Vitamin D, Swine Flu and Baby

Oct 28, 2009 Uncategorized

Vitamin D has been in the news lately.  It is thought that this vitamin might boost the immune system and increase the ability of the body to fight the swine flu.   We have been unable to find any evidence that taking extra vitamin d will in fact stop the swine flu however.   You must be careful when taking additional Vitamin D.

We have spoken with 3 doctors today and all 3 caution against random Vitamin D supplementation.

You see, Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin.  It is stored in the body’s fatty tissues and used when needed; what is not used, remains stored

It is very easy to overdose on fat soluble vitamins and the consequences can be very dangerous!  Before you rush out to buy Vitamin D supplements for your family, please be sure to consult with your physician!  

Babies and young children can suffer severe health issues if they are overdosed on Vitamins!  Please seek proper medical consultation before adding any vitamin supplements to your little one’s diet.

Learn about vitamin D from the National Institutes of Health

Homemade Baby Formula – Would You Make it?

Oct 27, 2009 Friendly Baby Food Advice

I am going to share an email received over the weekend from a Mom who is upset that our site does not recommend or promote making homemade baby formula.

I am disappointed that you regulate the flow of information on your website and instill fear into mothers who may opt out of supporting the baby formula industry. Noticeably bsent from your site is the fact that all non-organic formulas use corn syrup and other sugars that essentially prepare our children for obesity and diabetes.

It is ridiculous to assume that women cannot possibly make their own formula considering that we have inhabited this planet for tens of thousands of years sans Similac and others.

Why not have a section on the harm of corn syrup NOT just in baby food but formula?

You had an opportunity to use the inquiry of “homemde formula recipe” as springboard to delve into the harmful effects of HFCS found in formula and that Organic formula uses other simple sugars not found to be detrimental for children.

We should DEMAND from the mutli-billion dollar formula industry that ALL of its products be produced without toxins (read: corn syrup). Instead you decide to completely ignore a growing trend in American families: making a conscienious decision to NOT participate in a food industry that has no regard for our health.

We note the following on our Homemade Infant Formula page

It would be irresponsible of our site to make recommendations and/or offer recipes for homemade infant formula. Solid foods are known as complimentary foods; they are not meant to provide for the total nutrition of an infant. Recipes for sweet potatoes and squash for example, would not endanger the overall nutritional health because your baby’s main source of nutrition is not from solid foods. A homemade formula recipe could very well irreparably harm the health and growth of a baby.

During baby’s first year, infant formula is a non-breastfeeding baby’s main source of nutrition and may also be a complementary source of nutrition to a breastfed baby. We do not feel that it is wise to make homemade formula for this important reason. We will never post or endorse any recipe(s) that may endanger the health of an infant.

We would love to hear from you about homemade infant formula – would you make? Have you made homemade infant formula? Has your doctor or other clinician advised you on how to make homemade infant formula?

Making baby’s food has lead many families to change their entire eating habits for the better and we are so excited when we hear about this. Our site was born so that we might help parents see how simple and easy it is to make baby food. We hope that this site will help parents see that they don’t need to have dependence on highly processed, prepackaged foods. Still, we won’t encourage nor will we print recipes for homemade baby formula and we hope that our visitors can appreciate how we feel about this.

Least Nutritious Cereals are those marketed to kids!

Oct 27, 2009 Cereals, Friendly Baby Food Advice

A new study finds least nutritious cereals are the ones marketed to kids – http://cerealfacts.org

This is sad to hear but really, we’re not surprised. The most important thing you can do when choosing a cereal for your older kiddo is to read the labels! Reading labels is very important and it’s also very eye-opening. On our Sugar in Baby Food page, we list a few alternative terms for sugar. Some of these are healthy, such as lactose and agave while others are not! I’m copying them below:

• • high-fructose corn syrup
  • fructose
  • malt syrup
  • malt extract
  • corn syrup
  • glucose
  • maltodextrin
  • lactose (naturally occurring in dairy products)
  • maltose
  • molasses
  • raw sugar
  • sucrose
  • barley malt
  • agave

These ingredients are widespread and even found in some popular commercial infant “finger foods”. Please be sure to read the labels of the prepackaged foods you buy; you never know what’s hiding!

Tags: Sugar