Vegan breastfeeding has caused an 11-month-old baby to die and the parents are charged with neglect after an autopsy indicated the baby suffered from severe deficiencies in Vitamin B12 and Vitamin A. Both these nutrients are known to be critical to a child’s development and sorely lacking in a vegan diet. This is why doctors strongly advise against nursing mothers and growing children following a vegan diet (1).
Vegans have long been advised to take B12 supplements as long term veganism runs the huge risk of serious B12 deficiency as well as other nutrients only found in animal foods such as true Vitamin A. Â Beta carotene is not true vitamin AÂ nor does it easily convert to adequate amounts of Vitamin A in the body to sustain optimal health.
While charging the parents in this tragedy is questionable as it smacks of too much interference by government into private life, it does communicate a clear message to other vegans:Â abstinence from all animal foods is a danger to one’s health and most particularly, your baby!
It also sends a clear message that what a nursing Mother eats definitely DOES affect the quality of her breastmilk, particularly with vegan breastfeeding. Many breastfeeding advocates insist that breastmilk will include all a baby needs despite what the Mother eats, but clearly this is not the case.
Traditional cultures took great care to ensure that pregnant and breastfeeding mothers consumed ample amounts of animal foods rich in vitamins A, D, E, K2 and of course B12. These foods included grass-fed butter, pastured eggs, liver, seafood, and fish eggs. Notice that none – NOT ONE of these traditionally sacred foods is plant-based!
Incidentally, the 2017 vegan film What The Health was unable to cite a single successful vegan population group either. Why? Because there are none. Ever.
If you are pregnant and breastfeeding and would like to learn what foods will maximally support the health of your baby while nursing, please check this link for the complete listing of traditionally sacred foods for optimal fetal and baby development. These foods will also ensure the preservation of your own health during pregnancy and lactation which can easily deplete a Mother’s nutritional stores leaving her vulnerable to exhaustion.
Vegan Parents Convicted
The vegan breastfeeding mother and father whose baby died as described in this article were convicted by a French court to 5 years in prison due to the imbalanced vegan diet the mother ate which led to nutrient-poor breastmilk and a failure to thrive child who eventually fell ill from severe nutrient deficiency and died without the parents ever seeking proper medical attention (source).
For more information on how vegan breastfeeding and also a vegan diet devastate the health of children, read about how a 12-year-old vegan was diagnosed with the degenerating bones of an 80-year-old.  Dr. Faisal Ahmed MD, a pediatrician treating the child, said that the dangers of forcing children to follow a strict vegan diet need to be publicized.
Unfortunately, vegan parents don’t seem to be getting the message quickly enough. The latest case involves vegans who nearly starved their 5-month-old baby to death feeding him potato mash instead of the doctor advised organic formula.
The child, who weighed just over 8 pounds and had sunken eyes and protruding ribs, is recovering but will likely suffer long-term damage from the experience (source).
References
Angelina Jolie says veganism nearly killed her
Supersize Me Girlfriend Quits VeganismÂ
Vitamin A Vagary
Vitamin B12: Vital Nutrient for Good Health
French vegan couple whose baby died of vitamin deficiency after being fed solely on breast milk face jail for child neglect
I wish to remind the poster who called Vegans “marginalized” that in this world it is the Vegans themselves who marginalize omnivors. If this were not so why would you bother to defend a pair of so called hipsters (the baby’s parents) who disregarded sound medical advise and continued down the road that eventually lead to their infants death.
You can take all the high quality natural vitamin B12 supplements that money can buy, but every last drop comes from large vats of fermenting cow manure or in some cases human sewage sludge. Then the natural B12 is filtered out, concentrated, sterilized, treated, measured, and finally prepared for human re-consumption.
Vegans in their own feverish minds are such hip “hipsters” that taking a corporate food factory prepared vitamin supplement extracted from cow S*** is like not taking a vitamin supplement at all. Did you know that long term Vegans are prone to lower IQs scores? The above facts are only part of the proof.
This is very unfortunate. Although this specific case may have been from the lack of attention the mother paid to her own diet… which happened to be veganism, being vegan specifically is not to blame. There are plenty of vegan mothers and children out there that are happy and healthy, including myself and my daughter (whom was exclusively breastfed for 6 months, and is still breast feeding at 12 months, in addition to a well balanced diet).
The reason these parents are being charged is not because of their diet, it is because they failed to provide proper medical attention to their child when he needed it. In this case, it may be because she was vegan, and didn’t take care of herself properly. But vegan or otherwise, it is the responsibility of the parents to take care of their child, and seek medical attention when needed. It is the responsibility of the breast feeding mother, on any diet, to care for themselves enough to be able to provide their child with a proper food source.
Imagine if the child was killed because the mother consumed meat tainted with ecoli… who would we blame? The mother for eating meat, which is a known risk for carrying ecoli? Or would we blame the meat industry? We would of course blame the meat industry, because it is “normal” to consume this food – although known to have unhealthy characteristics.
This case made the news because the mother was vegan, that is all. If it would have been a mother on a diet of burgers, fries, and soda, no one would blame her for her diet, just for her not providing medical attention.
To the author of this article: Your comments about this story are very uneducated. There are many societies that have lived on a vegan diet, and outlive those that don’t. Plants have more vitamins and minerals than meat, and are not tainted with hormones, antibiotics, feces, pus, and more. I urge you to please thoroughly do your research before posting such an uneducated opinion, as if it were fact.
Fruits and vegetables are an even bigger risk for e-coli infections than meat is Kaycee, This is especially true with organically grown raw greens, fruits, vegetables, nuts and juices. That is why much of the organic food in stores today is marinated in harsh chemicals before it leaves Mom & Pop’s Organic Farm. The Idea is to render organic food at least as safe as non organic food.
What you have written is completely false b12 pill pusher. ” Eating meat that is rare or inadequately cooked is the most common way of possible exposure to E. coli O157:H7 contamination.”
I’m not a vegetarian, but what you say makes sense. In India 80 % (or so) are vegetarians and the country is one of the most populated in the world. But you will never convinced others – meat eating people hate vegans and that is all.
Vegetarian and vegan are very different things! It is impossible to be healthy being a vegan (you can maintain health (not optimal however) being a vegan by taking supplements .. but of course, this is entirely unnatural and proves that veganism is not healthy in the first place). No traditional cultures ever ate vegan. However, it is possible to be healthy and be vegetarian although it is easier to do if you eat meat.
The charge ‘smacks of Big Brother too much’? They are following the legal system. The parents were negligent to the point of death, and I think they are getting off light with simply ‘neglect’ and not a charge of ‘negligent homicide’. Just because the victim is their child does not mean Big Brother is overreaching its bounds. If the victim was not their child, the charge would certainly stand, and potentially be worse. The fact that it was an accidence doesn’t matter; the law does not take intention into account, but her actions certainly add up to a chargeable offense. Your claim that charging a parent who neglects their child is overreaching the bounds of the state is worrisome, because you are implying the law should stay out of family life, which is why there are so many problems with domestic abuse and spousal rape in other parts of the world. Not okay. The veganism is not the issue here, it is the fact that this mother either was not seeking medical assistance or was completely ignoring it, as a doctor who knew she was vegan would have been adamant that she take supplements or feed her child more than just her breast milk. The charge is extremely fair, and as I said, she is lucky it is not worse. I only hope she is more responsible should she decide to procreate again.
If the mother had been a meat and potatoes mum or even a ovo-lacto vegetarian the infant would not have been getting sufficient B12 after the first few months…………so, no, the Vegan diet was not to blame…..breast milk, from a mum on ANY diet does not contain adequate amounts of the essential vitamin for the older infant. Do some homework and use reason please. http://sciencenordic.com/exclusive-breastfeeding-may-cause-b12-deficiency-babies
“The American Dietetic Association and Dietitians of Canada regard the vegan diet as appropriate for ALL STAGES of the life-cycle and as offering protection against cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other diseases” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegan_nutrition