can I get some vegetarians with kids to answer this,no smart alecks?

Question

is it safe for my kids to eat vegetarian products like veggie bacon?
I am on a vegetarian diet right now and the kids always want to taste my food.I know vegetables are the healthiest thing for them,but these aren't pure vegetables,and I am not sure how they are made.These are boca products and morningstar,and I know low fat or fat free are not healthy options for kids because they need the fat (especially my kids).I always cook them seperate real meals but they always want to try what I am having.I know these products are called veggie burgers and veggie bacon,but are they safe for kids?and what's really in them (obviously other than veggies)?

by the way no one's taking real meat from them,I know they need it.I mentioned I cooked seperate meals for them,but they want to try my food,just because they are kids!

Answer 1

Healthy foods are healthy, period. While all bodies function at optimum levels with some fat, it is not good for anyone (even a small child) to eat large amounts of fat. The fats found in meats and processed foods are the worst out of these. Research by the government has shown progressively younger patients with high cholesterol, which will eventually lead to heart disease, stroke, or other health problems. By letting your children choose healthier alternatives, such as the foods you eat, you are preventing future problems.
A good guideline for meats: Buy lean cuts, replace ground beef with ground turkey, read the labels on franks, prepackaged slices, sausages, bacon, and the likes. By keeping these fats to a minimum, you create a healthy diet. Be sure that the kids get protein, amino acids, and a wide range of foods, and everything should be fine.

Hope this helps, enjoy them while you can!

Answer 2

My son lives on chic patties from Morningstar Farms. He has been vegetarian from birth, picky and won't eat any vegetables. He is healthy and too smart. Your kids will get enough fat from sources other than meat without a problem. Meat has saturated fat. Let them have all the veggie foods they want. They are perfectly safe. Your kids aren't even going veg all the way. If your kids are very thin you can feed them nuts and seeds. Plenty of fat there! (Honey roast peanuts, mmmmm.) The veggie foods are made with soybeans and wheat gluten as the sources of protein (some products also contain egg and diary). There are books about raising healthy vegetarian kids. I doubt the kids are going to give up meat anyways, it's at school and everywhere. Let them try it and don't sweat it.

Answer 3

Both of my children have not eaten any meat products for 11 months now. One of them is a vegetarian (13 years old) and the other is a vegan (9 years old). At least once a week I give them a MorningStar meat substitute product or Boca Burgers or Boca Chicken Patties (not actually chicken). However, since before we gave up meat we rarely ate bacon and sausage, I have never tried the veggie bacon or sausage products.

Both of my children have not even had a cold since then. The 13 year olds breakouts have subsided (except when she indulges in too much candy) and they look great.

I do limit the amount of processed foods I give them because processed is processed no matter if its done with veggies or meats.

Good luck

Answer 4

I've been vegetarian for about 16 years, so naturally, when I had kids, they are vegetarian too. My three year old and 18 month old have never had meat and eat lots of veggies and fake meat. They seem to be healthy and the pediatrician says it's fine. While some of the veggie meats have a lot of sodium, it's no worse than other prepared foods or meat (which is decaying animal carcus that has been pumped with lots of antibiotics and processed with lots of chemicals in factories that have high loads of bacteria and virus like e.coli).

So the short answer is: Yes, it's safe to give them veggie meats.

Answer 5

It is totally safe for you kids to eat your veggie food. Boca and Morning Star are made with soy and that is very good for everyone. The "veggie" patties called Gardenburger are normally made with oats and veggies.
I think its great that they want to try out new things, you must be doing something right!!!

Answer 6

my son eats those products. It's fine as long as they're not allergic to soy (this is a huge allergy problem). Just give them a little and see if they react, if not, it's fine.

i am a vegetarian for over 17 years, my son will be 3 next month, he eats some meat, but very little. Mainly just chicken nuggets & hot dogs.

Answer 7

I'm not a vegetarian, but live with 2 of them. As long as you are getting your kids well balanced meals for most of their meals...
there is no harm in giving them "vegetarian" foods occasionally.

My cousin and his girlfriend are vegetarians and their kid
ONLY eats vegetarian and he seems to be a completely normal
healthy kid.

Good luck

Answer 8

Vegetarian products in small quantities will not hurt your kids. It is good that you are giving them meat products, because vegetable products tend to vary widely in the amino acid content of their proteins, and unless some care is taken (which is a pain in the butt to do, because amino acid content does not appear on food labels) you can wind up with a deficiency of one or more of the dozen or so amino acids that the human body cannot make for itself. Meat protein, on the other hand, tends to be fairly well balanced among all the amino acids, so meat-eaters are less likely to have amino acid deficiency problems. And, of course, that applies to you as well as to your kids.

Answer 9

It's better than most of the processed food they'll get. Kids can get fat from other sources, like milk and yogurt. Make your life simpler and let them eat what you eat.

Answer 10

Well it sure is not going to hurt them to try your food, and you are setting a good example for them. I am not vegetarian but can respect what you are doing.