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This mom put her 5-year-old on a raw vegan diet

(Getty)
(Getty)

It’s no great mystery that kids should be eating fruits and vegetables as part of a healthy, well-balanced diet. But for this mom, these foods are the basis for her 5-year-old daughter’s raw vegan diet.

About two years ago, Rhiannon Griffin decided to try out an uncooked, plant-based diet. She became a raw vegan. Having suffered from bulimia for much of her life, the diet offered more than a different way of eating, it was a lifestyle change.

“I feel like the inner work works hand in hand with raw food to heal the self. I heal my mind as I heal my body. And as I do this my spirit comes alive,” she says in a Facebook post outlining her transformation into a raw vegan. “It’s like the raw food, because it’s so hydrating, easily digested and nutritious, has freed up head space and my awareness. And with this awareness it has allowed all the inner work to be most effective.”

A year into her diet, she’s amazed at how incredible she feels, which is why she decided to start her daughter on the same eating plan.

(Facebook/Happy on Fruit)
(Facebook/Happy on Fruit)

“I’ve learnt information from plant-based doctors. I tried it out with myself personally and experienced amazing health results. And so of course I wanted to share this health and happiness with my daughter,” Griffin says in a Facebook post outlining her reasons for putting her daughter on a diet.

“I spent a huge amount of my life confused about what was healthy and what wasn’t. I developed a unhealthy relationship with food and my health suffered. I don’t want her to go through what I did.
I want to teach her how to enjoy an abundance of beautiful fresh raw nature food so she has the best start in life.”

The 27-year-old mom claims that her daughter loves eating raw and that she wouldn’t force her to eat these foods if she didn’t want to. Griffin dedicates time to making foods fun and coming up with kid-friendly recipes her daughter can’t get enough of.

“When I crack open a watermelon I’d be lucky if I could hold her back!”

But vegan diets for kids recently came under fire after an Italian baby was hospitalized and nearly died from severe malnutrition due to a vegan diet. Authorities were so disturbed by the incident that there was a proposal launched in August to make vegan diets illegal for children in Italy.

“Parents could be punished with up to six years in prison for neglect.”

(Facebook/Happy on Fruit)
(Facebook/Happy on Fruit)

But Griffin argues that veganism is important.

“I could write a book on this point, but basically animal products are cruel, unhealthy, nutritionally unnecessary and they hurt the planet,” she says. “I don’t want to teach my daughter that it’s ok to hurt animals for her taste enjoyment. Nor do I wish to fill our bodies with the suffering and torture of innocent animals.”

She also argues that the two of them have never felt better.

“I believe this is the diet we are designed to thrive on. We have energy, sleep great, have brilliant immune systems amongst many other health benefits. Trust me if either of our healths deteriorated I would adjust what I’m doing.”

According to the Dietitians of Canada, “a healthy vegan diet has many health benefits including lower rates of obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer.” That said, they warn that it’s important to ensure you’re getting enough protein, iron, zinc, calcium, vitamins D and B12 as well as omega-3 fatty acids from meat alternatives or supplements.

What do you think of this mom putting her daughter on a diet? Let us know by tweeting to @YahooStyleCA.