A personal health scare was all it took for Taraji P. Henson to take control of her diet and change the way she eats. The actress was recently diagnosed with gastritis—a gradual erosion of the stomach lining—which doctors said was the cumulative result of Henson's poor food choices and pressing food guilt.

"It was just over a period of time, my stomach got a hole in it, and it was about to lead to an ulcer, but I caught it in time," she tells ELLE.com. "And so on this journey to becoming a better and healthier version of myself, Special K approached me, and I thought, 'Wow, look at this timing!'"

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Now, in this new partnership with the healthy cereal brand, Henson wants to help women own their diets and avoid the kind of health scare she experienced. In a new study conducted by Special K, women spend a whopping 61 minutes a day second-guessing their food choices. Henson is trying to change that.

"[We want] to give women the power back. Own what you eat. Food should be an experience. I love food. That's how you should go through life. You shouldn't feel guilty about what you're eating," says Henson. "Women are CEOs of companies, we're on private jets—we don't have time. We're busy. We have families. We have enough to be stressed about. Why stress out about something so simple as food?"

Women are CEOs of companies, we're on private jets—we don't have time.

Additional stress is something that Henson definitely doesn't need. The star of the hit TV show Empire, Henson is heading into her fourth season this September, where she says we'll see a different side of the fierce Cookie Lyon.

"You will see a calmer Cookie. She's stepping in the shoes of the CEO of Empire because Lucious has his mental blockage right now. Be careful what you ask for. She wanted her company back—well she has it back fully. And then we will be dealing with a lot of flashbacks of her when she was in jail, which I was always interested in. How did she survive 17 years of prison? And she came out unscathed? She's not crazier than she was when she went in," Henson laughs. "But she kept her wits about her. She kept her strength, she kept her will to live, her will to survive. We've seen enough programs about prison. That place is not for reform. That place is to break you down. And how she got through that and held onto herself—that is amazing."

Cookie's mysterious past was a cause for whispers of a spin-off show, but Henson assures us that Cookie isn't going anywhere. "I think [Empire is] happy with Cookie," she says with a laugh. "I don't think they want Cookie to go anywhere! Now, once Empire is over...they may."

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Henson has likewise found ways to channel her own inner strength IRL. A strong advocate for mediation and prayer, Henson finds peace in the silence and in the people who know her best.

"My grandma [is] 93 and she's still alive and she has a lot of wisdom. And I have a core group of friends around me that knew me before this, so they keep me sane. I pray a lot. I meditate a lot. There's a lot of noise in the world—especially now and with social media. It's hard to find peace because I have to use my phone, I have to tweet. It's hard to evade the drama," she says. "Before social media, [it was] out of sight, out of mind. Now it's just in your face constantly and your stress levels go up without you even knowing. So to get better control of that is [through] mediation. Because if you don't, then you find yourself stress eating. More issues with food!"

When Henson isn't addressing food issues, she's also addressing societal issues. She recently hosted Black Girls Rock, an awards show to celebrate black women as trailblazers and change-makers. But Henson insists that the show is a celebration of women, period.

"I don't want all the other women or girls to feel like they can't join in on the celebration. It's a celebration of women. It's a celebration of sisterhood. But just this one day, we decided to celebrate black women. But it doesn't mean that no one else can come. Come rock with us because it's about love and that's the message we're trying to get across." says Henson.

Another major selling point? Congresswoman and Millennial Auntie Maxine Waters delivers a must-see speech during the show, which airs August 22nd on BET.

"That Maxine Waters speech is going to rock your world. I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it. The way she sparked the political interest in the millennials? They love her. She went from 40,000 followers to 500,000 followers just like that. And she said to me, with almost tears in her eyes, 'The millennials have adopted me. They call me Auntie Maxine. That is the most important moment of my career,'" Henson recalls. "That's what she said. And I just hugged her and I was like, you have a voice and you're using it. These kids are turning a blinds eye to politics because they see what's going on and you lose hope. And if we lose hope, we lose humanity. So we need her."

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From: ELLE US
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Ariana Yaptangco
Social Media & Beauty Editor

Ariana Yaptangco oversees all #content across ELLE's social media platforms and covers beauty news. When she isn't staring at a screen, you can find her drinking tea, trying new skincare products, or yelling about the New York Mets.