to worry about my teenage daughter going vegan?

[Meechimoo]

She's 14.
She decided to go veggie about a month ago.
She now wants to cut out all animal products and be vegan.
I've had long long conversations about this with her and told her that I'm very concerned about it. I'm worried she'll end up with poor nutrition and get rickets or something. I'm worried she won't get enough calories from a vegan diet.
But she's 14, almost 15, and hellbent on being vegan. The way I look at it, I can't force feed her dairy, can I?

My husband, her Dad, is dead against it because he thinks this is a control thing and we shouldn't allow her to dictate this sort of thing. And he's worried at additional cost to our food bill if we have to get her supplements, soya milk, vegan cheese etc.
Are there any vegan mumsnetters with vegan teens out there? How do you do it? Is it ok? Are they healthy and enough energy? Should I just go with it and support her or put our feet down and say she can remain veggie but we're not supporting her going vegan??

There is a book called the Animal Free Shopper, a few years old now, but it had lists from big supermarkets of vegan friendly products and also from places like M&S etc.
Was useful to double check things but i'm sure there must be an app or similar now.
Like CornChips says some non-dairy things still contain dairy offshoots...
Your dd will also have to look up alternative names for things as I found a lot were 'hidden'. So for instance egg white was called albumen etc

Oh yes, Animal Free shopper.... when i joined the vegan society a few years ago as part of my welcome pack they included that, plus a fab 'vegan passport book' where you could say you were vegan in about 50 languages! It's great!

I'm popping out now but I'll be back later to read all the posts. You've all been really helpful. Any tips on supplements? I've been looking at this one for her: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B002F5GESU?cache=2a3f70657bc842ad97b2e84e06c7f64e&pi=AC_SX110_SY165&qid=1413970550&sr=8-9#

Honestly - if she is eating a balanced diet, she shouldn't really need supplements. Even if on a restrictive diet like veganism. The problems arise when people try these lifestyles without really planning or thinking them through.
I never took any additional supplements and was vegan for 8.5 years (vegetarian now as IBS meant I couldn't tolerate pulses and beans so huge impact on my health) with no issues as I made sure I was properly substituting the dairy/eggs/meat. As a young girl though she will need to really watch her iron to ensure she doesn't end up with anaemia.
Something my whole family noticed as well is that if I made vegan desserts they tended to be 'lighter' and healthier so even now I get asked to make them...I can recommend highly a book called 'Sinfully Vegan' which is just a dessert book....yummy!

I became vegan this year after 18 years of being veggie and have found the transition surprisingly easy. I am raising my 10m DS mostly vegan (as DH won't agree to full vegan :() and I have no concerns whatsoever about his diet.

I can recommend the Veg 1 supplement which includes b12 etc which will be a good boost to your daughter as a new vegan to make sure she is getting the essentials. They don't contain iron though. I bought them from the vegan society website, which is a great resource generally. Supplements can't hurt and they will put your mind at ease.

You sound like a great mum to be concerned and coming on here to find out more and to take notes :)

As other have said should be no concern about cost or your daughters health. It will just take some time to get used to planning different meals. As a society we are so geared towards dairy and meat but that doesn't guarantee that we get all the nutrients either.

Eating out is NOT hard. Again, everything is on the internet but there are options at Wetherspoons, Pizza Hut, Pizza Express, Gourmet burger, Wagamamas, las Iguanas , Nandos.....And if there are no high street options in the area, there will always be a Chinese or Indian restaurant which can easily cater for vegans. in most towns there will be a vegetarian restaurant which will have vegan options. blog.peta.org.uk/2014/09/menu-vegan-options-chain-restaurants/

She doesn't have to adopt the whole lifestyle at once, much easier to do gradually, but below is useful for reference

www.gocrueltyfree.org see here for cruelty free cosmetics (doesn't have to be expensive, sainsburys, co op and superdrug own brand stuff is cruelty free)

Also many leather free footwear options including trainers, doc martens, vans/converse etc

Sorry for long post, but veganism is my favourite topic and I have gone through the same concerns and difficulties as you and your daughter recently so keep asking questions on here. I am not a hippy type vegan either ;) I think that image can put people off unfortunately.

I'm Vegan for health reasons, I'm currently going through the menopause.

I've been Vegan in the past, as a "clean" eating plan was suggested by my Consultants and I decided it was just as easy to be Vegan than the faff of adapting a animal eating diet. My Hindu Vegan consultants were very supportive about this. The science, as well as ethics is easily found to support a Vegan lifestyle choice.

The supplement that you linked to isn't what she needs.

Teen girls can benefit from extra Iron and Vegans have to do research around complex Proteins.

Most teen girls diets aren't nutritionally high enough for their needs.

I look to Malaysian /Thai/Indian/Creole etc cooking.

I do eat Lentil and Chick Peas a lot, both are complex Proteins.

There will be a local Vegan Facebook page, as there are Vegan athletes, as well, giving dietary advice.

Mike Tyson has turned Vegan and he has blogs, as will the Vegans that she will come across on the FB page.

There is a growing body of Vegan Sports people.

You will find links to the Vegan magazines, one newly launched which is sold in WHSmiths.

There are lists on the internet of all products that are Vegan, it's easy to be Vegan and Kettle crisps etc are sold in discount shops, so it isn't expensive and the cost of say Vegan chocolate is evened out by the lack of expensive animal products.

Aldi is very good at food labelling and most of their products on "special" days have a good Vegan selection.

I know I'm biased, but i would be very proud of any teen who cares enough about our world and it's people/poverty, to make such a personal change.

I am vegan and believe me I don't lack in calories. Good luck to her and to you, it's a great healthy diet so please don't worry.

Btw as Xmas is coming up you can get her a moo free chocolate advent calendar, and some booja booja truffles, they are really luxury and delicious.

For every day sugar cravings, Bourbon biscuits are vegan. And dark choc aldi digestives are great too.

Just had to add that in in case she has a massive sweet tooth like me

I am vegan.My parents say I'm awkward to cook for and I dont understand this because whenever I go to their house I turn up with my food, usually bring the simplest easiest to transport ingredients and make the same combinations of things so WHY they claim to not know what I eat I do not know!

I went vegetarian aged 11 and vegan at 16-but this was in the dark ages!Was I 11 NOW, in the information age, I reckon I'd be vegan.

Do some mega searches. Go on the Vegan Forum. Look at vegweb and the Vegan Society website, it doesn't have to be expensive. Almond milk and soya milk are 65p for a litre at my local supermarket :)

Your DH is being unreasonable.

I don't want to hijack the thread, but there are so many vegans on here. Would the OP find it useful if we posted examples of our daily menus? I am 41, and need to lose weight, so do not have the calorie needs of a 15 year old girl, but a typical day for me looks like this;

Bk - toast with nut butter and jam and coffee with soy milk
Ln- 'chuck-in everything veg soup' with crusty roll and margarine
Dn- red lentil dhal with spinach and rice, or (my DS's favourite), tofu shnitzels with apple sauce, green beans and mashed potato.

Again- I don't want to derail the thread, so let me know if you think it is not appropriate OP.

As for supplements, I never take them. Been vegan over 15 years and my health is fine, (blood tests few months back!) and I know many other vegans like this.

The main debate centres around B12 as far as I understand, which used to occur naturally in plants but no longer does as a result of over-farming.

I was veggie before becoming vegan and am much healthier now. There is a temptation to eat lots of dairy as a veggie and my cholesterol and weight shot up.
The vegan society do a pledge and will offer her a mentor on line to help you both through all the questions they have. Their website and many others have great advice. Also look out for vegan festivals such as vegfest and the upcoming West Midlands vegan festival.

My typical day:
Breakfast: Beans on toast/peanut butter on toast/Dorset cereals porridge made with vanilla soy milk
Lunch: soup/salad/leftovers
Dinner: tonight is pasta bolognaise, yesterday was puff pastry tart with peppers, mushrooms, courgette and olives.

"B12 (...) used to occur naturally in plants but no longer does as a result of over-farming."

Sunflower49, could you please link the source of this baffling affirmation? B12 can only be synthesised by bacteria.

Try and get her to eat lots of avocados, nuts and kale/spinachey stuff. It's great that you're thinking of her health

Aldi sell soya milk, which is nice for porridge. And vegan spread is roughly the same price as butter or non vegan spread.

Hi, I went veggie at 13 with my parents' agreement, if I cooked my own stuff when needed. I'm so glad they respected my wishes. (My mum says she thought it would be a phase, haha, no luck!) I've never taken supplements and have had 4 days off sick in the last 5 years.

Anyway, just made the transition to vegan over the last year. Loads of great advice already so I just have 3 more points:

1. I get great inspiration from Instagram, so many fabulous vegan accounts on there. Just search #vegan #veganfoodshare etc.

2. Green smoothies! (ie. 1 banana, 2 handfuls fresh spinach, 1 tbp peanut butter and a cup of soy milk) Yum!

3. 'Nicecream' - freeze chopped banana overnight, blend in food processor, voila instant vegan ice-cream!

Thank you on behalf of your daughter for being a thoughtful mum!

I think it's probably healthier for a teen to be vegan than veggie tbh. OK, I'm going on my own sample size of one here (me!) but I ate far too much cheese and fatty stuff when I was veggie, out of laziness and not really knowing how to cook. I think you have to think more carefully about what you're having for tea if you're vegan which is a good thing, IMO.

?
Of course it's perfectly possible to be healthy as a vegan, I was brought up as a vegetarian, have been vegan, currently vegetarian, may revert to being vegan in the future
Environmentally, ethnically and from a health perspective eating meat is a bad choice. ?

I've was veggie from the age of 16 until I was pregnant with DS - now eat fish but not meat. I agree with Lonny - it's very easy to default to far too much carbs and dairy etc and a well researched vegan diet would be much healthier.

I think you're absolutely right in your approach - if my parents had tried to stop me that would absolutely have resulted in an eating disorder, not to mention the conflict at every meal.

You should be very proud of your daughter for having such strong principles. Let's see if they survive the reality of having to cater for herself - mine did.

For me, this links in with larger questions about what does it mean to be an ethical consumer. To live in a way that causes less damage to the planet/

I was interested by the poster above which said the demands for certain imported grains - eg quinoa - meant what had been a staple diet elsewhere became unaffordable. What about the air miles involved in bringing these products to the UK?

If a teenager - quite rightly - cares about the suffering caused in the manufacturer of everyday products, why limit one's concern to food. Cheap clothing and electronic products - ipads, phones etc - will be produced in highly exploitative conditions.

So I'd want to get an idealistic teenager to consider how far they were willing to go if they reallywanted to live more simply/less harmfully.

I think you should support your daughter and educate her and yourself. Get her a multivitamin with B12. She'll be fine, and it's much much cheaper than meat and dairy products.

Sainsburys do a good multivitamin and vegan mince so you can support her by making meals for the family. Other cheap meals are veggie fajitas with chickpeas, burritos etc

Lots of foods are vegan, most bread, bagels, pittas, vegan margarine, Oreos It's probably much easier than you think. Lots of nut cutlets etc which you can stick in the oven.

I think most people who are worried about the ethics of their diet are also worried about the ethics of other types of consumption. At least in my experience that has been the case. It's not an either/or!

I think teenage girl vegetarianism can sometimes be different from adult vegetarianism. My daughter's veggie friends were trying to convert her, and for a time we cooked many more 100% vegetarian meals to see if it was a diet she wanted to moves towards. (But she does like eating meat, and we don't eat that much of it, so we reverted to staying as we were.) So I was saying to her that reducing meat consumption is beneficial, even if you don't go all the way. The thing where you buy a free range chicken and get three meals out of it, rather than buying nuggets etc...

But there is also a teenage thing of wanting lots of cheap clothes, and all the latest consumer gadgets - and not wanting to think at all about the exploitation involved in producing them, or to consider having less for more than a half a second!