Megan Garner - Nutrition & Naturopathy

11/12/2024

25/10/2022

When I first became vegan eight years ago, it was a decision I made that was led by my emotions, as I didn’t want to contribute to animal cruelty. I later became a Nutritionist specialising in Plant Based Nutrition and I referred to the research that supported a vegan diet. I wanted to help people thrive on a vegan diet and I believed that a plant based vegan diet was the optimum diet for health.

But here’s the thing, bias exists in all research and admittedly I only wanted to look at research that supported a vegan diet and I turned a blind eye to any research that didn’t support a vegan diet. The Australian dietary guidelines endorse a healthy vegan diet and state a vegan diet can meet nutrient requirements as long as energy needs are met and an appropriate variety of plant foods are eaten throughout the day.

However, this doesn’t mean that a vegan diet is the optimum diet to support the rapid growth of a child. The fact is that a vegan diet does not provide retinol, vitamin D3, B12, creatine, taurine, carnosine and DHA and provides limited vitamin K2.

Unfortunately, the evidence available to evaluate the nutritional appropriateness of a vegan diet for children is inadequate and dated. Most importantly, children are not just little adults, they have different nutritional needs to cope with the rapid growth and development that occurs, particularly in the first three years of life. So even if research shows a vegan diet is nutritionally adequate for adults, that doesn’t mean it is the optimum diet to support a child's rapid growth and development.

14/10/2022

I first came across the book ‘The Dental Diet’ by two years ago when I was doing some research for a client who’s vegan toddler had delayed teeth eruption. This is when I first became aware of the link between diet and teeth health.

The book has a heavy focus on an ancestral diet of organ meats, eggs, shellfish and dairy products. The theory behind this is based on the research of Weston A. Price. Dr. Price was a dentist who traveled the world in his search for the cause of dental decay and physical degeneration that he observed in his dental practice. He found that indigenous populations had straight teeth, no decay and were resistant to disease. When Dr. Price analyzed their foods he found that they were very rich in fat soluble vitamins A and D, calcium and other minerals. His findings led him to the belief that dental caries and crooked teeth were a sign of physical degeneration, resulting from what he had suspected as nutritional deficiencies.

Of course at the time I believed that we could obtain all our nutritional requirements on a plant based diet and I focused on the specific vitamin and minerals and plant based sources.

I ensured that A had a nutritious wholefood plant based diet and I added extra nutrients with h**p seeds, dulse flakes and nutritional yeast daily and we supplemented with iodine, DHA, vitamin D and K2.

Yet by the time A turned 5 she had her first filling and an X-ray revealed her mouth was filled with cavities! Admittedly we have avoided fluoride her entire life. But the indigenous populations didn’t have fluoride to protect their teeth, let alone a toothbrush yet they were free from decay! Sure fluoride might have prevented some of her cavities, but it’s still only a band-aid solution and fluoride certainly won’t help prevent crooked teeth.

Did you know that vitamin A retinol is found ONLY in animal derived foods?! Whereas dietary carotenoids are found in plant foods like oils, fruits and vegetables. They are not the same thing! Retinol is the active form of vitamin A that is most bioavailable to the body. Beta-carotene is a precursor to Vitamin A and research has shown it’s a very poor converter, it’s believed to only be about 3%😳

06/10/2022

About yesterday…
Firstly, thank you to all of you who responded with an open heart and kind words. Your empathy has made this difficult time, less so.

For those of you who questioned my decision and shared your disappointment, it’s ok, I get it. I was in your shoes until two months ago and whenever I heard that someone was no longer vegan, I immediately thought it was because they hadn’t done it properly.

Trust me, this has been one of the hardest decisions of my life! I’ve been vegan for 8 years, this isn’t a change that I wanted to make! Of course I tried other things first. But here’s the thing, I have raised A on a healthy wholefood plant based diet. And I know that I’ve done it the best that I could with the information I had at the time. We avoided processed foods, added sugar, added salt and gluten. I was always trying to increase the nutrition of our food and add extra nutrients whenever possible. Sunshine and vitamin D has always been incorporated and I tried stopping the decay with vegan supplements first.

As I mentioned yesterday, I didn’t immediately introduce animal foods. Firstly, I removed foods high in sugar like fruit, juice, smoothies and coconut water. Then I removed grains and foods high in phytic acid like bread, oats, nuts and seeds. This didn’t leave much else for her to be able to eat whilst following a vegan diet, except vegetables. And vegetables alone will not meet a child’s nutritional requirements!

What I didn’t go into yesterday is, as well as A’s tooth decay there were some other concerns that I’ve wondered if they could be linked to our vegan diet. I needed a filling last year, which is only the second I’ve ever had and I also have gum disease. The other concern that was increasingly growing on my mind was our Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) results. I have been getting both of our HTMA tested every 6-12mths since I was pregnant. And I have noticed nutrient deficiencies and imbalances for both of us, which I have wondered if being vegan could be causing. I also have low HCL levels which is common with vegans and vegos. Unfortunately this decreases digestion and reduces the nutrients you absorb from foods.

I’m about to go offline for a few days whilst we are in a National Park but feel free to ask any questions you have below. I most likely won’t respond individually, but I will address them in my posts or education going forward. Making this transition, I wish that information on nutrition for healing tooth decay was more readily available. So I’m going to start putting together some education to share. So if you have any questions, feel free to drop them below.

05/10/2022

It’s taken me two months to work up the courage and to find the right words to be able to share this. This was such a difficult and heartbreaking decision to make and it has brought me to tears many times. It’s a change that affects my life, my child’s life, my business and my self identity.

Two months ago I started to introduce animal products back into mine and A’s diet. After eight years of being vegan and A being vegan her whole life, this is something that I NEVER thought I would do!

About 8 months ago A had a dentist appointment and we found out she had a cavity and needed a filling. 3 months ago she went back to the dentist and they found A LOT more tooth decay and she had to have A LOT more fillings! I thought raising my child on a plant based diet was the healthiest diet for her. So finding out about her tooth decay, made me start to question everything.

I started to look into how to cure tooth decay through diet. The key nutrients of vit D, A and K2 are available in a vegan supplement so that’s what I started with. The foods they recommend to avoid are foods high in phytates; oats, legumes, nuts and seeds, grains and avoid fruit too. This was most of our diet. I felt like I couldn’t feed A anything. I began to have anxiety around what food to give her. I even bought fluoride toothpaste, which is something we have avoided her whole life up until now. Anything to stop the decay and to prevent her having to have teeth removed, which the dentist had told me is a high possibility for at least two of her teeth.

Of course it’s very difficult to determine why exactly she has tooth decay and after speaking with other parents, it's so common regardless of whether a child is vegan or not. Many of A’s friends have tooth decay also, and they are not vegan. Which just has me confused even more and has made me question what to do.

I’m not sure if introducing animal products will definitely be the answer. But I already have so much mum guilt around her having tooth decay that I feel like I have to try this. If this will prevent her having to have teeth pulled out, it’s worth a shot. This has been really difficult for me to share, considering that my whole business is based around helping kids thrive on a plant based diet. It looked like A was thriving. When she had a dental check up around 3yrs of age, her teeth were fine. The decay only looked visible from the age of 4.5yrs and the extent of the decay was only able to be seen from an x-ray.

I am doing my best to choose animal products that are from free range, grass fed animals and trying to go about this as ethically as possible. From a business perspective I will still continue to support my vegan clients, if you would like me to. I also understand if you would prefer to work with a vegan practitioner. For those of you who decide to stick around in this space, I will start to share more about our experience and learnings when it comes to tooth decay and remineralising teeth.

03/10/2022

Did you know that I'm still offering virtual consults whilst we are travelling?

I've been using Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis Testing with most of my clients and getting great results. It is a very comprehensive non-invasive test, which makes it ideal for children. Although, it's fantastic for adults also. There are also acute consults available for acute illness and to get a herbal tincture and supplements prescribed.

I love helping my clients to reach their health goals and I am so grateful to all of you who support my business and help me to continue travelling and living this amazing life with my daughter 🙏

Click on the link in my BIO to book a consult. FYI the available times are in AEDT (Sydney time). Feel free to send me a DM if the available times don't suit.

23/08/2022

Can your child say rabbit in Spanish?? If you want them to learn keep reading...

I'm so excited that I've teamed up with Sarah's Spanish School to do a back to school Giveaway!💃

WHAT YOU CAN WIN!🙌

LIFETIME ACCESS to Bilingual Beginnings 🌱, a full year of online "open and go" Spanish lessons, perfect for children ages 5 - 13. (Founder’s price is $297, regularly $497, but could be yours for FREE!)

Each class is a step-by-step immersion style lesson that builds upon the previous class to take your child from "hello" to "hola"👋 and beyond! With tons of surprises along the way!

Our classes are engaging, fun and effective. You don’t have to teach a thing, in fact, you don’t even have to be there while your kid does Spanish class, but you might want to because parents tell us the classes are a wonderful memory making, language experience for the whole family 👪

In a nutshell:

Bilingual by this time next year. ✅️

My kid looks forward to the next class every week. ✅️

Eats up a ton of my time organizing ❌️ NOPE

Is a snooze-fest like my Spanish classes were ❌️ NOPE

TO ENTER:

Comment on this post why you want your child to learn Spanish. I will draw a winner at random to win ONE free membership to Bilingual Beginners. Competition ends midnight 5/9/22.😊

¡Buena suerte!

(PS - you are still eligible to win if you are currently doing your free month trial of the program! Click the link in my BIO to start your FREE trial)

18/08/2022

Are you interested in making your reality? I believe that if you really want to make it happen you can and will! There are so many different ways to travel on a budget or in luxury. I’ve seen people traveling in tents and some traveling in the Taj Mahal of Motorhomes. There are also many ways to finance it. I’ve come across people who are working remotely, on paid leave, living off savings, finding work on the road, living off rental income, living off centrelink payments, sold their home or house sitting.

When I did a poll on my stories 98% of you said you would like to travel around Australia, however 44% said you didn’t know how you would be able to afford it.

So I thought I’d share a bit more about how I managed to make this my reality.

Now the truth is, this is something that I have wanted to do for a long time, not necessarily traveling around Australia but traveling anywhere really. I remember when I worked in an office before A was born and hearing colleagues phoning their children in the morning or the afternoon to ask them how they were/how their day was etc. I remember thinking that I didn’t want to have to call my kids when I had them to see how their day was. I wanted to be able to spend more time with them and have the flexibility to work where and when I wanted. After I finished my Nutrition/Naturopathy qualifications, I chose to start my business virtually, offering primarily video consults so I could have the flexibility to travel and work from wherever I wanted. However, this wasn’t my main source of income and I ended up returning to my office job when I couldn’t extend my maternity leave any longer.

When I started to get my bus fitted out, I didn’t have the intention of traveling full time or doing a lap of Australia. It just seemed like the right upgrade after my Volkswagen Transporter was too small, after I had to add an extra seat with an anchor point for a child seat for A. I had saved a good chunk of money whilst I was pregnant, as I had moved out of my rental to live in my van before I realised I was pregnant. This savings enabled me to buy a bus without having to sell my van. Once I had the bus, I sold my van and that money got me started on getting the bus fitted out. I continued to put most of my savings towards the bus fitout over the next 2 years until it was finally finished. Honestly I was surprised at the total cost of the bus and fit out which came to a total of $74k! I had thought it would be much less. And that doesn’t include any of the mechanical repairs that have been needed since the purchase, which is almost another $10k. BUT I now have a home on wheels that I own outright. Sure it’s not a conventional house BUT I can take it anywhere AND it hasn’t put me in debt and forced me to work more just to pay off a debt.

Now that I had the bus fitted out, it felt like I needed to do a big trip so that I could make the most of it! It turned out that I had Long Service Leave coming due, so I took my leave at ½ pay to stretch it out.

Now whilst my income is a lot less then what I was earning before, I get to travel this beautiful country and I get to spend so much more time with my daughter and to me that experience is worth far more!

It took me 6 years of saving to pay for my bus and the fit out. It probably could of been done sooner but it wasn’t something I was actively working on at the time. More a dream in my sub conscious that I was working towards.

My point is that if you really want to make it happen, you can and will!

25/07/2022

Well it’s been a hot minute since my last post! I can’t believe it’s been a month 😳

We are currently house sitting in Darwin, whilst we continue to explore the local area. There are so many events on in Darwin right now, so I thought, why not stick around to enjoy some of it. So far we have enjoyed Territory Day (Cracker Night 🎆) at Mindil Beach and the Darwin Show, A absolutely loved both of these. And I loved seeing the excitement on her face💓 We have also been to MAGNT - Museum and Art Gallery and then enjoyed a meal across the road at the Darwin Ski Club, which really gave me Bali vibes and increased my yearning to get back to Bali!

We have explored Kakadu and Litchfield, both incredible National Parks with beautiful, although cold 🥶 waterholes. We have enjoyed many beautiful sunsets and seen plenty of crocs 🐊 too!

And yesterday we dined at the plant based eatery Ebb and Flo overlooking the stunning Cullen Bay. We are having an amazing time and I can’t wait to see what incredible things life brings our way next!

25/07/2022

Well it’s been a hot minute since my last post! I can’t believe it’s been a month 😳

We are currently house sitting in Darwin, whilst we continue to explore the local area. There are so many events on in Darwin right now, so I thought, why not stick around to enjoy some of it. So far we have enjoyed Territory Day (Cracker Night 🎆) at Mindil Beach and the Darwin Show, A absolutely loved both of these. And I loved seeing the excitement on her face💓 We have also been to MAGNT - Museum and Art Gallery and then enjoyed a meal across the road at the Darwin Ski Club, which really gave me Bali vibes and increased my yearning to get back to Bali!

We have explored Kakadu and Litchfield, both incredible National Parks with beautiful, although cold 🥶 waterholes. We have enjoyed many beautiful sunsets and seen plenty of crocs 🐊 too!

We also had our first encounter with a snake 🐍 and it was a brown too 😱

And yesterday we dined at the plant based eatery Ebb and Flo overlooking the stunning Cullen Bay. We are having an amazing time and I can’t wait to see what incredible things life brings our way next!

29/05/2022

As we were driving out of the National Park yesterday, I heard a big thud 😱 Oh s**t! It finally happened, I forgot to put the Kangen water ioniser in the sink and it fell off the bench!! After my initial panic, I realised that there didn’t seem to be any damage, just one of the hoses had come out.

However, what you would imagine would be an easy fix, just to reconnect the hose, wasn’t so easy after all. Of course when I tried to reconnect it, it leaked. There was a metal clip that needed to go over the tube and it was so tight that I couldn’t get it back on with the limited tools I had, tweezers and screwdriver just wouldn’t work. I figured I needed pliers to get it on, so instead of buying a pair I asked a neighbour at the caravan park.

Not only did they have pliers, he happily came over and fiddled around with it for about 10 mins and finally managed to get it back on. I was so relieved that I would be able to use the Kangen again and so grateful to the neighbour for their help.

That’s one thing that I’m really grateful for on this trip, that I hadn’t even realised that I was missing before we left home. The connections with the people you meet on the road and that everyone is always so happy to help out.

Last week, I had a neighbour who noticed that I was struggling to change the inner tyre of A’s bike offer to come over and help. I probably would have just bought a new bike without his help lols. And I also had a couple of neighbours who were concerned that my bus wasn’t level, lend me some chocks so I could level the bus out.

Even though A and I are travelling on our own, choosing our own path, we have found community along the way and I love that💗

28/05/2022

I still can't get over how picturesque Menindee Lakes, NSW are 😍 Photos just don't do this place justice!