Hi Reader,

Happy New Year!!

I'm writing this email ahead of time as we're visiting family in California. I'm really looking forward to our time there. We're probably enjoying picnics with tortas (Mexican sandwich on a soft roll) or at the park soaking in some sunshine before we head back to our snowy home in Minnesota.

Which brings me to the topic of Vitamin D.

In today’s e-newsletter, I’m going to share a story from a past client and why supplementing with Vitamin D is crucial to supporting proper growth and development for your vegan kids.
​
- Karla

The Story

Gina (name changed for privacy) felt concerned about her toddler’s nutrition. This little voice in the back of her mind of “Am I doing things right?” kept her up at night.

With her toddler showing signs of picky eating and diagnosed with rickets (soft and weakening of bones in children due to lack of Vitamin D in diet), she couldn’t shake the feeling of blaming herself for her son’s condition and eating behaviors.

I couldn’t help but empathize with Gina.

As parents, we take on a lot of responsibility in our child’s growth. When we come across any negative aspect of our child’s health, it can make us feel uneasy, leading us to potentially blame ourselves.

When Gina learned what plant-based foods provide Vitamin D, such as fortified foods like plant-based yogurts and plant-based milks, she began to incorporate them more in her family’s diet. She also began to supplement her son daily, something she was never taught.

Throughout her son’s childhood, supplementation wasn’t part of their daily routine. She just didn’t know Vitamin D was a nutrient her son needed. Like most parents, she thought a bit of sun exposure was enough.

As a result, her son developed rickets due to prolonged Vitamin D deficiency. And while she was now supplementing daily with Vitamin D and providing fortified foods, she still wanted to know what else she could do to improve her meal planning.

While we worked on that together, we also focused on transforming her internal dialogue from a mindset of “not good enough” to a more compassionate and supportive one.

​

Your Next Steps

Supplementing your vegan child with Vitamin D is the most reliable way to meet this important nutrient, and should begin soon after birth. Even if your baby is exclusively breastfed, breastmilk isn’t a reliable source of Vitamin D—no matter how much the parent is supplementing themselves.

It’s a vitamin that should continue to be supplemented well into adulthood. This is primarily because plant-based foods naturally lack this vitamin and most of us don’t get enough with sun exposure alone.

In fact, studies continue to show that Vitamin D intake is insufficient for growing children and teens. This impacts overall growth, their immune system, and calcium absorption.

​Head over to the blog to learn more about why Vitamin D is so important to prioritize and what you can do in your meal planning to help your child meet their Vitamin D needs—from infancy to teen years.

5115 Excelsior Blvd #309, St Louis Park, MN 55416
​Unsubscribe · Preferences​