Do Vegans have more boys?

[envisioned]

Bare with me here.

I know on the monkey site and other misc discussions, it seems to have come up that "vegeterians" apparently have more girls and the diet seems to contradict all that we know about the "boy diet".

Well. One day I started paying attention to all these celebrities out there that were vegan. And suddenly every single one of them was popping out a boy.

Alicia Silverstone - boy
Alyssa Milano - boy
Emily Deschanel - boy
Alanis Morrisette - boy
Natalie Portman - boy
Mayim Bialik - boys

There's a whole bunch of other ones. This cannot be a coincidence b/c the vegan diet tends to be pretty alkaline which in turn sways boy.

There's one major exception or at least pattern in that if the male is a vegan, then he seems to have more daughters (Woody Harrelson is a good example).

Thoughts?
Any vegans on here want to chime in?

[Out of the Blue]

I was vegan for about a year before I conceived DS#2 and stayed on the vegan diet throughout pregnancy (not really by choice, just had terrible hyperemesis)...He's a super happy, healthy and a very voracious eater!

edited to add:
I was eating no processed foods, lots of kale, wheatgrass, tahini, nuts, raw fruits and veggies, etc. It was a very nutrient-dense diet as far as healthy veggies go. Got way more than enough protein w/out even trying.

[atomic sagebrush]

This is a tough topic to discuss because people really get bent out of shape about it but I will try anyway.

You forgot Jennifer Connoly and Pamela Anderson.

1)Vegetarians DO have more girls. BBC News | HEALTH | 'More girl babies' for vegetarians (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/869696.stm) and You are what your mother eats: evidence for maternal preconception diet influencing foetal sex in humans (http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/275/1643/1661.full.pdf+html) (not specifically about vegans but you can see by the nutrient breakdown that intake of B12, protein (vegans as a general rule consume less of these) fat, calories (vegans also tend to consume less fat and cals as well) and every nutrient BTW, is higher in mothers that went onto conceive boys. You can't cherry pick a extremely isolated and unlikely group of individuals (celebrities) and have that mean anything scientifically - you need a random sample.

2)YES, it most certainly CAN be a coincidence, if protein intake, caloric intake, nutrient intake sways blue and the women you mention above were taking a good deal of care to follow a balanced diet. Veganism can be a very healthy lifestyle and you can DEF. get ample amounts of nutrients on a vegan diet. Vegans may also be taking large amounts of nutritional supplements. Celebrity vegans expecially can afford to buy the best and most nutritious foods out there. I doubt any of those women were eating anything less than the best.

3)Most women who are planning a pregnancy begin to eat better, take prenatals, etc. and are basically swaying blue. Improving condition tends to sway blue, declining condition tends to sway pink.

4)I personally believe that people who tend to be vegetarians, vegans in particular, are amongst the most highly motivated and driven individuals who tend to be detail oriented and maybe even prone to obsess over projects that they take on. Women with this profile tend to have more sons (not exclusively and you can find plenty of opposites, but as a general rule, I believe this to be true and science indicates that it is.) Celebrities also tend to fit this profile.

5)Highly educated women and women who excell in traditional male-oriented careers like math and science have more sons regardless of any diet they were eating. Natalie Portman won a prestigious science award as a child, Harvard grad, and Mayim Bialik is a DOCTOR.

6)Both Emily Dechanel and Alanis Morisette just seem like boy moms to me - means nothing, or does it?

7)I am aware of at least one study out there that indicates celebrities as a whole have more sons than the general population but it was removed from the website and now I can't find it.

PS - Demi Moore - vegan - 3 girls
Gillian Anderson - 1 girl
Heather Mills 1 girl
Tea Leoni - 1 b 1 g

[pink carol]

People I know who are vegetarian have more girls. The queen of British vegetarian cuisine, Rose Elliot, has three girls. Now she's turned vegan but was vegetarian when she conceived her girls over thirty years ago.
Another British vegetarian cook but whose name I don't remember, also has two girls.
Linda McCartney, late wife to Paul, was also a vegetarian and they had two or three girls, I don't remember.
British dancer Darcey Bussell is almost vegetarian with a bit of poultry and fish here and there (but never red meat) and she has two girls. She's also a confessed Diet Coke addict.
Françoise Labro, the French journalist who co-authored Dr François Papa's book on the French diet was a vegetarian and had two girls before changing her diet to have her boy.
Vegans, instead, tend to have more boys. Yoga teacher Sarah Powers is vegetarian and has one girl but Shiva Rea is vegan and has one boy.
Could the fact of including eggs and cow dairy in your diet make a difference to this equation? Go know!
I have been a carnivore all my life and that got me DS1. Have turned vegetarian for swaying purposes for over a year (but was eating way too healthy, contrary to LE diet) and I'm expecting DS 2. I know next time I'll combine vegetarian with LE diet and maybe I'll get the girl of my dreams!!

[atomic sagebrush]

Thanks Carol! I personally don't believe that the average vegan will have more sons (I think the celebs mentioned in the original post are a unique group and not indicative of the population as a whole). Nor do I believe eating large amounts of eggs and dairy will get you girls. But I DO think switching from a carnivorous diet to a vegetarian one, esp. if it's an LE -style diet, will certainly help your chances at pink!!

[tinksmagic]

Me, personally, I am trying to go vegan just for health reasons right now. And BTW, with celebs, do we even know for SURE they got preggers naturally? I mean, so many are having twins and very few admit to miscarriages... Just a thought... (Still believe Jennifer Aniston used donor eggs, she's older than me, though I haven't seen much more on her being pregnant...)
I think Mariah Carey was one of the only ones who admitted to several miscarriages then did IVF and she's so vain I'm surprised she did go public with that.

[BabyGirl4Me]

I ate a vegan diet for the 3 years before I conceived my son. I have a few things I want to throw out there on why vegans may conceive more boys:

When I ate a strict vegan diet, my diet was a lot more nutritious than it was when I ate meat or animal products. Lots of the vegans I know eat super healthy whole foods. I used to eat lots of raw fruits and veggies and drank soy milk and ate soy products like tofu or meat substitutes. A lot of "vegan" foods out there that are somewhat packaged are also organic and less processed than their non vegan counterparts, further promoting good health and nutrition. I also ate a fair amount of avocado, which is a very boy friendly food. Overall, I think the better quality fresh foods I used to eat all the time were a big part of why I conceived a boy. My body was probably thinking "hey, food is very fresh, abundant and healthy so this is a great time to make a baby boy." If I would have had a crappier diet with more processed foods, I have a feeling I would have had a daughter instead. For me, personally, I will not be eating any tofu or soy products when I ttc my daughter this spring. I think the soy swayed blue for *me* but not sure about other people. I'd encourage anyone considering soy to do their own research and think about their own bodies. :)

I will also second the statement that veganism requires a lot of attention to detail and my diet was often a source of stress for me when eating at family/friends homes or going out for a meal at a restaurant. Even when grocery shopping, outside of your normal go-to products, you have to read lots and lots of ingredients and if milk/eggs/dairy appears anywhere on the list, that food is out. It really can get old, but then I'd think about animal welfare and that was also stressful for me. So there ya go, a big cycle of stress.

On top of that, a fair amount of planning and learning about nutrition is required to successfully have a healthy vegan diet. I was making sure I got enough protein, calcium and vitamins/minerals, which I'm sure most people who eat meat or just do a vegetarian diet don't think much about and are likely lacking.

I've gone to just a vegetarian diet since I found out I was pregnant and I'm still nursing so I need the extra calories from dairy products. Hopefully just being vegetarian will change things so I conceive my daughter. I would definitely *not* recommend a healthy vegan diet to anyone ttc a girl.