MrBeast – whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson – has opened up about his health condition in a new episode of Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO podcast
YouTube sensation MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, has opened up about his struggle with a health condition that interferes with his daily life in a recent instalment of Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO podcast. Diagnosed in his teens, he’s continuing to manage it by steering clear of certain foods to prevent flare-ups.
But this hasn’t hindered his ascent to Internet fame. As of February 2025, he’s not just big on YouTube; he’s the biggest, commanding the platform with a subscriber count of 364 million.
Known for his wild challenges, viral stunts, and heartwarming philanthropy, MrBeast often hosts extravagant contests, like his real-life Beast Games, rewarding winners with hefty sums. Not only does he top the charts on YouTube, but he’s also TikTok royalty, currently being the third most popular creator with a whopping 114.5 million followers, reports Surrey Live.
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During his interview with Steven, the 26-year-old influencer touched upon his childhood as an ‘unhealthy’ kid, reflecting on the struggles faced by his family: “It was a lot because [my mum] was a single mum raising us, she’s working all the time.”
Delving into his health battles, MrBeast shared: “I have Crohn’s disease, so I was very sick growing up. My brother also had issues as well and so, you know, we’re not the healthiest kids in our teenage years. She was just trying to get by and take care of us.”
Crohn’s disease is a serious, chronic condition that causes inflammation throughout different parts of the digestive tract and is classified as an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The disorder can affect people of all ages, often starting in childhood or early adulthood.
Jimmy was just 15 when his weight plummeted from 190 pounds to 139 pounds, and he lost his muscle mass due to Crohn’s disease. This significant shift forced him to quit playing college baseball and turn his focus to YouTube instead.
Speaking about the effects of Crohn’s on an individual’s life, Steven shared: “A lot of people don’t know what Crohn’s disease is and the impact it has. I had a team member that had it so in order to help support them, at certain times they had to leave and I got a little bit more aware of what it means and how it impacts you.”
Curious about Jimmy’s experiences, he asked: “Could you give me your perspective on that?” The YouTuber said: “Yeah, so Crohn’s disease is when your immune system attacks itself. When I was 15 I just started going to the bathroom eight, nine, ten times a day, not digesting any food because my GI track is like literally just attacking itself.”
Jimmy described his struggles with a baffling immune system disorder affecting his gut, expressing: “It’s very weird. Your immune system in your gut thinks your gut is a foreign Invader, so it just starts attacking itself, which, if you’re just using the bathroom 10 times a day, not digesting food, is why you drop weight rapidly.
“And it hurts like crazy because it gets very inflamed and it feels like someone’s stabbing you in the gut constantly when it’s really bad which is what I had.” The impact on his physique was drastic: “So I lost 50 pounds, which is crazy because I was already relatively lanky.”
Opening up about his medical journey, Jimmy shared the tough treatments he underwent. “We were just trying different medicines and then eventually I’m on a pretty extreme medicine called Remicade where basically you nuke your immune system which is why my voice sounds a little off right now because I just got the flu,” he shared.
He elaborated on the side effects of such potent medication, adding: “I got covid six times, I got shingles – I get sick all the time because to have my GI track stop attacking itself we basically have to shut down my immune system, so I have a really weak immune system… It can randomly flare up sometimes and just makes you very sick very tired.”
Jimmy later saidf: “I just live life on hard mode to be honest… You still wake up some days where you don’t have energy, which is really hard to believe for someone who’s so productive.”
Jimmy says he recently spent four days in a hospital in South Africa due to flu complications. He shared that recovery is tougher for him and hinted at a desire to delve deeper into Crohn’s research, lamenting the harsh treatments that “destroys my immune system”.
The 26-year-old has also been navigating his condition through diet, pinpointing trigger foods by employing an elimination strategy over time. In 2022, he said: “There’s a lot of things that aggravate it. Like, chips, cookies, or things that have corn. I know what to eat now, where, like, my diet isn’t causing it, but sometimes, it just flares up. It’s weird.”
Going back to 2015, Jimmy took to YouTube with a video titled “What Is Crohns Disease?????”, detailing his dietary regimen. He explained: “Whenever I eat certain foods, it agitates it and if it gets agitated, I have like enormous stomach pain that’s really unbearable.”
He continued: “There are a lot of little problems Crohn’s causes. You’re fatigued and really low on energy a lot of times. But the biggest thing obviously is the diet. You have to eat certain foods every single week of every single year. It gets really repetitive, but you have to eat those certain foods, so your stomach doesn’t get all messed up and you’re not in constant pain 24/7.
“It’s a really small strict diet or at least mine is it’s different for everyone and that makes it a little bit difficult to socialise and stuff like… I can’t eat cereal anymore… If I could, I would just eat a different type of cereal every morning. That’d be so awesome instead of freakin eating chicken and rice or chicken and sweet potatoes.”
What exactly is Crohn’s disease?
According to the NHS, Crohn’s disease is a “lifelong condition where parts of the digestive system become inflamed. It’s one type of a condition called inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Crohn’s disease affects people of all ages. The symptoms usually start in childhood or early adulthood.”
The main symptoms are:
- diarrhoea
- stomach aches and cramps
- blood in your poo
- tiredness (fatigue)
- weight loss
These symptoms may persist or they might come and go every few weeks or months. When they return, it’s known as a flare-up. If you or your child experience blood in your stool, diarrhoea lasting more than seven days, frequent stomach aches or cramps, unexplained weight loss, or if your child isn’t growing as expected, it’s time to see a GP.
Your GP will aim to identify the cause of your symptoms and may recommend tests to explore the possibility of Crohn’s disease. While there’s no cure for Crohn’s disease, treatments are available that can help manage or reduce your symptoms.
The main treatments are:
- medicines to reduce inflammation in the digestive system – usually steroid tablets
- medicines to stop the inflammation coming back – either tablets or injections
- surgery to remove a small part of the digestive system – sometimes this may be a better treatment option than medicines
Typically, you’ll have a healthcare team at your disposal, comprising a general practitioner, a specialist nurse, and various doctors. Managing Crohn’s disease can sometimes be a tough task, as unforeseen flare-ups and regular appointments with your medical team can disrupt your school, work, and social life.
However, when your symptoms are under control, you can lead a normal life despite the condition. If you need help, your care team and organisations like Crohn’s and Colitis UK are there to back you up. The NHS states that the precise cause of Crohn’s disease remains a mystery. There’s no proof to suggest that any specific diet triggers Crohn’s disease.
It’s believed that several factors could contribute, including: your genes – if a close family member has it, you’re more likely to get it, an issue with the immune system (the body’s defence against infection) causing it to attack the digestive system, smoking, a previous stomach bug, and an imbalance of gut bacteria.
The disease can cause various health complications, such as fistulas, strictures, malnutrition, anemia, and possibly cancer of the small and large intestine. Lifestyle changes that may help ease Crohn’s disease symptoms include:
- Limiting dairy products
- Eating smaller meals
- Staying hydrated
- Avoiding caffeine, alcohol, and carbonation
- Taking multivitamins
- Stopping smoking
If you have symptoms of Crohn’s disease, you should consult your doctor.