Mena Suvari was forced to give up her vegan diet after she became "very sick".
During a recent episode of the Dinner's on Me podcast, host Jesse Tyler Ferguson asked the American Beauty actress whether she was "still fully vegan" while he ordered a veggie burger as they sat at a café.
In response, Mena revealed that she no longer abided by an entirely plant-based lifestyle.
"No, it's a long conversation," she explained. "For me, specifically, I got very sick. And so, you know. I had a lot of like physical issues that I needed to address."
Mena went on to recall how she was "very concerned" about changing her eating habits until a health expert insisted it was necessary.
"I had a health practitioner say to me, 'You know, this isn't about whether or not you're vegan, it has to do with your blood work. She said, 'I work with many, many vegans... they don't have your bloodwork,'" the 45-year-old recounted. "To me, I think it's very important for people to really consider their own constitution. I don't believe anything in life is one size fits all. And I think that mentality needs to be addressed."
Jesse noted that it was good Mena was "on top" of her health now.
And while the star didn't delve into her health issues, she took the opportunity to argue that it's OK for people to change and adapt.
"It was very hard for me. For five years, I was living a very vegan lifestyle and I had to address things. I had to address what that meant for me. A lot of my experience in that movement doesn't feel very open and doesn't feel very welcoming to a bigger conversation," she continued. "Like I said, I think what's important is really having a connected, well-rounded conversation. And not so much like, 'I'm coming to the table and I'm going to do everything I can to convince you that you need to be me.'"
Mena is currently in post-production on sci-fi heist film, The Dresden Sun.
