The Scottish Mail on Sunday - You
WHAT’S BEHIND THE VEGAN REVOLUTION?
The number of vegans in the UK has risen by 350 per cent in the past decade. And, fuelled by Instagram-perfect clean-living gurus, it’s a growing trend among teenage girls. But could this obsession with restrictive diets have serious health consequences?
Why the eating regime’s popularity among teenage girls is a cauoser cfoncern
How should you react to the news that your 14-year- old daughter is thinking of giving up red meat, chicken, eggs, cheese, butter and yoghurt, plus all processed food, sugar and gluten – and all because Deliciously Ella chooses not to eat these, too? That’s the beautiful Ella Mills (née Woodward), of course, who was stricken with an autoimmune disease while a student at the University of St Andrews, her illness leaving her bedridden. Ella famously recovered by following a self-imposed healthy-eating regime featuring large amounts of vegetables. She chronicled on social media both her miraculous return to health and the colourful plant-based dishes she created along the way.
In four years, she has gained 650,000 followers on Instagram and a further 80,000 on Twitter. Her first cookbook was the fastest-selling debut ever (swiftly followed by a bestselling second instalment). Last year, she opened her first restaurant – The Mae Deli in London’s trendy Marylebone – and married the eligible Matthew Mills, a financier, on a far-flung paradise isle. Where young girls used to hero-worship boy-band members, 24-year-old Ella is now their idol and
role model, with her clear skin and sparkling eyes, her slim figure, her long glossy hair, and her fairy-tale life complete with handsome prince at her side. Where once Pizza Express was the restaurant of choice for a 14-year- old’s birthday treat, now she only wants to get as close to Ella as possible by visiting The Mae Deli.
The ‘clean- eating’ regime (a largely plant-based diet using fresh ingredients and whole foods) devised by Ella has made her healthy, rich and famous, and it’s not surprising that many 14-year-olds see her as a role model and wish to follow her example. But the danger is that they may take the clean-eating message to a more extreme level – veganism (which rejects all animal-based products) – and that this obsession with food could progress to an eating disorder.
Recently, an old friend was describing an unsettling weekend with her adolescent niece Chloe. Usually a sporty girl, Chloe had hardly gone outdoors, barely lifted her eyes from her phone and, instead of chatting eagerly about her swimming and riding achievements, seemed obsessed with Deliciously Ella.
‘Chloe told me, “I’m already vegetarian, and I’m thinking of going vegan. My friends are doing it, too. Ella looks amazing.”’ Being an outdoorsy girl, Chloe is naturally slim and she’s still growing. Her mother was concerned that such a restricted diet could leave Chloe deficient in vital nutrients (maybe leading to weak bones and teeth), prone to illness, lacking in energy and a bit over-concerned about food when she ought to be thinking about other things. No doubt this scenario is becoming familiar in households up and down the country. If Chloe and her friends are contemplating copying Ella, you can guarantee thousands of other teenage girls are thinking the same. Such is the power of social media.
Instagram, Twitter, Facebook: social media is awash with food. Countless sites focus on wellness and the fashionable phenomenon of clean eating, from the golden Australian creator of the Bikini Body Guides Kayla Itsines and the slender, smiling Sarah Wilson of the bestselling I Quit Sugar, to the gorgeous half-Filipina Hemsley sisters, Melissa and Jasmine, of cookbook, Selfridges café and TV fame, along with many others too numerous to name.
While each of the above proposes a different way of eating (and none is vegan), they all post encouraging this- could-be-you photos on their social media feeds – often showing themselves lying in a hammock, sipping a smoothie, one thin tanned leg hanging over the side – and endless bowls of multicoloured salads.
But Ella is the fairest of them all: you have only to click on to her website to see why any young girl might wish to follow this smiling, swishy-haired Pied Piper wherever she leads. Her world looks so inviting: wildflowers in a jam jar on the kitchen table, a dog bounding around, a glorious garden, a sun-filled kitchen. It’s an alluring advertisement for her growing product range, from the new Deliciously Ella facial wash and moisturiser for Neal’s Yard Remedies and The Mae Deli (the first of a planned series of restaurants) to her most recent cookbook, Deliciously Ella Every Day, showing how to live the Ella life 24/7.
Cause for worry – or for celebration? After all, every high street is crammed with takeaway food outlets and supermarkets heaving with junk food. As a nation, we’re blighted by rocketing obesity and diabetes levels, with a third of ten- to 11-year- olds now officially overweight or obese. So surely this awareness of healthy eating is a welcome turnaround?
While a plant-based meal might be a healthier alternative to burgers and chips, restricted diets can be risky. Paediatric nutritionist Judy More, who runs a private clinic in West London (child-nutrition.co.uk), often sees girls brought in by mothers worried about the effect becoming vegetarian or vegan may have on their daughters’ still- developing bodies. She says that they shouldn’t necessarily be alarmed. ‘A girl who becomes vegan can still get a balanced diet if she chooses her food really carefully so that she eats what her body needs.’
Easier said than done. ‘Meat, for instance, isn’t essential for health, but it is a rich source of iron, and the body needs iron. If a teenager isn’t eating meat, eggs or fish, they need to replace these with nuts and pulses. Pulses can take more preparation time, so it’s not always likely a teenage girl will make that effort. Iron deficiency is a major risk. A girl may have stopped growing at 15 or 16 but the brain goes on developing until the age of 18, 19 or 20, and iron is essential for that development.’
A vegan diet can also lack omega-3 fatty acids – also necessary for the developing brain – plus zinc and vitamin B12. Furthermore, cutting out dairy eliminates the best sources of calcium and iodine, putting bone density and thyroid hormone production at risk. ‘A girl would need to take supplements to replace those two
With some of Ella’s ardent followers – particularly the younger ones – her message has been misheard