From vegetarian children to meat-eating adults

[evilnumberlady]

Do people growing up on a vegetarian/vegan diet ever have problems transitioning to a diet that includes meat later in life?

My boyfriend and I have been talking about what we would feed our kids if we got married, since I'm a vegetarian and he isn't. Obviously I'm for them not eating meat while he's for them eating it. The main thing we can agree on is that they should be given the choice as soon as they are capable of making it on their own.

I was concerned that giving a child meat while trying to explain why it's wrong would be hypocritical, plus it would ingrain the habit of eating meat, which we both agree isn't a healthy choice (as an adult). He's concerned that if they are raised only on plant foods that as they get older their bodies won't be able to handle meat, effectively not giving them a choice in this matter. Also, he's concerned that a vegetarian diet may not be as suitable for children as it is for adults.

I'm convinced that kids can thrive on a vegetarian diet, and to help alleviate his fear we compromised on going to see a nutritionist for advice when the time comes. However, I haven't been able to find any un-biased research that supports or denies the "they won't even be able to eat meat later" claim. I'm interested in reading anything that talks about the subject from either perspective, as long as it's based of facts.

[cavy-cool-crazy]

Very good question. My mum and I have been vegetarian for 2 months, my dad won't stop eating meat (it's just the way his side of the family is) and the twins turn one tomorrow, so their diet is opening up a bit. We too would be interested to hear any responses to this.

[JarBax]

My son has been vegetarian since he was one - he is now thirteen and a half. I had little concern about him eating a veggie diet from so young (infact we were strictly vegan when we first made the change) considering the rubbish that goes into meat, not to mention the stuff they pump into the animals in the first place (antibiotics/hormones etc), I didn't reckon he'd be missing out anything I couldn't replace without causing cruelty to an animal - my decision was mainly ethical.

I can't answer your question directly. I don't know if a body brought up on vegetable matter can handle meat in later life any more than a body brought up eating meat from the start. I do know, however that my son is maturing at a respectable rate - unlike some of his meat-eating (and milk guzzling) friends who started puberty at a ridiculously early age. I also know that he has only missed a fortnight from school in his entire life - and that was after having his tonsils and adenoids removed at the age of 6. He is the healthiest child I know, and I do put this down a fair bit to his diet.

I haven't actually heard of the 'they won't be able to eat meat later' claim before. Who's claim is this? Perhaps asking the folk on this great veggie forum your question, you might find an answer (and do let us know what is said!)

VeggieBoards - Vegetarian and vegan forum, message board, recipes.

[:) smiley face!]

I very much doubt after being a vegetarian throughout childhood you wouldn't be able to eat meat again. I've never heard of any physical change that can take place in vegetarians that would make them incapable of eating meat. I have a sister that became a vegetarian when she was 5, an she started eating meat again when she was 14, an she had no trouble adjusting to eating meat again.

[evilnumberlady]

I've been looking for the answer to this all over the place, vegetarian message boards and just general nutrition boards. No one can seem to give a conclusive answer.

There was one woman at a general nutrition board who claimed she had been a vegetarian from birth for 20 years and when she gave it up, took her over a year to be able to digest chicken in large quantities. However, I think she was making it up! She asked me if I ate fish (even though I said I was a vegetarian! Wouldn't she know the definition after 20 years?) Also, she said she stopped because she and her mother had a protein deficiency, which makes no sense, because it's nearly impossible to be protein deficient in the USA.

Everybody else who had personal stories either weren't vegetarian since birth or were but only tried eating meat once and gave up.

No one offered anything other than anecdotal evidence.

So I really have no clue.

[thalestral]

One of my school pals was a vegetarian all her life but recently started eating fish. As far as I know she didn't experience any problems in doing so

[Susan9608]

Also, she said she stopped because she and her mother had a protein deficiency, which makes no sense, because it's nearly impossible to be protein deficient in the USA.

Actually, though rare, if you eat only junk and crap, it is possible. Unlikely, though.

[evilnumberlady]

Originally Posted by Susan9608

Actually, though rare, if you eat only junk and crap, it is possible. Unlikely, though.

This person told me what they ate, and while it wasn't varied it also wasn't junk. I seriously think she was just making the whole thing up.

[Susan9608]

This person told me what they ate, and while it wasn't varied it also wasn't junk. I seriously think she was just making the whole thing up

.

That sucks.

[socal805]

I've been a vegetarian for 17 years and my 9 y/o daughter has been one her whole life. The only thing that I have heard about eating meat after not eating it for a very long time or not ever have eaten it is, that your system would take some time to get used to it and digest it properly, I can imagine that it would at least cause an upset stomach.

[kathrynj]

My daughter has been veggie since birth. She is 9 in October. I have been for 20 years.

She has never expressed any desire to start eating meat. She doesn't even like looking at it, she tells me she imagines the animals that meat was at the supermarket, or wherever she sees it.

The protein deficiency thing? My daughter had a protein ABSORBING condition, where her body did find it hard to ABSORB protein, though she was getting plenty. So it wasn't a true deficiency. And even then, that was the doctors opinion, not based on any diagnostics.

Meat is a much easier ABSORBED protein, according to that doctor, and though she recommended I feed her fish, I don't and she can't handle the thought of eating something that was alive. I do however give her extra eggs, for this reason, as they are easier to absorb.

What did the lady do in the meantime if she had a protein deficiency and took 12 months to eat enough protein then??? That don't make sense at all to me???

[evilnumberlady]

Originally Posted by kathrynj

My daughter has been veggie since birth. She is 9 in October. I have been for 20 years.

She has never expressed any desire to start eating meat. She doesn't even like looking at it, she tells me she imagines the animals that meat was at the supermarket, or wherever she sees it.

The protein deficiency thing? My daughter had a protein ABSORBING condition, where her body did find it hard to ABSORB protein, though she was getting plenty. So it wasn't a true deficiency. And even then, that was the doctors opinion, not based on any diagnostics.

Meat is a much easier ABSORBED protein, according to that doctor, and though she recommended I feed her fish, I don't and she can't handle the thought of eating something that was alive. I do however give her extra eggs, for this reason, as they are easier to absorb.

What did the lady do in the meantime if she had a protein deficiency and took 12 months to eat enough protein then??? That don't make sense at all to me???

Hey, I know. I personally don't believe her at all.

Here's the message board. I was mistaken about some things, she claimed to be a "milk and egg consuming vegan" for 10 years and grew up eating meat, unlike how I remembered before. The rest is the same, though

Can vegetarian children grow up to be meat-eating adults? - HealthBoards.com Message Boards

their messages go from new-> old unlike the old->new we have here

[Maisiepaisie]

I think its highly unlikely that a person brought up veggie from birth would start to eat meat later in life. I only ever heard of this happening one time. My two sons now aged 12 and 14 were raised veggie from birth. They have no desire to eat meat and my youngest decided to be vegan 2 years ago shortly after I did.

Its very difficult for the human body to digest meat anyway, regardless of how long a person has been doing so and I wouldn't allow my children to eat meat even if they wanted to for them same reasons I wouldn't allow them to smoke or take drugs. I know this could be difficult for you if your partner disagrees and its for this reason I personally would never have kids with an omnivore as its just too big of an issue for me. But thats a decision you need to make yourself. There was a bulletin posted on myspace recently which explains better than I could so I'll post it here for you to read:

Once it has been swallowed, meat requires digestive juices high in hydrochloric acid to break it down. The stomachs of humans and other herbivores produce less than 1/20 of the acid produces by carnivores.

Meat is dead flesh, and flesh begins to putrefy almost instantly upon DEATH.

When flesh is consumed, this putrefaction poisions the body. That's why carnivores have to eliminate their meal quickly - why they have digestive tracts only three times the length of their bodies. Since humans, like non-flesh-eating animals, have digestive tracts twelve times the legnth of their bodies, the rapidly decaying flesh in a meat-based meal is retained for much longer, producing a number of toxic effects.

One organ adversely affected by these toxins is the kidney. This vital organ, which extracts waste from the blood, is strained by the overload of poisions meat consumption introduces. The kidneys of even moderate meateaters must work three times harder than the kidneys of vegetarians.
Young peoples kidneys may be able to cope with this added stress, but as one grows older, the risk of kidney disease and finally kidney failure increases!

Even the pancreas is affected by these toxins. True meat eaters eat their meat raw, but humans prefere the taste of cooked meat. Cooking destroys the natural enzymes, present in the meat that aid carnivores digestion.
The pancreas must therefore produce more digestive enzymes, gradually stressing the organ, weakening it and inviting disease.

[GeneGenie]

Just wondering, does the author back up these claims with scientific evidence? Do they list any sources for their information?

[Maisiepaisie]

Originally Posted by GeneGenie

Just wondering, does the author back up these claims with scientific evidence? Do they list any sources for their information?

No they don't, and you're right, they probably should have. I knew all this stuff anyway. Meat contributes towards a variety of diseases including cancer, strokes and heart disease.

GoVeg.com // Health Issues // The Natural Human Diet // Human Physiology
http://www.viva.org.uk/guides/healthiestdietofall.htm

[Lemonjello]

All mammals digest using bacteria in the intestine. If you are used to a vegetarian diet, you have the vegetarian type digesting bacteria. Any abrupt change in the diet of any mammal can cause digestive issues.

At the simplest, you've all heard not to change your dog's food suddenly. The dog will have gas and stomach pains from eating unfamiliar things.

Also, antibiotics will kill off the good bactria in the intestine. Live culture yogurt will help in the interim. I've used yogurt as a supplement in dogs, cats, horses, goats and myself when any of us had loose stools. It always helps.

I am lactose intolerant. Even milk products like whey in prepared foods will make me sick sick sick, but yogurt, live culture yogurt, is OK and I can eat it every day if I want.

[V+Pigs]

I been a veggitarian for about two years now. After about a month after not eating meat i had a couple bites of a burger that i was foolish enough to eat after working through that hard first month of being a veggitarian. Well i was very sick the rest of that day and well into the next. I determined that the meat wasn't bad because my siter ate it and was fine. I come to the conclution that my system had not been use to digesting meat. So if a child who was raised as a veggitarian would like to start eating meat, they should take baby steps, like eating a meager portion at first and slowly increase the amout until they are able to handle it. As fo me I have not consumed a single scrap of meat since my foolish mistake.

Well wishes,
Veronica + Bella

[RustBucket]

My Uncle is vegan and my aunt is vegetarian, they also had an time trying to decide what was best for their two children. In the end they decided this should be entirely the children's choice. When they started eating more solid food they ate mostly everything their parents ate. Then when they started school and were old enough to sort of understand the situation, thier parents explained tot hem what a vegatarian was and about cruelty to animals. This was not an easy task, as they were very young. But because of that my aunt and uncle felt they could not force being a vegetarian on them. When they go to school or with friends they were allowed to choose what they wanted to eat. They are also allowed what they choose at a resturant now that they are a little older, but they still have to eat the same as everyone else at home. This has worked out very well and they children to eat meat but very little. I also feel they were very lucky here because they have a very wide range of veggies they like to eat, which most children don't. My aunt and uncle continue to educate their children on this issue, but never force them in either direction. Although, if you didn't want your children to eat meat for health reasons, that is a different issue. I still think it should be the child's choice, but if they did want tot ry it, you could consider all organic.

[wifeymom]

My daughter has been a lacto ovo vegetarian since birth. She turns 8 in a week and is very robust, healthy and tall although the latter probably has something to do with the fact both of her parents are tall. LOL Most of my family had concerns about us making her a veggie but those worries all ended a long time ago for them.
We're not "fanatical" vegetarians, meaning we don't preach about it to people or enthusiastically endorse animal rights or anything like that (although my reasons to give up meat were ethical) but my daughter has taken it upon herself to be quite the little activist and happily tells anyone why she doesn't eat meat. LOL It's quite amusing so anyway, I guess my point was, she wouldn't eat meat now even if it was set in front of her even though I have told her that if she ever wants to try it, I wouldn't get mad at her for it.

[kathrynj]

Originally Posted by wifeymom

We're not "fanatical" vegetarians, meaning we don't preach about it to people or enthusiastically endorse animal rights or anything like that (although my reasons to give up meat were ethical) but my daughter has taken it upon herself to be quite the little activist and happily tells anyone why she doesn't eat meat. LOL It's quite amusing so anyway, I guess my point was, she wouldn't eat meat now even if it was set in front of her even though I have told her that if she ever wants to try it, I wouldn't get mad at her for it.

My daughter, who is 9 next month, is exactly the same !