A "strictly vegan" woman

can face extra difficulties in pregnancy. 

I was told this one day while she was explaining cholesterol readings to me.  I am not quite sure how or why it came into the conversation but it did. I have not forgotten this.

Is it true? I have not done enough research to know but I suspect there are issues which need to be addressed. 

I say this because I know a number of people who follow diets out of conviction rather than necessity. There are at least three who are fanatical about their diets. 

The one who claims to have "absolutely no animal products" in her diet is thin to the point of anorexia. She looks unwell. She is unwell. This woman has no stamina. She is frequently ill with "colds" or "the 'flu" and says she "doesn't know" how it is she gets these illnesses so often. 

There is another who has a long list of things she will not eat. She comes to see me occasionally and brings her own "organic" tea - from some concoction she makes up. I just boil the water but at least she does not expect the water to be filtered.

I have several friends who do not eat meat of any sort. That is much easier to handle but one won't eat any sort of dairy products "because they are bad for my cholesterol" and another is "allergic" to eggs. 

I once had a neighbour who really was allergic to eggs. My mother once cracked an egg open in front of this woman and a moment later she was gasping for breath and had to rush outside. It sounds ridiculous but the reaction was there and it made life very difficult for her. 

My only aunt is vegetarian by choice but what this really means is she does not eat meat. She will eat cheese, drink milk and put butter in the pan when she makes an omelette. She taught chemistry at a university and is well aware of her need to eat a balanced diet.

I simply try to eat a balanced diet. I don't eat much meat because I am simply not fond of it but I do not ask other people to abide by my choices.

And that brings me to a man called Chris Packham. It seems he has succeeded in having two advertisements taken down in the UK. The advertisements concerned dairy products and meat. They were part of a campaigning backing farmers. Mr Packham is some sort of media personality. He is also a vegan. He objected to the advertisements and had them pulled down by claiming they were misleading. Their statements about their "carbon footprint" were apparently misleading. 

Perhaps it is time to look at the environmental damage by almonds or soy? Perhaps it is also time to look at the environmental damage done by plastic and or clothing ourselves in acrylic. 

Perhaps the real damage is being done by people like Mr Packham. It is why I spent a short time yesterday visiting a young woman who has just lost a second child while following that "strictly vegan" diet. Her mother is worried for her and I am too.