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| Get this out of your grocery cart!! |
There are a wide variety of theories on what foods are best to introduce baby to solids. Without even thinking about it, most moms go to baby cereal. Why not? If you took a look at the shelves of the grocery store, you can see that it's been the go-to food for years now. It's bland and it fills baby up. It's convenient, and because it's gluten free, it avoids most allergies, right?
Sarah, at the Healthy Home Economist, writes a very different view on baby rice cereal as a first food. Sarah is a Nutrition Educator and Chapter Leader for the
Weston A. Price Foundation. I recently found her
article on baby cereal and appropriate first solid foods based on the research and teachings of the Foundation. The pictures she paints of baby cereal is pretty ugly and definitely puts into question who the experts have been all these years- or doctors or the baby food companies?
There are several problems that exist with rice cereal, that ironically enough, was originally chosen because it is gluten free and thought to be a simple food that avoids allergy problems in the young digestive tract. First of all, rice has a very high glycemic index, which means it spikes baby's blood sugar. It's difficult or nearly impossible, for a baby to digest because his digestive system produces mostly lactase, the enzyme used to break down lactose in milk, and does not produce amylase, the enzyme used to break down grains, until much later.
What happens, Sarah writes, when the food isn't digested properly is that it rots. Yes, that's right.
She states, "It rots in the gut feeding all manner of pathogenic bacteria and fungi ushering the child quickly down the path to allergies, asthma, eczema, and other autoimmune disorders." There's the ironic part for you. She continues to explain what occurs more scientifically, but the point is that the same food we have been spooning into our babies' tummies for years now could be the culprit of many, many digestive and allergic problems!
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Can you tell which is the deliciously
nutritious pastured egg? |
Sarah and the Weston A. Price Foundation suggest egg yolk from a pastured hen as a baby's first food. Pastured hens, meaning hens that are able to roam free eating bugs and such in a pasture, not a soy-based vegetarian diet you see most organic egg distributors boasting about. This is because all of those delicious bugs and worms load up the hen's eggs with loads of nutrition, like omega-3 fatty acids and natural cholesterols that are necessary for baby's mental development.
Next, she suggests adding raw beef or bison liver to a bit of egg yolk. Liver, because it contains a smorgasbord of vitamins and minerals, is considered a superfood world wide. It's particularly important because of Vitamins A and D and iron. She explains how to safely feed the raw liver, but I'm not sure I'm quite ready for that step yet. I think I'll stick with incorporating cooked liver when I begin feeding Kellan other meats. Bananas are also suggested because they digest easily due to their large amounts of amylase.
She continues on to recommend adding pureed meats, fruits and veggies once baby turns 10 months. It's important to introduce one food at a time to watch for reactions, and to avoid the more high starch vegetables, like sweet potato and potato, until later. Make baby's food at home and mix it well with deep yellow butter from grass-fed cows so that all the food's fat-soluble nutrients are absorbed and natural cholesterol can contribute to brain development.
While Sarah and the Foundation's view may seem extreme, the La Leche League recognizes the lack of nutrition in baby cereals, too. They, too, say babies require a lot of protein. Furthermore, if breastfed, they do not require much carbohydrates because breastmilk is full of carbohydrates.
They advocate for baby's
first foods to include bananas, avocados, yams or sweet potatoes. All are rich in nutrients and sweet. They suggest that sweet foods are a good start for breastfed babies because their familiarity may contribute to baby's excitement for the new experience of solid foods.
The progression of foods they suggest continues on to include
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| Mmmh! Tasty! |
- Meats
- Whole grain breads and cereals- Not baby cereals but whole grain ones like oatmeal, and no wheat or corn until 9-12 months
- Fresh fruits- Citrus after 9-12 months
- Vegetables
- Dairy products- After 9 months and cow's milk after 12 months
They also suggest introducing a single food at a time and spacing each food about a week apart to determine allergies or intolerances. The American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology says that the six foods that count for 90% of allergies are cow's milk (though I imagine this would be different if
raw milk was a norm), eggs, peanuts, wheat, soy, and tree nuts. They suggest that all of these be introduced from baby's first birthday to 3 years old. You can see a progressive chart of introduction at kellymom.com's article on
first foods.
