“He’s iron-deficient.”

“She’s slightly anemic.”

I hear it often: mothers take their babies to the clinic for a well baby check up, have blood drawn and summarily learn that their baby is deficient in iron and needs supplementation. Or, if your baby’s doctor is like ours was you simply receive a prescription for iron supplementation at 9 months, because “All breastfed babies are iron deficient.”

Are So Many Babies Truly Iron-deficient?

It seems to me that a baby fed from the breasts of a well-nourished mother as nature intended is unlikely to be deficient in such a critical mineral. After all, breastfeeding was the cross-cultural norm for millennia until the middle of the 20th century. How could evolution and nature favor deficiency? Perhaps, instead, our perception of optimal iron levels in infants is skewed.

You see, babies receive their iron stores from their mothers’ bodies, and pregnancy favors the growing infant over the mother. That is: pregnancy is a condition in which a mothers body is more likely to deplete her own iron stores than to withhold iron from the growing fetus. As such, unless a mother is under-nourished and already suffering from depleted iron stores prior to conception, it is likely that her baby will be born with sufficient, optimal iron stores. Following birth, infants that are breastfed receive iron not only receive iron through their mothers’ milk, but also reap the benefits of lactoferrin and transferrin. Moreover, iron in human breast milk is very easily absorbed. Indeed, infants will absorb an average of 49% of iron in breastmilk. Compare that to the 10% they absorb from cow’s milk formula¹.

An optimal iron status in the mother coupled with delayed cord clamping and exclusive breastfeeding offers sufficient iron stores in the breastfed baby for at least six to eight months or longer². Similarly, babies breastfed exclusively for seven months had higher hemoglobin levels at 1 and 2 years compared to babies introduced to solid foods prior to seven months³. Breastfed babies from healthy, non-deficient mothers receive plenty of iron through natural mechanisms.

Iron Supplementation: A Poor Choice for Breastfed Babies

Iron supplementation is a poor choice for breastfed infants, particularly if supplementation is applied across the board, to every baby as my (former) doctor recommended we do. Indeed, iron supplementation may even prove dangerous. Supplemental iron can take a long time to be effective, cause constipation and may be toxic if overused⁴. Lactoferrin and transferrin, found in human breast milk as well as other raw milks, binds iron and withholds it from pathogenic bacteria in the infant’s intestinal tract³.

When breastfed infants are supplemented with iron or given iron-fortified foods, the iron they ingest exceeds the ability of these specialized proteins to bind it, and, instead the supplemental iron may feed pathogenic bacteria and actually contribute to lower immunity³. Moreover, while iron supplementation may be effective for infants that are truly deficient, babies who are breastfed by non-anemic mothers may actually experience other adverse effects on their growth and overall health. For these babies, iron-rich foods, not supplementation, will be ideal in maintaining iron stores and staving off deficiency⁵.

Choose Naturally Iron-rich Foods

Instead of choosing supplements, boost your baby’s iron with real food. Iron, particularly heme-iron found in animal foods, can help to maintain iron stores endowed to the infant by the mother’s body during her pregnancy. While naturally iron-rich foods should play an important role in everyone’s diet, they can play an even more important role if you or your doctor suspects a true deficiency.

Iron-rich Foods⁶

Get the Most Out of Iron-rich Foods

Acidic foods and foods rich in vitamin C help the body to better absorb iron better. Similarly, fermented foods due to their acidic nature may increase iron absorption, so maximize the iron in your baby’s foods by serving them with something mildly acidic. Take care, though, as acidic foods may cause diaper rash or other reactions depending on the age of your baby. Take care to reduce the phytate content of the foods you serve as phytates can bind up iron and other minerals preventing their full absorption. If you serve grains to your baby or toddler, make sure they’re sprouted or soaked beforehand (learn more about sprouted grain.)

Take Action to Prevent Iron-deficiency in Your Baby

Since babies receive their iron stores from their mothers, mothers who are planning or trying to conceive should take great care of their bodies in anticipation of the challenges pregnancy presents. Eat iron-rich foods and take measures to reduce phytates and other antinutrients found in grain before and during pregnancy so that your body is not depleted. At birth, ask your midwife or attending physician to delay clamping and cutting your baby’s umbilical cord until after it stops pulsating. Breastfeed your baby without supplementation for at least 6 months, preferably longer before introducing wholesome foods. Skip the iron-fortified cereals in favor of naturally iron-rich foods.

Lastly, if you’ve done what you can and your baby is still iron-deficient, iron supplementation can fill a real and important purpose provided it’s not overused.

Sources:

1. Iron absorption in infants: high bioavailability of breast milk iron as indicated by the extrinsic tag method of iron absorption and by the concentration of serum ferritin. The Journal of Pediatrics. 1977 Jul;91(1):36-9.
2. Setting the stage for child health and development: prevention of iron deficiency in early infancy. The Journal of Nutrition. 2008 Dec;138(12):2529-33.
3. The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding. 6th Revised Edition. La Leche League International. 1997. 340 – 341.
4. Nature’s Pharmacy: Break the Drug Cycle with Safe Natural Treatments for 200 Everyday Ailments. Walker, et al. Reward Books. 1998. 52.
   
5. Mineral metabolism and body composition iron status of breast-fed infants. The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. 2007 Aug;66(3):412-22.
6. NutritionData.com

Photo Credit: Anderson eating baby food, originally uploaded by mightyb.

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]]> http://nourishedkitchen.com/iron-deficiency-breastfed-baby/feed/ 21 http://nourishedkitchen.com/gmo-free-infant-formula/ http://nourishedkitchen.com/gmo-free-infant-formula/#comments Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:53:36 +0000 Jenny http://nourishedkitchen.com/?p=1866

Melissa asked:

Q: I have a 3 month old daughter and wanted to know if is there are GMO free soy baby formula? I have been using Simulac Soy for the reflux benefits and cannot find any information on whether or not it is GMO free.

A: First, I wouldn’t recommend you feed your daughter an infant formula at all, especially not one based on soy.   Soy contains xenoestrogens and other compounds that can negatively impact the health of adults let alone young babies.   It is particularly poor for the developing endocrine system and has been linked to the development of autoimmune thyroid disease. Nevertheless, I understand that there are likely to be other reasons beyond my knowledge that may have prevented you from exclusively breastfeeding her.   Motherhood is a tough road, but a blessing nonetheless.

First, boost your milk supply or consider relactation.

If you’re breastfeeding her even partially and just looking to supplement with infant formula, there’s some great botanicals out there that can help boost your supply to some degree.   When my milk supply was waning, I had moderate success with motherlove’s more milk tincture special blend coupled with Vitanica’s Lactation blend and fenugreek.   I used these when my supply started to wane and they enabled me to continue to pump until my son was about 11 months old when I simply could no longer pump a drop (I’m a working mom.), I was able to continue nursing him until he self-weaned a few months after turning 3.     If you’re not breastfeeding at all, I strongly urge you to consider pursuing relactation and kellymom is a great source for breastfeeding support and information.

Second, consider a mother-to-mother milk share.

If neither boosting your milk supply or relactating is possible, consider a mother-to-mother milk share arrangement.   If you find a healthy mom who is on a dairy-free diet and is willing to share her milk with your daughter, your little one will reap the rewards of breastmilk and that is very, very important as I’m sure you understand more than anyone else.   You can find a mother-to-mother milk sharing arrangement.

Third, consider a homemade goat’s milk formula.

Alternatively, many moms have had great success with a homemade milk-based infant formula.   Since your daughter is cows milk intolerant, choosing goats milk might work very well for her as many babies who cannot tolerate cows milk can tolerate goats milk.   Check out this recipe for a homemade infant formula by the Weston A. Price Foundation.

Fourth, consider a hypoallergenic formula.

Should that option not appeal to you, consider using a hypoallergenic formula instead of a soy-based formula.   While not Organic and not necessarily GMO-free, it’s still likely to be better for your little one’s health since she won’t be relying on soy with its numerous negative health impacts for the bulk of her nutrition.   Excessive intake of soy probably poses a greater risk to her long-term health than limited intake of GMO-derived ingredients.   You should know, however, that hypoallergenic infant formulas are expensive.

If the lactose is the problem, and not the casein as is commonly the issue, you could consider Baby’s Only Organic Lactose Free Formula.   It does contain soy oil and soy lecithin, but at least her consumption of soy would be more limited than if you were to choose a soy-based formula.   This infant formula is GMO-free.

Lastly, there is a GMO-free soy-based infant formula available.

And, lastly, if your still feel that a soy-based formula is the right choice for your daughter, you should know that Baby’s Only Organic Soy Formula is GMO-free .   And, to my knowledge, Similac does use GMO-derived ingredients in its infant formulas.

As a last note, baby’s have leaky guts so take great care to delay solids until after six month or longer and definitely no rice cereal!   Take Care and enjoy your precious little girl.

If you have a question about traditional foods, natural living or anything else, please contact Jenny. I love to hear from readers.

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]]> http://nourishedkitchen.com/gmo-free-infant-formula/feed/ 15 http://nourishedkitchen.com/nourishing-my-child/ http://nourishedkitchen.com/nourishing-my-child/#comments Fri, 28 Nov 2008 18:42:21 +0000 Jenny http://nourishedkitchen.com/?p=153 It should come as no doubt that I love food – good, wholesome, nourishing food.   Indeed, I take great pleasure in cooking, but one of the greatest pleasures I’ve encountered is the gift of nourishing my family.   There is an immense sense of satisfaction in knowing that I’ve fed my family well and in a way that satisfies their hunger for flavor and for health.

Stopping for a Quick Top-off after a Long Hike

It began easily enough with breastfeeding.   And while those first few weeks of nursing were anything but easy, a motherly drive in me and my husband’s unwavering support encouraged me to persist through thrush, through a wicked case of mastitis, through milk blisters, cracked nipples and other annoyances until my son self-weaned a little after turning 3.   But, he relied on me and only me as his entire source of nourishment for six months and, truly, my body remained his primary source of nourishment well past his first birthday.

Seeing him at six months in all his lovely chubbiness provided me with such an enormous sense of gratitude – gratitude for my body and my ability to nurture and nourish him in the most healthy way possible.

Most importantly, I took care of myself so that my milk could nourish him well and help him to grow.   I ate well, and though my diet was largely vegan at that time (thank goodness I know better now!) it was based on whole foods without soy as that aggravated his reflux.   While what a nursing mother eats invariably effects her milk to some degree, it is important to note that even the milk of a mother whose diet is poor is still superior for an infant than artificial breast milk substitutes like formula.

Experimenting with Taste & Texture (uh ... ignore the white rice. We know better now!)

We knew it was time for him to begin solid foods when he began exhibiting clear signs of readiness: sitting without support, a pincer grasp and the loss of his tongue thrust reflex and we introduced solid foods.   Initially, I went through considerable effort to steam and puree his foods and package them into tiny little amounts.   After two weeks of trying to spoon-feed him, only to have blueberry purees and mashed squash spat back at me.

Then, I was introduced to the concept of child-led solids.   It makes sense as I look back.   Solids in the first year provide little sustenance for growing infants and their purpose, contrary to popular belief, is not to serve as a source of calories or nutrients as much as it is to expand their concept of food.

Solid food’s primary purpose during that first year is to help babies develop motor skills like the pincer grasp necessary for self-feeding and to expose them to a wide variety of tastes, textures and flavors.   Breast milk which is higher in calories, micronutrients and fat than most baby foods provides sufficient nourishment and, for that reason, babies should always be offered the breast before solid food.

So, understanding that his primary source of nourishment (my breasts) was sufficient for his continued growth and development, we relaxed our approach to solid foods and we simply fed him whatever it was that we ate.   He’d gnaw on a ripe pair or chew on a floret of steamed broccoli.   Some food got into his system, most didn’t and he grew beautifully.

Tasting His First Sweet: Gluten-free Birthday Cake with an Avocado Frosting

As he grew more proficient at feeding himself, solid foods grew to be more important in his diet.   His need for breastmilk waned, and solid foods became his primary source of nourishment, but that didn’t happen until he was well over a year old.   It was a slow process, as it should be.

Still, we enjoyed providing him with whole foods.   It was about this time that I discovered traditional foods through Nourishing Traditions and the Mothering Traditional Foods Forum.   I slowly modified our diet to include bone broth and wholesome fats and, eventually, meat.

A Big Boy Now - Weaned onto Sourdough Peach Pancakes and Raw Whipped Cream

Now he’s completely weaned, and he has developed a love for nourishing foods.   It warms my heart when he asks for more kefir or sauerrüben.   Or the way he can down salmon egg nigiri at the sushi bar and ask for more.

There’s an enormous sense of gratitude and pride to know that I nourished my son’s body and mind to the very best of my ability.

Did you like this post? Please let me know by leaving a comment. Don't forget to find Nourished Kitchen on Facebook, Twitter and Flickr. © Jenny for Nourished Kitchen, 2008. | Permalink |
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