Are there any people that were raised since birth on a vegan, vegetarian, or pescarian diet?
chloe asked:
Would mind answering some questions? I’m trying to decide which diet to choose for my baby, and I want to find out as much as possible.
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Would mind answering some questions? I’m trying to decide which diet to choose for my baby, and I want to find out as much as possible.
Did you have any vitamin or mineral deficiencies?
Did you take supplements?
Was it difficult growing up in a society were most people eat red meat?
How is your height and weight?
Anything you want to share about your experiences?
Please I don’t want to hear from meat eaters who think these diets are completely wrong, unless you have followed one of these diets for a while. It’s really important for me to get some info on this subject from people who have experience.
rob lou, actually most infants do eat meat after six months.
And also, I’m asking for when she gets older.
February 11th, 2010 at 7:13 am
I raised my pet rabbit on a vegan diet and he lived to the ripe age of five before he died. Ashley’s Boytoy
February 12th, 2010 at 11:59 pm
Hi, I was raised a vegetarian. It was fine, apart from a little embarrasment when I was sent to school with my homemade bread for lunch. But I was by far the healthiest child in my school, never getting colds or anything like that, and I was also comparatively very strong. I hardly noticed what other people were eating, as, to be honest, I did eat meat every now and then when we went to other people’s houses, so it was never a problem that others ate meat and we didn’t. We were never very picky about food.
My brothers and sisters were also raised that way, and although I myself have some slight problems with anaemia (I think this is more due to heavy periods), none of the others have, and we have no deficiencies. I don’t think any of us have taken supplements, although we have been sure to eat things with Vitamin B12 in them (Yeast based foods). Height and weight is perfectly normal, no different to others. We are all very muscular (just to let you know that vegetarians don’t have to be weedy and weak. We all started to eat meat every now and then as adults, but still keep the vegetarian diet as our mainstay.
The main thing to worry about is that you really have to have enough time to cook and prepare these meals, as it would be a very bad idea to raise a child on convenience foods that are vegetarian, as these are too refined to ensure suficient nutrients. Wholefoods cooked from scratch with plenty of vegetables, and a good variety should be fine. bumshelf
February 13th, 2010 at 6:19 pm
hi was raised on a vegan?vegeterian diet, perfectly healthy,
was not partial to dairy so did not have much since the age of two, dont suffer any def, did not take supplements either.
just had a varied diet off fresh veg, fruit dried beans and lentils, wholemeal bread and biscuits and cakes minus eggs.
hope this helps, i still dont eat red meat , weigh 11stone5ibs and 5″8, was never and still is not a problem in any society, even
when travelling, veg is always safe as they are alwayrecognisable and dont have legs or disguised parts of animals Avi L
February 17th, 2010 at 3:42 am
Most infants are basically vegan……..they just drink milk and cereals. I haven’t seen anyone feed an infant meat…. rob lou
February 19th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
my best friend was raised as a veggie …. shes pretty, healthy , and fit . don’t raise her as a vegan as it will be hard to find protein and nutrients she needs ….good luck ! emmie
February 19th, 2010 at 9:47 pm
I’ve been doing this for a while and know some children that have been doing this since birth and it is exactly the opposite for vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
These children look and probably are MORE nourished than you can attain from eating meat and potatoes for years, but then again these children come from very educated parents who feed these kids fresh, organic fruits and vegetables as a majority of the diet and make fresh nut and seed milks and snacks.
as for my height and weight, it’s quite average or just a bit below average, and weight is quite fit.
keep in mind though, of course your child is going to look slightly below her fellow classmates height and weight, (about 1 inch, 5-7lbs) but considering what s/he’s eating, I would say it’s healthy.
avocados are a food for your baby, so much nutrition! if s/he is still breastfeeding, keep breastfeeding her!
mothers milk is the best to assure s/he gets all she needs for a strong healthy foundation and start.
if s/hes going off breast milk, start gently with fruits and veggies. best way to get these to her is through juices (freshly made!). and mashes and purees. variety is key.
fruits are really high in sugar so you can thin out the sugars by adding cucumbers or celery into the juice.
make sure s/he gets MORE greens than fruits in her diet. greens are high in minerals such as calcium. babies need that to develop. (you can make a juice out of greens. celery + dark leafy greens + watermelon rind juice)
when s/he is old enough, try giving her hemp milk. it’s very nutritious.
also, for vitamins, she’ll get those from a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables as well as minerals. make sure she gets GREENS! I can’t stress this enough. calcium is very important as well as the other essential minerals you get from greens.
(oranges are okay)
as for vitamin b12, fermented nut & seed yogurts, kefirs and cheeses have b12, as well as nutritional yeast and sauerkraut/kimchi (fermented cabbage), or fermented veggies.
oh, also variety! (stay away from processed vegan/vegetarian foods, snacks)
if you’re interested, you should always start reading and educating, to insure further health and wellness of your child.
oh! I forgot to add, raw is best. and don’t forget her essential fatty acids! those are important! purslane has essential fatty omega-3 acids otherwise found in fish and other algaes so I thought you should know about this special guy. tastes yummy too di
February 20th, 2010 at 7:46 am
I was almost entirely vegetarian from birth (definitely not vegan, so I had milk). On occasion I had fish or turkey as a kid.
1. I didn’t have any deficiencies. When I became a teenager though, I may have been iron deficient, but that was a result of my own eating habits by that time.
2. I took vitamins when I was pretty young.
3. It was a little hard to grow up around meat. I would go to birthday parties and they wouldn’t have anything vegetarian. I couldn’t get school lunch either (not that I was missing out on much….)
4. I’m on the short side, but my entire family is (and they weren’t vegetarians from birth). I actually am taller than my mother and a lot of women in my family, though. I actually grew very quickly, too. I was one of the “tall kids” in elementary school for a while. My weight has always been and still is healthy.
5. Now that I think about it, I did eat white meat turkey for lunch most days at school. I would suggest letting your kid have white meat and fish, at least while he/she is very young, because he/she probably won’t be willing to eat tofu and beans all the time. Once your child is older, he/she will probably choose to eat similarly or go vegetarian altogether. Good luck! Mia
February 21st, 2010 at 12:49 pm
As I have answered elsewhere there are quite a few communities of people (Brahmins, Namboodiris, jains, vegetarian Pillai) and so on who absolutely do not touch meat and are (as in the Bible, see Daniel chapter 1: 1-10 verses or so), fat and flourishing. There are balanced protein diets and no, they do not suffer from mineral, protein or any other deficiencies. In fact many of them are super intelligent. straightener