[This is a guest post written by Louise Palmer-Masterton]
The world is full of healthy vegan children. There is no link between veganism and malnutrition amongst children of any age, as long as attention is paid to balanced nutrition. This is the same for any ‘diet’ whether vegan or meat-based.
Is a vegan diet safe for a child?
Some people question if a vegan diet is ‘safe’ for children, and as with any diet (meat-based or otherwise) the key thing is to pay attention to balanced nutrition: a diet consisting mainly of burgers (whether Burger King or Beyond) is not a good idea.
Become an expert in plan based nutrition.
The first thing you need to do if you are considering raising vegan children is educate yourself. So, if you don’t already love to cook, it is time to get cooking. And it’s time to fall in love with lentils, beans, nuts, seeds and a wild array of vegetables.
You need to become an expert in plant-based nutrition and understand what constitutes a balanced diet. As well as balanced protein and healthy fats, you will need to pay particular attention to vitamin D, vitamin B12, calcium, zinc and iron.
There is a lot of talk about getting the full spectrum of these essential amino acids that is generally misunderstood. Animal-based proteins contain all nine essential amino acids, which makes them complete proteins, but it is not actually necessary to eat one food that contains everything. That’s where the idea that vegans lack protein comes in, which is false. Combining plant foods results in complete protein and gives exactly the same result nutritionally.
There are a few plant-based foods that are ‘complete’ proteins on their own, i.e. contain the full spectrum amino acids. They include: Tofu, tempeh, edamame beans, quinoa, buckwheat, amaranth and chia seeds. Some of these are a bit of an acquired taste for an infant, quinoa for example needs a bit of hiding in a tasty-flavoured sauce. But mine always did well with edamame beans, scrambled tofu and fresh fruit chia pudding.
But rather than focus on just these foods, your protein repertoire can expand massively by combining vegan proteins from different sources (like the hummus and pitta example above) which alone are not complete, both together magically provide a complete protein.
It’s worth noting, by the way, that 100g of wholemeal bread contains 13g of protein, which is more than in 100g of egg, and all vegetables do have a protein component. A diet rich in vegetables can make a significant contribution to your daily nutritional needs, including protein.
Here are some food combining ideas:
- Rice and lentils or beans.
Both brown and white rice when combined with beans or lentils give a complete protein. And there are literally millions of vegan casserole recipes out there containing beans or lentils, rice (or other grains) and vegetables. Just about every continent on the planet has a version of this cuisine.
- Beans on toast.
Yes, classic beans on toast is a complete protein. Very helpful in those moments when time is of the essence and you have hungry children.
- Peanut butter sandwich.
This will come as a welcome surprise maybe! And yes, a peanut
butter sandwich is a very high complete protein.
- Hummus.
I’d also recommend getting your children to embrace hummus as young as possible.
Hummus is super nutritious and served with pitta and carrot and cucumber sticks is a
winner with most children. Served together in this way, hummus and pitta is what's called a complete protein - between them, pitta and hummus contain the full spectrum of amino acids that you need.
The best possible thing you can do with regard to young children and B12 is get them to fall in love with Marmite (yeast extract is also good). A go to snack of toast and marmite will contain plenty of B12. We also use marmite in many savoury dishes - soups, stews and the best vegan gravy ever. My children are Marmite lovers to this day. We also use Engevita flakes as a cheese substitute, sprinkled on pasta and in many sauces. Engevita is super charged with B12.
So, it really is safe to bring up your children on a wholefood plant-based diet. Simply put, where food is abundant, all people, regardless of their dietary choices, will be getting more than enough protein, and following the steps as outlined above, will ensure your child will thrive on a wholefood plant-based diet.
Louise Palmer-Masterton is founder of multiple award-winning restaurants Stem & Glory; hip and trendy but accessible plant-based restaurants, serving delicious gourmet vegan food from locally sourced ingredients. Stem & Glory also offers click-and-collect and local delivery in London and Cambridge. In addition, Stem & Glory offers a range of ready meals, finish at home pizzas, and recipe kits available for delivery across the UK.
This is such a helpful post, especially for expecting Vegan mother's! I like what she said about an unbalanced diet consisting of anything is unhealthy - it doesn't matter if it's Vegan or not! Balance is definitely key and as long as you can do that, then that's all that matters! x
Yeah absolutely! Weirdly I feel like I'd never thought about it like that, but it's so true isn't it. X
This is really interesting. My sister in law is currently weaning my nephew and has started with only fruit and veg pulses. She's not keen on giving him meat at all
Rosie
I think it took us a while to give Amelia meat too from what I can remember. We don't eat very much of it at all now mind. X
This was super interesting to read, I actually know very little about feeding children because I'm not a parent. But I'm sure this will be so helpful to others x
Thank you! I'm sure it will to, I've definitely learnt a lot. X
This is a really helpful post with some super useful tips about vegan diets!
Thank you Della X
This is such a good post, and great timing too. I'm trying to wean my daughter (and husband) off so much meat consumption. Luckily she loves peanut butter and Marmite, so I'm very glad to hear they're both so full of nutrition! Thank you for sharing.
Yes! We're doing the same at home too! We've been doing it for quite some time now but it's always nice to read things like what Louise has put together isn't it. X
This is so helpful! Thank you for sharing all of your tips on having a healthy and balanced vegan diet! 🙂
Thanks Melissa. X
This post has been super helpful! Thank you for sharing all these tips!
I would love to get my toddler into a plant based diet but I've been terrified that I would have been depriving her of nutrition. I wanted to try myself first to see how it would be, but only recently realised how poor my diet was (as a vegetarian and then vegan) but now I'm experimenting with beans, tofu and lentils to try and get healthier! Hopefully looking to get my kid into a wider variety and get her to actually like the different foods at the same time (she does love hummus though).
Totally get it! It's difficult to know what to do for the best is isn't it. I'm glad you found this post helpful though. Good luck with your journey. X
Such a helpful post! We are weaning now and though we are not vegan, we try and eat plant-based a few meals a week. I've already got Leo onto hummus haha!
Same! I wouldn't class ourselves as vegan or veggie, but I actually can't remember the last time we ate meat. Amelia is such a hummus fiend! She loves the stuff! X
Interesting post, it's great to hear about easy meals from a vegan perspective. Some great ideas too! Thanks for sharing.
No problem! I've definitely learnt a lot reading Louise's post. X
This is a fab post for any mother who is looking to feed their child on a vegan diet, so interesting! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
Absolutely. Thank you for reading Lucy. X
Hi Claire/Louise
We are looking at ways of eating less meat generally (we even have 'Meat-free Mondays' to make sure that we have at least one day each week with no meat) so additional information like this is always useful.
As the post says, you need to educate yourself and eat a variety of foods - not just 'I'm a vegan so I'm only going to eat cauliflower!' I once knew a veggie who only ate cheese and Crunchy Nut Cornflakes. Every day. Including Christmas Day. Way to eat a balanced diet!
I love beans on toast and peanut butter sandwiches so those are great options for me. I don't mind rice, lentils, and beans. I hate hummus! Oh well, you can't have everything 🙂
We don't eat very much meat nowadays. It's always handy to know though that what we are eating is good semi-good for us. I'm a peanut butter sandwich fan myself! X
Balance is key after all, strangely we've faced a few criticisms over our use of vegan food in replacement for a dairy allergy and even the NHS dietician we saw said they wouldn't say anything if we were vegan. It's still massively understood when it comes to children and who decides they'll just eat meat anyway?! xx
That's so bizarre. Even more bizarre that they told you nothing would be said about a vegan family.X
Lentils and beans are amazing and full of protein! Balance is definitely so important!
Absolutely! I think whatever diet you choose, balance is the most important thing. X
An interesting post, my son, while not vegan decided to be vegetarian a while ago and has since stopped but finding the right things to feed him was hard,.
I loved reading this and it will surely be helpful for mom and dad's to be! I know plenty of vegan families and whenever the topic is breached, there's always someone saying negative about it, about as you stated, research is the key!