If you have vegan parents who are totally against ingesting any animal products, including cows milk, chicken eggs, anything animal, is it OK for the mother to breastfeed?
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I would think that under the careful supervision of a Pediatrician it would be OK, as long as the mother would listen to the advice of the Dr.
Yes, it is absolutely ok for a vegan mother to breastfeed. A mother’s milk is uniquely suited for the human child and if the mother adheres to a strictly vegan diet by default the baby will as well. Here is a similar question from not too long ago.
[NSFW] what about a vegan girl swallowing her b/f’s stuff?—and I’m serious.
Yes. Vegan mother’s breastfeed.
Yes. If she and the baby are under the care of a doctor (which most women are), she will be eating a healthy vegan diet and taking all the vitamins and nutrients she needs. All of the nutrients needed to sustain a healthy mom (and baby through breastfeeding) can be found in vegan foods (which may be different than what omnivores are used to or have ever heard of) and supplements (which derive the nutrients from vegan sources such as sea vegetables, yeasts and certain bacterias).
A vegan mother simply needs to be a little bit more vigilant than an omnivore mother.
Here is a website that talks a little bit about Vitamin B12, specifically.
But cows are true vegans. With humans, the baby is getting milk from an omnivore, an animal who is more carnivorous than a cow, whether that animal actually eats meat or not.
And I find it curious that a vegan mother would need “careful” doctor’s supervision and a mother who eats meat doesn’t? Or…why wouldn’t a non-nursing female (or male) vegan need the same “careful” supervision?
These are questions that are just coming to me as I read the answers, guys….
@Dutchess_III Yes, breast milk from a vegan mom is vegan. Vegan cow or goat milk is not vegan…the animal cannot consent to give or sell you their milk.
A vegan needs to be more careful while breastfeeding because vegans need to supplement B-12 and may (especially after birthing) need more supplementation.
Breastfeeding an infant is best done while eating a healthy diet. When you restrict your diet (as vegans do) you must be diligent in getting all the needed nutrients. That doesn’t mean that it can’t be done, but it would be harder to get all the essential elements.
I imagine that most vegans are very careful about what they eat and do have healthy diets. They may be (probably are) better equipped to breastfeed than moms eating junk food.
@Dutchess_III Here’s a website for vegans that explains why a vegan mom has to be more careful. In short, her B12 may be depleted during the pregnancy. If she was already deficient during the pregnancy, the baby may need supplementation after birth.
The only reason a vegan mother needs to be more vigilant than an omnivore mother is that she has to get her nutrients from a smaller group of sources, she just needs to pay more attention. Vegans usually pay more attention than omnivores (because they have to if they truly want to follow a vegan diet) but even a poor vegan diet (like eating too much junk food and not getting enough B vitamins and folate) will sustain the woman herself, but she has to pay a little more attention with what she eats and what supplements she takes to support the baby’s health.
If she was eating everything, like most women do, she would have a larger source of places from where to get her nutrients. Being a vegan or a vegetarian (as I am) is just less convenient, that’s all. That’s why they need to be a little bit more vigilant.
I’m not saying that omnivores are less “vigilant” when it comes to the health of their baby’s when breast feeding. It’s just that because they do eat meat and dairy and eggs, they don’t have to “think about” where those nutrients are coming from because they eat those things every day. A vegan mother has to specifically seek out those appropriate vegan items. But it can be done and is done every day.
So..is a vegan diet natural for cows and deer, etc., but not for humans?
@Dutchess_III I think that depends on who is answering the question. I suppose opinions differ about the natural human diet.
Pretty much every vegan I have met have turned vegan because they are against the cruelty that the animals undergo before being slaughtered and butchered and served on our silver platters. I think that this is different, and frankly, the baby relies on the milk, so it’s cruelty without it. and we’re animals, right?
@dxs From my extremely limited knowledge, what I’ve seen, it’s the meat animals that are treated cruelly, not the chickens who lay eggs or the cows who give milk.
@Kardamom You got the hiccups? You trapped in Fluther Purgatory? BREATH!!!
It’s not that it is not natural for humans to consume a vegan diet, it’s just more difficult to achieve because humans need different nutrients than cows and deer (who eat mostly grass and plant material respectively). Humans evolved to be omnivores as a survival tactic. They can eat meat, dairy, plants, fungus and bacteria and yeast. But because human beings also developed reasoning, as a part of their evolution, humans can choose to eat a vegetarian or vegan diet because they are choosing not to harm animals, or because they are choosing to eat a more healthful diet on purpose (science has seemed to confirm that eating a more plant based diet is more healthful for longevity and for living a less disease-riddled or painful life).
Back in the cave days, when people didn’t live much past 30, eating meat (or plants or whatever else was most readily available, including Grandma and their own placentas) was probably a very good option, because it has a lot of nutrients and protein. But now, when humans live to be closer to 80, the effects of a meat and dairy based diet can cause a lot of illnesses (heart disease, diabetes, cancer) that wouldn’t have shown up, because the caveman or woman was dead at 30. In those days, eating was merely about day to day survival, nothing more. Before the cavemen learned how to hunt and eat meat, they probably were more vegan-like because they were foraging for roots and nuts and berries. But both groups were still probably dead before they turned 30. Humans evolved to be omnivores to be able to take advantage of whatever was available to them. Today we have a lot of options, including the options to be more compassionate toward animals and be more selective, health-wise toward our bodies.
In today’s world people have different reasons for eating what they eat, because most people are not simply eating to stay alive. Their reasons may be selfish or altruistic or neither.
No I’m not in purgatory, the phone rang in the middle of my last reply.
Because of the proliferation of factory farms, in today’s world, most “food animals” are treated very inhumanely, including chickens and turkeys and geese, but also (as most people already know) so are pigs and cows and lambs and lobsters. You can get some very good information here about how animals are treated and how to help to rectify this situation.
@SpatzieLover
beat me to it…sortof you got the general idea
I was going to say that their general life is to lay as many eggs as they can for us humans, and that is it. I wanted to make reference to the movie Chicken Run, which does portray a true chicken farm that may be considered mistreatment.
@dxs Yes, Chicken Run is a good example of a bad farm. Bee Movie is also a good explanation of why vegans/vegetarians chose to find alternatives.
@dxs I thought Chicken Run was supposed to be a cute animated comedy, a la Wallace and Grommit. I actually started crying and had to leave the room when they showed that scene (in shadow) of one of their chicken friends about to be killed. It was horrific, but all too true.
Thanks guys. I read all, and appreciate all.
Glad you’re OK @Kardamom!
It’s a good thing I abhor eggs….but I love chicken….
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