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. Beta carotene is not true vitamin A 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: 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 Veganism
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’m vegan, and I’m not deficient in anything. I’ve been tested. But I pay very close attention to my diet and which vitamins I take. She clearly didn’t, which is inexcusable. Vegans and meat eaters alike need to do this when they are having/breastfeeding a baby. She neglected this necessary step, and it led to her baby’s death, but not because she was vegan. It is because she was irresponsible and couldn’t do it in a healthy way. There are many healthy babies born to vegan mothers, but these mothers make sure they get proper nutrition, as everyone should. It also strikes me as odd that she didn’t notice something was wrong until it was too late. Think about it logically. There are other things at work here besides veganism, such as total disregard for proper nutrition when it is most important.
The trick to a healthy diet is moderation and exercise. Simple. The vegan mother in the article didn’t balance her diet with the proper vitamins, nutrition, etc. Nothing wrong with being vegan or vegetarian or meat eating, as long as you’re eating right, organic, good quality food and balancing it out. I understand the ethical argument, but organic meat is different from McRibs.
I am a strict Lacto-Vegetarian (Vegan+Cow’s Milk+Honey). There is absolutely nothing wrong in being Vegetarian/Vegan. Pregnant women and mothers with infants need a “different” sort of vegetarian diet than just routine office-goer vegetarian diet. In India, there are special vegetarian snacks and some diet methods especially during -1 year to +2 years of child birth and these methods are being traditionally/religiously prescribed for more than 5000 years and malnutrition won’t happen if strictly followed. The cause in this article’s case could have been the “style” of vegan/vegetarianism which hasn’t evolved for that particular climatic conditions and NOT the vegan/vegetarianism itself. Yes, Western school of medicine attribute veg diet to lack of B12, Hemoglobin etc.. but it is not the complete reality, it is just a perspective of the “English Medicine” ( that’s what we Indians call non-Ayurvedic school of medicine as).
I am a strict Lacto-Vegetarian (Vegan+Cow’s Milk+Honey). There is absolutely nothing wrong in being Vegetarian/Vegan. Pregnant women and mothers with infants need a “different” sort of vegetarian diet than just routine office-goer vegetarian diet. In India, there are special vegetarian snacks and some diet methods especially during -1 year to +2 years of child birth and these methods are being traditionally/religiously prescribed for more than 5000 years and malnutrition won’t happen if strictly followed. The cause in this article’s case could have been the “style” of vegan/vegetarianism which hasn’t evolved for that particular climatic conditions and NOT the vegan/vegetarianism itself. Yes, Western school of medicine attribute veg diet to lack of B12, Hemoglobin etc.. but it is not the complete reality, it is just a perspective of the “English Medicine” ( that’s what we Indians call non-Ayurvedic school of medicine as).
I hate to bring this to all of your attention, but neither Vegan, Vegetarian nor Meat ( Animal ) based diets are perfect. Both should have some kind of vitamin supplement for things they’re missing. Sadly, you guys are like Macintosh users versus the PC users in a community where one side things they’re better than the other and can never agree to disagree and move on. This is a sad thing that has happened here and you all are putting your personal views and opinions of each other above what has happened instead of discussing what really should have been done to prevent this.
There is NO such a thing is the PERFECT diet! Get that out of your heads now. I have a friend who almost died not long ago, because of his immune system was not properly sustained through his diet. Care to guess what his diet is? Well I wont go and tell you because it would end up with you throwing it back at me not knowing what I’m talking about. Well I’m completely opposite of him in terms of Dietary status. He’s been trying to get me to change but nothing he puts up as an argument for and why levels out to any better than what I’m doing.
Why? Because I do monitor what I eat, I do pay attention to things in my diet. Anyone that doesn’t is a fool. If you think your so called perfect view based on your own diet can’t cause you problems, think again. Any diet can cause severe health issues if not properly maintained, it doesn’t matter what you choose it matters how you maintain it. He failed to maintain a part of his diet and it almost cost him a lot more than he bargained for.
I don’t wish this on anyone, but sitting here on a site pointing fingers, calling foul, trying to say that this group of people is attacking us over this group’s way of life versus mine is a load of bs that you can shovel some place else. Problem I see is everyone has their reasons for and why and their opinions on the matters vary. You can either say ok, I agree with you or take the Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert approach and one of you go thumbs up and the other thumbs down and move the heck on!
Almost as bad as people discussing religion and politics, none of them can ever agree on anything and they’re always right everyone else is always wrong. Sheesh!
My sister lives in France and has had two girls there. With the first child she was a vegen and a practicing buddhists, and a very well educated one. Her doctor, as EVERY doctor in france, told her in the fist couple of months of that first pregnancy that she could not stay on her diet and that she would HAVE to start introducing some meat into her diet. ALL doctors (especially in france) talk to expecting mothers about this. Her doctor was very respectful of her beliefs and also that her body was not used to meat, so talked to her about how to safely introduce this into her diet. Her doctor also talked to her about when it would be a safe time to start her children on a vegan diet later in life. My sister changed her diet because like any sane person, she understands that ideology can’t always give you what you need in life (almost all mothers need to dramatically change their diets and life for the safety of their children). She still eats small amounts of meat, and so do her two daughters. I respect the vegan diet, it’s a choice, so is drinking alcohol. But just as the logic of not drinking when you are pregnant, doesn’t mean that drinking when your not, is a bad thing. Nor does trying to use this case to establish proof that vegan diets are unhealthy simply because it is hard during and after pregnancy. I have never met, or know a vegan that does not know this information just as much as the rest of us know about smoking, drugs, and alcohol. This woman KNEW this information and decided to put her baby at risk, unfortunately she, and her baby, paid the ultimate price. She should be on trial, not the vegan community.
BTW, you should al read this before you try and protect this couple.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/29/vegans-trial-death-baby-breast-milk
I live in the United States, and here it IS okay to be vegetarian while pregnant and while breast feeding. There are a whole bunch of people who have done so and their babies are perfectly healthy. Maybe your county isn’t informed enough(:
sucks for the baby, sucks for the mother
but everyone (personally im an avid meat eater) just eat what you want, and do NOT try to make me eat what you eat just because it’s morally superior, IT IS NOT! if I want a salad ill eat the salad! if i want a huge steak you best believe ill kill the cow myself to get it.
ITS NOT THAT HARD TO MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS
True that !
I really cant stand when people said vegan is natural/nature intent. If my teeth can still chop off meat and so I will.
And not all natural things are good anyway. This vegan lifestyle look more and more like a religion from my point of view. And this article proof that this is not the best lifestyle anyway. You will die no matter what you eat. Have a common sense and see, it’s not about what you eat but about the quality of your food.
So keep it balanced between meat and veggie, dont over consume, have a happy life and die.
I am a vegetarian. I was not a vegetarian when I breast fed my 3 children. Each and every one of them started eating solids of some sort by the time they were 5 months old. The parent being a vegan was not the problem. The problem was that 1. She did not take the necessary supplements to accomodate herself and her baby, 2. She must not have been seeing a pediatrician and having the baby monitored for health on a regular basis (post natal check ups I think they’re called) 3. She must not have given her baby the opportunity to try a variety of solids baby foods (cooked or mashed and vitamised of course). Please do not knock vegans or vegetarians for the neglect or ignorance of one set of parents. People are vegan or vegetarian for a variety of reasons – mostly to do with not wanting to take the life of an innocent animal or condone it’s pitiful existence or cruel slaughter. I am sure that they would not have intentionally caused the same to their own child.
you know. i laugh at people that are vegetarians. I eat animals. What do animals do? They fart. What does farting do? Kill the ozone. What do plants do? Plants make the air breathable. So the vegetarians are killing the world. im eating the problem and they are eating the solution.
Humans- omnivores