Proteins and Amino Acids
So I went and saw a dietician the other day. I was highly disappointed in what she told me. First: a bit of background info.
I am a vegan because Vegetarian is the only way I stay on top of an eating disorder and my son (17 months) is allergic to both dairy and eggs. So, that simply makes my house a vegan house.
I am a full time college student (my major is actually dietetics) and a single mom. Therefore, my son goes to government funded daycare which does not allow me to take his lunches. It's a USDA guideline. Please do not judge. If you do, please keep it to yourself.
The dietician jumped down my throat for feeding my son a vegan diet at home. He eats only one meal a day that has meat. She told me that the body can only absorb animal based amino acids (the building blocks of proteins). I even told her the stance of the ADA that says a "well-planned vegan diet is appropriate for all stages of life including infancy." She still went on about how plant based proteins are the "wrong type."
I am under the impression that there are complete proteins which have high levels of the essential amino acids and incomplete proteins but when paired with other incomplete proteins make for a complete protein (ie: brown rice and beans). I also am under the impression that a balanced vegan diet can provide all the essential amino acids and that the typical American non-vegan diet gets way too much protein to begin with.
All that being said, does anybody have any GOOD, RELIABLE, and preferably peer-reviewed resources that they can point me too?
What is a professional way to offer some education to her? Is there a way to do that?
I want to make sure that my son is getting the best possible diet available.
Another interesting note, the dietician for my local WIC office (thank you taxpayers! my part time job simply doesn't pay the bills. I truly am grateful!) is a MUCH MUCH older lady and was super receptive to what I had to say and said I'm doing a great job and that I was the most educated person on nutrition that she has seen who isn't a dietician.
Any advice or info on good info would be GREATLY appreciated!!!
^ yeah, i've used that stuff too (good for getting non-eating kitties to eat!). I think they're 'second-stage' foods though, but still, yeah, point made.
side note - i remember when J's mom had a baby, he refused meat when it came time to start adding that food to his diet. The pediatrician suggested disguising the meat in fruit babyfood, since a lot of babies don't like the taste of meat. And her husband was like, well, maybe we shouldn't even be feeding him meat then?
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