Children harmed by vegan diet

[Mayabird]

Stravo, this is for you (replying to your post in the MMR thread):

Children 'harmed' by vegan diets
By Michelle Roberts
BBC News health reporter, in Washington DC

Meat, milk, butter and cheese are all avoided by vegans
Putting children on strict vegan diets is "unethical" and could harm their development, a US scientist has argued.

Lindsay Allen, of the US Agricultural Research Service, attacked parents who insisted their children lived by the maxim "meat is murder".

Animal source foods have some nutrients not found anywhere else, she told a Washington science conference.

The Vegan Society dismissed the claims, saying its research showed vegans were often healthier than meat eaters.

'Development affected'

Professor Allen said: "There have been sufficient studies clearly showing that when women avoid all animal foods, their babies are born small, they grow very slowly and they are developmentally retarded, possibly permanently."

"If you're talking about feeding young children, pregnant women and lactating women, I would go as far as to say it is unethical to withhold these foods [animal source foods] during that period of life."

She was especially critical of parents who imposed a vegan lifestyle on their children, denying them milk, cheese, butter and meat.

"There's absolutely no question that it's unethical for parents to bring up their children as strict vegans," she told the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Missing nutrients

She said the damage to a child began while it was growing in the womb and continued once it had been born.

Research she carried out among African schoolchildren suggests as little as two spoonfuls of meat each day is enough to provide nutrients such as vitamin B12, zinc and iron.

The 544 children studied had been raised on diets chiefly consisting of starchy, low-nutrition corn and bean staples lacking these micronutrients.

This meant they were already malnourished.

Over two years, some of the children were given 2oz supplements of meat each day, equivalent to about two spoonfuls of mince.

Two other groups received either a cup of milk a day or an oil supplement containing the same amount of energy. The diet of a fourth group was left unaltered.

The changes seen in the children given the meat, and to a lesser extent the milk or oil, were dramatic.

These children grew more and performed better on problem-solving and intelligence tests than any of the other children at the end of the two years.

Adding either meat or milk to the diets also almost completely eliminated the very high rates of vitamin B12 deficiency previously seen in the children.

No quick fixes

Professor Allen stressed that although the study (which was partially supported by the National Cattleman's Beef Association) was conducted in a poor African community that was malnourished, its message was highly relevant to people in developed countries.

She accepted that adults could avoid animal foods if they took the right supplements, but she said adding animal source food into the diet was a better way to tackle malnutrition worldwide than quick fixes with supplements in the form of pills.

"Where feasible, it would be much better to do it through the diet than by giving pills," she said.

"With pills it's very hard to be certain that the quantity of nutrition is right for everybody and it's hard to sustain."

In Africa, good results had been obtained from giving people a dried meat on a stick snack which proved both nutritious and appealing.

Professor Montague Demment, from the University of California at Davis, said more emphasis should be placed on animal source food to combat global malnutrition.

Vegan defence

However, the claims have been dismissed by the Vegan Society in the UK.

In a statement, it said increasing numbers of people were opting for a plant-based diet.

Kostana Azmi, the chief executive officer, said: "The vegan diet can provide you with more energy, nutrition, and is bursting with goodness."

She said plant sources were sometimes a safer, and cheaper source of nutrients.

For instance, animal sources of omega-3 oils, needed for the development of the brain and nervous system, were often contaminated with pollutants, such as mercury in fish.

In addition, the vegan diet was often a healthier alternative. She said dairy and meat products were rich in saturated fat, while plant based diets were low in it.

The society does recommend that vegans supplement their diet with vitamin B-12 pills.

The US Agricultural Research Service is part of the US Department of Agriculture.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4282257.stm

[tumbletom]

Stravo, this is for you (replying to your post in the MMR thread):

For instance, animal sources of omega-3 oils, needed for the development of the brain and nervous system, were often contaminated with pollutants, such as mercury in fish.

But thats what makes it so damn tasty....mmmmmm me love meat!!

[sketerpot]

I think this says it all:

The Vegan Society dismissed the claims, saying its research showed vegans were often healthier than meat eaters.

The Vegan Society flat-out denies that this study is valid, and they're the ones that most vegans are going to believe. While most of their "health facts" are based on statistically worthless anecdotes ("It is now widely accepted that the vegan diet is a healthy option for adults - if you still need convincing, have a look at our information on health and nutrition and check out all the famous sports people who have opted for a vegan diet whilst in training."), they also cite two legitimate journal articles, but in both cases lie about what is actually in them.

In the first article they mention, a study was done on 39 vegan children in the UK. The Vegan Society claims that the study showed that "the growth and development of children reared on both vegan and vegetarian diets appears normal." The article itself says, in the abstract, that the children were generally smaller than normal and deficient in some nutrients, and its conclusion was that "provided sufficient care is taken, a vegan diet can support normal growth and development." And even in the UK carelessness was common.

The second article studies 300 children in the US, and finds fewer problems than the UK study, but here's the kicker: what I can see of the study just talks about "vegetarian" children. Not all vegetarians are vegans; most have more balanced diets, the most liberal of them even eating fish.

Going by the study of the vegan children in the UK and the things that are said in this article, vegan diets can be healthy if they're accompanied with regular dietary supplements of things like vitamin B12. Sure, this works for people in wealthy countries like the US and western Europe---but it clashes with the vegan rhetoric about the looming food shortage which will starve the world if we don't move to energy-efficient plant foods. If they're so interested in feeding the world, why do they promote a diet that is unhealthy except for people who can afford regular vitamin pills? The people who can afford to make up for the shortcomings of the unnatural vegan diet aren't the ones who need to worry about starving. These people are pampered hypocrites.

[Aaron]

If my sister who is 23 can't maintain a healthy weight or nutrition level as a veagan, than there's no way a kid can. Especially as they need higher levels of vitamins and nutrients than adults do.

There was a case in Canada of a kid fed a veagan diet, at 18 months he weighed 10 pounds!

Besides how is Stravo's friend, who isn't well off, going to be able to afford these supplements? And how do you get a 6 month old to take a multi-vitamin?

[Chmee]

"Where feasible, it would be much better to do it through the diet than by giving pills," she said.

"With pills it's very hard to be certain that the quantity of nutrition is right for everybody and it's hard to sustain."

Did that make sense to anybody? A pill whose exact contents are known is a less predictable method of ingesting dietary supplements than a piece of meat? Funny, my steak never comes with a label for how many milligrams of B-12 are in it ....

[Stravo]

I just have to add that she's a Vegan partly because of her wide array of food allergies (wheat, certain meats, fatty oils, shrimp, cow's milk) it is unfortunately an allergy that her son has seemed to inherited so the traditional baby diet just won't do.

And she always said she would never raise her son on a Vegan diet as a baby only as he gets older.

But I appreciate the effort Maya. Frankly if you pulled out 10 studies by the finest doctors in the world she would still cling to her view. She is the Darkstar of the Vegan movement in my circle of friends.

[Mayabird]

I just have to add that she's a Vegan partly because of her wide array of food allergies (wheat, certain meats, fatty oils, shrimp, cow's milk) it is unfortunately an allergy that her son has seemed to inherited so the traditional baby diet just won't do.

And she always said she would never raise her son on a Vegan diet as a baby only as he gets older.

But I appreciate the effort Maya. Frankly if you pulled out 10 studies by the finest doctors in the world she would still cling to her view. She is the Darkstar of the Vegan movement in my circle of friends.

You're welcome. I try my best.

Does she at least take Vitamin B12 supplements, though? Deficiencies can cause serious damage to the nervous system. I've read stories of vegans who didn't take supplements who would suddenly go insane as the lack of B12 messed up their brains.

[Jawawithagun]

"Where feasible, it would be much better to do it through the diet than by giving pills," she said.

"With pills it's very hard to be certain that the quantity of nutrition is right for everybody and it's hard to sustain."

Did that make sense to anybody? A pill whose exact contents are known is a less predictable method of ingesting dietary supplements than a piece of meat? Funny, my steak never comes with a label for how many milligrams of B-12 are in it ....

The body has a hard time absorbing B12 and pills most often just shoot through the stomach too quickly to make any meaningful absorption possible. In foods like liver, steak etc., that are slowly digested the time the source remains in the stomach ist just much longer, so the body has time to take the vitamin in.

[Aaron]

The body has a hard time absorbing B12 and pills most often just shoot through the stomach too quickly to make any meaningful absorption possible. In foods like liver, steak etc., that are slowly digested the time the source remains in the stomach ist just much longer, so the body has time to take the vitamin in.

Isn't that why you should take them with food?

[Bob the Gunslinger]

The body has a hard time absorbing B12 and pills most often just shoot through the stomach too quickly to make any meaningful absorption possible. In foods like liver, steak etc., that are slowly digested the time the source remains in the stomach ist just much longer, so the body has time to take the vitamin in.

Isn't that why you should take them with food?

I thought taking them with food was just to protect the lining of your stomach.

[Aaron]

I thought taking them with food was just to protect the lining of your stomach.

That too. But I was thinking that if you took them with food that they wouldn't pass through the stomach before being absorbed. As the food would be blocking things up a bit.

[Pablo Sanchez]

That too. But I was thinking that if you took them with food that they wouldn't pass through the stomach before being absorbed. As the food would be blocking things up a bit.

The best way to keep those vegan supplements in the system is to eat with a big, juicy, steak.

[Stark]

How can you be allergic to that stuff?!

[Pablo Sanchez]

How can you be allergic to that stuff?!

Bad luck. I love cats and certain (small) breeds of dogs. Guess what I'm allergic to?

[Broomstick]

I thought taking them with food was just to protect the lining of your stomach.

That too. But I was thinking that if you took them with food that they wouldn't pass through the stomach before being absorbed. As the food would be blocking things up a bit.

You're both right - taking vitamins with food helps the stomach/intestinal lining AND it helps promote absorption because the pills' transit through the digestive tract is delayed.

[Broomstick]

How can you be allergic to that stuff?!

That's the big question - how can anyone be allergic to any food? Answer that, you're halfway to a cure and a much better understanding of the human immune system. Right now? We don't know.

[Alyrium Denryle]

"Where feasible, it would be much better to do it through the diet than by giving pills," she said.

"With pills it's very hard to be certain that the quantity of nutrition is right for everybody and it's hard to sustain."

Did that make sense to anybody? A pill whose exact contents are known is a less predictable method of ingesting dietary supplements than a piece of meat? Funny, my steak never comes with a label for how many milligrams of B-12 are in it ....

The body has a hard time absorbing B12 and pills most often just shoot through the stomach too quickly to make any meaningful absorption possible. In foods like liver, steak etc., that are slowly digested the time the source remains in the stomach ist just much longer, so the body has time to take the vitamin in.

Another issue is that they generally have to be derived from animal sources

[DPDarkPrimus]

It's been far too long since I had a good steak.

[The Silence and I]

Did that make sense to anybody? A pill whose exact contents are known is a less predictable method of ingesting dietary supplements than a piece of meat? Funny, my steak never comes with a label for how many milligrams of B-12 are in it ....

The body has a hard time absorbing B12 and pills most often just shoot through the stomach too quickly to make any meaningful absorption possible. In foods like liver, steak etc., that are slowly digested the time the source remains in the stomach ist just much longer, so the body has time to take the vitamin in.

Another issue is that they generally have to be derived from animal sources

I find that...so very, very ironic. I think that just made my half hour.