A vegan YouTube star is facing a backlash after being caught eating fish while she continued to espouse the raw plant only diet that she ditched after her menstrual cycle stopped.
But she has now been forced to admit that she has started to eat fish and eggs, along with cooked foods, as a result of health problems stretching back many years that caused her menstrual cycle to completely stop.
She has 468,000 subscribers on her YouTube channel and over 1.3 million followers on Instagram, where she is now facing a backlash from her fans.
The California-based 29-year-old has built up her brand Rawvana around the raw-plant lifestyle that she said she still stands by, with lifestyle advice, recipes, and fitness tips.
Some of her (former) fans, however, don’t believe that she started eating fish just two months ago.
In her 30-minute video, she described health issues going back five years.
Ayres said that the problems started after a 25-day water only fast in 2014. She said that she felt fantastic after the fast, but that her menstrual cycle stopped for two years.
Ayres—who offers lifestyle, fitness, and diet advice on her website—said that she initially didn’t think losing her period was a health issue.
“I even thought that it was a good thing at one point,” she said in the video.
Hormones of a Pre-Menopausal Woman
“I learned that not having a period is really not healthy. It’s not good for you.’She went for a test which revealed her “hormones were out of wack”. She had hormones typically found in a woman just about to go through the menopause. She was 26 at the time.
She began to incorporate cooked foods, more fat and salt into her diet. She was advised to take iron supplements.
But she said she stubbornly resisted the advice of the experts who told her, “You need some eggs, just eat eggs, and you'll be fine. ”
Her period returned after 2 months—but only sporadically.
But over the following three years, other health issues surfaced, she said, including a bacterial growth in her small intestine that prevented her from eating the high-fibre diet she espouses. Ayres said she finally started eating fish and eggs.
“I want to bring some babies into this world,‘ she said. ’”I want to have a family. If I am not good then how can I expect to bring a family into this world?”
Many of her fans are not impressed. Some don’t believe that she has come completely clean in the video, and others speculate that some of her health issues may have come from her breast implants.
Her video, which has been viewed 290,000 times in five days, has three times as many “dislikes” as “likes”.
One person wrote in the comments section, “It’s really hard to believe someone that has claimed to be vegan for a long time and then only comes out as non vegan anymore because they were caught eating fish in a video. You cashed in on something you knew was growing and profitable. Very deceitful.”
Another wrote, “If she was caught eating fish & as a result made the video, isn’t it likely that she’s been eating animals for a lot longer than she says ...”
“Can’t believe u monetized this video after selling your vegan plans and products for months while eating animals. All wrong,” wrote another.
A few came to her defense.
“If things changed in her life and she needed to adjust her diet because of it and she was afraid to disappoint her subscribers, so be it. Look at the nasty comments. Maybe this is why she didn’t know how to tell y'all, she knew she would be judged no matter what she said.”
Many comments picked up on the fact that Mendoza has had breast implants in the past.
“Notice these vegans becoming not vegan anymore have implants! Breast Implant Illness is very sneaky and wreaks absolute havoc on every level of the human body. For me personally, I was never considering eating animals again due to my BII but I was definitely trying to.”
