Immunity and diet - please advise
Posted by Anna1111 on May 02, 2010 · Member since Dec 2006 · 517 posts
I have seen a couple of vegan parents post that their kids never (or almost never) get sick.
Please let me know - what diet do you feed your kids (vegan, ovo lacto, etc) and how often they get sick?
My daughter is vegetarian (ovo-lacto) and is getting sick more frequently than I'd like (altho her doc says that she's normal for her age - most babies her age are sick 8 times a year) - I'm wondering if a vegan diet would help?
Thanks
I think that most kids get sick sometimes, it more depends on who/what they're around than which veggies they eat, etc. My daughter is in preschool, I work retail, and my husband is a teacher, so we get most everything that goes around. I do notice, though, that she gets less sick, for a shorter period of time than some other people, but that's probably just because she is young and resilient. A healthy diet helps, but germs are germs.
I agree. I don't think a diet would keep you from getting sick necessarily, but may make the actual sickness itself less severe and shorter in duration because the body has more to fight with on a healthy diet. I don't think vegan/octo-lavo/omni really matters so much as just eating healthy does, getting logs of fruits and veggies. A vegan kid who eats junk food all the time will be worst off then an omni kid who eats a well rounded balanced diet.
I feed my son a lacto-vegetarian diet (we have cheese on our once-a-week pizza) but other then that we are vegan. And he is a very healthy and active boy! But so are the other kids there at the daycare who eat omni diets.
I think being vegan is more then just health, its has to be more because the same health can be obtained from a well balanced omni diet that includes lots of fruits and veggies. For me, vegetarian is for health, and for animals welfare, and the environment. I don't believe in killing animals for food so we are vegetarian.
Oh, by the way, yes, my son does get sick, he just got over pnemonia and an ear infection about a month ago. YIKES! But he was over it really quick as soon as he got medicine for it. He does get sick a LOT less often now then when he first started daycare though.
I had a ton of ear infections as a kid but otherwise was healthy. As an adult I had chronic sinus issues almost everyday. When I went vegan and kicked the dairy habit, my sinus issues went away. I think the reason I had so many ear infections as a child was due to a minor milk protein allergy which is much more common than you might think.
Overall though I think a child's cosumption of fruits and veggies versus junk is was helps determine how often a child is sick.
My first one was in day care and he hardly ever got sick. He is now 9 and I think he has only thrown up twice in his life. He gets a cold maybe once per year.
He has always been mostly vegan, with very little dairy. Has only had 2 ear infections, maybe. I can't even remember. Maybe just one?
My youngest (1) is home with me but somehow gets colds all the time. It seems like his nose runs more often than not. He is vegan, thusfar, and I hope to keep it that way. We have changed states, from FL to NC...I don't know if the winters have anything to do with it. He gets the runny nose, hasn't had an ear infection, has never thrown up. I think he really only felt badly once...where I noticed a change in his behavior. Otherwise, he acts normally, but just has a runny nose.
The first one was a WAY better eater.
I don't know!
Sorry that I can't read thru the other replies, but I wanted to just mention briefly: YES, a vegan diet is ideal. Many vegetarian kids get sick more easily as dairy causes a plethora of health problems. I notice other kids with constant congestion, ear infections, etc. It's often a dairy issue. And a healthy vegan diet for kids is really easy to implement. My 7-yr-old has been vegan all her life & she's very healthy. It's a matter of eating mainly whole, organic foods in order to get your nutrients.
Good luck!! :)
Thanks for all the replies.
My little one is vegan part of the time - vegan for Lent, Advent, Wednesdays, Fridays, etc. Recently I've been trying to be more vegan, and have been taking her with me, but now and then she gets bits of milk chocolate, cheese, or eggs from others (without my objection).
I'm just wondering how it affects immunity, because I know that germ exposure is only part of the picture (the part I can't control without putting her in a plastic bubble), and immunity is something I may be able to influence. I have noticed that some vegans on here report that their kids almost never get sick - and that would be great!
Thanks again : )
It would definitely boost immunity!!
p.s. My daughter has a bomber immune system. She's hardly ever been to the doctor in her life - and only for random stuff, such as getting a pencil erasor stuck in her ear once!
It can also depend on genetics. My kids all eat very much the same, but my oldest is the pickiest by far, and he almost never gets sick, and never as bad or for as long as the younger 2. My middle is the worst, he got his first double ear infection and respiratory infection when he was 8 days old, in the hospital a week when just one month old? And they mostly eat the same.