An Australian woman expecting her first child has drawn international attention (and criticism) for her fruit-laden diet, which can include up to twenty bananas a day!
At twenty-six-weeks pregnant, Loni Jane Anthony has been showing off her extremely svelte body on numerous Instagram selfies to her nearly 100,000 followers. According to an article in the Daily Mail, the twenty-five-year-old revealed her typical meal plan—which comprises mainly fruit and salad—in her blog Aleven:11.
Needless to say, Anthony was soon pegged by commenters as "irresponsible" and "narcissistic," while nutritionists denounced her for jeopardizing her health and that of her baby. Not only is the mom-to-be in dire shortage of protein and key vitamins and minerals, she also lacks calcium.
But Anthony hasn't paid any mind to her critics, claiming she has no history of disordered eating (uh, until now?) and that she has never felt better since she gave up partying.
"[The diet] wasn’t for weight loss or for a quick fix," Anthony said. "I was internally really sick; I was killing myself slowly. If I’d kept living that lifestyle I would have ended up with a disease like cancer or early aging. So giving up that food was really quite simple for me."
Anthony has loosely based her regimen on the 80/10/10 diet coined by Dr Douglas M. Graham, which comprises a ratio of 80% fruits and vegetables, 10% protein, and 10% fat.
In a typical day she can consume anywhere from five to fifteen bananas, a smoothie, and a salad for lunch or dinner. But Med-Health.net warns that eating any more than two bananas per day can cause headaches, fatigue, nausea, and tooth decay. Proof that too much of a good thing can in fact be bad for you, especially when your body is busy growing a little human.
Anthony hopes to be an inspiration to women "getting super-drunk and taking heaps of drugs and having no self-respect." Let's agree to disagree. Pregnancy is not the time to diet, period. Of course it could be worse, she could be surviving on baby food.
Good grief or good for her?
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