{"id":21825,"date":"2023-09-15T09:00:18","date_gmt":"2023-09-15T13:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/?p=21825"},"modified":"2023-08-23T12:35:33","modified_gmt":"2023-08-23T16:35:33","slug":"vegan-diet-can-provide-enough-choline-for-toddlers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/2023\/09\/15\/vegan-diet-can-provide-enough-choline-for-toddlers\/","title":{"rendered":"Vegan Diet Can Provide Enough Choline for Toddlers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD<\/p>\n

Choline is a nutrient that is important for brain development early in life. In the United States, animal products including meat, poultry, fish, dairy products, and eggs are the main sources of choline. That\u2019s not to say that these are the only foods that supply choline, it\u2019s simply that these are foods that are most commonly eaten. Other foods that are rich in choline include cruciferous vegetables (cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, broccoli for example) and dried beans and lentils. Nuts, seeds, other vegetables, and whole grains are also good sources of choline.<\/p>\n

The recommended amount of choline for toddlers age 1 to 3 years is 200 milligrams of choline per day.<\/p>\n

To plan a menu for a vegan toddler that would meet recommendations for choline, I chose a variety of whole foods including some foods known to be higher in choline such as soymilk, quinoa, tofu, and lentils. These foods do not have to be included every day since there are other foods such as chickpeas and other dried beans, wheat germ, nuts and nut butters, choline-fortified pea protein based milk, and vegetables that could be used to meet choline needs. Some multivitamins include choline.<\/p>\n

Here is a sample menu for a toddler indicating the amount of choline in each food.<\/p>\n

Breakfast<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Food<\/td>\nCholine (milligrams)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00bc cup cooked quinoa with<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00bd cup soymilk<\/td>\n28<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00bd banana<\/td>\n\u00a0 6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Lunch<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Food<\/td>\nCholine (milligrams)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Stir fry with:<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0 \u00bc cup tofu cubes<\/td>\n18<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0 \u00bc cup collard greens<\/td>\n\u00a0 8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0 \u00bc cup broccoli<\/td>\n\u00a0 8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00bc cup cooked brown rice<\/td>\n\u00a0 4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Snack<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Food<\/td>\nCholine (milligrams)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00bd cup soymilk<\/td>\n28<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00bd slice whole wheat toast with<\/td>\n\u00a0 5<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0 \u00bc avocado<\/td>\n\u00a0 8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Dinner<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Food<\/td>\nCholine (milligrams)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Casserole with:<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0\u00a0 \u00bc cup cooked lentils<\/td>\n15<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0\u00a0 \u00bc cup cooked quinoa<\/td>\n10<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00a0\u00a0 \u00bc cup cooked sweet potato<\/td>\n\u00a0 8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00bd cup soymilk<\/td>\n28<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Snack<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Food<\/td>\nCholine (milligrams)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00bd cup soymilk<\/td>\n28<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\u00bc cup peeled, sliced peaches<\/td>\n\u00a0 2<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Total: 214 milligrams of choline<\/strong><\/p>\n

To read more about feeding vegan toddlers see:<\/p>\n

Vegan Nutrition in Pregnancy and Childhood<\/a><\/p>\n

Feeding Vegan Kids<\/a><\/p>\n

Tips for Parents of Young Vegans<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Reed Mangels, PhD, RD Choline is a nutrient that is important for brain development early in life. In the United States, animal products including meat, poultry, fish, dairy products, and eggs are the main sources of choline. That\u2019s not to say that these are the only foods that supply choline, it\u2019s simply that these […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21825"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21827,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21825\/revisions\/21827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vrg.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}