Just a little (baby) Paleo Advice

[Jamila Bey]

Please help a sleep and time-deprived mommy out: I've looked at a bunch of Cordain stuff, but I can't quite find what I'm looking for...

My baby is about ready to start food. While my pediatrician is wonderful and hip to a bunch of diet stuff (she told hubby to knock off the diet sodas 'cause of insulin sensitivity issues and the like!) she is recommending that we begin babe on rice cereal then oatmeal then mixed grains.

And while baby's only gotten Mommy's milk to this point, I wonder if pressure cooked and pureed kale or spinach is too harsh for him?

And BTW, I've been eating a bunch of oatmeal too 'cause I notice it does up my milk production. Though I really don't need much help there, it's good to store.

I've decided that starting now I'm going to do a serious paleo diet myself, but I'm afraid of going off half-@$$ed with the little one.

[Darryl Shaw]

If you are going to use grains I think your pediatrician is right to recommend rice and oats as they are the least likely to result in allergies however while I'm no expert on babies, or anything else for that matter, I can't think of any reason why a babies version of the Paleo Diet would cause any problems or why it would be any different to the adults version apart from portion sizes being smaller and there being no nuts, seeds or honey for the first year or two. So as far as I can see the usual paleo fare of fruit and berries, vegetables, including the starchy ones, lean meat, fish and some good fats all pureed into a gum friendly mush would be fine.

[Garrett Smith]

Jamila,
Everything I've read says that breast milk alone is completely suitable for children up to a year of age--no need to start whole foods sooner just to placate the pediatrician.

Breast milk + pureed fruits/veg sounds good to me, everything the babe would need (assuming you are going to start feeding anyway). There's nothing in grains that people/babies can't get elsewhere. Also, once you start whole foods is when the diapers start getting awful, so I've heard, so I'm trying to keep Cori doing the breastmilk thing as long as possible.

[Gittit Shwartz]

It's still a long way off for your Paleobabies, I guess, but a friend of mine has a three-year-old who sucks on plain fish oil capsules as if they were candy.

[Jamila Bey]

I'm needing some BF only support now... For all my bluster and love of a good row, I'm actually not doing so well when it comes to me expressing my desire to exclusively BF for the first year...

I guess it's 'cause I can't cite chapter and verse- fear not I've got research, just a bit sleep deprived so my learning and memorization is a bit off these days. I guess it's time for a new technique in my arsenal!

I actually got it storybook easy with the boy- he nursed instantly and I've had no problems, pain, or other trauma with nursing him. Being that I work at home, it's actually simpler than anything to pick him up, feed him, and be on my way.

We'll see... He's just coming up on 5 months so I've got plenty of time. I'm just getting ready 'cause even if i delay introducing solids, the boy's gotta eat sometime.

[sarena kopciel]

Hey, there is actually a whole bunch of info here from Weston A Price foundation on feeding babies!

And yeah, I totally BFed my first (now 25 and a daddy himself) for a full year w/out anything!! But I must admit with each subsequent child I fed em earlier cause they demanded it from watching the sibs!!

If I had to do it now, and that's how I am suggesting my daughter, is solely breastmilk as long as possible to reduce allergies. Then I would think avocado, maybe orange veggies, broth of homemade chicken soup, veggies and meat from the soup, stewed, pureed fruits....

I think fish would be held off for awhile since it can be quite allergenic, eggs too....

Hope this all helps!

[Garrett Smith]

Well, since I just sent my wife an email on the same topic, I figured I'd paste most of it here.

See link: http://www.llli.org/FAQ/firstfoods.html

There is nothing in that link that says grains or beans HAVE to be introduced--in fact, notice that fruits/veggies/meats are higher in the list than beans or grains.

From Cordain's latest email newsletter update:

Gluten is a water-soluble protein found in wheat, barley, rye and oats1. It is composed of an insoluble fraction called glutenin and alcohol-soluble proteins (prolamines) called gliadin in wheat, hordein in barley, secalin in rye and avenin in oats1. It is believed that the gliadin proteins constitute the fraction in gluten responsible for celiac disease (CD)1

CD is an autoimmune disease in which immune cells (T-lymphocytes) mount an attack on the small bowel mucosa1, causing atrophy of the lining (villi) of the mucosa, where the absorption of nutrients occurs. This has profound effects throughout the body, and if left untreated, is life threatening1. People with CD need to follow a lifelong gluten-free diet2.

In the last 40 years, science has revealed that gluten may also be involved in the development of other auto-immune diseases, such as auto-immune thyroid diseases3-7, Sjögren's syndrome7-11, rheumatoid arthritis12-14, IgA nephropathy15, multiple sclerosis 15-17, psoriasis18,19 and type 1 diabetes (T1D).

Regarding T1D, it is known that this disease progresses more rapidly in rats when gluten is incorporated into their diet early in life20,21. In addition, Schmid and colleagues found that: "Diabetes onset was delayed and diabetes incidence was significantly reduced in female mice that received the wheat and barley protein-free diet throughout life".22

In humans, exposure to gluten before three months of age increases the risk for T1D23. Likewise, a gluten-free diet in subjects with a high risk for T1D led to significant improvements in their insulin response during a glucose tolerance test24.

There is a very interesting report in the medical literature about an adolescent who had abnormal blood glucose and insulin levels. The adolescent tested positive for islet cell autoantibodies (a marker of T1D development) and celiac disease (diagnosed through small bowel biopsy). After following a gluten-free diet for six months, the adolescent became islet cell autoantibody negative and presented normal glycemia and insulinemia25.

Similarly to what happens with gluten, cow's milk is also implicated in a number of auto-immune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes26-33, rheumatoid arthritis13, Crohn's disease34, multiple sclerosis35-41, Sjögren's syndrome42 and even celiac disease43

Based on this evidence, it appears that people who have an elevated risk for auto-immune diseases or already have such diseases would benefit from a gluten and dairy free diet, which is one of the characteristics of The Paleo Diet.

Does anyone else have any Paleo-friendly literature on baby's first food introductions?

[Darryl Shaw]

Garrett, this is the best I can come up with at the moment.

Infants are given their first solid food at about six months. The first foods are usually very ripe bananas or cooked sweet potato that mother offers her infant from a portion that she herself is eating. Other foods are then gradually added to the child's diet. The staple diet includes cooked foods such as sweet potatoes, taro, tapioc and plantains which are either roasted over coals or grated and baked with coconut cream; wing beans; a variety of greens; yams; recently introduced foods such as pumpkins, tomatoes, small green onions, green beans. Sea foods such as fish of many varieties and shell fish are readily available and are eaten two or three times a week. Game meats, chicken, and pork are available less often. Meals are ordinarily prepared once or twice daily, the main meal in the mid-afternoon or evening and a smaller breakfast if there are no cold foods left over. If there is no prepared food available, hungry children eat coconut, bananas, sugar cane, other available fruits such as pineapple, Malay apple, mango, or papaya, or biscuits purchased from the trade store. Children are not urged to "clean their plate." Instead, several children may eat from one dish, each child eating as much and as fast as it can in order to get its share. I have never seen a child of any age refuse food, even if it was not complaining of hunger. By the time they are four or five years old, children are allowed to consume almost everything that adults do, including areca-betel-lime mixture and tobacco. The exception is alcoholic beverages which are restricted to adult males.

http://anthropology.uwaterloo.ca/WNB/infant.htm

[Garrett Smith]

Muchas gracias, Darryl. That has been forwarded to my lovely wife.

[Ken Rich]

Our first is 7+ months now.

This article made me determined to keep him off grains.

http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.co...growth-of.html

We've started him on avocado mashed with a little sea salt which he loves. He wasn't real interested in either the squash or the sweet potato yet.

Ken