Halle and a number of other Lactnetters have asked my permission to use
yesterday's post about Lipil and the addition of the long chain
polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) to formula. You may certainly use the
post to help parents and health care professionals understand the nature of
what we are dealing with and how they are being used by formula companies to
make a profit. I keep finding more and more frightening things about
tinkering with formula. For example, animal studies have begun to show that
when these fatty acids are added to the diet and incorporated into plasma and
tissue lipids it increases the susceptibility of membranes to lipid
peroxidation and disrupts the antioxidant system. Breast milk is full of
antioxidants that protect cells from the damaging effects of oxygen radicals
(highly reactive chemicals). These oxygen radicals play a part in provoking
diseases such as atherosclerosis, some forms of cancer, and a host of other
diseases and conditions. (Song JH, et al. Polyunsaturated (n-3) fatty acids
susceptible to peroxidation are increased in plasma and tissue lipids of rats
fed docosahexaenoic acid-containing oils. J Nutrition 2000; 130:3028-3033).

How can we know if formulas such as Lipil, Similac Advance, all the store
brand formulas from Wyeth, the soy formulas, etc will or will not increase
the susceptibility of infants fed these concoctions to the host of diseases
and conditions that are already at epidemic levels. Will this diet simply
exacerbate an already sad state of affairs, putting formula-fed babies at an
even higher risk for poor health outcomes? The clinical trials of the
supplemented formulas did not last longer than 12-18 months. We know nothing
of what happens to people in the long term who consume only these formulas
during infancy.

Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC
Weston, MA

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