Cyndi Lauper Had To Quit Veganism After One ‘Healthy Superfood’ Left Her in Crippling Pain

As the title of her song, She’s So Unusual, Cyndi Lauper has always adopted an unusual style, be it fashion, music, or simply the spelling of her name. While her music buzzes with 90s classic pop-rock and punky tunes, her infamous flamboyant style inspires girls to don all those chunky bracelets and colorful hair. A while ago, rumors spurred in the media that the 71-year-old songstress followed a vegan diet. But in a recent episode of the Table Manners Podcast (@tablemannerspodcast), Lauper revealed how she was forced to quit her vegan diet because a healthy “superfood” gave her an agonizing chronic disease.

The Girls Just Wanna Have Fun singer shared how she once decided to go on a vegan diet. With a plan to include more and more vegetables in her diet, she signed up for a food delivery app that would provide her regular stock of vegan meals. But after a while, her plan backfired, even killing her to some extent. "I tried to be a vegan, but you know, I took one thing where they were just delivering food and they gave me spinach every day, every meal spinach. I wound up having kidney stones and they killed me," she told the hosts Jessie Ware and her mom, Lennie Ware.

Unsurprisingly, the hosts were shocked at what she said. With a wide-mouthed expression, Lennie reconfirmed, "Oh, you get kidney stones from spinach?" The Time After Time singer replied, "Yes, it has a chemical in it. If you eat too much of this kind of thing. And you're prone to that it can you can develop kidney stones." According to WebMD, spinach contains a chemical called “oxalate” that can trigger the formation of stones. Although most plants contain this chemical, spinach has a relatively high amount. The health website suggested that to combat spinach’s high oxalate, one should try to consume it with calcium-rich foods, such as pairing a spinach salad with low-fat cheese.

Moving on into the episode, the Grammy-winning singer revealed that she also likes to have specific requirements for her meals while she’s on a tour. But as for the vegan diet, it is not gone from her diet for good. "I stopped that but like I tried to eat on the road like that. But they would put these herbs in vegetables like, you know, just flat out. What's wrong with you? You got cauliflower. What you gotta ruin it for? Just freaking wash it, cut it, put a little olive oil on it, some salt, put it in the broiler, don't burn it,” grumbled Lauper.

The Table Manners Podcast hosts mentioned that while Lauper shared lots of tips for cooking the perfect Italian pasta, they gifted her boxes of borscht. The artist also shared that her current tour would be the last, but she may do some shows after this farewell tour. Lauper is currently in Glasgow, U.K. for her Girls Just Wanna Have Fun farewell tour performance to be held on February 8, 2025. The tour will conclude in Paris on February 28. Additionally, the green-haired star is also working on a Broadway production of Working Girl.

You can follow @tablemannerspodcast for more interesting celebrity podcasts.