Raising Vegan Babies and Kids

How can we go about raising kids on a plant-based diet, or what we might call a vegan diet?

Firstly, I’d like to discuss that it’s not so much about getting enough nutrients for kids, because nutrition is readily available these days. It’s not like we live 600 years ago where food was very sparse and we didn’t have access to much. We’ve got access to an abundance of amazing foods.

The biggest thing to worry about in children’s health is going to be toxicity. It’s the toxicity that’s actually creating a massive slew of sick children developing things like leukaemia and diabetes and being morbidly obese.

There are so many issues in the world that raising a child on plants should be the last thing that we’re worried about.

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The thing to be aware of when raising kids on a plant-based diet or a vegan diet is to not be feeding our kids artificial sweeteners, preservatives, artificial colours, MSG, trans fats and things of this nature. You can learn a lot about what not to do to your kids in a program that I have called H•E•A•L, and I give you a wide education on all the things not to do.

But my assumption is, if you’re watching this video, you’re somewhat healthy and you just want to feed your kids a plant-based diet because you know it’s healthy. Maybe you’re wondering if they’re going to lack in B12? Are whether they’re going to get enough essential or OMEGA fats or DHA?

There is so much confusing information from people around us saying, “Oh, you can’t do that. They’ll have malnutrition”. That’s simply not the case.

There are cultures around the world that are living a plant-based diet and raising children and have been for hundreds of years. One good place that you can go and look at is a place called Loma Linda, California. This is where a whole group of tens of thousands of Seventh-Day Adventists choose to be completely vegan and have been for a long time. Their kids are very healthy. They raise all their kids without any nutritional deficiency.

How to ensure your kids get enough nutrition

What I’d like to do is share with you what you could do to make sure your child is getting enough nutrition.

Firstly, mothers with babies – if you’re eating fresh fruits, vegetables, greens, nuts and seeds, you’re going to be feeding your children through your breast milk and giving them really quality nutrition.

Once your kids wean from that breast milk, then it’s like, “Okay, what do I do now?”

The truth is, the macronutrients like carbohydrates, fats and proteins are almost exactly the same in fruit as it is in mother’s milk. No kidding.

Most people think mother’s milk is high in protein and fat, and that’s what they should be feeding their kids.

Once children wean off their mother’s milk, the body is done being able to process milk. Many times, mothers will keep their kids on cow’s milk or something of this nature, and that’s where children start to develop ear infections and get nasal stuff going on because the fat content is so much higher.

Just like I said, fruit actually mimics mother’s milk.

Kids love fruit because it’s naturally what they’re supposed to eat. You give a kid a banana and they love it. You mash the bananas, you put some berries in it, you start using some mango or papaya or sliced up apples – this is what kids go nuts for!

The only thing they may be lacking that doesn’t come from food is vitamin D, which is essential for children’s growth, happiness and nervous system.

Making sure your kids can go and play outside and get enough vitamin D from the sun is essential. In the morning, the best way to hydrate the digestive system and give them all their energy is to feed them fruit. Then towards midday, you can give them some good fats, vegetables and greens. You might chop up some vegetables, make some dips and they can snack on carrot sticks, celery sticks and cucumbers.

It’s up to us as parents to set up these good habits and develop the taste buds of children so they’re reaching for these types of things. When my own daughter is craving some sugar, she eats fresh dates and that’s her candy.

The big thing for children is, “How do I get greens in their diet,” because greens build blood. They contain chlorophyll, B12, vitamin K, K1 and K3, which also convert to K2.

The reason I’m mentioning B12, and K1, K2 and K3 are because these are the ones that people are actually worried about.

I have a product called Greens that contains literally every nutrient your body could need. These nutrients are found naturally in grasses and sprouts, so this contains alfalfa sprouts, wheatgrass and barley grass.

Do you have to have this to be healthy? Absolutely not. You can just get a variety of good foods and sneak it into their diet.

Sneaking great food into your kids’ diet

The best way to sneak really healthy food into your child’s diet is in a green smoothie. This is what I did for years with our daughter. We put two bananas, a couple of dates, some sliced apple and blend it into a smoothie.

Then you can add big handfuls of spinach or greens, cucumber and veggies. You can even put a tablespoon of Greens in. You blend it all up and because of the bananas, dates and apple, kids absolutely go nuts for it. That’s a really good way to sneak some greens in.

This is also a really good way to get good OMEGA fats, so you can grind some flax and put it in a smoothie. You could put some chia seeds in and grind some nuts, like almonds, Brazil nuts and walnuts.

You could even make some nut milk using oatmeal. Believe it or not, oatmeal is one of the greatest things for digestion for a child, for preventing depression, and it’s a great way to also be adding some of these good nutrients from the seeds.

You can also add sunflower seeds and sesame seeds, add a bit of honey and they’re going to love it. If they’re vegan, you don’t have to use the honey. You could use maple syrup.

Allow your kids to eat a variety of food, then you can start to bring in some cooked foods and soups, steamed vegetables and rice.

I try to stay fruit-based in the morning with smoothies, have veggies, snacks and a smoothie in the afternoon, and then at night making some type of soup or steamed vegetable.

I also have a food called Pulse, which is raw food that contains basically every nutrient known to man, that it’s going to help with keeping quality digestion. Most kids have issues with digestion at some point and they end up developing some form of sickness.

Keep the digestive system moving, and please just know that if the kids are eating somewhat of a variety of food, they’re getting a massive amount of nutrients. The body is amazing at taking whatever it needs from a very small amount.

There are countries where kids have access to almost nothing and somehow they still thrive. Really the issue should be avoiding the poisoning of our children, not so much looking whether it’s ok for them to be on a plant-based diet.

Make sure they eat a variety of foods, sneak in some goodness with smoothies, take a deep breath, let it out, give your kids love, create a beautiful environment for them, get them in the sun, have them playing in the dirt, and they’re going to grow up healthy and happy and wise.

Thanks for reading!