Special Caution for Mothers and Children

Pregnant and breastfeeding women should be especially concerned, both because the dioxins, hormonal residues, and other contaminants in meat can affect the development of a child in the womb, and because these toxins become concentrated in the mother’s breast milk so that they are passed on to the nursing infant after birth. As a result of their smaller bodies, babies and children are at greater risk for health problems caused by the contaminants in animal products.

According to the late Dr. Benjamin Spock, the world’s foremost pediatrician, “The nursing mother’s daily diet should include the following nutrients: (1) plenty of vegetables … (2) fresh fruit, (3) beans, peas, and lentils … and (4) whole grains. Another good reason for getting your nutrition from plant sources is that animals tend to concentrate pesticides and other chemicals in their meat and milk. Traces of these chemicals can easily end up in a mother’s breast milk if she eats these products. Plant foods have much less contamination, even if they are not organically grown.”⁸⁴

Bacteria like listeria, which is commonly found in deli meats, can cause miscarriages and stillbirths, and if the babies survive, they may be born with the bacterial infection in their blood.⁸⁵ Other bacterial strains, such as E. coli, are notorious for sickening and killing children who eat undercooked meat. The bacteria in meat often have more serious consequences for children because their bodies are small and their immune systems are still developing, so their bodies can easily be overwhelmed by the infection.

Hormones are also a threat to pregnant and nursing women and their babies because infants and children have such low amounts of hormones in their bodies that altering their hormonal levels—as may happen when they consume meat—can seriously disrupt their natural chemical balance. The dioxin in meat, cow’s milk, and eggs is a threat to everyone, but nursing mothers need to be especially cautious because when they eat animal products, the dioxin that they consume becomes concentrated in their breast milk and is passed on to their babies. A widely publicized study by researchers at the University of Texas School of Public Health found that nursing infants may be getting between 35 and 65 times the recommended dosage of dioxin because their mothers are eating animal products and the dioxin from the animals is concentrated in the mothers’ breast milk.⁸⁶ And when they’re weaned, be sure to continue to steer clear of animal foods—Consumer Reports published a study showing that meat-based baby foods contain alarmingly high levels of dioxin.⁸⁷ This carcinogen can cause a wide range of health problems, including skin rashes, depressed immune response, nervous system disorders, and cancer.⁸⁸

In Diet for a New America, John Robbins writes, “[T]he EPA analyzed the breast milk of vegetarian women, and discovered the levels of pesticides in their milk to be far less than the average. A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine made a similar comparison, and found: ‘The highest levels of contamination in the breast milk of the vegetarians was lower than the lowest level of contamination … (in) non-vegetarian women. … The mean vegetarian levels were only one or two percent as high as the average levels in the United States.’

“This is a tremendously important statistic. The breast milk of the average vegetarian nursing mother in the United States contains only one or two percent of the pesticide contamination as that experienced in the national average. If the national average for breast milk contamination were to be represented by the weight of a compact automobile (1600 pounds), the comparable vegetarian average would be equivalent to the weight of only a very small suitcase (16-32 pounds). … Women, and even little girls, who think they may wish to have and breastfeed a baby in the future would do well to realize that the diet they eat today will greatly affect the health of their young. Any chemicals they ingest now will be stored in their tissues until released in their milk. ... It is extremely important that young women know that by eating wisely today, they will be creating better breast milk for their babies tomorrow.”⁸⁹

According to doctors and researchers, one of the most serious threats to mothers and children today is fish flesh. All of the industrial chemicals and toxins in the water become concentrated in fish, and when we eat their flesh, these contaminants—including mercury, lead, PCBs, pesticides, arsenic, flame retardant, and many more—are passed on to us. Because children are so small, the toxins in fish flesh can have an especially grave effect on their health.

The EPA estimates that up to 600,000 children born in 2000 are at risk for lower intelligence and learning difficulties because of mercury exposure resulting from their pregnant or nursing mothers’ consumption of fish.⁹⁰ “It might reduce IQ by a few points,” says Dr. Michael Gochfeld, chair of New Jersey’s mercury task force. “It might reduce motor coordination, so that this child is someone we think of as a klutz.”⁹¹ Children who are affected by the toxins in fish don’t get a second shot at a normal life: Scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health have found that mercury contamination in fish can cause heart damage and irreversible impairment to brain function in children, both in the womb and as they grow. “If something happens in the brain at development, you don’t get a second chance,” says lead researcher Philippe Grandjean.⁹²

One mother told Reader’s Digest that she saw firsthand the effects that fish have on children’s development. “I thought it was good for my son,” she said, referring to feeding her child a diet that included fish like tuna and salmon. “He’d been an engaging, attentive child. But I started losing him. He couldn’t sit still or focus. I got reports from school that he wasn’t socializing or communicating.” When doctors tested her son’s blood-mercury level, they found it was 15 times higher than the EPA’s limit for a child his age. His mother eliminated all fish from his diet, but she says, “… I think a lot of damage was already done. He’s showing improvement. But I don’t expect a full recovery. I worry about my son—if he’s ever going to have a good friend or a normal life. It’s devastating for people who think they’re doing the right thing.”⁹³ Read more about the how the toxins in fish can affect human health.

Read more about how a healthy vegetarian diet benefits children.

Learn how you can protect your family’s health.