Introduce Your Kids to Food

Obesity is on the rise, as are immune system disorders like allergies, asthma, and autoimmune diseases.  Much of this, I believe, comes from the choices we make in our diets.  As adults, we have control over what we put in our mouths, but our kids rely on us to make good choices for them.  Infants especially are at the mercy of adults to make the best choices for what goes into their mouths.  Yet, when I see what parents are feeding infants, I am often flabbergasted.  Either most parents don't understand the impact of what they are doing, or they haven't ever been taught what's best.  Let's talk about how we introduce our kids to food.

Recommendations are pretty consistent when it comes to infants and diet: breast milk is best, and formula is a distant second.  Dietetic and pediatric organizations alike recommend nothing except breast milk or formula for the first six months of life.  That means no juice, cow's milk, cereal, or anything else.  The reason for this is simple.  Infants are designed to absorb milk from mom undigested, with whole proteins made and absorbed.  When we introduce foods before the pores in the intestines have begun to close, we set our kids up for a significantly increased risk for allergy related conditions; everything from true allergies to asthma to autoimmune conditions like type I diabetes.  Increasing the immune response can also lead to general inflammation; one factor we see that leads to obesity.  Early introduction of "real" food is detrimental to the long term health of your child.

"But my kid isn't sleeping through the night" or "they seem hungry yet" is a common thing I hear when I make this recommendation.  Shouldn't I add cereal to the formula?  Absolutely, positively not.  Breast milk is about 54% saturated fat.  While formulas range in their nutrient content, none have as high of fat content as breast milk, and most of them have polyunsaturated fat.  By adding less fat, formula generally increases its carbohydrate content instead, and by having polyunsaturated fat, overall, the formula is less nutrient dense; it takes more to keep the baby full.  Research has shown that fats and protein keep us full, while carbohydrate generally increases our appetite.  By adding cereal, which is difficult for the infant to digest, the parents are also introducing protein that often causes immune reactions, and starts the road to an overstimulated immune system.  Instead, I recommend parents add what keeps the infant full: fat.  Yes, I said add fat to the formula to keep them fuller longer.  Start with a small amount of organic unrefined extra virgin coconut oil, and increase it until they seem satisfied.  This is a fat that is easily absorbed, utilized, and as similar as we can get to the fat in breast milk.

At six months of age, parents can start adding in "real" food.  The question comes in though, as to which foods to start with.  Often, parents are told to start with rice cereal.  While rice is minimal in its allergenicity, I take a different approach.  Of all the foods out there, which category do we see the least allergies with, and which foods do we want our kids to eat the most of?  Is it rice cereal?  Will eating rice cereal improve our health throughout our lives?  Probably not.  The foods we want to eat the most and are the least allergenic are vegetables.  Why not start there?  Pick out those vegetables that we want them to eat the most of, and introduce one per week; broccoli, spinach, carrots, peas, squash, and whatever else you can find green, yellow, or orange.  By adding in one per week, you can watch for any potential reactions the immune system may start and identify which food is the likely culprit.

After introducing all of the vegetables, you can move on to fruits, with a few caveats.  There are certain foods which should not be introduced to children under the age of two.  These include all berries, shellfish, nuts, and peanuts.  Those are the classic food allergies, and safest to be kept away for a longer time.  So, with the exception of berries, start adding in fruits, again, one per week.  Avoid those infant "desserts", since they often add extra sugars and may contain berries.  Use the fruits as the child's dessert, but always start with the vegetables in the meal.  After all, how does broccoli taste after a nice sweet apple or pear?  Don't let them decide, be the parent.

By the time all of the fruits and veggies have been introduced, the child with be almost a year, and you can move on to proteins and/or cereals.  Personally, I see no reason to add cereal to their diet.  It's bland and they can get plenty of carbohydrate from the fruits and veggies they'll be loving by this time.  Stick with the proteins (meats) instead. After a year, you can start the introduction of milk and eggs if you choose.  While dairy has been promoted as a base for your child's health, we'll talk in later blogs about how we've been duped into buying a refined product that has much less benefit than we are led to believe.

Kids' palates develop early, and starting them on foods in the wrong order can make it much more difficult to introduce foods that can help them live long healthy lives.  My approach to introducing foods is focused on not only getting the most important food group in early (veggies), but also on minimizing the risk of allergic reactions later in life.  If every parent used this approach, would we see a reduction in allergies?  I can't prove it, but common sense says we would.  Even if it wouldn't, getting the veggies in early gives them nutrients they won't get anywhere else, and hopefully sets their taste so they will eat more of them throughout their life.

Look for future blogs that will give more information and insights into improving your health with natural health care.  You can also visit my website, like me on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter.