teen has decided to be vegan

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am not vegan, but 2/3rds of my meals are salads, good bread and fresh fruit, so I would have no problem with a DD like that.

I’m not sure salad, fruit and bread is a great diet for a teen girl.

It’s a crap diet for anyone.

You folks are likely thinking of salad the way meat eaters do. Salad is a whole world of delicious and more than adequately nutritious foods.

The best foods for gut health and overall health are vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains, nuts/seeds. Meat is unnecessary for optimal human health.

You folks making the anti vegan statements should really know that the Google machine easily debunks all your bogus claims.

Also, vegan body builders - there are many just a Google away. Here’s one:



https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.insider.com/vegan-bodybuilder-how-to-build-muscle-on-plant-based-diet-2020-10%3famp

He eats salads and fruit and bread - oh my!

Beans are not good for my gut health, sorry. My coworkers can attest to this.

You aren’t eating enough of them, and you probably eat enough standard American diet crap that your gut biome is disordered.

A person who regularly eats beans and veggies and fruits and whole grains and nuts and seeds and eschews UPFs and junk food garbage will cultivate a very healthy gut biome that has no problem tolerating these healthy natural foods.

Some of the foods will cause flatulence but flatulence is healthy and it is entirely normal to pass gas numerous times in a day and unhealthy to suppress it. If you’re self conscious get an air filter unit for your office and fart into it - but let it rip, it’s good for your gut!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is her reason for this, OP? I’d definitely be concerned that this is a proxy for an eating disorder.

She's concerned about the treatment of animals and the environmental impact of non vegan eating.

I'm concerned too, but can't give up eggs and butter and cheese. Has she looked at sourcing those types of products from a humane farm? I love South Mountain Creamery, which is local and which takes really good care of its animals.

Agree there are humane sources for dairy and eggs. Please convince her to go this route. Not getting enough food sourced calcium (fortified foods don’t count and are just poorly absorbed supplements) in teen years is detrimental to bone health later in life.

There is more bioavailable calcium in kale than in milk. That’s just one example of the many plant food sources of calcium.

The old lame arguments against a vegan diet are just pathetic in this day and age when all of them are so easily debunked by a simple google search into the actual nutritional science which has been done and dusted for decades.

Does anybody here think that elephants and hippos and gorillas have weak bones?

Get real.

[Anonymous]

She needs to see a counselor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why were vegan dinners off the menu in the first place?
Life is long. Expand your palate and your repertoire. Learning is good for you.

Rather supercilious comment. Why would vegan meals be on the menu if nobody in the family was vegetarian?

Right! This makes no sense. A lot of families may have a vegetarian meal in rotation but having a truly vegan meal in rotation if you’re not vegan isn’t really the norm.

The cuisines of Asia and Africa would like a word

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is her reason for this, OP? I’d definitely be concerned that this is a proxy for an eating disorder.

She's concerned about the treatment of animals and the environmental impact of non vegan eating.

I'm concerned too, but can't give up eggs and butter and cheese. Has she looked at sourcing those types of products from a humane farm? I love South Mountain Creamery, which is local and which takes really good care of its animals.

Agree there are humane sources for dairy and eggs. Please convince her to go this route. Not getting enough food sourced calcium (fortified foods don’t count and are just poorly absorbed supplements) in teen years is detrimental to bone health later in life.

There is more bioavailable calcium in kale than in milk. That’s just one example of the many plant food sources of calcium.

The old lame arguments against a vegan diet are just pathetic in this day and age when all of them are so easily debunked by a simple google search into the actual nutritional science which has been done and dusted for decades.

Does anybody here think that elephants and hippos and gorillas have weak bones?

Get real.

Yes, but they consume so much plant material. A 300 lb gorilla eats 40-50 pounds of food a day.

I’m guessing most teen girls aren’t consuming 15-20 pounds of food per day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I know this is maybe not fair, but I also worry that for some teens, the restrictive nature of veganism can be a component of (or lead to) disordered eating. To be clear, I'm not saying that is true for all or most vegans. Just that the restrictive nature of the diet has some parallels.

You’re not wrong about this, worth being aware of for sure…

[Anonymous]

I hope all of you lazy, ignorant, anti-vegan parents in here don’t pretend to care about the environment or the health of your children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why were vegan dinners off the menu in the first place?
Life is long. Expand your palate and your repertoire. Learning is good for you.

Rather supercilious comment. Why would vegan meals be on the menu if nobody in the family was vegetarian?

Right! This makes no sense. A lot of families may have a vegetarian meal in rotation but having a truly vegan meal in rotation if you’re not vegan isn’t really the norm.

The cuisines of Asia and Africa would like a word

How many average American families are regularly making Asian and African vegan dishes at home though?

[Anonymous]

Veganism can be cover for an eating disorder. My kid’s therapist was very clear that for him vegetarianism was fine, veganism wasn’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Veganism can be cover for an eating disorder. My kid’s therapist was very clear that for him vegetarianism was fine, veganism wasn’t.

Sounds like your child's therapist is not being a very good therapist if they are pushing their/your agenda vs. your child's. It's in no way a cover for an eating disorder. Those are two very separate things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is her reason for this, OP? I’d definitely be concerned that this is a proxy for an eating disorder.

She's concerned about the treatment of animals and the environmental impact of non vegan eating.

I'm concerned too, but can't give up eggs and butter and cheese. Has she looked at sourcing those types of products from a humane farm? I love South Mountain Creamery, which is local and which takes really good care of its animals.

Agree there are humane sources for dairy and eggs. Please convince her to go this route. Not getting enough food sourced calcium (fortified foods don’t count and are just poorly absorbed supplements) in teen years is detrimental to bone health later in life.

There is more bioavailable calcium in kale than in milk. That’s just one example of the many plant food sources of calcium.

The old lame arguments against a vegan diet are just pathetic in this day and age when all of them are so easily debunked by a simple google search into the actual nutritional science which has been done and dusted for decades.

Tofu has the same amount of calcium as milk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Veganism can be cover for an eating disorder. My kid’s therapist was very clear that for him vegetarianism was fine, veganism wasn’t.

Sounds like your child's therapist is not being a very good therapist if they are pushing their/your agenda vs. your child's. It's in no way a cover for an eating disorder. Those are two very separate things.

The concern was ARFID, which is an eating disorder that involves restricted eating of specific foods. Veganism is a common route. Kids with OCD are at greater risk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why were vegan dinners off the menu in the first place?
Life is long. Expand your palate and your repertoire. Learning is good for you.

Rather supercilious comment. Why would vegan meals be on the menu if nobody in the family was vegetarian?

Right! This makes no sense. A lot of families may have a vegetarian meal in rotation but having a truly vegan meal in rotation if you’re not vegan isn’t really the norm.

The cuisines of Asia and Africa would like a word

How many average American families are regularly making Asian and African vegan dishes at home though?

What do you think an “average American” is?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Veganism can be cover for an eating disorder. My kid’s therapist was very clear that for him vegetarianism was fine, veganism wasn’t.

Sounds like your child's therapist is not being a very good therapist if they are pushing their/your agenda vs. your child's. It's in no way a cover for an eating disorder. Those are two very separate things.

The concern was ARFID, which is an eating disorder that involves restricted eating of specific foods. Veganism is a common route. Kids with OCD are at greater risk.

Kids with OCD have other issues and none of this has to do with being a vegan. Stop projecting OP's child's desires with your child's mental health issues. They are two very different things.

I have been both vegetarian and vegan. It isn't a big deal at all. I've been vegetarian for 35+years. No eating disorders, no problems at all with it. My kids have been vegetarian mostly their entire lives. They taste meat every so often but after a few bites they lose interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Veganism can be cover for an eating disorder. My kid’s therapist was very clear that for him vegetarianism was fine, veganism wasn’t.

Sounds like your child's therapist is not being a very good therapist if they are pushing their/your agenda vs. your child's. It's in no way a cover for an eating disorder. Those are two very separate things.

New poster: I assume you’re the one who keeps disagreeing when people say choosing to be vegan has nothing to do with an ED. You’re wrong. It absolutely can. The answer isn’t to go find experts who agree with you. It’s that you need to be more open minded. It isn’t always a sign of an ED, but it can be sometimes. I posted above it’s exactly what happened to a child I personally know and who later admitted in therapy veganism was a pretext to become more restrictive about what he ate without brining too much attention to himself. (Next up, in case people want to know, is that some of the vegan choices weren’t very tasty to him so he was able to eat tiny portions and just say it didn’t taste great. “Ice cream” was one example of this.