Death By Veganism

Death by Veganism
By NINA PLANCK

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Oh my gosh. I feel terrible for them that their baby died but how stupid can people be?

Nobody noticed that the baby was dying from malnutrition? Not one person said "A baby can't live on soy milk and apple juice?"

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this is not a case of bad 'vegans' , nor is it a case to support people who think being a vegan is wrong.

This is a case of STUPID PARENTS.

Meat eaters or not.. Confused

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Why wasn't his mother breast feeding him?

Soy milk and apple juice for a 6 week old baby?! Mad

How could even a vegan have an objection to human milk when that is what all mammels feed their young?

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shewolfnm wrote:

this is not a case of bad 'vegans' , nor is it a case to support people who think being a vegan is wrong.

This is a case of STUPID PARENTS.

Agreed.

Chai wrote:

How could even a vegan have an objection to human milk when that is what all mammels feed their young?

A good question! I'd have thought a vegan wouldn't object much to feeding her child her own milk, though the article mentions that a vegan's breast milk is likely to be more deficient in certain nutrients than a non-vegan's.

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yeah, you would have thought they would have realized they could have supplimented the breast milk with the missing amino acids.

what nimrods.

these is why people need to be licensed to have a child.

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Even if the child's parents were ignorant - the child's doctor should have known for sure. Seems strange this would have gone this far - the baby losing so much weight.

My friend is a vegan - she does eat and drink dairy though. Her doctor did give her advice as a result - her doctor's concern was more on the dairy side and as she did consume dairy, he simply gave her certain vitamins and suggestions on diet. She had no issues with her two sons and she breast fed them. Although she is a vegan - she does not prevent her husband and children from eating meat - they rarely do as she will not cook it. They seem very healthy robust boys to me - certainly no issue with their growth and weight.

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Chai wrote:

these is why people need to be licensed to have a child.

Adam and Eve must have had a hell of a time trying to find the application office.

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This reminds me of a question I asked a long time ago.

At a wedding, 2 of the guests, who had their little girl (maybe 3-4) with them were vegans, and wouldn't eat something that had egg in it. Their little girl had never had an egg.

They said it was because they wouldn't eat something that had the potential for life. That's as far as the conversation went, since it was after all, a wedding party.

Later, I thought to myself that most chickens laying eggs never even see a rooster in their lifetime, no there is no potential for life.

Even free range chickens don't have to have a rooster around to lay eggs. Or you could even have your own chicken to make sure it's treated well, no rooster, and eat the eggs.

I mean, the egg white is pure protein, and if you can get eggs you are sure were never fertilized, what's the problem? Otherwise, there's all this protein going to waste.

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I love those events when the vegan's kid comes back from the buffet with ribs and a big chicken leg. Priceless.

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There are some vegans that are so strict, they won't even eat honey. That is because you are bothering the bees when you take their honey.

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I think... well.. ( I think Im gonna be slapped by someone but)

I think being vegan is just plain stupid.

We as a race, as a being, as a form of life, have evolved THOUSANDS of years based on the consumption of PROTIEN .

ANIMAL protien.

Yes. I agree that they way we house/kill/market/and drug up our meat today is just not right, starving your body of a necessity like that as a stand against the man is just ......... well.......... DUMB.

You can be a vegan and be really healthy.
Absolutly.

You can be a meat eater and be really healthy too.

You just have to KNOW what the hell it is that is going in your mouth.

Vegan or not, these parents did not put ANYTHING in this childs mouth.
F-kn idiots.

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Linkat wrote:

My friend is a vegan - she does eat and drink dairy though.

By definition she is not a vegan if she eats any product that involves an animal. She is a lacto-vegetarian. Sorry to get picky here, but the vegans I know would be horrifed at her choice to exploit cows or goats. Personally, I think veganism is a sign of our spoiled, picky society that is obsessed with control. At no other time in history could people be so choosey about their diet. In the past you grew it, raised it, killed it, processed it, or perhaps found it - and you were grateful if it didn't kill you before or after you consumed it.

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^bingo^

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Here's some fallout from the Times article, in the form of six letters to the editor:

Quote:

I am a nutritionist who testified as an expert witness for the prosecution in the criminal trial of the parents of Crown Shakur. As the lead prosecutor in this case told the jury, this poor infant was not killed by a vegan diet. He was starved to death by parents who did not give him breast milk, soy-based infant formula or enough food of any kind.

Well-planned vegan diets are healthful for pregnant mothers and their infants, as well as for older children, according to a large body of scientific research. Contrary to Ms. Planck's assertions, there are healthy plant-based sources of docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA; calcium can be absorbed about as readily from soy milk as from cow's milk; and soy does not inhibit growth.

Studies have found that vegan children are within the normal ranges for weight and height, and I personally know vegan mothers and vegan children who are healthier than many of their omnivorous peers.

Amy Joy Lanou
Senior nutrition scientist, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
Washington, May 21, 2007

Quote:

Nina Planck's article touches on a particularly important topic. Her use of the term food "fashion" is appropriate: many people today do not make informed choices about their diet; rather, they are influenced by trends, advertising and the political correctness of food.

Many adults do not understand the difference between feeding a baby, a child and themselves. Babies and young children who do not receive a balanced diet, with complete proteins, fats and vitamins, face potential lifelong developmental and cognitive delays. The medical journal Lancet recently published findings showing that children who are not adequately nourished in the first five years of life sometimes never catch up to their peers.

A diet that may be adequate for an adult is not always good for a baby or a child. Feed your children properly now; they will thank you later.

Ross Smith
New York, May 21, 2007

Quote:

I am shocked by the ignorance of the recent outcry against vegan diets in the media, most recently Nina Planck's article about the dangers and irresponsibility of vegan diets during pregnancy and infancy. What these naysayers consistently neglect is that vegan diets, as with all other restricted diets, must be well planned.

It is not enough to simply cut animal products (or carbohydrates, or calories) out of one's diet. Without a concerted effort by the consumer, restricted diets of any kind may fail to provide adequate nutrition.

Generalizing from a handful of ignorant vegans to the entire vegan population does a disservice to those of us who have spent years educating ourselves on human nutritional needs and how to meet them on a plant-based diet.

Well-planned vegan diets have been shown repeatedly to be sufficient, and even beneficial at all stages of life, including during pregnancy and infancy.

Nicole Speer
Boulder, Colo.
May 21, 2007

Quote:

Thank you for publishing Nina Planck's excellent article, "Death by Veganism."

It's appalling that anyone would think that a diet based on a dubious morality would build a human infant. Children need protein.

George Mazzei
St. Petersburg, Fla., May 21, 2007

Quote:

"Death by Veganism," by Nina Planck, strays far from the truth about vegan diets. I've raised a vegan child since conception. Although I am a 5-foot-1, 98-pound woman, and my husband is 5-foot-8 and 145 pounds, both of us having grown up on meat and dairy, our son was a long 22 inches and 8 pounds 9 ounces at birth.

His pediatrician marveled at his outstanding health. She warned us to expect him to have colds and fevers regularly once he started day care, but he got sick only once during his first three years of life. He's now 13 and remains healthy and strong.

Yes, vegans need to ensure that their children get proper nutrition, including vitamin B12 and omega-3s, but this is easy to do. What's harder is having a child who eats the typical American diet stay healthy.

Zoe Weil
Surry, Me., May 21, 2007

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I raised Jillian for her first 2 years Vegan.

She ate everything.
Lima beans, pintos, lentils, blue berries, tofu, spinach, broccoli, squash, tomatoes, black beans, sunflower seeds.. you name it.

She was, and still is perfectly healthy.

I think being vegan can have its benefits, dont get me wrong, I just find it.. kinda.. well.. wierd.

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ok, a question, and a comment..

shewolf, since you have experience feeding a child a vegan diet (BTW, did you breast feed her too?), I have a general vegan question.

Not to sound stupid, but what does a vegan eat when they get that "not only am I hungry, but have the need for some heavy duty FOOD"? You know how sometimes you'll want, and need some of that macaronni and cheese, grilled cheese sammich, tuna salad on a hard roll...not to mention there are times when I really won't be satisfied unless I get a really good burger in my gut.
I understand a lot of it is what you grow up with. If I was raised a vegetarian, and was happy, I wouldn't perhaps crave a big juicy steak once in a while.
But...All the food you mentioned, and others I can think of that wouldn't have egg, cheese, butter and so forth just don't seem all that satisfying when you've got a major hunger going on. One can only eat so much brocolli, and lentils only go so far.
What would be a vegans idea of a wonder, let's sit down and do some serious eating, meal?

My comment...I briefly glanced at a vegan website, and do see their point with egg laying chickens and even the so called free range chickens and the life they lead while laying eggs.

But, for instance, if I got it in my head to raise a few chickens and treated them well, and they weren't fertilized, what's the problem?

If you raised a happy cow, and she had plenty of milk, what's the big deal?

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I personally think that ( as I said in an earlier post ) being vegan is just a "stand against the man"

People trying to make an impact about how animals are being treated, raised and slaughtered.

The amounts of drugs they are pumped with, and the improper diets they are fed to make them grow bigger almost 60% faster then they normally would so they can hurry up and be killed and dumped into a huge grinder along with many other animals so that they can be shipped off to be purchased by us is ridicilous.
And I can absolutely see why people are tired of it.

I mean, the hormones they put into cows have been linked to many common health issues we have running rampant in our society.
The amount of antibiotics they give to a milking sow to keep her "clean" because she is so overloaded with milk from the hormones that her udders are scrapping the ground and are constantly infected, is a part of why we are getting drug resistant strains of diseases.

The production of meat today is bullshit.

HAVING SAID ALL THAT.. I still think being vegan is silly.

Starving your body just to make a statement hurts noone but you , and is beyond my scope of understanding.

There are ways around it, but I wont go THAT far into this debate.

Since I raised Jillian vegan, and have altered my diet to include more vegan recipes, and just have an over all BIGGER variety of foods, I don't know that I could answer your question.

But I do know that, sitting down to some homemade pinto or black refried bean burgers with big fat home fries , and a spinach salad topped with strawberries,pine nuts and a little dressing makes you feel like you want to burst.
but it doesn't satisfy like a piece of meat does.
absolutely not.

I choose to give Jillian a vegan diet because of the amounts of nutrients a baby needs when growing is astounding. There was no way in the world I could give her all she needed with a limited diet.
Take out a major player in the game ( animal protein) and you have a HUGE space to fill with LOTS of options.

I could not breastfeed her.
I tried.
And for her first ...almost 3 months I was able to, but right after that I had my tubes tied, then had that stroke.
The meds I had to take stopped my milk immediately. Even if it didn't, my milk could have been toxic to her.

Real vegan parents do NOT think that mothers milk is against the rules.
Quite the contrary.
It is preferred.. and in some households.. given to ALL members. Confused

but to each his own..

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Ya know, next time you have a day off, come over to my house.

Ill make you a gut buster vegan meal you will like... you will see what I mean.
They are GOOD , but nothing like a burger..

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Death By Veganism

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