Influencer Nara Smith has shocked fans after revealing she was drinking raw milk – a ‘dangerous’ choice for pregnant women. A leading nutritionist warns of the potential harms of drinking unpasteurised dairy
Nara Smith has caused controversy over her TikTok videos – and now she’s been slammed for drinking a dangerous drink while pregnant. The influencer shared a video of herself drinking unpasteurised milk, just one month after announcing her fourth pregnancy.
Anyone who follows Nara Smith online will instantly recognise her romanticised videos – but her alluring appeal goes much deeper for fans. Her videos are enchanting thanks to her soothing voice, gentle cooking tips and seemingly picture-perfect family. But her lifestyle has been marred by controversy over the years, including her latest video.
The 23-year-old lives in Los Angeles with her husband, model Lucky Blue Smith, and she proudly adopts a stay-at-home-mum role, with a slower way of life. She spends her days cooking and caring for her children while also looking after their home, and in a recent video shared her baking some homemade cinnamon roll cookies – and washing it down with a glass of raw cows milk.
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“Once the cookies were done, we set them on a cooling rack to cool before drizzling them with [some] icing,” Nara said in a voiceover. “Even though I’m not a fan of cookies, these hit the spot with some cold raw milk.”
Raw cows milk can be particularly dangerous to drink, especially for pregnant women, as it can contain dangerous bacteria. The majority of the milk we drink in the UK is heat-treated to kill off harmful bacteria. The pasteurisation process involves heating milk to a specific temperature for a set period of time as it kills organisms responsible for diseases such as listeriosis, typhoid fever, tuberculosis, diphtheria and more.
Raw milk isn’t – it goes from the animal to the bottle without any treatment. The Food Standards Agency advise that raw or unpasteurised drinking milk and cream “may contain harmful bacteria that can cause food poisoning.” They say that people with a weaker immune system are “particularly vulnerable to food poisoning and should not consume it.”
Nara has come under fire from fans who branded her as “negligent” for drinking it, due to the harm it could cause her unborn baby. “Raw milk? While PREGNANT?” one commenter wrote. “I mean it’s bad in general, but girl…”
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Another penned: “Nurse here… do NOT use unpasteurised, raw milk! Dangerous to you, baby and kids!!” And a third echoed: “Raw milk while pregnant is crazy. Why is pasteurization a problem?”
Ruth Tongue, a nutritionist and wellbeing founder at Elevate Your Health spoke to The Mirror about the dangers of drinking raw milk and said: “It’s essential that pregnant women avoid raw milk and products made from raw milk (certain cheeses) as they may contain listeria bacteria. This can cause an infection called listeriosis and can lead to still birth or miscarriage.
“It can also contain other dangerous bacteria such as salmonella, e-coli and campylobacter.” She added how there is no “solid scientific evidence” that raw milk has any nutritional advantages and “pasteurisation does not reduce the nutrient quality of milk.”
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Ruth further explained how people are choosing to drink raw milk because they’ve “been told that it has more nutrients, [that it] may reduce intolerances (particularly lactose intolerance) allergies and may contain fewer hormones.” However, she said none of this has been substantiated.
When it comes to unpasteurised dairy products, the expert said there are certain cheeses that should be avoided too. These include soft cheeses such as certain types of feta, as well as any mould-ripened soft cheeses like brie, camembert and soft goat’s cheese that have a white mouldy rind, and any blue-veined cheeses (like stilton, Gorgonzola, Roquefort).
The Mirror reached out to Nara Smith for comment, but at time of publication received no response.
Source: Mirror
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