Liam Hemsworth Had to ‘Rethink’ His Vegan Diet After Health Scare

Changing his diet. Liam Hemsworth was forced to make a necessary adjustment to his plant-based eating regimen after a serious and painful health scare sent him to the hospital in 2019.

“I was vegan for almost four years, and then February of last year I was feeling lethargic. Then I got a kidney stone. It was one of the most painful weeks of my life,” the 30-year-old actor revealed in the May 2020 “Strength Issue” of Men’s Health. “I was doing press for Isn’t It Romantic. But I had to go to the hospital and get surgery.”

The Last Song star says he’s “all good now,” but the incident forced him to take a closer look at what he was eating. “Once you get one kidney stone, you have a 50 percent chance of getting another one if you continue eating the way you were eating,” he explained. “My particular kidney stone was a calciumoxalate kidney stone. It forms from having too much oxalate in your diet. Oxalates are really high in a lot of vegetables, specifically spinach, almonds, beetroot, potatoes.

Since Hemsworth’s “super healthy” daily breakfast consisted of “five handfuls of spinach and then almond milk, almond butter, and also some vegan protein in a smoothie,” he knew he had to alter his meals in a big way for the sake of his health.

“I had to completely rethink what I was putting in my body,” he said.

As for why he began a vegan diet in the first place? The Most Dangerous Game star revealed it was partly for his health, but also had to do with his “extreme” personality. “My mom always makes fun of me. She’s like, ‘If you could just find a happy medium in between all these things you do, then you’d probably be better off,’” Hemsworth recalled.

The Australian added: “It was right before I started shooting Independence Day: Resurgence. The first two years, I felt great. My body was strong, my cardio was high.”

Another factor that may have influenced Hemsworth’s decision to go vegan was his ex-wife Miley Cyrus. The “Wrecking Ball” singer, 27, has kept to a plant-based diet for several years and even wears cruelty-free clothing. As she told Vanity Fair in February 2019: “Choosing to live as a sustainable vegan activist means wearing more vintage (less waste; loving pieces for longer), playing with the newest eco-materials and technology, and making custom vegan pieces with some of my favorite designers.”

Hemsworth and the Hannah Montana alum split in August 2019 after almost eight months of marriage. The Hunger Games star filed for divorce from Cyrus that month, shortly after she was spotted canoodling with Kaitlynn Carter on vacation in Italy. Their divorce was finalized in February.

The Dressmaker star revealed that he is now “rebuilding” in the aftermath of the split, telling Men’s Health: “[I’m] appreciating the little things. It’s something I always try to remind myself to do, especially in times that maybe things aren’t going the way I planned or the way I wanted things to go. Appreciating what I do have and searching for things that make me happy and things that make me a better person.”

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