nutrition who would love that job. Start with the young people."

"Mine is the best health plan of all because you wouldn't get ill at all," he added. "You are what you eat and imagine how many hospital beds that would free up."

Via CNN