Impact of being vegan from birth

[Notcontent]

I could be wrong but it seems to me that there haven’t been any studies on the impact of being vegan all your life, from birth. I have been doing a bit of research into this lately (just internet research!) as my dd decided to stop eating meat (although she is not vegan) and I think part of her reason (as a young teen) was the fact that quite a few of her friends have become vegan.

It seems to me that you have to be incredibly disciplined to make sure you get all the right nutrients...

My DC has been vegetarian from birth, plus no eggs or dairy milk. They are now 18, 100% vegan and going to Oxford to study, 100% healthy.

The diet wasn't a hard, I would say it has actually improved their health.

I wish more people would do it, good for the planet.

Exactly. The traditional Scottish and Scandinavian diets contained a lot of fish (esp oily fish like herrings) and dairy products. And there were good reasons for that!

I don't understand why people would think breastmilk is not vegan.

The reasons for veganism as I understand it are:

• Animal cruelty - no cruelty involved in breastfeeding. (Haha - OK - maybe - but nothing imposed)
• Animal rights/lack of possible consent/free will - if you have decided to have a baby and breastfeed them off your own back, no issue here.
• Cow's milk (etc) is for baby cows (etc) - and human milk is for baby humans.
• Health risks from consuming animal products - breastmilk is the perfect biological food, with many health benefits, and very difficult to contaminate if not expressed.
• Climate impact of farming - breastfeeding must be the most carbon neutral food in the world, especially if you never pump.

Maybe if it's the dad who is vegan and trying to insist that the mum breastfeed against her will, or mum can't/doesn't want to breastfeed and enslaves a wet nurse, that's not very vegan-principled, is it, but assuming it's the mum (or both) who wants the baby to be vegan and is making her own choice to breastfeed herself of course it's vegan. It's completely missing the point to say otherwise.

Not a vegan but my DS, who eats meat, has anaphylaxis to egg and milk so has never been able to eat them. He eats well, likes lots of veg, and had plenty of dietary supplements.

As a small child he was very tall and was expected by doctors to be well over 6 feet tall as an adult. He stopped growing at just under 6'. (OK still tall but) He has also been quite unwell in his teens and it turned out to be b12 deficiency.

I have two super-healthy vegan kids. They are both strong and sporty, rarely sick and glowing with health.

I would say to anyone, before you judge a plant-based diet, you absolutely MUST watch Cowspiracy and Knives Over Forks.

@BalloonSlayer, if your DS likes Marmite, there is one fortified with Vitamins B6 & B12. I have two slices of wholemeal toast with Marmite every morning and my B12 levels are perfect.

My point is that an adopted vegan diet from birth needs to be studied to show the extent of it’s safety, adequacy and potentially it’s advantages...but how do you ethically study something before it has been shown to be safe, when the subjects have not been fully informed of the risks and have given informed consent

Why just vegan diets? Plenty of diets are unhealthy, including those that are meat based.

Was it Simon who was the earlier poster who mentioned they were built like a lorry and a rugby prop? Please, please post some family recipes :) This is real veganism - tested over time and using natural ingredients ...

It's impossible to get all of the correct nutrition from a vegan only diet. Even the vegan society recognises that, you miss very important vitamins such as B12, B12 deficiency can cause serious MH issues, be crippling or deadly,

as a sufferer of PA, the misinformation out there & the reluctance to believe facts from some vegan quarters boils my pee. They might as well just start self harming, because that is effectively what they do

& no studies needed, the information & science is already out there, some are just too stupid to accept it

and my B12 levels are perfect.

Megan, sorry, but that is bullshit, you have no way of knowing if your B12 levels are okay or not & if you are not supplementing, they're not, whatever any blood tests might say & deficiency is very insidious, you'll only know you have a problem when chances are it's too late to fix it properly

Joy, fortified foods are not foods that contain B12, they are fortified. Most vegans I know do not eat processed food either, so where does that leave them then 🙄

& I'm not dissing the choice to be vegan, I'm a life long vegetarian/pescatarian as are my DCs but veganism IS a dangerous diet if not properly supplemented, be it from eating a lot of fortified processed foods or taking a pill. It's especially dangerous for kids & teens as they need more B12

& you do need to work much harder to get enough calcium, iron etc too, again especially for growing kids & unfortunately not every vegan is educated enough in nutrition to understand that & don't get me started on the misinformation out there as regards seaweeds & algae's etc been good sources

YetAnotherSpartacus that’s why I said study diets from traditionally vegan cultures. It is different from an adopted vegan diet.

Funny you should say that Megan, as DS reckons he is the only person in the world that can take or leave marmite (you're supposed to either love it or hate it aren't you?) so he doesn't eat it very often.

@RockinHippy It’s not bullshit. I had a Visa Medical in April where I discovered this. Also my cholesterol levels and Tryglycerides were also perfect. I am happy to share a copy of the medical report with you by PM, if you’re interested.

The most interesting thing about my medical results was liver function. In spite of drinking quite a lot of wine (vegan, natch), my liver function tests were, again, perfect. The doctor who gave me the test results said it was probably because I ate no animal fat, hence no fatty liver so my liver is better able to handle alcohol.

Vitamin D you can get from almond milk and tofu.

@BalloonSlayer He really should eat it every day. It’s also great on crumpets with Nuttelex.

Megan

NICE recognise that there is an up to 50% false negative rate with the B12 tests, NONE of them are fail safe.

My daughter became gravely I'll, spent 2 years in a wheelchair & that was on a good day. Medics, including private, insisted that it wasn't due to B12 deficiency as her blood results all showed to be in range. Yes that B12 loading dose of six injections p, had her up & walking again in under 2 weeks, continued B12 injections meant that she was able to manage almost full time school & do really well in her GCSEs. You can't know for certain if you are not deficient

YetAnotherSpartacus that’s why I said study diets from traditionally vegan cultures. It is different from an adopted vegan diet.

The problem with that is that any b12 on veg is in the soil. Modern farming methods, especially in the west means that unless you are growing your own organically, it's all so sterile now & you won't be getting any B12 from it. B12 is a bacteria

In this context “fortified” means foods that have been fortified with B12

Thanks for the patronising reply

Of course I know what it means & you clearly didn't read properly. Fortified foods are processed. Vegans I know avoid processed foods too.

Meat produce does still contain plenty of B12, less perhaps, but still plenty. Some fish even more so

B12 is also easily supplemented. I don’t see the point of compromising your health eating a bad meat-heavy diet when you can eat plant-based healthy foods and just pop a B12 tablet. Or indeed just have some Vegemite.

The longest living people in the world, now called the blue zones eat plant based diets that are rich in leafy green vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes. They don’t over eat, avoid sugar and processed foods.

These people would have been on vegan diets since birth.

I read many years ago that Vitamin B12 was found in beetroots. I hadn’t found any articles about other vegetables with B12 but googling today there are a few articles about vegetables with B12.

A few years ago I had some blood tests done and my B12 was good. I had been eating fresh beetroot at the time and have been a vegetarian most of my life.

Eggs also have B12 and D

Yes but RockinHippy if Megan B12 tests say she is not deficient AND she feels fine, then it almost certainly isn't deficient and she is fine.

My son, like your DD, felt unwell for a while and the symptoms matched B12 deficiency, but B12 tests were fine. Then suddenly one wasn't . . . he had the supplement then boom! (He isn't vegan.)

What I take from these threads is that being vegan can be perfectly healthy as long as you take steps to ensure that you are meeting all your dietary needs & make sure you are eating this and that so you do not become deficient in certain things.

However if you are a fussy and or a lazy eater you might be in trouble, whereas someone on an omnivorous diet can eat crap six days out of seven but probably also manage to meet all their dietary requirements while they do so.