Orlando Bloom confesses to extreme wellness trend that gave him ‘sensation of death’
When it comes to his wellness journey, Orlando Bloom is willing to go to any and all extremes.
In a recent interview, the "Lord of the Rings" alum detailed his daily routine of exercise and diet and explained why he's not afraid to try new things to better his health and overall well-being – including a South American ritual called Kambo.
"Kambo is a ceremony where your skin is burnt with these little dots, and then you put up the poison from the Amazon – it's like a frog poison," Bloom, who is currently promoting his new Peacock series "Orlando Bloom: To the Edge," told GQ. "You have this sensation of death and you kind of purge your body. But it's incredible."
"They say that the Amazonian warriors have done this historically to heighten their senses for hunting. And I certainly had this feeling of being clearer and wide open from that, but it was pretty brutal in terms of what it does to the body in the moment. It only takes 15 minutes, but it's a real purge – it's coming out both ends at different times sometimes. Although that didn't happen the first time, but in subsequent times that I've tried it."
According to Medical News Today, Kambo – a traditional healing ritual performed in many South American countries – uses the poison of the giant monkey frog to purify the body and treat various health conditions. A shaman healer typically performs the ceremony, which involves burning the person’s shoulder, leg or foot, and then applying a kambo secretion to the wound.
While it may seem extreme, Bloom said he's all about expanding his horizons.
"I'm into trying things, as you can see. I think the lesson from the show was to be less impulsive and more considered. But when it comes to a possibility for growing or evolving, I'm always going to take that opportunity because I think what I'm here to do is to keep growing and learning. So if it is something like a plant medicine or a Kambo ceremony or a fast, I'll try it and see if it works."
Another surprising thing he's tried? Ingesting bentonite clay.
"It was more of a cleanse that started with a meal and this bentonite clay with these herbal pills. It went over five weeks. And in the last week it was virtually no solid food – it was just this clay and this water and these pills, which was pretty intense, but it was cleaning the system. I thought that was really unique."
"I kind of intermittent fast every now and again, but I mix it up. So one morning I won't have breakfast, one evening I won't have dinner because I want to keep my body guessing. I actually think that everybody's different and it's what works for you. And I'm always just trying to figure out what works for me."
As he continues working on himself, Bloom said it's also important to continue growing as a partner to fiancée Katy Perry and father to his two children – Bloom and Perry share 3-year-old daughter, Daisy, and he is also dad to 13-year-old son, Flynn, whom he shares with his ex-wife, Miranda Kerr.
"We have a family bed. So Katy will be like, 'Thank God for the day. I'm just grateful in every way.' And Daisy will go, ‘Mommy, daddy,’ and we'll have this cute moment," he said. "I'll say [the Buddhist chant] ‘Nam-myoho-renge-kyo,’ because that's part of my practice. And then we'll embark on the day. Sometimes it's stumble around and find the coffee, and sometimes it's take the tinctures necessary to get my brain online."
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In his new show, Bloom learned how to free dive, trying parachuting as well as wing suiting, another type of skydiving in which the participant wears a suit with webbing under the arms to simulate wings.
Fox News Digital's Caroline Thayer contributed to this report.