While there are many obvious nutrients missing from the diets of vegans, there is one essential element that is typically passed over: iodine. This element is particularly important in a pregnant woman’s body because “low iodine can increase the risk of miscarriage and thyroid problems in moms, in addition to mental disabilities in babies.”

So when a vegan woman gets knocked up (I say knocked up and not regular pregnant because who would marry a vegan?), a new study shows they have an average iodine level of 79. The recommended range is 150-249. Herein lies the problem with some who choose the vegan diet. Choosing to be vegan can be a personal thing, but when that choice starts affecting others, it needs to become a no-no, along the lines of second-hand smoke or getting pregnant after age 40. No iodine-deficient child is going to grow up and be like, “I’m really glad mommy was a vegan, who cares if the left half of my brain is missing?”

So please, vegans, for the sake of our future don’t get knocked up without at least getting some real food back into your bodies. Natalie Portman did it, and she won an Oscar.

(via Yahoo)

As a fellow member of the Chosen People, Natalie Portman has always been pretty special in the Jewish world. At some point in their lives, every Jewish male has had a thing for her. And I know it’s not just limited to members of the tribe. Yet, Jew or not, the day Natalie Portman converted to veganism something inside of me died.

Many times I was tempted to turn her into an Unvegan Villain. For as much as she spoke out against meat, I felt there was some good in her yet, just as her character in Star Wars longed for the good in Anakin Skywalker. Finally, I have learned that my hopes were not in vain. Now that Queen Amidala is pregnant with a baby that most likely won’t grow up to be Luke Skywalker or Princess Leia, she has put herself back on the path towards good (and hopefully on the path away from movies like No Strings Attached).

In an interview, Portman said, “I was listening to my body to have eggs and dairy and that sort of thing.” Finally, a vegan who actually listened to her body when it cried out for B12, iron and Omega-3s. The human body needs these things to survive, and there is just no biological way to consume B12 if it isn’t from an animal. With a little more support, I’d like to hope we will see Portman sitting down to a steak dinner in the near future.

So, for listening to your body and renouncing veganism for the good of your baby and body, Natalie Portman, you are a true Unvegan Hero!

(via CNN)