What SHOULD go into the decision (m)
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What SHOULD go into the decision (m)
| Tue, 01-01-2008 - 6:33pm |
OK, I don't think anyone really denies that it is ultimately every mom's decision.
| Tue, 01-01-2008 - 6:33pm |
OK, I don't think anyone really denies that it is ultimately every mom's decision.
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Exactly!
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"I know a man IRL who couldn't understand why he wasn't losing weight on slimfast, but he was mixing it with half & half!"
That actually sounds good to me, but I'm a freak.
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>>so some of these toxins are actually in *higher* concentrations in breast milk than they would be in water.<<
Sure enough. There are toxins in higher concentrations in breastmilk than in water. But while they know around what level in water is harmful, they have no idea what level is harmful in breastmilk.
Additionally, formula has it's own share of potentially deadly contaminants that don't exist in breastmilk, some of which come from water.
Again, thanks for the links, Spencer!
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>>Do chemicals in the environment pass to infants through breast milk?
While some women may have detectable levels of chemical agents in their breast milk, no established “normal” or “abnormal” levels exist to aide in clinical interpretation. As a result, breast milk is not routinely tested for environmental pollutants.
Should women exposed to environmental toxins breastfeed?
Breastfeeding is still recommended despite the presence of chemical toxins. The toxicity of chemicals may be most dangerous during the prenatal period and the initiation of breastfeeding. However, for the vast majority of women the benefits of breastfeeding appear to far outweigh the risks. To date, effects on the nursing infant have been seen only where the mother herself was clinically ill from an toxic exposure. <<
http://www.cdc.gov/breastfeeding/disease/environmental_toxins.htm
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>>The infant formula industry is an $8 billion per year business. Across the globe, huge advertising budgets are spent to convince women that it is better and more convenient to bottle-feed their babies. With increased focus on pollution in breast milk, an obvious question arises: is formula a better choice than breastfeeding? The answer is almost always no. Although the choice should be made by mothers and their families in consultation with their health-care provider, it is clear that, as a rule, if mothers can breastfeed, their babies' health will be better served by breast milk than formula.
It is true that infant formula contains far lower quantities of dioxins, PCBs and organochlorine pesticides than breast milk. However, formula has serious drawbacks that tip the scale against it.
Health concerns for the formula-fed infant include the risk of contaminated water, potential contaminants in bottles and nipples and contaminants in the formula itself...contamination of water supplies by parasites (cryptosporidium and giardia) and bacteria (such as e coli) can be very dangerous for an infant whose undeveloped immune system cannot tolerate exposure to these disease-causing invaders. As a result, infants can become ill, even die, from formula reconstituted (or diluted) with water...
Formula itself may have contaminants introduced in the manufacturing process. In the past, recalls have been ordered because of contamination with substances such as broken glass, fragments of metal and salmonella and other bacteria. The fungal toxin aflatoxin has also been detected in some commercial formulas. Although detected levels were very low, this toxin is known to cause cancer and is not present in breast milk. Infant formulas also may contain excessive levels of metals, including aluminum, manganese, cadmium and lead. Soy formulas are a particular concern due to very high levels of plant-derived estrogens (phytoestrogens) in soy products. In fact, the concentrations of phytoestrogens detected in the blood of infants fed soy formula were 13,000 to 22,000 times greater than the concentrations of natural estrogens.<<
http://www.nrdc.org/breastmilk/formula.asp
>>our goal should be higher than "not as dangerous as formula"....<<
Yes, that quote from Sandra is worth repeating.
Here are some other tidbits I came up with as I veered off topic, in case anyone is interested:
>>The biggest impact of pollutants occurs prenatally when the fetus is
passing through critical stages of development...
Is the presence of these chemical residues in breastmilk a reason
not to breastfeed?
No. Exposure before and during pregnancy is a greater risk to the fetus....Breastfeeding can help limit the damage caused by fetal exposure.<<
http://www.thegreenguide.com/doc/109/breastfeed
>>breast-feeding may help counteract the effects of chemical exposure to fetuses, which is thought to be significantly more risky than exposure through breast-feeding.<<
http://www.webmd.com/content/Article/87/99614.htm
>>Keep in mind that all foreign compounds that appear in your blood also appear in your breast milk. Yet toxin exposure is less critical during breastfeeding than it is during pregnancy, especially during the first trimester.<<
Of course, this 1995 article states the opposite. What's a debate without some controversy?
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1594/is_n6_v6/ai_17847923/pg_1
>>Because these chemicals are fat-soluble, they concentrate in fatty breast milk. Infants take in more synthetic hormones while nursing than at any other time in their lives.
"The dose they get postnatally is much greater than the prenatal dose," said Joseph Jacobson, a psychology professor at Wayne State University in Detroit.<<
One of these days, I'm going to figure out how to change colors and fonts in my posts so that they are easier to read...
I'll have to go back and look at that contradictory article.
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Beautiful siggy, Fio! Kudos to Colleen, who is still waiting for photos from me...okay okay, they're being uploaded as I type this.
Sorry, I'm trying to catch up after a very full weekend :)
<the wrong EVERYTHING) is causing the differences in outcomes.>>
If formula had the wrong EVERYTHING, my DD wouldn't be alive ;(
She has a Brita filter on her tap, and a pitcher with a filter as well. She fills the pitcher with water that has already been filtered on the tap. That way it has been filtered twice. I don't know how much difference it *actually* makes, but we figure it can't hurt!
This is what we do, as well!
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