How is a vegan diet suitable for all stages of life?

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Introduction

As a Mum of an 8YO daughter myself, I can pretty much relate to Mama’s guilt when it comes to feeding a child a proper and a well nutritious meal. As a vegan mom, I have always been concerned about my daughter’s health and well-being. I drink lemon tea three times a day. I use Good Mylk’s Vegan curd to satiate my need for an authentic probiotic food. I just use veggies, refined sunflower oil, herbs, and spices to toss up the food that comes on my table. However, during travel, I am not able to honestly follow my vegan ethics to its ultimatum. A few cheat meals like saying yes to ghee or paneer-laden dishes seem to be the only option left as we cannot prepare our own food at studios or condominium apartments at Coorg or Ooty. However, I strictly avoid consuming milk, dairy curds, ice-creams, and cheeses even while I travel outside.

My kid has not been an avid milk lover herself. She enjoys having cold milkshakes like may be cold coffee or cold Badam milk or a chocolate shake. As a mum, I could not be too fastidious over her diet plan. Though she loves consuming noodles almost every day, I keep saying to her that the nutritive value of noodles is almost zero and she can have Dosa or rice instead. So, this is how our lifestyle is. Let me outline the five stages of life a human being has. We can then discuss the vegan variety of foods that you can pretty much incorporate into your lifestyle!

Stages of a human life cycle

According to Science, a human being is a mammal that enjoys five stages of life. These include infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and finally old age. So, how can you veganize your diet in a systematic and well-planned manner? We are going to check it out in a short while from now:

Infancy

If you want to grow up a vegan kid, you have plenty of options you have across the table. As an infant girl or boy baby, it would have no teeth. Or the milk teeth would just be developing. Make sure, you breastfeed the child every two hours or so. Breast milk is the only source of food your infant kid can have during the 1st year of his/her life on the Planet. So, make sure, you breastfeed for at least a year from the birth of your child. 

Childhood

Now, the milk teeth slowly start developing. By now, your child is a 2 YO baby. You can provide solid foods to your children during the childhood phase.

Include a lot of well-balanced and nutritious soups your child can enjoy. You can include well-mashed tomato soups. You can add crispy pieces of bread to it, mash the ingredients and feed your kids. You can make soups made from carrots or beetroots too. Again, vegetables are a rich source of proteins, Vitamins, Calcium, minerals, and antioxidants. You can prepare fun bottles of fruit juices as well. Try blending fresh fruit juices at home instead of store-bought ones. For B12, fortified Cerelac powder or nutritious powders can be used in a predominant manner. You can also feed dal-mashed rice khichdi which can be a nutritious meal for your child after all. 

Dal or lentils provide the highest amount of proteins in a typical vegan diet. You can also encourage your children to have small portions of fruits or veggie salads. You can include fruits like kiwis, musk melons, apples, grapes, oranges, or any form of seasonal variety. You can also prepare fun veggie salads. You can include lettuce, cabbage pieces, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc. You can add lemon juices and chatpata masala powder to add some spice or tangy flavors to it. This way, you include a variety of minerals, Vitamins, proteins, antioxidants, and body-building components the child needs for its overall growth or development.

Adolescence

Adolescence is the period of life when the child crosses 6 years of age. We call it the pre-teen years of the child’s life. Hence adolescence includes 5+ Years of age up until 19 years old. Hence, we cover childhood years post-5 and the coming-of-age years which is typically the teenhood period of one’s life span. The milk teeth are all gone now. The child starts developing permanent teeth. Hence, you must focus your attention on providing the child with body-building meals. Include diets that are protein-rich. 

You can include chana dal or chickpeas pressure-cooked. Even Kala Channa can be used here. You can sauté using organic oils like sesame or olive. Then, you can add salt, oregano mix, and add chat powder. Squeeze out lemon juices to make the Channa meal chat a nutritious and healthy one. You can encourage your child to have desi Indian meals on a daily basis. These include masala Dosas, pohas, upma, vegetable oatmeal, pori-saagu, idlis, regular Dosas, rice meals, and rotis. You can make veggie or fruit bowls during your kid’s snack breaks. 

You can also keep a Dabba of dry fruits for your school-going children to munch on. Again, make sure, you include gravies using an assorted array of vegetables. You can include a veggie gravy or stew by including beans, carrots, onions, tomatoes, green peas, cauliflowers, and corn. This way, you can make sure that your child gets to eat a proper and balanced meal with the right proportion of Vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, and proteins. You can make South Indian sambars using aromatic and flavorful vegetables. Try making spinach dals as they provide rich fiber, folate, antioxidants, vitamin A, and much-needed proteins. Hence, be a little more active in the kitchen and keep cooking fresh and nutritious meals at periodic intervals. 

Adulthood

Now, the pre-teen phase and the teenhood years have elapsed. You have just completed 20 years now. Formally, this commences the stage of your adult. The human is now a fully grown adult and is capable of casting his/her own votes. You can work independently in order to earn your livelihood. You can stay away from your parents to study in a foreign land. You can travel abroad to look at places and explore opportunities for study and work. You can support your parents financially. This age group lies between 20-60 years of your life span. 


Again, a carb-rich diet or a protein-rich diet can help you get energy levels in the right proportion. You can try bread with peanut butter which makes healthy vegan breakfast options. You can go for faux eggs that are made from plant-based ingredients. I had shortlisted a couple of them on the store-based web links. This way, you can make vegan egg omelets. Protein-rich chellas are made by soaking groundnuts, urad dal, Channa dal, tur dal, and Besan. You can grind it into a blender. Toss up some onions and fried ginger flakes. You can make crispy chellas before heading out to your college or workspace. Protein-rich aloo parathas or aloo pohas made from an assorted array of veggies can also dole out your energy needs in an effective manner. For lunches, you can pack boxes of rice bowls. Spinach dal rice, sambhar rice, and vegetable biryanis constitute delectable flavors and are protein-rich too. Nights can go well with phulkas or vegan ghee chapatis. You can include chole, dal, tofu or vegan paneer masalas, etc. Add a fresh fruit or vegetable bowl before you head to bed.


For women, this is the age when they get married and become pregnant. A woman’s average age at this point in time is between 21-30 years indeed. During pregnancy, women can follow the dietary guidelines as prescribed to them by their pregnancy doctors or gynecologists, as a matter of fact, Include spinach and folate-rich diets in their everyday meals. Drink lots of water and fruit juices enriched with Vitamin C. This way, you build a healthy immunity shield both for you and the baby that grows into your womb as the fetus. Include dry fruits, freshly sliced fruits, vegetable juices, vegan pancakes, and fruit bread for your day-to-day life. Consume raw fruits that are washed and cleaned thoroughly. Also, make sure, you consume the tablets that your doctor has prescribed for you. Drink plant-based milk to provide the fetus and you with that added dose of energy. You can have someone bake biscuits, fruit bread, and pastries for you. Avoid eating outside or junk food at the pregnancy stage as you need to not only care about your health but your baby’s too!

Old age

You have reached 60 years of age as an adult man or woman. You have become a Senior citizen now. This is the point of time when you lose your bone density. Therefore, you must provide adequate attention to consuming Calcium-rich diets. Men and women face rheumatism and osteoporosis or even dental loss due to the diminishing levels of Calcium in the body. You can consume vegan diets that are rich in Calcium, Potassium, Magnesium, and Iron. These are minerals that aid your body through its healing and also help replenish the lost levels of protein, iron, or Calcium in the body. Date smoothies can be consumed in the mornings every day. You can include spinach dals and tofu curries for your rice. This way, the body gets plant-based Calcium and protein in a hassle-free manner. You can reduce your carbs intake and go in for whole wheat rotis during the evening supper time or at night. Make sure you exercise for at least 40-45 minutes every day. It can be a fun session of Zumba or aerobics. You can go for an evening walk every day. During weekends you can enroll for mild swimming classes. This way, your body metabolism gets energized, and you do not experience the ‘weak muscles’ syndrome for years to come.

Conclusion

So here you have seen the various stages of a human being’s life cycle. I have highlighted practical tips and pointers on how one can add vegan diets and still stay healthier, stronger, and agile. Vegan diets do not contain Vitamin B12. Fortified cereals, millets, and legumes are available aplenty to provide your body with the requisite amounts of B12. Else, you can consume a vegan B12 tablet every day to help you get the pivotal water-soluble Vitamin on a consistent level. Going vegan is going to improve your health and build a protective layer for your body to fight cancers, heart, and other infectious disorders, and definitely not going to make you unhealthy. Stay tuned!

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