These are links to the research relevant to pregnancy, prenatal nutrition and infant care from my website GreenMedInfo.com which are provided for the convenience of attendees to the Nutrition class I teach monthly at the Naples Brith Center.
-Pediatricians spend much time frightening parents with something like a 1 in 100,000 combined risk from vaccine-preventable diseases when parents question the utility and safety of vaccines…. Yet these very same professionals offer formula samples with the other hand – when the magnitude of health risks associated with the use of formula is 500 times greater.-
~ Dr. Linda Folden Palmer, excerpted from -the Deadly Influence of Formula-
A growing body of research indicates that formula fed infants have significantly increased risk for the following debilitating and/or life threatening conditions:
- Candidiasis[28] – Diarrhea[29][30][31][32][33] – Gastroenteritis[34] – Haemophilus influenzae[35] – Meningitis in preterm infants[36] – Necrotizing Enterocolitis[37][38] – Ear Infection[31][39] – Pneumococcal Disease[40] – Respiratory Infections[41] – Respiratory Syncytial Virus[42] – Salmonellosis[43] – Sepsis in Preterm Infants[36] – Urinary Tract Infections[44] – Anemia and Iron Deficiency[45][46] – Autoimmune Thyroid Disease[47] – Constipation and Anal fissures[48] – Undescended Testicle[49] – Esophogeal and Gastrid Lesions[50] – Gastroesophogeal Reflex[51] – Inguinal Hernia[52] – Pyloric stenosis[59] – Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)[60][61][62][63] – Wheezing[64][65][66] – Allergies[67][68] – Asthma[69] – Eczema[70] – Lower IQ[71][72] – Lower Visual Acuity[73] – Delayed Speech and Language Development[74][75] – Appendicitis[76] – Lower Bone Mass[77] – Cancer[78][79][80][81][82][83] – High Blood Pressure[84] – High Cholesterol[85][86] – Celiac Disease[87][88] – Diabetes Mellitus[89][90] – Haemophilus Influenzae Meningitis[91] – Ulcerative Colitis[92] – Crohn’s Disease[93] – Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis[94] – Multiple Sclerosis[95] – Obesity[96][97][98][99] – Schizophrenia[100] – Tonsillitis[101]
If this list is not frightening enough, all-cause Morbidity and Mortality[53][54][55][56][57][58] has also been directly linked to the use of infant formula.
[The citations 28 through 101 are available on Wikipedia under the "Infant Formula" section]
According to a study done in 2004 by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention only 11.3% of infants in the U.S. were exclusively breastfed through the first six months of life; In other words, 88.7% of infants were exposed to the effects of synthetic formula during their most critical developmental period. This is undoubtedly a key factor in why the U.S. has the 2nd highest infant mortality rate in the industrialized world. In a poll of 33 industrialized countries, the US was ranked lower in infant mortality than only one country: Latvia. (State of Our Mothers 2006; Save our Children Foundation).
There are few who would question the inherent superiority of breast milk over synthetic formula. We know, for instance, that breast milk contains a number of indispensable factors not found in formula and that the breast milk changes continually to suit the changing needs of the baby. Breast milk is a living food with enzymes, immune factors like lactoferrin, lysozyme and secretory IgA, prebiotics and probiotics, coenzymated vitamins, amino-acid bound minerals and hormones like appetite satiating leptin, etc. which are not found in formula. However, it is not simply what is lacking in formula that makes it so dangerous but WHAT IT DOES CONTAIN… Sugar, or worse!
Lactose is the most abundant carbohydrate found in breast milk and is unlike the sucrose (white sugar), maltodextrin, and high fructose corn syrup found in virtually all formulas. The glycemic index of lactose (46) is much lower than that of sucrose (68), maltodextrin (137), and high fructose corn syrup (89), and promotes the growth of beneficial Lactobacilli bacteria such as Acidophilus. Higher glycemic carbohydrates can lead to the growth of putrefying and pathogenic bacteria and yeasts, suppress the immune system and can induce adverse endocrine changes, such as the over-secretion of cortisol, adrenaline and insulin.
Allergens with multiple modes of toxicity!
According to the FDA, of the 160 foods known to cause allergic reactions, Cow’s Milk and Soy are part of the top 8, which are required by law to be listed on labels. All infant formulas on the market contain one or more of these common allergens as a main ingredient. In a previous article, -Unglued: the sticky truth about wheat, dairy, soy and corn,- we discussed how these three foods have insurmountable problems associated with them:
1) They are used to produce industrial adhesives: e. g. Casein, the sticky white protein in Cow’s Milk is the basis for Elmer’s Glue, and Soy Protein is used to produce plastics, composite and is sticky enough to replace formaldehyde-based adhesives in the production of plywood. These glues will cause intestinal villi atrophy, malabsorption syndrome, malnourishment, as well as increased intestinal and gut permeability, also known as -leaky gut syndrome,- where undigested proteins enter the blood causing autoimmune and neurological disorders.
2) Neurotoxic chemicals: Cow’s Milk and Soy contain high levels of L-glutamic and L-aspartic acid – naturally occurring variations of aspartame and monosodium glutamate. These two amino acids, when ingested in free form (as occurs in many hydrolyzed infant formulas) act as excitotoxins, sometimes causing over-stimulation and death of neurons. Cow’s milk also contain opiate-like substances known as casomorphins.
3) Cow’s Milk and Soy contain potentially toxic glycoproteins known as -lectins- which can cause either direct damage to certain cell types in our body, e.g. thyroid, pancreas, kidney, joints, etc, or secondary immune-mediated damage, e.g. soy and milk lectins can cause the insulin producing beta cells in the pancreas to exhibit class II HLA antigens, marking them for autoimmune destruction. Cow’s milk and Soy also contain hormone mimicking and hormone modulating endocrine disruptors, which can adversely effect metabolism, growth rates and sexual maturation.
Dangerous Inorganic Minerals!
With few exceptions the minerals found in infant formula can not be considered biologically appropriate or suited to the needs of infant metabolism. Manufacturers of formula, as well as supposed -watchdog- agencies like the FDA, consider it perfectly appropriate for these formulas to contain chemically processed mineral wastes, gleaned as by-products from the mining and chemical industries. Some of these minerals, such as zinc sulfate, are actually used to kill fungi, weeds, algae, mollusks and bacteria. (source: toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/). Sodium Selenate, a popular ingredient in formula, is not allowed in public drinking water above 50 parts per billion (EPA Federal Drinking Water Standards) due to concerns regarding its toxicity. How is it that chemicals with known toxicity, or worse, are actually used to kill living things, are legally allowed to be put in formula to sustain new life?
Undoubtedly, ignorance plays a key role in this problem. Scientists, health authorities and government officials alike have a surprisingly difficult time acknowledging the obvious biological differences between inorganic and dead minerals with those that are complex with proteins, enzymes and other essential co-factors, such as is found in living breast milk. However, given that the global market for formula is at an estimated 7.9 billion dollars annually, other motivations, such as cutting ingredient costs take precedence over product quality and safety. After all, breast milk is FREE, and therefore is impossible to compete with on the basis of cost. The best manufacturers can do is to produce a cheap product using cheap ingredients. A well put together formula with non-allergenic proteins like goat whey, and whole food mineral and vitamin concentrates would probably cost ten to twenty times higher than regular formula, which would price many families out of this profitable market completely. (For more information on the toxicity of mass market vitamins and minerals read -Is Your Multivitamin Toxic-
The tip of the Iceberg?
There are many other serious problems with formula, such as the use of cyanocobalamin, the cyanide-containing form of B12 (which is sometimes extracted from sewage sludge!) or the use of nicotine-derived niacin, but space does not permit us to elaborate further on these aspects in detail here. For now, we conclude that given this veritable nightmare of potential toxicities, infant formula, rather than viewed as a less than perfect facsimile of breast milk, should be considered a full on assault on infant health and well-being.
Despite common misconceptions, monogenic diseases, or diseases that result from errors in the nucleotide sequence of a single gene are exceedingly rare. Perhaps only 1% of all diseases fall within this category, and Celiac disease is not one of them. In fact, following the completion of the Human Genome Project (HGP) in 2003 it is no longer accurate to say that our genes “cause” disease, any more than it is accurate to say that DNA is sufficient to account for all the proteins in our body. Despite initial expectations, the HGP revealed that there are only 30,000-35,000 genes in human DNA (genome), rather than the 100,000 + believed necessary to encode the 100,000 + proteins found in the human body (proteome).
The “blueprint” model of genetics: one gene → one protein → one cellular behavior, which was once the holy grail of biology, has now been supplanted by a model of the cell where epigenetic factors (literally: “beyond the control of the gene”) are primary in determining how DNA will be interpreted, translated and expressed. A single gene can be used by the cell to express a multitude of proteins and it is not the DNA itself that determines how or what genes will be expressed. Rather, we must look to the epigenetic factors to understand what makes a liver cell different from a skin cell or brain cell. All of these cells share the exact same 3 billion base pairs that make up our DNA code, but it is the epigenetic factors, e.g. regulatory proteins and post-translational modifications, that make the determination as to which genes to turn on and which to silence, resulting in each cell’s unique phenotype. Moreover, epigenetic factors are directly and indirectly influenced by the presence or absence of key nutrients in the diet, as well as exposures to chemicals, pathogens and other environmental influences.
In a nutshell, what we eat and what we are exposed to in our environment directly affects our DNA and its expression. read more…
Grains are often called the “staff of life,” having a sort of credibility that is almost biblical in proportion. So prevalent is the perception that grains make for “good food” that the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) – which is the United Nation’s international agency for defeating hunger – uses a head of wheat as its emblem, with the Latin Fiat Panis or “Let There Be Bread” as its motto. Despite the rather lofty secular position a loaf of whole grain bread may hold in the international community, the biblical record actually shows that the first foods mentioned in the Bible were the Herbs and Fruit Trees (Genesis 1:29), and that by punishment for sin God gave man bread:
“…cursed is the ground for thy sake;…In the sweat of thy face shalt though eat bread, till though return unto the ground…” (Genesis 3:17,19). read more…
GreenMedInfo.com - GreenMedInfo.com exists in order to provide free and convenient access to the biomedical research available today on the therapeutic value of natural substances in disease prevention and treatment.* This website provides physicians, health care practitioners, clinicians, researchers and laypersons with an evidence-based resource through which the potential or actual therapeutic value of vitamins, minerals, herbs and foods can be determined. Learn More
“We have one and a half million heart attacks in the U.S.each year. About 50 percent have normal cholesterol. Clearly, current guidelines are not adequate to identify all those individuals who are at increased risk,”
~ Nader Rifai, MD(2004)
Yes, you heard Dr. Rifai right: statistically speaking cholesterol levels have what amounts to ZERO relevance in determining heart attack risk. A 50-50 chance, after all,means a coin flips worth of certainty.
But that’s not all: people with the highest cholesterol may also live the longest…
Consider the findings of Dr. Harlan Krumholz of the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at Yale University, who reported in 1994 that elderly with low cholesterol died twice as often from a heart attack as did the elderly with a high cholesterol. His research also showed that all-cause mortality was significantly reduced in those whose cholesterol was highest. read more…
If the title of this article caught your eye, perhaps you are surprised, or like me, deeply disturbed by the implications of this statement.
This recent CNN headline* illustrates just how total our society’s mass, lemming-like exodus from the truth has become. Major news channels deem “research” like this fit to print, blatantly insinuating that dietary supplements are dangerous and to be feared, despite the fact that tens of thousands Americans die every year from correctly prescribed drugs¹ As if to amplify these absurdities, many if not most of these iatrogenic deaths could be prevented if instead of suppressing the symptoms of nutritional deficiencies with toxic pharmaceuticals, the underlying causes of disease were reversed with vitamin therapy.
By definition, a “vitamin” is something essential that our bodies cannot produce, and so must be ingested in order for us not to die. But in this Orwellian world, teetering on the edge of Pharmageddon, vitamins are now being redefined as toxic, and perhaps will soon be accessible only in sub-therapeutic dosages, at preposterous prices and by prescription only.**
To most of us, the word “drug” conjures varied, if not diametrically opposed images and connotations. On the one hand, “drugs” are illegal substances, associated with addiction, bodily harm, crime, and other unpleasant experiences. These drugs include cocaine, amphetamine, marijuana and heroin, and are generally not considered to have medicinal effects. On the other hand, prescribed or over the counter “drugs” are associated with treating or preventing disease, regulated by the FDA and administered legally to the public in carefully meted doses by doctors. No matter which way you slice it, Americans have the most voracious appetite for drugs on the planet, consuming approximately 700 billion dollars worth of prescribed, over-the-counter and illegal drugs, annually. read more…
There is a profound misunderstanding in the mass market today about the value of certified organic food. The question is not whether the 30% or more you pay at the register for an organic product is really worth the added vitamin, mineral and phyto-nutrient content you receive. Even though organic food does usually have considerably higher nutrient density, it is not always the positive quality of what it contains that makes it so special. Rather, it is what you know the organic food does not contain, or has not happened to it on its journey to your table, that makes buying organic a no-brainer to the educated consumer. Let me explain.
The FDA presently supports and actively promotes the use of Cobalt-60 culled from Nuclear Reactors as a form of “electronic pasteurization” on all domestically produced conventional food. The use of euphemisms like “food additive” and “pasteurization” to describe the process of blasting food with high levels of gamma-radiation can not obviate the fact that the very same death-rays generated by thermonuclear warfare to destroy life are now being applied to food to “make it safer.” This sort of Orwellian logic, e.g. WAR is PEACE, is the bread and butter of State sponsored industry propaganda.
This is not a hypochondriac’s rantings, as we aren’t talking here about small amounts of radiation. The level of gamma-radiation used starts at 1KiloGray (equivalent to 33,000,000 chest x-rays or 2,000 times a human lethal dose) and goes all the way up to 30KiloGray (990,000,000 chest x-rays or 60,000 times a human lethal dose). The following table is a list of foods are increasingly being “nuked” for your protection.
