A former vegan who lived off a gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free, meat-fee and refined sugar-free diet has ditched the plant-based regime and started eating burgers.

38-year-old Virpi Mikkonen claims her vegan diet "brought on early menopause" leading to hot flashes and absent periods. But determined to get better, the mom from Helsinki, Finland, followed the specialist's advice, incorporating meat and eggs - which she once referred to as "miscarriages of chickens" into her diet.

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Explaining the effects were dramatic, not only did Mikkonen feel more energetic - sleeping better and noticing an increase in motivation - her periods also returned and the hot flashes stopped.

Speaking about the vegan diet, she told the Mail Online: "It doesn’t work for everyone. It didn’t work for me," she said. "The problem was not being vegan, per se, it was the vegan diet and my stressful lifestyle... It was a huge thing to think, this is where my fertility stops."

"You think you’re still young and then suddenly the doctor says, 'You are in the menopause! You have to start taking HRT!'" she mused.

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Mikkonen's daily diet now includes an omelet for breakfast, meatballs, chicken and vegetables for lunch and a meat broth for dinner. She has also incorporated butter and goat's cheese but still only drinks oat milk and avoids gluten, starch and refined sugar.

"Maybe if I’d had a super-relaxed lifestyle somewhere in Hawaii I wouldn’t have had any problems being vegan. But in this life I am living, the diet didn’t work for me and that is totally OK," the blogger said.

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This story originally appeared on The Sun. Read more content from The Sun here.