Regarding the goat's milk formula for babies at the url posted by Donna
Hansen (http://www.smallmeasures.com/recipes/baby_formula.htm)...
The site states: "Studies show that goats milk is the closest formula to
Mother's Breast Milk. So if for some reason you are unable to breast feed,
this is the next best thing."
I'd like to see those studies, too. In conducting research for
"Breastfeeding at a Glance: Facts, Figures and Trivia about Lactation"
(which I co-wrote with Dia Michels and Naomi Bar-Yam), I found data in
these references on percent protein and percent fat in the milk of various
mammals:
Lawrence, R. and Lawrence, R. Breastfeeding: A Guide for the Medical
Profession. St. Louis, MO: Mosby Year Book, 1998
Oftedal, O. and Iverson, S. Comparative analysis of nonhuman milks. A
phylogenetic variation in the gross composition of milks. In R. Jensen, Ed.
Handbook of Milk Composition, San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 1995.
Looking just at percent protein and percent fat for a few species:
Human: 0.9% protein, 3.8% fat
Talapoin monkey: 2.1% protein, 3.0% fat
Goat: 2.9% protein, 3.0 % fat
Cow: 3.4% protein, 3.7 % fat
While goat's milk has a bit less protein than cow's milk, it still has
nearly three times what the human nursling needs. And it has less fat than
the human nursling needs. Of course, we also have to consider that the
composition of mammal milk varies. What milk are we sampling (e.g., milk
for the newborn goat, milk for the established goat nursling, milk for the
goat nursling in the process of weaning, when during the mother goat's day,
...)?
This website's recipe also calls for 1/2 cup of organic honey. The C.
Botulinum organisms have been found in honey fed to infants with botulism,
and light as well as dark corn syrup has been reported to contain spores
(American Academy of Pediatrics, 1988).
American Academy of Pediatrics: Report of the Committee on Infectious
Diseases. Elk Grove, IL, 1988, American Academy of Pediatrics.
For these and other reasons, homemade formulas made with honey and goat's
milk for human infants are a risky substitute for human milk.
Warmly,
Cynthia Good Mojab, MS Clinical Psychology
(Breastfeeding mother, advocate, independent [cross-cultural] researcher
and author; freelance writer; LLL Leader and Research Associate in the LLLI
Publications Department; and former psychotherapist currently busy
nurturing her own little one.)
Ammawell
Email: [log in to unmask]
Web site: http://msnhomepages.talkcity.com/SupportSt/ammawell
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