Veganism and Celiac Disease
I received so many responses from my last post about veganism and celiac disease that I have decided to dedicate this post to that issue. Veganism is a form of vegetarianism in which a person decides to stay away from all animals and animal products. So meat, poultry, fish, as well as eggs, milk, fur, leather, wool and silk are off limits to a vegan. There are many good reasons to adopt this lifestyle. The most obvious is the issue of animal cruelty. Vegans do not believe that we should live off the killing of other living beings. But there are environmental reasons to adopt a vegan lifestyle as well. The animal industry is terrible for the environment. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, “”The livestock sector is a major stressor on many ecosystems and on the planet as a whole. Globally it is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gases and one of the leading causal factors in the loss of biodiversity, while in developed and emerging countries it is perhaps the leading source of water pollution.” Finally, there are health considerations that might lead one to adopt this life style. Weight loss, low cholesterol and low blood pressure are just some of the health benefits to a vegan diet.
Many of our nutrients come from meat and dairy but there are appropriate alternatives for vegans. According to the American Dietetic Association, “Appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases. Well-planned vegetarian diets are appropriate for individuals during all stages of the life cycle, including pregnancy, lactation, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, and for athletes.” In order to replace the protein that many get from meat and dairy, vegans eat nuts, seeds, whole grains, and soy. Soy bean and rapeseed oils provide essential fatty acids, while whole grains, mushrooms, almonds, leafy green vegetables, and yeast extracts provide vegans with riboflavin (vitamin B2). Vitamin B12, vitamin D, and calcium come from fortified foods like orange juice and breakfast cereals. Sea weed is a good source of iodine, as are some vegetables and grains.
The challenge of celiac disease to a vegan diet is substantial but can be overcome. Whole grains can be replaced by gluten-free grains like millet and quinoa. A dietician should probably be consulted to make sure the vegan celiac is receiving adequate nutrition. That said, I still do not believe that a vegan should impose his ideals on his celiac child. Veganism is doubtless an impressive and commendable lifestyle to adopt, but it is also a difficult one for a child who does not share the same ideals and is already severely limited food-wise. I respect that there can disagreement on this issue but that is just how I feel. If a parent wants to pass on his ideals to his celiac child he can eat exclusively vegan and set an excellent example for her to follow when she grows up and develops her own ideals about the environment and animal cruelty. Isn’t it better to teach by example than by force?
I remember what it was like being a child with multiple food allergies. I was allergic to eggs, nuts, fish, and seeds. I felt excluded at birthday parties, recess, and other social events despite my mother’s attempts at making delicious egg-free alternatives. A celiac child undoubtedly feels the same way to a certain extent. There is nothing anyone can do about that. But by adding even more limitations, a parent will be making it significantly worse. What’s more, growing up forced to eat vegan will possibly turn the celiac child off to veganism as an adult (as one response to last week’s blog indicates). Just something to think about.
3 Responsesto “Veganism and Celiac Disease”
Leave a Reply
I agree. A further word of caution here.
Various health conditions may prevent conversion of beta carotene (from plants)into fat soluble Vitamin A called retinol. Unborn babies and young children are unable to make that extremely important conversion whihc is needed for proper growth and development. If the conversion process does not work well, this necessitates that preformed “real Vitamin A” be consumed, and this nutrient is only available in animal fat, such as cod liver oil, butter, eggs, etc and other types of fatty animal products. Retinol is NOT found in the vegetable kindgom. It is formed when beta carotene in vegetable is processed through flesh and is stored in the fat, either animal or human, including a pregnant mom who converts and supplies her unborn baby,and later in breastmilk.
Here is a link to realistic, cautionary information on veganism. Please consider it thoughtfully.
http://westonaprice.org/Vegetarian-Tour.html
I have run into SO MANY,MANY,MANY ex vegans who admitted that despite their best efforts, veganism with all it’s attractive altruistic intentions, did not nourish them or their children adequately, that I avoided that lifestyle, although I occasionally enjoy the tasty creative dishes vegans produce.
Many farmers disagree that sustainable agriculture can be achieved without the contributions of animals.
Furthermore, animals must die also at some point, in the wild. How is the natural process of death of an aged animal, vulnerability to hungry predators and lack of food, preferable to a well provided life on a responsible biodynamic farm, and quick, “humane” death? Even many animals eat each other.
Furthermore, many not all, vegans, particularly young teen girls with significant developmental nutritional needs, supplement their diets with highly processed soy products, many GMO, to their detriment in the long run. I have met exvegan moms who felt their children’s health was seriously affected by their (well intentioned)extended preconception vegan lifestyle.
I have been vegetarian for 22 years, vegan for over 14. I have a 7 year old daughter who is thriving and very intelligent. She just had a cbc and her numbers were perfect in the range that is used for animal eaters.
I do NOT believe that we are limiting our children if we feed them a vegan diet. I believe, if anything, we are teaching them good values, morals and giving them optimal health. As with any dietary choice we can be slack and give them terrible, unhealthy and processed foods. I feed my daughter fresh whole grains, green leafy veg, beans, and fruits, mostly all organic and cooked from scratch. She hardly eats processed foods and drinks plenty of water.
My daughter goes to conventional birthday parties and does NOT feel she’s missing anything. Often, we’ll bake a cake together either before or after a party, as her treat. She finds it disgusting that people consume animals and doesn’t have any interest in that.
Olive, your example is insulting to the animals and their purpose on this earth. The murdered animals found in your grocery store are not living life in pasture, waiting till they are near death and ‘humanely’ slaughtered. It is MURDER first of all and they are kept in deplorable conditions. They are fed unnatural diets and then by about age 2 (life expectancy of a cow is about 30 years) they are transported in harsh conditions, usually without food or water, packed tightly and then pushed to an assembly line where they smell, hear and see their relatives and friends being murdered in front of them. The cows are hoisted up by a hind leg and stunned, often not properly and then bleed to death. The assembly line works so quickly that they are often skinned alive and die piece by piece.
Humane death is an oxymoron, how can murder ever be humane? It’s against the law to assist a person in death when they are ailing and near death, how dare WE think ourselves so elevated that we can be judge and jury for them?
According to your theory, we should then go into all old age homes and murder all the people there, may as well go to the hospitals and murder them too. Heck, why not just start randomly going to people’s homes and inject them with a lethal substance as they will eventually die anyway?
Why are you scared of veganism? It only means we don’t participate in the mass slaughter of animals.
Biodynamic has nothing to do with animal welfare. That’s a misnomer.
Where do you buy your meat? Do you eat roadkill? Do you only buy old animals that lived out their life? Or do you buy meat from the store? Please see note above how animals are treated and how they are killed many many years prematurely.
What gives us the right to take the lives of these animals and eat them? It’s disgusting and anthropocentric .
On a side note Weston Price did not promote diets such as people now believe. He was a dentist who studied the teeth of people in indigenous cultures. He found that mostly a plant based diet was most healthy. I assume you’re not part of an indigenous culture farming and eating what is local to your area???
As a mother, I have my children’s best interests at heart. I could never let them eat meat or processed soy products. My children eat a diet rich in leafy greens, other veggies and fruit with only a limited amount of grains. We have based our diet on the available science (see the works of such doctors as Joel Fuhrman, Michael Greger, McDougall, Essylstyn and Ornish)
When you involve the children in the family’s dietary decisions and ensure that they understand the science behind your suggestions, you find that the children buy into the diet and will not willingly stray from it. My daughter would sooner poke needles in her eyes than eat red meat.
Olive, a well balance, vegan diet that is high in phytonutrients is the healthiest diet on the planet. The only side effect is healthy people.
However, I can see how you can get unhealthy vegans. Those would be the people who continue to eat junk food, they just eat vegan junk food.
I’d be careful about suggesting people go to Weston Price for advice. There are no controlled studies that can corroborate the statements made by hte Price people. When you look at their work you will find that a small group of people cite each other all the time.
If you want to point people to websites that will enhance their health, why not send them here
http://ravediet.com/