Before Gisele Bündchen dated Tom Brady, she was involved in a five-year romance with Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio. This was the period when she was atop the peak in the fashion world. By the time she touched 20 she was already the VH1/Vogue Model of the Year. The high life amidst beauty, glitz and glamour also had its fair share of darkness for the Brazilian.
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In an interview with The Vogue in 2022, Bündchen said that from the outside it seemed she was having the best life one could imagine. From being the main feature on big fashion shows to becoming a billboard icon. And the icing, she was dating Hollywood heartthrob Di Caprio. But fame came at a cost — her mental sanity.
“From the outside, it looked like I had everything and I was just 22 years old. On the inside, I felt as if I’d hit rock bottom,” Gisele said.
Brady’s ex revealed that, in sharp contrast to her professional success, her personal life plummeted, marred by severe bouts of anxiety and panic attacks. Coping with these mental battles became increasingly difficult. She resorted to poor lifestyle choices.
From starting her day with a heavily whipped cream-topped mocha Frappuccino and three cigarettes to ending it with a bottle of wine, Bündchen’s personal life hit rock bottom eventually.
“I was starting my day with a mocha Frappuccino with whipped cream and three cigarettes, then drinking a bottle of wine every night. Imagine what that was doing to my mind…”
Luckily, Bündchen was able to get out of the toxic spiral, paying heed to a friend’s advice.
Bündchen’s life changed after turning to Naturopathy
Seeing her sanity spiralling out of control, a friend suggested Gisele visited a naturopath. The practitioner, upon hearing Bündchen’s struggles, advised her to go on strict detox. That meant restriction on pretty much everything — from consumption of sugar, gluten, dairy, caffeine and alcohol, to smoking. Her new diet consisted of lean meat, vegetables, and nuts.
The transition wasn’t easy. Struggling to adhere to the new diet, Bündchen experienced severe headaches. She even wanted to quit the strict regime.
The naturopath, however, made her understand that the symptoms were just her nervous system reacting to the withdrawal. Gisele’s friend also made her understand that if she continued her previous lifestyle, it would be flirting with death. “I remember him saying, ‘Well, do you want to live?’ It was that simple,” she recalled.
Gisele stuck to her new diet, and three months later, she was out of the toxic cycle. Since then, she hasn’t looked back, becoming the fitness ambassador and celebrity that we know and love so much.
