A group of bloggers are causing internet outrage as they claim following an extreme raw vegan diet stops your period, which they say is a sign of toxicity in the body.
The handful of vegan, raw, and 'clean eating' bloggers are being slammed by doctors, as they encourage their followers to aim for a sporadic or light period, which they say is healthier and more natural.
"Many girls who lose their period often worry and try numerous things to get it back," wrote 19-year-old Miliany Bonet who runs the Raw Vegan Living blog.
"It's often advised that to get your period back, you should stop exercising and eat more calories and incorporate more plant-based fats in your diet.
"What if I told you that everything you were taught about menstrual cycles was a complete LIE?!"
Her sentiments are echoed by Freelee the Banana Girl, a vegan blogger who has over 200,000 followers on Facebook.
In a YouTube video posted in 2013, she claimed she lost her period for nine months after switching to the extreme diet and cutting out meat, dairy and junk food.
"I just instinctively felt that I was still ovulating because I felt so good. I still believe that, largely, menstruation is toxicity leaving the body.
"So a lot of people are having these heavy periods and painful periods because they have a toxic body or have a toxic diet.'
In a post called 'Periods: they may be normal but are they healthy?' on raw food blog RawforLife, the blogger Debbie Took asked "If we were all living natural [sic], in a 'Garden of Eden', without pads, tampons, tissues (or even clothes?), would we all be running around dripping blood all over the place for a few days a month?"
The Daily Mail spoke to Dr Jen Gunter, a gynaecologist and pain medicine physician who quickly shot down the notion.
"This is a very dangerous idea and displays a complete lack of understanding of female biology and the human body in general," Dr Gunter said.
"Periods are not bad or filled with toxins. This trend is alarming because it comes from someone who clearly has no understanding of periods or even biology in general and is just another form of body shaming."
Newshub.
