Vegan for Life (21 page)

If you met Ellen, Ciera, Tyler, Will, and Maya, you wouldn’t worry about whether children can be vegan—and healthy. These—and other “real vegan children”—are featured on the VeganHealth.org website, and they are proof that kids grow and thrive on diets free of all animal foods.

Sixteen-year-old Ellen is the daughter of Matt Ball, co-founder of Vegan Outreach, and his wife, Anne Green. Ellen has never tasted
meat, dairy, or eggs, and she says that food has never been a problem. Her favorite foods? “I love most fake meats, especially fake chicken. In particular, we get fake drumsticks from a local restaurant that are absolutely delicious. I like my dad’s cooking as well—homemade bread and pizza, ‘French fries,’ and baked carrots, pancakes and tofu scramble. And he makes the best chocolate peanut-butter pie. For everyday stuff, I love pasta. I’m also really fond of dried blueberries—they’re my favorite snack.”

Ellen’s mother says that Ellen takes a multivitamin with iron and often takes flaxseed oil and a calcium/vitamin D supplement. She takes a sublingual vitamin B
₁₂
supplement twice a week.

And there is no doubt that Ellen is thriving on her vegan diet. She takes honor and AP classes, gets straight A’s at a top high school, and has an IQ over 140 (higher than either of her parents). In her sophomore year, Ellen scored a perfect 800 on the SAT Math II subject test and a perfect 5 on the AP European History test. And Ellen isn’t just smart—she’s also an athlete who scored four varsity letters in her first two years of high school (cross-country and track), running on two regional championship cross-country teams and the 2009 regional championship four by 800-meter relay team.

Ellen admits that there were social challenges associated with being vegan in elementary and middle school. “Some kids were rude about it, talking about all the meat they ate and the deer they shot last weekend, but high school has been much, much better. I’ve met quite a few vegetarians, and a lot more people are sympathetic and curious.”

Tyler, Will, and Maya (ages nine, seven, and three), whose parents, Lesley and Ray Parker-Rollins, have raised them in a vegan household, are living examples of happy, healthy vegan children. Says their mom, “I love that our children do not believe that animals are here for our use, and I think their beliefs rub off on other people even when they don’t realize it. I also make sure that my children know that they can come to me with any questions, concerns, or ideas they may have regarding their experience living vegan in a non-vegan world.”

Lesley frequently downloads information on nutrition from Vegan Outreach, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, and Dr. Michael Greger to give to skeptical doctors, teachers, coaches, grandparents, and friends. “This way, they know I am making informed choices for my children, and it will educate them on the benefits of a vegan diet at the same time.”

Lesley says that her freezer is always stocked with vegan cupcakes and cookies for the many birthday parties that come up in the classroom or at someone’s home. Her children also have a shelf of vegan snacks at school to enjoy during snack time. They also enjoy veganized versions of some of the kid-friendly staples like chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, pizza, and burgers.

“I wish I could say that their favorite foods were lentil loaf, kale soup, and butternut squash, but they aren’t. However, they will eat these or anything else that is put in front of them since they want to get dessert!” Lesley says that all three kids love their dad’s pancakes and waffles for breakfast, and like most children, they enjoy pizza and sweets. Other favorites are peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fruit, raw vegetables, Clif bars, and soy yogurt.

To help Tyler, Will, and Maya understand why their family has chosen a vegan diet, their parents take them for frequent visits to farm animal sanctuaries and events sponsored by Vegan Outreach. Says Lesley, “I do believe our children will be grateful to us one day for teaching them to make compassionate choices for themselves, the animals, and the planet.”

Heather and Damian Leughmyer didn’t listen to people who insisted that a vegan pregnancy wasn’t a good choice. And they proved them wrong when Heather gave birth to a healthy baby girl named Ciera on January 10, 2008.

During her pregnancy, Heather ate a variety of whole grains, vegetables, fruits, legumes, and fortified cereals; she drank fortified juices and soymilk; and took a vegan prenatal vitamin supplement.

Ciera grew and thrived on breast milk, which was supplemented starting at six months with pureed vegetables and then fruits. At almost
three years old, Ciera is a healthy, energetic redhead who loves vegan cupcakes, chocolate soy pudding, and spinach. “Yes, she loves spinach,” says Heather. “It often surprises people to see someone her age eating so much of a food kids are known to hate, and love every bite. In fact, she likes a variety of vegetables and other foods that many kids won’t touch.” Heather notes that, as a vegan, Ciera has already been introduced to many foods that some adults have yet to try.

Although Ciera is still too young to comprehend why she is vegan, she adores animals. Heather notes that she will never have to lie to Ciera about where her food comes from. “She will never have to come to the painful realization that she is eating a living, feeling being. Her health is not the only thing benefiting from veganism. Her heart is too.”

We invite you to visit the VeganHealth website, where you can see photos of more real vegan children and hear their stories (
www.veganhealth.org/articles/realveganchildren
).

 

Children and teens can use the food guide in Chapter 7 with the following modifications to the number of servings. Precise servings will vary, though, depending on an individual child’s rate of growth and physical activity, so these numbers are meant as general guidelines.

In addition to foods from the food guide, the following supplements can help your child meet nutrient needs.

There are no studies measuring levels of the long-chain omega-3 fats EPA or DHA in vegetarian or vegan children. However, we do know that many healthy children have been raised on vegan diets without supplements of either the long-chain omega-3 fats or the essential fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). It’s possible that children who are vegan from birth are more efficient at manufacturing DHA and EPA. But until we know more, we recommend a DHA supplement of 100 to 200 milligrams per day for children.

W
e really don’t know very much about the eating habits of older vegans. And that’s too bad because nutrient needs change with aging in ways that might have particular relevance for those who eat plant-based diets.

The biggest issue for everyone, vegan or not, is that calorie needs for older adults decrease while nutrient needs stay generally the same or—in the cases of calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B
₆
, and possibly protein—go up. Research shows that some older omnivores and lacto-ovo vegetarians fall short on nutrient intake. We suspect that this is true for some vegans as well.

It’s difficult to talk about nutrient needs of people “over fifty” because this is such a diverse group. Meal-planning issues and nutrient needs are likely to change considerably between the ages of fifty-five and eighty-five. For example, while women tend to find that menopause is accompanied by unwanted weight gain, for people in their eighties, getting enough calories can become the challenge. This chapter looks at issues that may affect people at different stages of the later years.

The chart on page 167 shows changes in the RDAs for people over fifty. A nutrient of particular concern for all older people is vitamin
B
₁₂
. There is evidence that some signs of aging—such as loss of hearing, forgetfulness, confusion, and depression—could be related at least in part to inadequate vitamin B
₁₂
since this vitamin affects the nervous system. A marginal intake of vitamin B
₁₂
can also raise the risk for stroke, a problem in older people.

This is where vegans might have the edge, as we discussed in Chapter 3. Absorption of vitamin B
₁₂
from meat, dairy, and eggs declines among a large percentage of older people because of digestive changes. Changes causing decreased absorption may affect as many as 30 percent of people over the age of fifty and 37 percent of those over the age of eighty.
¹
However, most of these changes don’t affect absorption of vitamin B
₁₂
from supplements and fortified foods, so health professionals advise all people over the age of 50 to get at least half of their B
₁₂
from these sources. Many people, though, aren’t aware of this recommendation. That’s where the vegan advantage comes in, because vegans who are educated about good nutrition are
already
taking B
₁₂
supplements.