Just a quick post to pass on this link fom The Vegan Society which gives nutritional advice for young children, 11-18 year olds and those new to vegan eating. It includes the importance of breakfast, calcium, omega 3, Vitamin D, iodine, B12 etc. with suggestions for meals and sources of these nutrients.

It is by no means comprehensive and it is important to do your own research regarding the issue of using supplements or not.

My view is that it is always better to get your nutrients from real food where possible, supplements come in such a variety of forms, strengths and quality, often have fillers and they are expensive and not always absorbed sufficiently by the body.

Isolating particular nutrients doesn’t always work since when they occur within real food, they are accompanied by lots of micro-nutrients which aid their metabolism and absorption, which isn’t always the case with supplements.

This is why it is important to consume foods containing Vitamin C with foods containing iron, for instance. That’s also the reason not to peel where appropriate as these micronutrients are found just under the skin.

However, there are cases where supplementing might be appropriate, but it is wise to seek advice from a qualified practitioner.

This article is a good start, along with Teen Vegan, a safe not-for-profit social network for 12-19s with lots of advice, opportunities to volunteer making care packages for local homeless people and summer camp activities.

Another great resource is Vegan Fitness TV (recently renamed Family Fizz TV) on YouTube. They are a family of four, the parents are very into fitness, training etc but are very down-to-earth, using convenience foods as well as fresh foods and regularly test out new products. The two young girls in the family also have their own channel.

Vegan Kids (What an 11 year old eats in a day)

Vegan Kids (What a 5 Year Old eats in a day)

The two sisters do their own videos, they are delightful, so confident, lively and have a lot of fun.

Don’t forget, all the recipes on this blog are Vegan and Gluten-free and and you can find additional advice on Becoming Vegan in the blog Menu.

Copyright: Chris McGowan