Liam Hemsworth Had to Reevaluate His Vegan Diet After Kidney Stone Surgery

Liam Hemsworth is looking as good as ever on the cover of Men’s Health magazine’s May 2020 issue, on newsstands April 21.

Here’s what the 30-year-old actor had to share with the mag…

On rethinking his diet after going vegan and ending up in the hospital: “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. I was doing press for Isn’t It Romantic. But I had to go to the hospital and get surgery. It’s all good now, thankfully. But 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. Well, 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. Every morning, I was having five handfuls of spinach and then almond milk, almond butter, and also some vegan protein in a smoothie. And that was what I considered super healthy. So I had to completely rethink what I was putting in my body.” (Find out some other celebs who have had to reevaluate going vegan and begin eating animal products.)

On the reason he went vegan in the first place: “Health for sure. I go from one extreme to the other. 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.” 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. What I say to everyone is ‘Look, you can read whatever you want to read. But you have to experience it for yourself. You have to figure out what works best for your body.’ And if something works well for a period, great, keep doing it. If something changes and you’re not feeling great, you’ve got to reassess it and then figure it out.”

On how he’s learned to deal with living life under a microscope: “For a long period of time, it was very stressful, and it really got to me. Yeah, look, there are times when you want to lash out and say something…because from my point of view, the majority of the time things that are written about me are completely false. There are times when you want to speak up and there are other times when it’s not worth it, because you’re just going to draw more attention to it, and then it’s better to just not think about it and let it all wash away. These days I don’t want to invest any more time in worrying about that sort of stuff. I remind myself of what to appreciate now and to enjoy every moment as much as possible, whether that be working or with my family or whatever I’m doing. Just trying to find a positive in it all and enjoy life as much as possible.”

For more from Liam, visit MensHealth.com.