Miley Cyrus has admitted to begrudgingly quitting her vegan lifestyle because of its negative impact on her health.
During a recent discussion on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, released earlier this week, Cyrus opened up about her former vegan health plan.
‘I was vegan for a very long time and I’ve had to introduce fish and omegas into my life because my brain wasn’t functioning properly,’ she told the podcast host.
The ‘Midnight Sky’ singer continued, explaining that she followed the ‘strictest’ vegan diet from 2013 to 2019 and ate her first non-vegan meal in years which was cooked by her ex-husband Liam Hemsworth.
‘My ex-husband cooked me some fish on the grill,’ she revealed. ‘I cried, like, for a long time. I cried for the fish … it really hurts me to eat fish.’
The Vegan Society explains that vegans follow a 'plant-based diet avoiding all animal foods such as meat (including fish, shellfish and insects), dairy, eggs and honey - as well as avoiding animal-derived materials, products tested on animals and places that use animals for entertainment'.
While she doesn’t like eating fish, Cyrus said she has noticed the difference in her body since introducing animal produce back into her diet.
‘Now I’m so much sharper than I was and I think that I was, at one point, pretty malnutritioned,’ she said. ‘I remember going to Glastonbury [music festival] and that was a show that I loved—I loved my performance—but I was running on empty.’
The singer said that she knows her decision to quit her vegan lifestyle might anger some vegans. ‘I’m used to people coming for me,’ she said, referencing the possibility of receiving backlash.
‘I have 22 animals on my farm in Nashville, I’ve got 22 in my house in Calabasas, I’m doing all I need to do for the animals,’ she said. ‘But when it comes to my brain… you can’t be vegan and be this quick.’
Cyrus now describes herself as a pescatarian - a diet which involves eating fish, as a main source of protein, in addition to vegetables and other plant-based foods.
‘That’s where I’m at,’ she said. ‘I’m experimenting a lot with my diet, and my body, and my routine and my exercise right now.’
Several Twitter users have since voiced their frustration at the singer’s decision to give up her vegan lifestyle.
‘In 2015 Miley Cyrus told the Tonight Show the reason she went vegan was because of how intelligent fish are,’ one user tweeted.
‘Your vegan fans are disappointed,’ added another.
In 2017, Cyrus had two vegan tattoos - the Vegan Society symbol tattooed on her arm and the words ‘be kind’ on the back of her wrists. Two years prior, the singer told Paper magazine that she became vegan in 2013 following the death of her dog Floyd, an Alaskan Klee Kai.
Elsewhere in her interview with Rogan, Cyrus opened up about her divorce from Hemsworth after a 10-year on/off relationship.
'I just went through a very public divorce that f**king sucked,' Cyrus said.
'It's amazing to me that the public kind of thinks that there's no gap of time that they didn't see that could possibly be what led to this,' Cyrus explained, alluding to her divorce from Hemsworth and subsequent relationship with Kaitlynn Carter.
'Like, "one day you were happy on the carpet and then next day you're making out with your friend in Italy. What the f**k?" Well there's a lot of time in between that you didn't see.'
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Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
