A painfully thin vegan dubbed the Russian Barbie has been warned that she cannot survive on a meat-free diet in the killer climate of Siberia.
Influencer Julia Krieger, from Novosibirsk, and who boasts of weighing just 40 kilogrammes (88 lbs) at a height of 1.65 metres (5.41 feet), says she has not eaten meat or fish in 13 years.
Instead, she says her daily diet is made up of just green tea and vegan pasta.
She also shuns sugar, bread, and even fruit juices and says even the smell of chips makes her put on weight.
Julia, who says her measurements are 85-53-85, or 33-20-33 in inches, says she has been on a hardcore vegan diet for six months.
She told local media: “I don’t make myself some kind of menu for the day, since childhood I normally eat once a day, it has always been enough for me.
“During the day I can have something to eat if I want. I never eat in the morning, I get up no earlier than noon and drink only green tea.
“By 2 pm to 3 pm, I have breakfast in a cafe or at home. I always cook something different at home: vegetable risotto, vegan pasta or something else – most importantly, without a hint of animal products.”
Julia says she does not eat food with any sugar, vinegar, citric acid or yeast in it.
She said: “I do not eat all vegetables – only tomatoes, very rarely – cucumbers, aubergine, carrots, maize, green beans, broccoli, avocados.
“I eat fruits even less often, for me it is partly food garbage. I do not eat mushrooms – I think they are harmful.
“Sometimes I drink coffee with coconut milk, orange juice.
‘There is a place for desserts, of course, but without dairy fats and sugar: vegan chocolate, and vegan chocolate cookies and sweets.”
Julia added: “I do not urge everyone to do as I do: everyone has a different body, even giving up meat is not suitable for everyone.”
But doctors are concerned for her health.
Her regime has worrying echoes of tragic vegan influencer Zhanna Samsonova who boasted she weighed the same as 18 coconuts before she starved to death,
Now health experts have told Julia that she must eat meat if she wants to survive in Siberia’s harsh climate.
An average winter day in the region is minus 25 degrees Celsius with some remote areas dipping as low as minus 60 degrees Celsius.
Yakov Novoselov, Director of the Siberian Federal Centre for Health Nutrition, told local media: “There are signs of dystrophy or cachexia – thinness.’
He says her no-meat diet could severely damage Julia’s kidneys and other internal organs.
He explained: “You can’t talk about the danger simply by comparing height and weight: you need to look at the percentage of fat in the body.
“With a deficiency of adipose tissue, a violation of kidney function begins, leading to the prolapse of the kidneys.
“The nervous system also suffers, since fat is involved in the formation of the sheath of nerve fibers.
“From here, fatigue, drowsiness, and lethargy can appear, leading to organ dysfunction.”
Novoselov added that being a vegetarian or a vegan in Siberia is dangerous, saying: “Humankind has been eating like this for tens of thousands of years, it is laid down at the genetic level, and it will be possible to change it only after a couple of thousand years.
“You need to eat at least three times a day, preferably four, ideally five.
“Otherwise, the processes of outflow of bile threaten to damage the pancreas, causing pancreatitis, cholecystitis, and so on.
“A complete rejection of animal fat, especially in Siberia, can lead to severe endocrine diseases.”
He added: “Because of the weather in Siberia, a protein-fat metabolism predominates, which requires meat products.
“You can refuse meat, but then compensate with fish.
“Fish can be compensated with dairy products: cheese, cottage cheese, milk.
“But a complete rejection of animal products is unacceptable.”
But Julia claims she is healthy and had a medical check six months ago.
She said “Six months ago, I was completely checked at the medical centre, and I had excellent test results, everything is normal, although I have not eaten meat and fish for 13 years.
“It is this type of nutrition that suits me, everything is fine.”