Vegan Nutrition with Jill Nussinow, MS, RD

Jill Nussinow is a Registered Dietitian, culinary educator, cookbook author, speaker and consultant and all around proponent of a plant-based diet. She teaches vegetarian and vegan cooking at Santa Rosa Junior College in California and other places around the US. She has a son who is almost 15. One of her greatest joys is sharing her enthusiasm for vegetables and pressure cooking with anyone who will listen.

My 5 year old vegan daughter is allergic to various foods, Since she was 3 months old she has had a lot of food allergies with an extreme case of eczema, the worst seen by her doctor. Long story short, she is allergic to casein, soy, nuts, wheat, egg white. Very recently we found she has high lead levels of 21. We are working on that one by giving iron. I have tried every source possible to give her complete nutrition, which consists of lentils, spinach, broccoli, avocados, carrots, orange juice, rice, and generally fruits and vegetables. She looks very fatigued with dark circles under her eyes. I am giving her Brainums and iron supplements. I'd like information about nutritional yeast. How good or bad is it for her? I don't want anything that might cause side effects. Is taking nutritional Red Star yeast (b12) not a good idea because of it's fungal potential?

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It sounds as if your paying attention to what your daughter eats will have positive effects on her nutrition. If you give her nutritional yeast, continue to pay attention to her general demeanor and watch for any side effects. Because the yeast is grown and has fungal potential, if your daughter?s immune system is sensitive, it could cause problems. Introduce the yeast slowly, adding only a teaspoon at a time each day, along with only standard foods (with nothing new) for up to 5 days. If she seems fine, then it will be another food to add to the list. Nutritional yeast is a good source of protein and B vitamins and has a cheesy flavor. I add it to my popcorn, gravies and sauces.

In addition to what you currently feed your daughter, you might want to try quinoa which is a nutrition powerhouse grain, and it is generally non-allergenic.

The foods that you mention that she?s allergic to are the most allergenic for most people, and your daughter will not be the only one. Obviously, a diet of whole foods will make it easier to monitor any systems or issues.

Good luck.

Jill Nussinow is a Registered Dietitian, culinary educator, cookbook author, speaker and consultant and all around proponent of a plant-based diet. She teaches vegetarian and vegan cooking at Santa Rosa Junior College in California and other places around the US. She has a son who is almost 15. One of her greatest joys is sharing her enthusiasm for vegetables and pressure cooking with anyone who will listen. Her cookbook The Veggie Queen: Vegetables Get the Royal Treatment and her new DVD, Pressure Cooking: A Fresh Look, Delicious Dishes in Minutes are both available on her website www.theveggiequeen.com.

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Visit Jill's website TheVeggieQueen.com and her blog theveggiequeen.blogspot.com.

Disclaimer: The advice given here is for eductional purposes only. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat a health problem or disease without consulting with a qualified health care provider.
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