I’m Thirteen, Already A Vegetarian And Want To Go Vegan. Where Can I Find Some Nutrition Information??
October 4, 2009 by admin
Filed under Health and Fitness
I am thirteen years old, and I have been a vegetarian since last October. Because I did it for the principles and not dieting or as a fad, I really want to go vegan. However, my dad is hell-bent against me becoming a vegan (he actually forced me to be pescetarian) because he’s really concerned about my nutrition. I come from a really short (with a few exceptions) family, and both he and my doctor want me to reach my full height. I realize that malnutrition is a risk for a vegan, so i wanted to find some information on how to get all of the nutrients I need. My mom said she was going to find a good nutritionist, but I wanted to have some background.
Thanks for any help
[eba kw="vegan+nutrition" num="1" ebcat=""]
Malnutrition is not a greater risk for a vegan person than it is for any one else in the same country.http://www.vegetariannutrition.net/ (a dietetic practice of the American Dietetic Association)http://www.veganhealth.org/shhttp://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/index…http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/f…
The idea that vegan people cannot achieve the same fitness levels as other athletes is a complete lie.http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/phpBB2/…http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/phpBB2/…
You are about to enter your period of fastest growth, and you want to reach your full potential. You are also very active at 13, with a high metabolism. The last thing you want is to risk an inadequate diet.
Listen to your father! When you’re 18 and have finished your growth, you can move to a lower-quality diet than you need now.
Just do whatever the nutritionist says (as long as he doesn’t say eat meat). You can be healthy and be vegan. Silk soymilk has just as much calcium and gfood stuff as milk, but even more good stuff, like soy, protein, omega-3, vitamins, etc. Eat vegan cheeses and yogurts. Eat enough carbs. You will be fine.
you can order vegan pamphlets from peta2.org.they have stuff in there about it.or try veganwolf.com for all the foods you can eat.also,take vitamin pills.
you also might wanna see a nutritionist.
careful now, this much thought and control over your eating habits at your age is frequently a sign of an eating disorder
dont do that vegan crap you wont get enough protien or nutrients to function correctly
google. it
You will have to let your family know things will be ok. I have been a vegan for a little over a year now, and my grandmother/immediate family didnt appreciate it.
They still dont like it completely but they respect it and some have even looked into it for themselves.
No one can force you to eat something you do not want to, Your family just cares about you.
All you can do is let them know this is not a fad thing, it isnt because of a friend, but because of your beliefs that hurting animals is wrong.
You need to request a dietician that is experienced with vegans/raw foodist if your family wants to get a second opinion.
As long as you are not eating junk food and processed foods all the time, you should be nutritionally ok. eat as many unprocessed foods as you can.
Well, considering you are only thirteen and in your growing period, I suggest you dont go full Vegan because your body is still growing and needs nutrition (meat). Vegetable will not be enough for your 13 year old body. I suggest you stay vegetarian (still allowed to eat egg, diary products..) dont go Vegan just yet, wait until your a little older then go vegan. But For your age I think its better if you eat meat ( its good)
Im sorry if im not helping because I dont know any nutritionist or anything but really, my advice is to not go vegan yet because you will need calcium as well (milk)
All these people are a little crazy. Being vegan isn’t bad, and you can make it work. It drives me crazy when people are mean and judgmental on this site, everyone can live their life their own way with their own set o rules and values. I’m a vegetarian and a teenager myself, but you can definitely get all the nutrients that you need from a vegan diet. Especially if your mom is going to have you speak with a nutritionist. Personally, I’m practically vegan. I am lactose intolerant and I occasionally eat cheese or ice cream or something like that, but it isn’t too difficult to get the nutrients you need. I drink lots of soymilk and get a lot of protein from that and I eat oatmeal every day for iron and what not. Don’t let what other people affect your decision. Just know that it will probably be a little difficult. Even now my friends joke about vegetarians and what not, but its a lifestyle choice and I know that I will never go back to eating meat again.
I second the motion. WAIT until you have finished puberty. If you go vegan now and get it wrong you could mess yourself up for life.
Seriously, you risk stunting your growth, having brittle bones or even being infertile if you don’t get the balance exactly right. You cannot underestimate the damage that you could do to your health switching to a vegan diet at this point in your life.
You can save the animals better as a healthy adult than you can as an unhealthy one.
FYI, DON’T trust Peta. Peta are probably the worst people that you could ever listen to. They purposefully target young girls telling them that eating dairy will make them spotty and fat and will make the mucassy and unattractive to boys, and they give very bad advice.
Peta’s vegan guide for teenagers is little more than a guide for how to use veganism as a cover for bring anorexic.
http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/nal_display/ind…http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/http://www.vegetarian-nutrition.info/http://www.vegsoc.org/info/basic-nutriti…http://www.vegsoc.org/health/http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/pubs/bibs/g…
the last one is a very helpful pamphlet that you will use Adobe to read.
i dont mean any disrespect but being a vegan @ 13 is really unhealthy.
wait ten years and then save the animals.
I’m a little late in the commenting, but I had to write because I’m shocked at the number of incredibly uneducated responses here telling you that you risk poor health if you don’t eat meat.
The funny thing is that you also risk poor health if you do! Malnutrition is a problem for people of all dietary choices. Eating meat offers some benefits because of it’s high density of protein and the couple of vitamins and minerals it offers that are harder to get from non meat sources. Namely, Iron is best absorbed from animal sources (Heme Iron, as in Hemoglobin, as in Blood). Vitamin b12 is only found in animal sources and a rare few non-animal sources such as Nutritional Yeast. And Omega Fatty acids are most available in Fish.
If you take a b12 supplement, you have that covered. B12 is absolutely essential in the diet, though in small quantities. It naturally occurs as a bi-product of bacteria in the dirt that animals eat. We clean our veggies too well to get enough. When we eat animals that eat dirt, we get their stores of b12.
If you eat high iron foods with vitamin c, you will absorb good amounts of iron.
And if you use healthy oils like flax seed oil and hemp oil, both of which can be bought online at places like amazon, you will get good sources of omega fatty acids.
There are other things to consider, but if you get enough calories and focus on eating a variety of veggies while being careful of Iron, b12, and good fats, you will be fine.
Getting enough calories can be a challenge for women especially. Male Vegans tend to eat a lot of beans and grains which provide plenty of calories. Females tend to eat a lot more greens and fresh produce which is great for vitamin intake, but simply doesn’t supply enough calories along with all that fiber. The fiber adds bulk to your diet and can make you feel full while still not getting enough energy to burn.
Check out vegweb.com for great recipes, great people and friendly, educated advice. Also check the other resources listed above by other posters.
http://www.nutritiondata.com/ is a great resource to see what a food has to offer.
I hope your nutritionist was helpful and offered better advice than the “You need meat for protein, milk for bones (quite false actually, kind of destructive in reality)”.
I actually came here because I’m looking for a vegetarian doctor for similar reasons and saw your post. I’m nearly vegan and just want to have my blood work checked over to make sure I’m getting a good balance.
In summary, it’s not as easy to be vegan. But that’s almost entirely a social problem. Our dominant society is highly meat diet based. And with the level of ignorance and lack of traditional food choices, you are forced to plow your own field so to speak. The best thing you can do is find other people on the same path and ask to join them.
-Good Luck