I've been trying to stay away from this thread, but I can't any longer... You'll be able to tell how strongly I feel about this in a second.
All milks (rice, almond, goat, soy, coconut, etc) other than human milk are not appropriate for feeding an infant. If a mom won't/can't use human milk the only real choice is commercial formula. It is obviously far inferior to human milk and has lots of side effects and risks, but at least they feed a child adequately enough for him/her to grow.
I often encounter naturalists/naturopaths/nutritionists and all sorts of other people saying that "x" is closest in composition to breastmilk. Well, they are not, and even if the were, IT DOESN'T MATTER. The nutritional breakdown of a product (or combination of products) may look a lot like breastmilk (although they never do) and it will still be nutritionally inadequate for an infant. That is because of bioavailability. Breastmilk is the perfect food for digestibility and absorption, all other products are not digested or absorbed as well. Formula companies (as bad as they are) have done the research and account for this in formulating their products. They have to. That is one of the reasons why the protein and many other ingredients are so much higher than in breastmilk. So, until someone does the research to show that the bioavailability (digestion and absorption) of a product is like breastmilk to the infant gut, feeding that to a baby instead of breastmilk is both dangerous and negligent.
I have seen many babies admitted to the hospital with all sorts of metabolic/nutritional problems as a result of feeding them these "milks". If anyone knows how to hold these people accoutable for their "advice", I'd love to hear it.
Have a good day,
Daniela
Daniela Torres Marco MS, RD, IBCLCPediatric DietitianBoard Certified Lactation Consultant> Date: Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:29:33 -0500> From: [log in to unmask]> Subject: [LACTNET] almond "milk"> To: [log in to unmask]> > My standard response to mothers who are considering goat milk would apply to squashed almonds too:> > If human milk isn't available, it makes sense to go with commercial formula. The formula manufacturers, for all their flaws, are actively trying both to approximate human milk and to avoid lawsuits for having goofed on the essentials. Creating a reasonably safe approximation is their whole reason for being. > > The goat isn't trying. Neither is the almond. > > Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC Ithaca, NY USA> www.wiessinger.baka.com > > ***********************************************> > Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html> To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]> Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]> COMMANDS:> 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail> 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail> 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet> 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome>
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