NROP: Social media influencer – inspirational heroes or money-hungry scammers?

These past few days were abundant in writing material. Almost anything I read made me want to create a new post and write about it.

I have to admit that having too much to write about is not something I see as a problem. In fact, I wish that I feel this inspired all the time in the future.

But we all know that is not possible.

While I wondered what I would choose to write about, I saw a headline that I immediately knew it was going to be “it”.

The article spoke about a YouTube vegan influencer, who has recently been caught eating fish.

You can read a post I wrote about veganism and my feelings towards such diets HERE.

This girl, then in her early twenties, learned about a raw, plant-based diet about six years ago. She stopped being a party animal (i.e. drinking and smoking) and started eating only uncooked products that did not come from an animal. No meat, no eggs, no cheese, etc. Once she dived into that community, she realized that there were not many people out there that knew a lot about veganism, and shared it with the world. Back then, there was no one who did that in Spanish, so she seized the moment, and began her influencer journey for both – the Spanish- and the English-speaking audience. She now has about three million subscribers across her social media channels.

Recently, a video has emerged that shows her sitting in front of a plate of food with fish on it. When the camera turns towards her, she can be seen awkwardly trying to hide the meat on her plate. The video was taken by a friend of hers, with whom she went on vacation. I am not sure how this video “leaked”, but I assume that it was a Facebook live video because otherwise, there would be time to cut and re-do the video.

How would you react if your friend outed you like that?

I am a big proponent of a balanced diet. I find it hard to imagine my diet without red meat, fish, eggs, or cheese. Funnily enough, the “apology” video she created to explain why she ate fish focuses on exactly that – a BALANCED diet.

To save you all some time, I have watched the 30-minute video and will give you the short version of what went wrong. Surprisingly what was not right was not only what she ate in the video that showed her true colors.

 She takes the viewers on a journey of her vegan experience. Once she went completely vegan, she felt great and did all sorts of juicing, cleansing and fasting. She quickly went onto obtaining various certifications and coaching people what (not) to eat. On her website, she sells meal plans, some of which are geared towards weight loss. She also shares workout routines with her followers. Sounds great, right?

I hope that you already know to take social media influencers with a grain of salt. They do incredible work by posting valuable content consistently, but we have to remember that they are human. I have heard of Instagram models complain about their lives being so hard because it takes too much time and hard work to get the right shot. Did WE force them to do that? No, it was THEIR choice. Some people promote things that make money, not necessarily what they believe in. It is disillusioning, but that is the nature of the business.

That is why I did not get upset when I read about that girl turning out to be a scam. She found her niche early on and she put all of her into it. I give her kudos for that. Trying to hide the fish on the plate was weak. It did not help her brand. Many people are outraged. But what truly shook me was the explanation video.

She mentions her fast after which everything went downhill. After two years of twists and turns with a raw, plant-based only diet, she decided to fast for 25 days. No food whatsoever. She only drank water. That should be your red flag!

Afterward, she did not have her period for a couple of months, but other “gurus” in the community told her that was fine. FINE! What did she do in biology classes? So she went onto two years of not menstruating. She convinced herself that that was actually a good thing.

Fast forward to two years later, she realized she was not feeling all that great, so she went to see an actual doctor. After not having a period for two years, she was told that is actually NOT a good thing. Surprising?

That petrified me because even though I have some common sense and know a bit about medicine and doctors, I know there are people who believe everything their hero says. This girl is a certified dietitian teaching others how to eat HEALTHILY and she thinks that having your period stop all of a sudden is OK? That is utterly scary.

The doctor had her blood drawn, which revealed her hormones being out of whack. In order to fix that, they put her on supplements and thyroid medication. While this could have been fixed with incorporating more variety into her diet, she opted to go down the artificial road – medication. How is it better to pump your body full of pills instead of eating animal-based products like eggs? Her period returned. Somewhat. It was irregular and lasted less than it should, but it gave her the illusion of everything being alright.

Soon enough she realized that there was more going on with her. She had a tough time with a yeast infection, and then she tested positively for SIBO, which is a small intestine condition. In an attempt to get her body back on track, she started eating fish. In the video, she stresses that she still feels the anguish of eating animal products and that she wishes to go to only plant-based foods at some point in life. However, she does acknowledge that she is putting her body first and eating more than plants is necessary for her.

She mentions that she took to one of the doctors quickly because they understood their diet and did not push her towards eating meat. Is that what we want nowadays? Not someone who can heal us, but someone that will coddle us?

What is the conclusion of her video? Mainly that you have to eat a balanced diet. It makes her feel so much better. She stresses that putting her health first is the most important thing. Is that not mind-blowing? It makes you wonder why she claims that she wants to go back to raw, plant-based food. Could it be because it has been profitable for her?

What was her excuse for not telling her fans about her eating fish, and such? She was worried about what others would think of her. And that is a person who coaches others.

Thoughts?

Stay golden,

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