Everything Jaden Smith Has Said About His Health Issues

Jaden Smith worried fans when he looked like he lost a lot of weight in 2019. "The Karate Kid" actor has downplayed his weight loss, insisting social media users made a bigger deal of it. "Haters will post the one on the left and ignore the one on the right. Like, damn, can a man have his phases," he tweeted in October, adding a throwback and a current photo to showcase the difference. However, Jaden's parents, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, thought the situation was serious enough to require action.

"Will and I had a bit of an intervention with Jaden because he's a vegan now, but we realized he wasn't getting enough protein. So he was wasting away," Pinkett Smith said in a September 2019 episode of "Red Table Talk". "He just looked drained. He was depleted. He wasn't getting the nutrients." Jaden corrected his parents, clarifying he tried being vegan but switched back to vegetarianism. Jaden agreed his health suffered the consequences of his poor eating habits, which he argued contrasted with that of his father's.

Will opened up about eating out of boredom, while Jaden generally turned away from food. "I was just eating like two meals a day, you know, and maybe one," Jaden said. "Maybe just that one big meal, and I'm like, 'Oh, you know, I didn't get around to it.'" However, Jaden later revealed he was suffering from health issues that made eating uncomfortable and sometimes painful. Luckily, he was able to find help.

Jaden Smith's unhealthy eating habits that led to his drastic weight loss stemmed from digestive issues. "My biggest gut problem would be, like, just not being hungry when I need to be, or being stressed," Smith shared with his family in a December 2021 episode of "Red Table Talk." But lack of hunger wasn't the only effect he experienced. "I have pain, too," he added. While his parents previously worried his vegetarian diet was behind the issues he was experiencing, Smith disagreed.

Instead, Smith attributed his discomfort to his preference for sweet foods. "I eat so much sugar that I have a candida buildup that happens in my stomach," he said. The main culprit, he believed, was his favorite breakfast — pancakes. "Just doing that for literally the past, like, just my entire freaking life," Smith said. In a December 2019 "Red Table Talk" episode, the Smiths learned they had lactose and gluten sensitivities. They were also low in vitamins, which caused a series of side effects, including low energy levels.

Indeed, Smith previously noted his eating habits affected his mood. "If my blood sugar drops too low, then I will get upset about anything," he told Vanity Fair in 2017. Smith has since sought professional help and has been prescribed vitamin supplements and also protein shakes, which he admitted comprised about 50% of what he ate. "It's like a password that I have to find to my body," he explained.

Jaden Smith is a staunch believer in giving up meat to reduce his environmental impact. "I want kids that look up to me to know that I'm a vegetarian, and I want to help them find alternatives to meat," he said in the Vanity Fair interview. Smith doesn't want to preach, opting to serve as inspiration instead. "I'm not gonna tell everyone that they should be vegetarian, even though they should be," he said. "I'm more gonna say, 'You don't have to be fully vegetarian, just don't eat meat every other day.'"

As part of his efforts, in 2019, Smith opened a food truck in downtown L.A. that serves vegan food for homeless people, Revolt reported. "The @ILoveYouRestaurant is a movement that is all about giving people what they deserve, healthy, vegan food for free," he shared. Smith's food truck has since hit the road, stopping in several other locations to serve other homeless communities, but he didn't stop there. 

In 2021, Smith expanded the project to include a restaurant that was going to work in a similar way. Homeless customers eat free, while non-homeless customers pay extra to help cover the costs of those who can't afford it. Smith is also involved in other socio-environmental causes. Through his water brand, JUST Water, which then evolved into the nonprofit 501CThree, Smith funded a filtration system that seeks to improve water access in communities in need.