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.

I am still breastfeeding my one year old daughter who is allergic to soy. I would like to start weaning her. Will rice milk provide her with adequate nutrition? How can I incorporate fat into her diet that is absent in rice milk?

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I am not a big proponent of rice milk because it tends to be lower in protein than soymilk. But with a known soy allergy, soy is not an option. Other nondairy milks that are available that may be better nutritional choices. These include multigrain, oat milk or hemp milk or nut milk such as almond or hazelnut, which all have a better nutrition profile than rice milk. Making nut milk is easy. Since nuts, though, tend to be allergens you may not want to start with those if you know that your baby has allergies. I'd suggest trying the multigrain or hemp milk since they taste good. You also want to be sure to get the unsweetened variety of whatever you decide to try. There are some new coconut milk-based nondairy substitutes coming out but I cannot currently comment on their nutritional value. Reading the labels will help.

If you are looking for great fat sources, you can't go wrong with avocado.

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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