One social media influencer and YouTube vlogger has recently caused quite a stir amongst her followers after turning from a vegan lifestyle to a carnivorous one and experiencing positive health benefits as a result.
The vlogger in question is Alyse Parker.
Parker is a fairly prominent social media influencer, boasting a total of over 219,000 followers on Instagram, and over 700,000 subscribers on YouTube.
Recently, however, her social media channels have become a source of controversy.
In a recent post, Parker admitted to having temporarily switched from her vegan lifestyle.
In the post, she wrote that she had decided to try a 30-day meat and animal product only diet. She claimed that her friends had tried the diet and had experienced positive health benefits as a result.
She also wrote, “Yehhh — some may call me crazy” — clearly Parker has led an extremely fun-filled life.
Ms Parker explained that she was “willing to try anything.”
She had previously been a vegan for four-and-a-half years, which is quite a commitment!
However, it was her desire to be healthier after experiencing her own health problems that made her try the diet.
Writing: “I had my own fair share of health struggles and eventually reached a breaking point where I was willing to try anything to function properly again.”
So, she explained, “I swallowed my pride” — oh, Alyse, you card! — “[and] decided I’d give it a shot.”
Her carnivore diet was to include ONLY meat and animal products.
Yeah, there was no, “I’ll just ease myself back into eating meat,” as she ate only animal products, such as meat, seafood, and eggs, for the full 30 days.
Parker also recorded a vlog about her “journey” on the carnivore diet and uploaded it to… mixed reviews.
In the video, she spends an inordinate amount of time talking about how she only ate fresh and responsibly sourced produce (remember that, that’ll be important later).
Ultimately, however, she said that she felt more lean and comfortable in her skin. She also said that she had a more “stable energy and focus throughout the day”. Although, her fans were not as keen on the idea.
The decision to try this has been mostly panned by her fans.
In fact, the response has been so overwhelmingly negative that her video about doing the carnivore diet has received 10,000 dislikes compared to only 8,000 likes.
For a social media influencer, controversy can be useful to drive engagement, but such a negative backlash could have a powerful effect on her position as an “influencer.”
In her initial post, she had written, “With an online community of 800,000 people ~ many of which were primarily showing up for my vegan related content… I was a bit conflicted, to say the least [about trying the diet].”
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Well, looks like you were right to be cautious!
Some of the comments have been profoundly negative!
Some of the “fan” responses have included the likes of:
“Cows experience fear and pain. They have family units. They understand they are going to die when they are butchered. Factory farming of beef is not only cruel to intelligent animals but incredibly awful for the environment. You’re part of the problem, don’t pretend like you’re part of any solution.”
Others accused her of being a fake all along.
“Shame on you. That’s all. You’re milking this whole carnivore thing by posting photos like these with falsified and clickbait captions. You’re literally encouraging people to add to the violence that’s already upon Gaia. You don’t give a single f**k. Stop acting like you do. Drop the act, Alyse. Disgusting.”
Yeah, her angrier followers didn’t hold back.
“Being vegan you’d think you’d understand the effects of eating meat on our bodies & more importantly our environment?? you lost all my respect.”
There have, however, been some people supporting her.
On her Instagram, a fair few people encouraged the move, and supported her decision:
“The best thing we can do is self-experiment to figure out what works for us! Can’t wait to watch your carnivore video!”
“I started at 30 days and 10 months later still going! Stoked to see more of your experience.”
Considering that she made her name as a vegan influencer, it was almost surprising how much support she got.
“This is crazy! So excited to follow you on this journey though! Proud of you and everything you’re trying. Such an inspiration for growth and self-care!”
(FYI: Crazy is defined as, “Mad, especially as manifested in wild or aggressive behavior,” by Google, just so people know what that word means.)
So, was it worth her doing it to “feel healthier than I have in years?”
It does seem like the health benefits were very positive for Parker, which is good for people thinking of trying this. However, a few of her fans pointed out that they simply do not like the idea of “extreme dieting.”
Extreme dieting is so popular nowadays, though, and there are so many it can be difficult to know which ones are genuinely good for you, and which ones are simply being marketed right.
And that brings us to the final point. This entire challenge was sponsored by a meat company called “ButcherBox.” So, is this simply someone saying what a company has paid them to? I’ll let you guys decide that!
Would you try this diet?
Has Parker’s “journey” convinced you to change your mind about your diet? Or, do you think that this sort of thing is shallow and offensive?
Well, one thing is for sure, it will be a long time before she wins back the trust of her vegan followers!
h/t: New York Post