Vegan Nutrition with Dina Aronson, M.S. R.D.

Dina Aronson, MS, RD is a vegan dietitian whose specialties include chronic disease prevention, vegetarian/vegan nutrition, and lifestyle management. She is the founder and director of VeganRD.com, a nutrition consulting company. Active in many vegetarian nutrition organizations, Dina was the recipient of the American Dietetic Association's Recognized Young Dietitian of the Year Award in 2002.

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Do I need to give my breast fed baby vitamin D supplements or can she get enough of vitamin D from my breast milk? - Jasmine

Dear Jasmine,

Experts disagree, but I do recommend vitamin D supplements for breastfed infants. There is evidence that breastfed babies may not get enough for optimum growth and development. We should not rely on sunlight for vitamin D, especially for babies.

You can get vitamin D in drop form from your pharmacy. It is difficult (if not impossible) to find vitamin D derived from a vegan source in drop form, so you may need to use a product that is not entirely vegan. I encourage you to call and write vitamin companies, urging them to produce a vegan vitamin D drop that is easily accessible to consumers.

As a breastfeeding mom, if you are absolutely against providing animal-derived vitamin D (vitamin D3 is typically derived from sheep lanolin), optimize your own vitamin D status by getting plenty of vitamin D from sunlight, vegan vitamin D2 supplements, and fortified vegan foods. As soon as your baby starts solids, seek age-appropriate foods that are fortified with vitamin D.

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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