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One of the most misguided and damaging pieces of advice coming from the vast majority of “experts” is to give rice cereal as a baby first food around the age of 4-6 months. This advice is extremely harmful to the long term health of the child, contributing greatly to the epidemic of fat toddlers and the exploding problem of childhood obesity.
Rice cereal is never a healthy baby first food. Not only is it an extremely high glycemic food when eaten alone (spikes the blood sugar) but it also contains ample amounts of double sugar (disaccharide) molecules, which are extremely hard for such an immature digestive system to digest. The small intestine of a baby mostly produces only one carbohydrate enzyme, lactase, for digestion of the lactose in milk. It produces little to no amylase, the enzyme needed for grain digestion until around age one.
Now, at least one governmental body is waking up to the harmful notion of cereal grains as the “ideal” baby first food.
Health Canada Recommends Traditional First Foods
Health Canada in collaboration with the Canadian Pediatric Society, Dietitians of Canada and Breastfeeding Committee for Canada has issued new guidelines for transitioning a baby to solid food and two of the first weaning foods recommended?
Meat and eggs!
While these guidelines are certain to rile vegetarian and vegan groups, the fact is that meat and eggs are indeed the best weaning foods for a baby. Not only are these animal foods extremely easy to digest compared with cereal grains, but they also supply iron right at the time when a baby’s iron stores from birth start to run low.
The inclusion of meat in these baby first food guidelines is in line with the wisdom of Ancestral Cultures which frequently utilized animal foods for weaning. A traditional first food in African cultures is actually raw liver which the mother would pre-chew in small amounts and then feed to her child.
The guidelines specifically note the role that ancient wisdom played in the decision to no longer recommend cereal grains and instead suggest meat:
While meat and fish are traditional first foods for some Aboriginal groups, the common practice in North America has been to introduce infant cereal, vegetables, and fruit as first complementary foods.
Soft boiled egg yolks are also an ideal choice as a baby first food as they supply ample iron as well as choline and arachidonic acid which are both critical for optimal development of the baby’s brain which grows as its most rapid rate the first year of life.
Unfortunately, while the suggestion of meat and eggs is a good one, the joint statement from Health Canada also inexplicably includes tofu and legumes which are both a terrible choice as a baby first food.
The starch in legumes would cause the same digestive problems as rice cereal and the endocrine-disrupting isoflavones in tofu would be a disaster for baby’s delicate and developing hormonal system.
But, let’s give credit where credit is due.At least meat and eggs are appropriately included on the baby first food list.
Good on you Health Canada! Perhaps your neighbor country to the South will wake up and get a clue about how to properly feed babies based on your lead.
I’m not holding my breath.
Reference
Meat, tofu among recommended iron rich foods for Canadian babies
This might not be perfect, but it’s a great start and I’m glad to see the Canadian government doing something right. The dietary habits of future Canadian adults might be off on a better foot now.
Sarah, I am glad you talked about rice as baby first food. Given what we know about arsenic in rice, it isn’t a great idea for any children to get any rice based products until this whole mess is straighten out.
I started a petition over on change org to warn parents about the dangers of arsenic in rice.
I wish some of you ladies lived in my area of the country and could help me to educate young mom’s about first foods for babies. I have been providing infant day care for eight years, and before that I provided all-age day care, and I can assure you I have trouble trying to un-do the damage the pediatricians have done, insofar as first foods, vaccinations and breastfeeding vs formula. It’s astounding how really uninformed most of these people are, and the sad part is – – – they don’t want to learn anything new and they think I’m off my nut when I suggest no rice cereal (only oatmeal if they think they must give a baby cereal) and they REALLY think I’m in left field when I suggest soft egg yolks or mashed avocado, both with a little butter and sea salt; but they think I’m from the moon when I suggest pureed meats. They are just in horror and all of them say to me “I’ll talk to my doctor about it”. Well, I know right then that I’ve lost them.
I really don’t know how to turn it around but in all my years of providing care I think I’ve maybe had three successes in getting people to at least look into it or give these foods a try. The only food some will even consider trying without asking their doctor is yogurt, but then they go to the grocery store and buy Yoplait that’s loaded with sugar and has absolutely NO fat in it, even though I explain to them NOT to do that. I’ve printed out articles to send home, but I think they use them to line the birdcages or something because they surely don’t read it or pay much attention. They listen and politely nod their heads while I’m talking to them, but you can see the disengagement and the lack of interest, and the continue to stuff their babies with cereals and then they wonder why their babies are constipated about 90% of the time.
It’s very frustrating but I do keep trying.
*** I should add, all together I’ve been providing day care for a total of 23 years, and my own children are 37, 35 and 25. So it’s not like I have no experience with feeding these types of food. My kids grew up on real food because I learned all about this from my two gramma’s and my lovely mother and mother-in-law. They were all a bunch of very smart cookies!
The other thing too…these will be the same mom’s that are later on loading their children up with fast food too…
D – It’s sad really. I have many friends who are still going by whatever their doctor says (which is funny because every doctor seems to have a different opinion anyway and most are just concerned with the pharmacuetical industry so they can make money). My first food for my 5 month old was avocado and he absolutely loved it! We haven’t done any meats or soft yolks yet, but I will be once we have gone through all of the first fruits and vegetables. I’ve given him oatmeal twice, but I knew from the start I did not want to give him rice. My MIL and other family members kept telling me to give rice, or put rice in the bottle, etc. etc. I kept my ground and said no. I make all of his food myself.
Keep trying – many of the younger mothers seem to be becoming more open minded about things – well at least they are in my area anyway…
and what about giving quinoa to an infant? Should it be soaked? when to introduce it?
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for the post. Could you say something about when to give an infant who is not on breast milk soaked oats. When and how to introduce other grains?
The answer is never. Grains are only appropriate if starvation is the alternative.
My grandma’s “going home from the hospital’ directions for my mom were to feed pureed meat at 2 weeks!!!! (She’s a vegetarian now. Coincidence?) She thinks I’m a weirdo for giving my baby broth and meat before 1 year. I guess the vegetarian ‘instinct’ didn’t pass to me.
This is a great article! I will share it on my blog for parents about the motor milestones. Recently they found high levels of arsenic in rice in the US as well. Another reason to avoid feeding it to baby.
One of the few things I remember from high school bio is that amylace is primarily present in saliva (and the pancrease too). The only real evidence presented in this article is the second small paragraph referring to the lack of amylace in the small intestine as proof. Knowing that amylace is present elsewhere, this doesn’t make a good argument to me, plus, I’d like to see how the spike in blood sugar from cereal compares to breast milk. …in short, where is the science??
(on a side note, how could the detoxifying organ, liver, be good to feed to your baby!?)
@ Kate: It’s not amylace it’s amylase, and there are two types alpha and beta. Look them up and study them.
Lots of people eat liver so why shouldn’t it be given to a baby? Science??? Why would you trust science? Trust your instincts and watch the development of your baby for the science. If it was damaging to babies to feed these foods, do you think others would have been doing it for centuries? I’d rather see people feed their kids liver than formula any day of the week.
As to your question about breastmilk – – well, it shows your lack of education in food matters and the human body, too.
D – enjoying your posts! Science has been so corrupted by big business, the only reliable info now is what your grandmother said. And when people cite the AMA and CDC, I have to stop from laughing…..
The spike in blood sugar from cereal is because it is a simple carbohydrate. It is not a complex carb. Complex carbs are broken down into simple carbs which take longer to digest and therefore keep your blood glucose levels at an even keel. Are you serious in wondering how it compares to breast milk? Though breast milk is sweet, it has far more nutrients than cereal could ever have. Naturally occuring nutrients and antibodies too, not fortified crap.
Liver, though a detoxifying organ, is high in iron. It also filters the blood, those toxins leave the body.
Liver is one of the world’s great superfoods. Check out this baby who is thriving on natural baby formula that includes liver, and he loved it from the start! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54OGGE6zdXk