Should You Drink Milk?

After a bit of a hiatus from the blog (during which Leigh heroically carried the team with her awesome posts), I decided to make my comeback with a topic that's uber-relevant to me right now: Milk. Specifically if we should be feeding it to our bebes.

Dylan is just days away from turning one, and conventional wisdom tells me I should start giving her sippy cups with cow's milk...but I'm not convinced I can go there. I've learned things about milk and the dairy industry that I just can't unlearn, and I'm astounded by it all.

Oh hey Mom. I'm ready for my sippy cup.

This is a brief overview of the myriad issues with milk. Each of these topics could be a full article in itself (and certainly is out on the interwebs), but I'm attempting to show you the high points. Or low points, as it seems.

Growth Hormones
You may or may not have heard that dairy cows are treated with hormones that help them produce more milk. You may have even seen it labeled on milk cartons: rBGH or rBST. Have you stopped to wonder what these are? I figured they were whack and totally avoided them, but once I took the time to research I realized it was even worse than I thought. These hormones cause cows to produce 10-15% more milk, but also causes horrifying health problems like cystic ovaries, uterus disorders, and mastitis (a painful udder infection). This last one is particularly disgusting because infected cows secrete pus and blood into the milk, a certain amount of which is allowed to be sold by FDA standards. Yum!! 

Say Cheerio to GMOs

We've ALL eaten them. They are as American as apple pie and booze before noon. Cheerios are supposed to be a healthy, heart-friendly breakfast....right?!

Furthermore, they are marketed toward children...and even recommended to tiny babies as one of their first finger foods. At our six-month appointment, my own pediatrician recommended that I give Cheerios to Dylan.

So what's the big problem, you ask? Well, like the vast majority of the food in this country, a deeper look into the ingredients will give you pause...and if you're like me, frantically searching for alternatives.

Take a look at this fantastic analysis by GMO Inside. The highlights are basically that all Cheerios products are made with corn products sourced from the US, 88% of which are genetically modified. In addition, the article states:

Vitamin E in Cheerios comes from Mixed Tocopherols which are most commonly derived from soy, corn, or cotton – the most extensively genetically engineered crops.



Via

NurturMe: Dried Organic Baby Food

While Facebook stalking The Baby Grocery Store…I saw a post that made my eyes bug out (in a good way).

 

How fascinating is that? This product fits SO many of my needs: Convenient, organic baby food with max nutrient retention!

If you look at the organic baby food jars at the store, they typically contain one ingredient like “organic mangoes.” Obviously that is heads-and-shoulders above regular baby food, which contains preservatives, GMOs, and the like. However, how do you explain an organic baby food jar with a shelf life of a year or more?

Many brands of organic baby food are heat-treated to create a sterile environment in the jar or pouch, so that bacteria cannot survive. This is not ideal because this heating process blanches out all the yummy nutrients that your little angel babe wants in his belly!

NurturMe seems to answer all these concerns. Even more awesome, you can mix the powders with big-kid food to sneak in nutrients. Amazeballs, right?

As of today, I’m making all of Dylan’s baby food at home. However, if I got into a pinch and ran out, I would love to have some of these on hand.

I just ordered the bananas, carrots and quinoa. Baby quinoa…gah! Dying.  Order on diapers.com, and use promo code NMSUPERFOOD to get 15% off. I'll report back after test-driving.