Children and vitamins

[mtotheb]

hey guys

My family and myself have been making the change to vegan for a few weeks now but I almost feel like I have hit a stumbling block in terms of my children's health.

I have noticed that it's pretty tough to give them the 1000mcg of Calcium they need a day plus the lack of b12 and vitamin D in there diet is also a great concern.

My partner and myself are fine taking supplements in order to reach out RDA but it feels wrong giving my children supplements since I want them to have the healthiest diet possible and as natural as possible.

I have a friend who is a doctor and he strongly advised against a vegan diet for my children!

Any advice would be great! Happy new year guys!

 

[Jamie in Chile]

Hi, hope you are doing well. Happy New Year also!

I think you are making a mistake to avoid supplements for your children and I think you should supplement them with vitamin B12 as a minimum and perhaps other things. For calcium, either a supplement or a diet vary carefully planned with calcium in mind. You really need calcium in the young years, it's hard to catch up in later years when bones and teeth are fully formed. I would suggest supplementing for children is a good idea.

I sort of agree a little but that supplementing isn't ideal in some ways, but out of a choice of supplementing or risking your children's health supplementing is the way forward. Really, it's accepted wisdom now that all vegans should supplement with B12 as a default.

You can get a B12 supplement that is just like eating a sweet, the one I have is cherry flavoured. It is not like taking a medicine at all, it is like eating a sweet.

Vegan diets are now strongly agreed by almost all professionals to be acceptable for all ages, if carefully planned. If you take time to look at issues such as omega 3, calcium, and B12, you should be fine to ignore your doctor friend. If you ask your doctor friend for reasons against a vegan diet you will likely get either a vague answer or something one of us here can refute with sources.

If you eat a vegan diet, mainly whole foods, + carefully planned nutrition + supplements where necessary then you have a diet which offers better or equal health to any meat diet. Plus environmental and ethical benefits.

 

[mtotheb]

Thanks so much for getting back to me! I have taken your advice and brought my kids a good multivitamin and some Calcium and vitamin D syrup. Also we have decided to let the kids have a vegetarian diet since they are struggling with some of the changes. We are still going to keep introducing vegan alternatives etc and hopefully when they are older they will make the switch but it's up to them ultimately.

Once again thanks for your advice and happy new year to you and your family.

 

[Jamie in Chile]

No worries and all the best to you also. Let me know if you have any other doubts or questions.