Vegetarian Advice: Teen Veg Has Unhealthy Diet

Question: Any books or info on balanced diet?

My 16 daughter has decided to go vegetarian, which I fully support, but I don't think she knows how to eat healthy and now she is very irritable and tired.

Can you suggest any books or info I can give her to get her to eat a balanced diet. She has been drinking mostly soy milk and eating some pasta.

Thank you for your website. - J. E.

Savvy Vegetarian Advice

Dear J. E.,

Thank you for writing, and thanks for supporting your daughter in going vegetarian!

You're right: A steady diet of soy milk and pasta is a recipe for malnutrition. At sixteen, your daughter is still growing, and good nutrition is especially important. But it isn't at all unusual for anybody going vegetarian to run into trouble because the diet is quite different, and there's a lot to learn.

Here's a page on Amazon with several good books for teens going vegetarian. I also recommend 'Becoming Vegan', and 'The New Becoming Vegetarian', by Vesanto Melina and Brenda Davis. And I've attached the SV reports: vegetarian nutrition and 10 tips for going vegetarian.

I strongly recommend having your daughter tested for nutritional deficiencies - iron, B12, folic acid. If she is deficient, that may motivate her to study up on vegetarian nutrition. I also suggest giving her a daily supplement, whether or not there are deficiencies. Rainbow Light makes a good food based one-a-day for women.

All the best! Judith Kingsbury, Savvy Vegetarian

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