to provide their children with optimum health.

2. Super health for Babies and toddlers

Optimum nutrition during infancy is critical to support rapid growth and brain development. Reinforcing good habits from early on will build a solid foundation for good health later in life. The best food for babies is breast-milk exclusively for the first year.  From 6 months onward they may want to try some puree papaya, banana or avocado, but they don’t need to eat any, providing you have a healthy milk supply. From 1yr to 18months they may like to try some green smoothie, fruit chunks, avocado pieces or some fresh coconut milk. 18 months onwards try adding carrot and celery sticks, nut milks.

After 18months or during weaning, it’s necessary to give your vegan toddler a B12 supplement. Also, consider supplementing with a vegan DHA oil blend and a K2 supplement Supplementation is necessary to ensure a healthy vegan child. Deficiency in these essential nutrients is not worth the risk. Even Chimpanzees who we share 99.4% of our genes with and who eat predominately fruit and greens still eat some ants and insects. It is possible that if you grew all your own greens and veg organically and ate them fresh and unwashed, the micro-bacteria on the surface of your foods may provide sufficient B12. However, B12 deficiency is dangerous and not worth the risk to your child. Another theory is that B12 is manufactured in a healthy large intestine, but research shows that it is excreted and not absorbed into the body to be a source for us (unless you ate your feces like the apes, don’t think so).

All the science aside, just follow your child’s lead, they know what their bodies need instinctively, if all she/he wants to eat one day is avocado, then let him. Don’t feed grains dressed with salt and sugar or at all to disguise the unpleasant taste. Why do you think babies spit out disgusting baby cereal because it’s inherently bad for them. If you must use grains, try sprouted grains (essene bread) or well cooked gluten free options such as millet and brown rice and only after 2 years of age. Grains can be attributed to all sorts of physiological and psychological disorders. Examples are: calcium deficiency, schizophrenia and poor iron absorption to name just a few. Other food to avoid are meat, dairy, sugar, salt, vegetable/palm oils, fried foods, white anything, bakery foods, yeast, additives, msg and soy.

Children intuitively know what’s best for their bodies. Raw children are sensitive to taste more than adults, because they haven’t yet burnt their taste buds away with refined sugar, salt and burning hot food. However here’s the tricky part: children are very social creatures and as your child becomes more independent they are going to want to make their own decisions about food. We have provided them with the best start, live foods and the truth about food and their bodies. The best we can hope for is that they will make their own healthy food choices when not at home. At only 2 and a half, my daughter refused a sweet offered to her by grandma by inquiring “does it have sugar in it?”

Essential nutrients:
Growth: Protein from; soaked nuts, seeds, sprouts, seaweed and greens

Bone building: Calcium, magnesium, silica, Vitamin K and D from; greens, seaweed, soaked nuts seeds, avocado, sprouts and sunshine.

Brain development: Fats ALA, GLA, DHA from; Avocado, fresh walnuts, soaked chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, ground flaxseeds, olives, coconut oil, succulent leafy greens, marine phytoplankton (only plant based DHA, but expensive).

Fuel for life: percentage calories from; carbohydrates 60%, fats 15%, protein 15%, (modified for a child from a Dr Doug Grahams 80/10/10 theory). Carbohydrate come mostly from fruits with a small portion being vegetables and fats and proteins are often found in the same foods (nuts and seeds). So as to not to overburden the digestive system with dense fats and proteins, it’s important to try and get at least 10% of calories from greens (also high in protein). Try green smoothies, finely chopped herbs on everything, more seaweed (nori, wakame, dulse). Lettuce or kale “sandwiches” (with hommas, avocado or nut butter as filling), Greens and almond satay sauce. YUM!

Energy rich sources of Iron include greens, seaweeds, nuts, seeds, dried fruit and beetroot. Iron works along side B12, so make sure either through supplementation ensuring that your child is getting enough

A raw vegan diet is abundant in nutrients, as they remain in a natural bio-absorbable from. 

3. Recipes and a typical daily menu for Oceana age 2.75yrs

Be Love; Be Peace; Be Vegan.