Comments on: Iron Deficiency and the Breastfed Baby

By: rpl

rpl — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:53:50 +0000

i think it would be reasonable to say that a toddler being weaned in many cases is not getting a balanced variety of nutrients and this could be a factor in the iron deficiency. personal example- when we weaned (child-led) we immediately went to diced up pieces of whatever we were eating. in the case of friends who did have this problem, they were families who regularly ‘nuked dinner’ if they were ‘cooking’ at home and fed their babies puffed treats and baby meals (you know the boxed meals that are in stages from the same company that makes the puffed treats). sadly, these are now the kids who are overweight & struggling in school.
the whole breastfeeding issue at the realfood media sites really makes me wonder- these are not the people you need to be worried about.

By: Dr Sarah

Dr Sarah — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 07:08:20 +0000

With regard to the question of how evolution could have favoured iron deficiency, I think there are two important points to bear in mind:

1. A trait will only be affected by evolution if it affects the chances of passing your genes on to the next generation. This may be by affecting reproductive abilities directly, or it may be by affecting your chances of surviving long enough to reproduce, or it may be by affecting your chances of finding an appropriate mate… but, unless a trait impacts in some way on your chances of passing your genes on, it is not going to be affected by evolution regardless of how negative a trait it may be in other ways.

Iron deficiency has fairly subtle effects on a child’s intelligence and behaviour. I don’t think we can assume that our ancestors would have had a reduced chance of survival if iron-deficient as children. But the effects still might be something we’d prefer to avoid in our children, because we want more for our children than simply optimising their chances of staying alive long enough to reproduce themselves.

2. Sometimes, evolution has to make trade-offs. That iron has to come from somewhere, and, since our ancestors often had to live through harsh conditions where food was scarce, it’s likely that many women would have been iron-deficient themselves and would have had less to pass on to their children. In which case, ensuring that each breastfed child goes slightly short of iron without going short enough to impair their chances of survival might actually be a positive adaptive mechanism on the part of evolution, by saving some of the limited iron resources for future offspring and thus increasing the total number of offspring a mother could keep alive.

There are studies showing that breastfed babies are more likely to go short of iron in the months immediately before weaning, including calculations showing that this is a genuine risk for babies whose cords were clamped early (as is still far too common a practice in the Western world).

By: Christine @ African Babies Don't Cry

Christine @ African Babies Don't Cry — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:36:54 +0000

This is a great article, thank you for squashing the fears of iron deficiency in my breastfed son

By: Baby-led Weaning: A Real Food Approach to Feeding Your Baby | Nourished Kitchen

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:55:56 +0000

[...] is at least 18 months old. Iron-fortified cereal is not necessary first food (learn more about iron deficiency in the breastfed baby). The Weston A Price Foundation recommends a mixture of liver and egg yolk as a good first food [...]

By: Dr. Susan

Dr. Susan — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 03:28:12 +0000

Iron deficiency can also be a symptom of bacterial gut dysbiosis. There are lots of bad bacteria that love iron. I’d recommend a therapeutic dose of probiotics and/or probiotic foods!! Perhaps also some grapefruit seed extract, although you may want to have a stool test done with Doctors Data or Genova to check which bacteria you’re fighting.

By: Stephanie B. Cornais

Stephanie B. Cornais — Thu, 19 May 2011 02:50:14 +0000

Fantastic post! Thank you.

By: Mich

Mich — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 01:42:01 +0000

Some babies really are iron deficient. Pediatricians don’t just rely on the hcg. They check several other lab values – the size and shape of the red blood cell, the total iron, developing RBC’s etc. Don’t just assume that whatever the pediatrician says is wrong – just be educated and get all the info and get all the values from the labs they check. Be informed and have an open dialogue – They want your baby to be healthy, too.

By: Being Informed About Childbirth, Breastfeeding, and Babies | Health, Home, & Happiness

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 13:06:15 +0000

[...] about iron deficiency in your breast fed baby? The Nourished Kitchen has a post on it. For us, we just watch for external signs of iron deficiency (paleness, lethargy) [...]

By: Amy

Amy — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:57:24 +0000

Thank you for your post! I have an almost 7 month old EBF baby who is just not ready for solids. Our pediatrician has been pushing iron fortified cereal since his four month check up. I’m pretty confident my breast milk is sufficient nutrition (he’s almost 20 lbs of happy baby) but because of the dr’s constant doubt I needed to find some reassurance.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:28:35 +0000

I love your site, Laurie! It’s cute and informative too – I’m glad to see other folks are out there spreading the word about optimal nutrition for the little guys.

By: Laurie Meher

Laurie Meher — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:27:40 +0000

Just stumbled upon your blog! Love it! Finally more articles about the myth of iron deficiency from breastmilk. I covered the same topic a while ago on my blog accompanying my homemade cereal instructions. I hope you can take the time to check it out!

By: Ola Loa

Ola Loa — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:35:55 +0000

Great read. Iron has its place, and it’s true that iron deficiency can cause a whole host of problems (I’m talking about mostly the older kids here: irritability, hyperactivity, and learning impairment), but people don’t take heed to the problems that too much iron can cause.

Women of childbearing age are lucky. Menstruation can help keep iron from “poisoning” the body and pregnancy usually uses up any iron “reserves.”

There is an excellent article by Dr. Richard Kunin which you may enjoy if you are interested in learning more about iron deficiency/over-exposure: http://www.drinkyourvitamins.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=187:iron-deficiency-more-than-tired-blood&catid=53:articles-on-nutrition&Itemid=121