photo from Freepik

by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

I recently responded to a query from a dietitian who works in pediatrics – “I have not had to manage this in a bit, so I thought I would check on any current updates to guidelines. We have a 14-month-old in our practice where the family is vegan. What resources do you suggest I look at before meeting with the family?”

In addition to sharing a list of ideas, I also offered to work with the dietitian if there were specific questions.

Here’s a  list of resources I suggested both for the use of dietitians and for vegan parents who would like to share them with health care providers.

From the Vegetarian Resource Group:

Feeding Vegan Kids

Tips for Parents of Young Vegans

From the Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group:

Vegetarian Nutrition for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Baroni L, Goggi S, Battaglino R, et al. Vegan Nutrition for Mothers and Children: Practical Tools for Healthcare Providers. Nutrients. 2018;11(1):5. Published 2018 Dec 20. doi:10.3390/nu11010005  (free full text is available)

Vegan Kids Nutrition, Karla Moreno-Bryce, RD – website has several useful hand-outs

The contents of this website and our other publications, including Vegetarian Journal and Vegan Journal, are not intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. We often depend on product and ingredient information from company statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a statement, info can change, people have different views, and mistakes can be made. Please use your best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.

This vegan praline recipe from Keryl Cryer (former Senior Editor of Vegetarian Journal now Vegan Journal) replaces evaporated milk (or cream) with almond milk, which makes it vegan and adds an even nuttier flavor to the pralines.

KERYL’S PRALINES

(Makes approximately 40 pralines)

• 3 cups organic white sugar
• 1 cup vanilla almond milk (at room temperature)
• 2 Tablespoons non-hydrogenated vegan margarine
• 2 dashes ground cinnamon
• 1-2 cups pecan halves (at room temperature)

In a medium-sized pot, combine the sugar, almond milk, margarine, and cinnamon. Cook, stirring, over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat to low and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for approximately 20 minutes until bubbly and foamy.

While the mixture cooks, lay out sheets of aluminum foil, shiny side up, on a flat surface, such as a counter or table. When the mixture is bubbly, remove from heat. Stir in pecans until evenly coated. Use a large serving spoon to spoon mounds of coated pecans onto the foil. Work quickly but carefully. If the mixture starts to harden in the pot or becomes sugary before you finish, add some more milk and mix until smooth.

Allow pralines to harden on the foil for approximately 10 minutes. As soon as the pralines are hard, move them to a serving platter or a storage container. Store pralines at room temperature.

The next time you find yourself in New York City near Moynihan Station (Amtrak), Penn Station (NJ Transit and LIRR stations), or Madison Square Garden, you might want to cross the street and grab a slice of vegan pizza at New York Pizza Suprema. Veggie Medley consists of a light Sicilian crust, homemade onion cooked based sauce with diced tomatoes, black olives, sliced onions, and fresh sautéed garlic mushrooms topped off with fresh basil. Or you can try several different vegan cheese pizzas such as The Vegan Alfredo, Vegan Margherita, Vegan Grandma, Vegan White, and other varieties.

They are located at 413 8^th Ave., New York, NY 10001. For more information, see: https://nypizzasuprema.com/

istockphoto

by Reed Mangels, PhD, RD

For vegans, there’s no question—we don’t use animal-based butter. Non-vegans may be faced with a dilemma. Butter is sometimes presented as a “more natural” choice than plant oils. A recent study examined the correlation between frequent use of dairy butter, or of plant oils, and mortality.

Study subjects were adults in the United States who had participated in one of three large studies, namely the Nurses’ Health Study, the Nurses’ Health Study II, and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Over an up to 33-year follow-up period, the more than 220,000 study participants provided the researchers with information about what they ate and their health status. Deaths among participants were recorded. The investigators examined the subjects’ reported intakes of butter (added at the table and used in cooking) and plant-based oils (safflower, soybean, corn, canola, and olive oil). Those subjects with the highest intake of butter had a 15% higher risk of death compared to those with the lowest intake of butter. Those with the highest intake of plant-based oils had a 16% lower risk of death compared to those with the lowest intake of oils.

Higher butter intake was also associated with an increased risk of death due to cancer but not to death due to cardiovascular disease. In contrast, higher intakes of plant-based oils were associated with a lower risk of death due to cancer and of death due to cardiovascular disease.

Replacing 2 small pats of butter per day with 2 teaspoons of plant-based oils was associated with a 17% reduction in total mortality and the same (17%) reduction in cancer mortality.

When the researchers examined the effects of individual oils, they found that higher intakes of canola, olive, or soybean oils were associated with lower total mortality while there was no association between total mortality and intakes of corn and safflower oils. Higher olive oil intakes were associated with a lower risk of death from cancer or cardiovascular disease; higher intakes of canola oil and soybean oil were both associated with a lower risk of death from cancer.

The authors of this study conclude, “substituting butter with plant-based oils may confer substantial benefits for preventing premature deaths.”

Reference

Zhang Y, Chadaideh KS, Li Y, et al. Butter and plant-based oils intake and mortality. JAMA Intern Med. 2025;185:549-560.

To read more about fats and oils see:

Study Examines Plant and Animal Fat and Mortality in the United States

The Latest on Saturated Fat

Should Toddlers be on a Low-fat Veggie Diet?

Is Coconut Oil Good for You?

What About an Oil-free Diet?

The contents of this website and our other publications, including Vegetarian Journal and Vegan Journal, are not intended to provide personal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualified health professional. We often depend on product and ingredient information from company statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a statement, info can change, people have different views, and mistakes can be made. Please use your best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, do further research or confirmation on your own.

video camera photo from Freepik

The Vegetarian Resource Group is once again sponsoring a video contest. We will be awarding several $100 awards. The deadline for entries this year is July 15, 2025.

Create and submit a video relating what you want to tell others about veganism. Some possible topics: food, nutrition, your feelings about veganism and/or vegetarianism, water usage and veganism, veganism and animal rights, or other veggie topics which appeal to you. Humor and feelings are appreciated. All videos should be positive, not be critical of anyone, and not include any footage of animal cruelty. You may submit a video you have already made. Please do not enter videos made completely using AI.

Aspects of judging include accuracy and judges wanting to share the video with others. Entrants give permission to The Vegetarian Resource Group to post and share the video, to link to and from the video, and share the video with the media.

To see the video contest rules, visit: http://www.vrg.org/videoscholarship.php

Previous wining videos can be found here: http://www.vrg.org/veg_videos.php

photo from Vecteezy

Enjoy this recipe from Chef Nancy Berkoff, EdD, RD, that appears in her book Vegans Know How to Party, which is published by The Vegetarian Resource Group.

Fresh Fruit Crumble

(Serves 8)

Topping

Vegetable oil spray

2-1/2 cups unbleached flour

1 cup apple butter

¼ cup applesauce

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine flour, apple butter, and sauce until crumbly. Spray a 9- x 13-inch baking dish with oil. Put aside 1/2 cup of mixture and press remainder into dish.

Filling

3 cups peeled and diced fresh fruit (berries, apricots, peaches, ripe persimmons, nectarines, and plums work well)

1/4 cup peeled, diced fresh orange (seeds removed)

1/4 cup raisins (or dried berries)

1 teaspoon fresh orange zest

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Combine the filling ingredients in a large pot. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until fruit is soft and mixture is slightly thickened. If more sweetness is desired, add 2 teaspoons orange juice.

Spread fruit over topping. Crumble remaining topping over fruit. Bake 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Join The Vegetarian Resource Group for 2 years and receive Vegan Journal plus a free copy of Vegans Know How to Party: https://www.vrg.org/member/

photo by Hannah Kaminsky

In a recent issue of Vegan Journal, Reed Mangels, PhD, RD, evaluates 31 boxed vegan mac and cheese products. Find out which items have the least amount of saturated fat plus products which supply at least 100 milligrams of calcium.

Read the entire review here: https://www.vrg.org/journal/vj2025issue1/2025_issue1_macd_out.php

Subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only here: https://www.vrg.org/member/

Nothing beats a creative salad dressing that’s quick to prepare and toss into your salad mixture. Chef Nancy Berkoff has a few suggestions including Indian Curried Grapefruit Dressing, Thai Peanut-Orange Dressing, Retro Green Goddess Dressing, Italian Sun-dried Tomato-Rosemary Vinaigrette, Chinese Sesame-Soy Dressing, Continental Shallot and Caper Dressing, Southwestern Chili Pepper Dressing, and more.

Read the entire article with recipes for these dressings here: vrg.org/journal/vj2014issue2/2014_issue2_QuickSaladDressings.php

Subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only: www.vrg.org/member

cucumbers photo from Freepik

Cucumbers can play a supporting role in salads or can be the main event. Chef Nancy Berkoff, EdD, RD, offers these suggestions:

• Chopped cucumbers, watermelon, and red onions, sprinkled with balsamic vinegar and either nutritional yeast or crumbled vegan cheese
• Diced cucumbers, halved cherry tomatoes or diced salad tomatoes, cubed avocado, and croutons
• Chopped cucumbers, black olives, cooked and chilled pasta, and either crumbled smoked tofu or veggie crumbles
• Diced cucumbers tossed with fresh dill and either plain vegan yogurt or vegan sour cream mixed with lime juice
• Sliced cucumbers mixed with fresh or roasted fennel and garlic paste
• Diced cucumbers tossed with garlic and ginger paste, minced fresh chilies or bell peppers, and shredded carrots
• Thinly sliced cucumbers and radishes, sprinkled with vinegar, organic brown sugar, and red pepper flakes

Subscribe to Vegan Journal in the USA only: www.vrg.org/member

Planning a summer vacation? Our online guide to vegan/vegetarian restaurants in the USA and Canada is a great resource for traveling, or just discovering a new place to eat nearby! Visit: http://www.vrg.org/restaurant/index.php