I hope in the last posts you got familiar with functional foods. It is time to go into details with specific foods. Firstly, I wanted to write about baby foods. They are the future of our society. As you know we need healthy and happy next generations*. Hence, baby foods are not just mother’s concern, it is everyone’s concern in the society.
In this article, I will explain infant nutrition and give some good examples from the world.
As I always say; be aware of your needs and this time be sure about your baby’s. The baby's needs change according to their development periods. There are important differences between a 6-months-old baby and 1-year-old baby**. And also foods which are suitable for their digestive system are changing too. The first step is knowing your baby’s needs and digestive system properties. The second important point is knowing mother's milk properties. Does the mother have any illness or use any medicine that can affect the milk. Do not forget to visit your doctor regularly to check the mother and baby's health. The table could be helpful when feding your baby.
Let's talk about infant nutrition ingredients. According to doctors' and scientists' advice, best infant nutrition is the closest nutrition to mother's milk. They always mention the importance of giving mother's milk to babies as much as possible. Carbohydrate, protein, vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids are the main important components. Check out their values and properties. For instance, baby food contains all essential amino acids or just a few of them. This is important for raising healthy babies. You have to check all the ingredients. Maybe your baby is allergic to cow milk? By the way, cow milk can cause iron deficiency, allergic reactions, anemia or even secret intestinal bleeding in infants***. So, be careful about that. What is more, sugar types and amount of sugar are the other critical points of concern in baby foods. Preferring food which has low glycemic index sugars is better for babies instead of consuming others. Consuming high glycemix index foods cause obesity. Sucrose is one of them.
I would like to tell you about two baby food that I like very much from the world. Firstly; “Nourish”. It has a long shelf life without any additives and contains 14 organic foods. Produced in the United States. Another very popular infant nutrition is “Baby's Only Organic Toddler Formula”. Fully herbal content, This food is GMO-free, lactose-free, preservative-free and trans-fat-free. Including omega oils that are effective in eye and brain development. The only problem is that not suitable for children under 1-year-old.
I hope this article was informative. I added references that have more detailed and helpful information. I wish, the number of good baby foods would increase in the future.
The next post will be on the athlete's food.
2500 years ago Hippocrates said;
Our food should be our medicine and our medicine should be our food.
Value Hippocrates words and take care of yourselves <3
* Liu Y., Stein M.,2013, Feeding Behaviour of Infants and Young Children and Its Impact on Child Psychosocial and Emotional Development, Encyclopedia on Early Childhood Development
http://www.child-encyclopedia.com/child-nutrition/according-experts/feeding-behaviour-infants-and-young-children-and-its-impact-child
** Feeding Guide for the First Year, Stanford Children’s Health
https://www.stanfordchildrens.org/en/topic/default?id=feeding-guide-for-the-first-year-90-P02209
*** Steven P. Shelov et all.,2014, "Caring for Your Baby and Young Child: Birth to Age 5", 6th Edition
***Ziegler EE,2007, Adverse effects of cow's milk in infants, Nestle Nutr Workshop Ser Pediatr Program.;60:185-96; discussion