Growing Vegans...
Birth through Adolescence

EXERPTED FROM: BECOMING VEGAN, BRENDA DAVIS AND VESANTO MELINA, THE BOOK PUBLISHING COM-PANY, SUMMERTOWN TENNESSEE, SEPTEMBER 2000.

The greatest test of the adequacy of a vegan diet comes when it is given to the most vulnerable among us—infants and toddlers. As parents, we are committed to nourishing our children well. Infants and children have very different nutri-tional needs than adults. They are growing rap-idly and require more protein, fat, vitamins, and minerals per pound of body weight than adults. Vegan diets, which are naturally less energy-dense (higher in bulk and often lower in fat), need to be adapted to support the unique nutri-tional needs of our children.

Vegan Infants & Toddlers…
formula for success

(0-3 years of age)

Babies will grow at an unprecedented rate during these first few years of life. We must take it upon ourselves to gain a thorough under-standing of the unique nutritional needs of human infants, the potential pitfalls of vegan diets, and how to build a vegan diet that really works.

The formula for success is not so much different than it is for omnivorous babies (although all babies are vegetarians for the first 6 to 8 months of life!). There are four parts to the formula:

A) Breastfeed Your Baby

Breast milk is the only food your baby needs for the first 4 to 6 months of life. Continue to breastfeed your baby for a minimum of one year, and preferably for a full two years or more. Breast milk is specifically designed to meet the needs of the human infant, just as the milk of other mammals is specifically designed to meet the needs of their young. Breastmilk also provides immune protection, reduces risk of allergies, decreases the incidence of respira-tory, gastrointestinal, and other illnesses, helps to create a wonderful bond between you and your infant, and is extraordinarily convenient and economical. The benefits continue for as long as you breastfeed

B) Unfortified nondairy beverages should not be used as a primary milk source for infants.
These milks will not provide the nutrients nec-essary for optimal growth and development, and could lead to malnutrition, especially during the weaning period. Fortified non-soy beverages contain minimal amounts of protein and are not suitable as primary milks during the second year of life. The only acceptable alternative to breast milk in infancy is commercial infant formula.

C) Introduce appropriate solid foods when your baby is four to six months of age.
Most infants have no need for solid foods before six months of age, however some are ready by four or five months, particularly if they are growing very quickly. Many parents are tempted to delay solids well beyond six months. This is not generally advised, as solid foods provide extra energy and nutrients that are needed at this time (protein, iron, and zinc) and are important to infant development. When your baby is ready for solids, you’ll know it! Here are a few of the signs:

• Constantly hungry, even after nursing 8 or 10 times in a day.
• Ability to sit up and give signs of satiety like turning his/her head away.
• Doubling of birth weight (for normal-weight babies; more for low-birthweight babies).
• Ability to move solids to the back of the mouth and swallow without spitting most of it out.

Additional considerations when introducing solid foods

Observe for allergies
• Offer one new food at a time, leaving at least three to four days in between to observe for allergic reactions and to see how well the new food is digested. If you or your spouse has a family history of food allergy, wait six to seven days before introducing a new food. If there is a strong family history of allergy to a particular food, avoid it for the fi rst 12 months of life.

Insure sufficient iron
• If you do not wish to use commercial iron-fortifi ed infant cereal, provide your infant with an iron supplement (1 mg/kg body weight (1 kg = 2.2 lbs.) per day).

Avoid potentially harmful foods or beverages
• Serve foods without added sugar or salt.
• Avoid presweetened foods, fried foods or foods with added hydrogenated fats.
• Avoid foods commonly associated with chok-ing (whole grapes, hard candies, cough drops, whole tofu dogs (slice in half or quarters, lengthwise); popcorn, nuts. and seeds (nut and seed butters are fi ne but should not be given on a spoon), hard, raw pieces of veg-etables and fruits (until 12 months).
• Limit diluted juice to not more than 8 oz. (240 mL) per day, as excessive juice can reduce intake of more nutrient-dense solid foods, and cause diarrhea.
• Minimize pesticides and herbicides in the diet. Use organic foods when possible. Be sure to wash all produce very thoroughly. (It may be contaminated if manure is used as fertilizer.)

Introduce textured foods before 9 months
• Add finger foods and some textured (mashed) foods before nine months of age, as this is the critical age at which the baby develops preferences for different textures.

D) Make sure your little one gets sufficient calories.
A lack of suffi cient calories is the main reason vegan diets fail to adequately nourish vegan tod-dlers. Babies are most vulnerable right around the time of weaning (usually between 1 and 3 years). Poorly planned vegan diets can be too high in bulk and too low in fat and calories to support the rapid growth and development of infants and toddlers. Recall that breast milk, the ideal food for infants, derives approximately 54% of its calories from fat and contains about 175 calories per cup. As your baby begins to eat more solid foods and drink less breast milk, it is important to insure that the foods selected provide an appropriate balance of fat, energy, and nutrients.

Energy-Packed Tips for Toddlers
• Breast milk (or alternate) continues to be an important part of your toddler’s diet. It is high in energy and nutrients, and low in fi ber, helping to keep your baby’s diet in proper balance.
• Include plenty of higher-fat foods in the diet. Tofu, smooth nut butters and creams, mashed avocado, soy yogurt, soymilk based puddings and soups, and moderate amounts of olive, canola, and fl ax oil are important sources of fat for the vegan infant.
• Avoid excessive fiber in the diet. Concen-trated fiber products such as raw wheat bran, bran cereals, and bran muffi ns should not be used for vegan infants. It is appropriate, however, to use mainly whole grain breads and cereals (for example, brown rice, millet, quinoa, and oatmeal), as they contribute important minerals to the diet. Lesser amounts of refi ned breads and cereals, such as enriched pasta, can help limit total fi ber in the diet. Peeling fruits and vegetables can also help to keep fi ber in check.
• Serve regular meals with snacks in between. Infants have very small stomachs and should be fed 5-6 times a day. A few energy-packed favorites include mashed bananas with soy yogurt, bread or crackers with tofu spread, and homemade muffins.

Vegan Children… the challenges (4-10 years old)
The primary dietary goal for vegan children is to insure that the diet is nutritionally adequate. However, as parents, we strive to provide the very best opportunity for optimal health – a diet that will enable our children to grow and develop to their fullest physical, mental, and emotional potential. We hope food will be a joy for them, something to appreciate and celebrate. Be assured that a vegan diet can accomplish all of these things - thousands of wonderfully healthy vegan children can testify to that!

The Question of Supplements Vegan children have no need for nutritional supplements if the appropriate amounts of forti-fied foods are used. If fortifi ed foods are not consistently used in suffi cient quantity, the fol-lowing supplements may be required:

• Vitamin B12: 1-2 µg/day
• Vitamin D: 5 µg/day or 10-15 minutes of warm sun on forearms and face (more with dark skin).
• Calcium: enough to supply needed amounts after dietary intake has been accounted for.

For vitamins B12 and D, a multivitamin/ mineral supplement is suitable (read labels). If using this type of supplement, check to make sure it also contains zinc.

Hey Teens!

So, you’ve decided to become a vegan – awe-some! Your example will be a real inspiration to others, but it will be especially powerful if you take good care of yourself. Getting the right food is not such a big deal. These simple suggestions will get you past the biggest hurdles:

1. Eat something!
It would be great to see you sit down to a big breakfast of scrambled tofu, veggie bacon, whole grain toast, and freshly squeezed orange juice. But we get that breakfast may not be one of your top priorities. It is far better that you eat a granola bar and a juice box on your way to school than nothing at all.

2. Replace meat with nonanimal foods
They’ll give you the important nutrients you used to get from meat, without all the fat, cho-lesterol and other stuff that you don’t want anyway.

Eat Beans!
• Eat bean salad.
• Go for bean burritos or tacos.
• Have some bean soup.
• Try fl avored soynuts as a snack.
• Make or buy chili with kidney beans.
• Buy some humus from the deli.
• Open a jar of baked beans.
• Throw some chick-peas into a green salad.

Give Tofu a Chance!
• Try dessert tofu.
• Buy fl avored tofu – great for snacks or sand-wiches.
• Add tofu to stir fries.
• Scramble tofu for breakfast.
• Add tofu to a shish-kabob
• Throw soft tofu into a shake.
• Dip fi rm tofu into your favorite sauce (sweet and sour, BBQ, plum, etc), and bake it or fry it.

Try Veggie “Meats”
• Make a burger with a veggie patty.
• Add a pack of veggie ground round to a can of spaghetti sauce for pasta or Sloppy Joes.
• Experiment with veggie ham, turkey, bologna, and pepperoni –they make sandwiches a snap.
• Cook veggie bacon or sausages for breakfast.
• Buy some veggie dogs.

Go nuts!
• Spread peanut butter or some other “nut” butter on toast, crackers, apples, or celery.
• Snack on nuts and seeds. • Add nuts and seeds to stir fries or salads.
• Put nuts and seeds in your granola.
• Pack nuts along for an instant snack.
• Use nuts in baking.

3. Replace cow’s milk with fortified soymilk.*

You get the same key nutrients as you do from cow’s milk, but without the artery-clogging fat and cholesterol. Aim for at least 2-3 cups a day.

• Use soymilk on your cereal.
• Make a soy shake (see recipe).
• Drink soymilk (there are lots of different fl avors to try).
• Use soymilk in your puddings, soups, muf-fins, or any other cooking you do that calls for milk.

(* Buy fortified soymilk – there are huge dif-ferences in the calcium content of fortifi ed and unfortifi ed soymilks. If you don’t like soymilk, try some of the other fortified nondairy bever-ages such as rice milk.)

If you aren’t a big soymilk fan, start using forti-fi ed orange juice. It has about the same amount of calcium as fortified soymilk.

4. Eat your veggies.

Now where have you heard this before? On this count, your mom is definitely right.

• Include some raw veggies with your lunch (even just a carrot).
• Eat greens – salads, stir fries, or whatever.
• Add lots of veggies to vegan pizza.
• Make some vegetable soup (even if it means just opening a can).
• Use spaghetti sauce instead of eating your pasta plain.
• Think about what vegetables are your favor-ites – even the old standbys like frozen or canned corn or peas are better than nothing!

5. Buy some Red Star Nutritional Yeast (Vegetarian Support Formula).

It not only tastes great; it is loaded with vitamin B12 – the one nutrient that we don’t get from plants.

• Sprinkle nutritional yeast on popcorn.
• Add it to your stir fries or scrambled tofu.
• Use it as a coating for baked or fried tofu (fi rst dip tofu slices in soy sauce, tamari or Bragg’s Aminos, then dip it in nutritional yeast and Spike (a great seasoning).
• Use it like Parmesan cheese on spaghetti or anything else.

6. Use flax oil.

There are some very nutri-tious fats that vegans don’t seem to get enough of. Flax oil is loaded with good stuff, so give it a try. It could make a big difference in the long haul.

OK, we know we are pushing it here, but you can’t blame us for trying. This stuff is pretty good. You can even buy fl avored fl ax oils. Aim for about a teaspoon a day.

• Sprinkle fl ax oil on pasta or vegetables.
• Add it to bottled salad dressing.
• Pour a little into mashed potatoes.

Note: Don’t cook with fl ax oil – it is very easily damaged by heat.

7. Take a multivitamin/mineral supplement.

Technically, if you eat really well and use foods fortifi ed with vitamin B12 and vitamin D, you don’t need a supplement. However, if any of the following apply to you, take a supplement:

• Regularly skip breakfast;
• Eat lots of foods from packages;
• Are not real keen on vegetables;
• Use less soymilk then you should;
• Eat mostly pasta, bagels, pretzels, popcorn, fruit snacks, etc.;
• Miss out on beans, tofu, veggie-meats, nuts, and seeds. If none of these apply to you, we wholeheartedly applaud you. For all others, take an adult multivitamin/mineral supplement.