Baby Fed Exclusively Almond Milk Contracts Scurvy

An 11-month-old infant, who only ate a type of almond-based baby formula with no vitamin C, developed scurvy, a new report of his case stated.

The study’s authors wrote that the boy’s case “demonstrates that scurvy is a new and severe complication of improper use of almond drinks in the first year of life”.

“When plant-based beverages are the exclusive diet in the first year of life and not consumed as a supplement to formula or breastfeeding, it can result in severe nutritional problems”, they warned.

Known as an 18th century disease, scurvy was common among pirates. Likewise, infant formula milk has been formulated to contain more or less the same nutrients to give babies a blanket of protection against certain diseases like scurvy.

Doctors soon found the baby had femur fractures and his vitamin C levels were very low. When the child’s mother tried to introduce fruit and veggies purees also, as part of the offspring’s daily diet, she was met with reluctance and obstinacy, so almond drinks remained the only meals fed to the baby.

According to CBS News, when the baby was at least 2 months old, he had an allergic reaction to cow’s milk-based formula and was recommended with almond milk by his pediatrician.

By way of answers, we have a report in the journal of Pediatrics from the doctors who treated the infant.

Scurvy is a serious and debilitating condition caused by vitamin C deficiency. According to the NHS, vitamin C or ascorbic acid is absorbed by the body to make the protein collagen needed to make or replace tissues in the bones, skin, blood vessels and cartilage. This lasted since the baby was two months old until the baby was 11 months.

The lesson? Babies can’t develop normally on a plant-based diet. However, the new formula was deficient in vitamin C.

And from the age of six months, his mother offered him pureed fruits and vegetables that he would not eat.

In order to have healthy muscles and bones, and avoid developing scurvy, newborns should have a vitamin C intake of approximately 50 to 60 milligrams per day. That is one a reason you wouldn’t want to go with almond milks because it lacks essential vitamins and nutrition that causes bones to brittle. Due to the almond beverages, the baby developed scurvy which caused failure to thrive and fractures. As the condition worsened, the boy’s mother said he would cry out immediately if anyone tried to move him. The patient’s general condition, pain in the legs, and radiologic features improved; plasmatic vitamin C level normalized; and he started walking over the following three months.