Brian Austin Green says he had stroke-like symptoms caused by his diet: ‘I couldn’t speak’

‘Beverly Hills, 90210’ alum says he was unable to speak, read or write due to ‘neurological’ issues caused by gluten and dairy diet

Brian Austin Green has revealed he suffered from stroke-like symptoms for four years that were ultimately caused by his diet.

The Beverly Hills, 90210 alum, 50, recently opened up about his major health struggles - which included vertigo and ulcerative colitis - that led him to be bedridden for three months and unable to speak, read, or write.

In an episode of the Sex, Lies, and Spray Tans podcast with Dancing With the Stars dancer Cheryl Burke, released on 2 October, Green revealed that it wasn’t until a “kinesiology and Eastern medicine” specialist discovered he had “internal inflammation” from his diet of gluten and dairy that he was able to take control of his health.

“I spent four and a half years recovering from stroke-like symptoms without ever having had a stroke,” the Anger Management star said. “I couldn’t speak. I couldn’t read. I couldn’t write.”

When asked by podcast host Burke if his “neurological” issues were a result of having vertigo - a sensation that the environment is spinning in circles - Green explained that his vertigo symptoms were just “one stage” of his health problems.

“I had ulcerative colitis and then I had vertigo,” he said. According to the Mayo Clinic, ulcerative colitis is an inflammatory bowel disease that causes inflammation and ulcers in the digestive tract. “I was bedridden for like three months but both things were undiagnosable,” he continued. “Nobody could figure it out, all the specialists that I saw.”

Burke asked whether his symptoms were a result of a car accident, seemingly referring to when Green and his ex-wife, Megan Fox, were struck in their vehicle by a drunk driver in December 2014.

“No. It was dietary,” he replied. Despite getting an opinion from one of the top neurologists at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and undergoing nearly 200 blood tests and two MRIs, his doctor was still unsure of what Green’s health issue could be.

The actor recalled that his symptoms of “brain fog” were so bad that he once reintroduced his best friend of 25 years to his sister, who his friend had also known for more than two decades. Green shared that even reading Dr Seuss books to his children was difficult for his brain.

“It was all undiagnosed by Western medicine, so I ended up having to finally find a doctor that is much more into, like, kinesiology and Eastern medicine,” he said. Once finding a specialist, the doctor told Green that his health condition was a combination of stress and consuming “gluten and dairy”, which caused “internal inflammation” in his system.

These days, Green shared that he’s “fully recovered” from his stroke-like symptoms and his health has been “100 per cent” since then.

Green is a father to five children. He shares son Kassius Lijah, 21, with ex-girlfriend Vanessa Marcil. The Desperate Housewives alum also shares sons Noah Shannon, 11, Bodhi Ransom, nine, and Journey River, seven, with ex-wife Fox. He and the Jennifer’s Body star were married from 2010 to 2021.

In June 2022, Green welcomed his fifth child, son Zane Walker, with fiancée Sharna Burgess.