rpautrey2
2009-07-12 16:52:07 UTC
http://healthychild.org/blog/comments/the_benefits_of_breast_milk_outweigh_any_risks1/
Blog
The Benefits of Breast Milk Outweigh Any Risks
Sandra Steingraber, Ph.D. Healthy Child Advisory Board Member,
Biologist, Author and Mother
Having Faith: An Ecologist’s Journey to Motherhood
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
ShareThis.One of the most important decisions you'll make as a new
parent is how you will feed your baby.
Stories in the media about the chemical contamination of human milk
have made many mothers wonder if bottle-feeding might be an equally
healthy alternative to breastfeeding. It is not.
The choice is very clear: Your own breast milk is, hands down, the
best food for your baby - far better than its inferior pretender
infant formula. This is the conclusion I reached after more than two
years of studying the data on the chemical contamination of breast
milk. It's why I nursed Faith for more than two years.
Let's first look at the benefits breast milk offers your baby. And
then we'll examine the contamination issue.
Breast milk is not just food. It is also medicine. It swarms with
antibodies and white blood cells drawn from your own body. By drinking
it, your infant comes to share your immune system.
And benefits mightily from it. Breastfed infants:
have lower rates of hospitalization and death;
develop fewer respiratory infections, gastrointestinal infections,
urinary tract infections, ear infections, and meningitis;
succumb less often to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome; and,
produce more antibodies in response to immunizations.
Studies also consistently show that children who were breastfed as
infants:
suffer less from allergies, asthma, diabetes, colitis, and rheumatoid
arthritis;
have higher I.Q. scores; and
are less likely to develop obesity and cancer.
Breast milk even contains special substances that help guide the
development of the brain after birth.
And breastfeeding protects your own health. You will:
bleed less after childbirth;
lose less blood during the chaotic days of early motherhood, because
breastfeeding suppresses menstruation;
be at lower risk for hip fracture after menopause; and
have lower rates of ovarian and breast cancer.
And there are practical benefits, too. Breastfeeding can be done one-
handed. (Indeed, I'm nursing my son as I'm writing these words.)
Bottle-feeding, which takes two hands, makes multi-tasking impossible.
Breast milk is so digestible that comparatively little comes out the
other end. Less poop. And it has no offensive odor. Really.
On the other hand, the chemical contamination of breast milk is not a
trivial issue. When it comes to persistent organic pollutants, breast
milk is the most contaminated of all human foods. It typically carries
concentrations of organochlorine pollutants, such as dioxin, PCBs and
DDT, that are ten to twenty times higher than those in cow's milk. And
children who were breastfed as babies have higher levels of chemical
contaminants in their bodies than those who were formula-fed.
(Remember, in spite of this fact, breastfed children are healthier,
less prone to cancer, and smarter.)
Breast milk is particularly vulnerable to chemical contamination
because it exists one rung higher on the human food chain than the
food that we adults eat. For chemicals that magnify as they move up
the food chain - and the most serious toxins do - our breasts offer
the poisons one more chance to concentrate.
DDT and PCBs remain the most widespread contaminants in human milk
around the world. Other common contaminants of mother's milk include
ingredients of flame retardants, pesticides, wood preservatives,
toilet deodorizers, and dry-cleaning fluids.
Take these steps to provide your baby with the best nutrition
possible:
1.Breastfeed. Your milk is unsubstitutable. Your baby needs it and
will thrive on it. Indeed some researchers believe that breast milk
can actually help "rescue" the baby from certain kinds of prenatal
toxic damage. The healing powers of breast milk are unsurpassed.
2.Continue to avoid home and garden pesticides after your pregnancy.
These chemicals can easily find their way into your milk through
breathing and skin contact. For information on alternatives to
pesticides, see Pest Control Without Pesticides.
3.Eat healthy by choosing a low-contaminant diet. While most chemical
contaminants in breast milk are drawn from fat reserves that have been
laid down over the mother's lifetime, you can at least reduce your
current daily intake of harmful chemicals by:
eating organic when possible. See Why Go Organic and Ten Fruits and
Vegetables to Buy Organic.
watch your fish consumption. The U.S Food and Drug Administration
advises nursing women to avoid eating shark, swordfish, king mackerel
and tilefish. But, the Environmental Working Group and the U.S. Public
Interest Research Group recommend greater caution, suggesting that
nursing mothers avoid tuna steaks, sea bass, oysters from the Gulf
Coast, marlin, halibut, pike, walleye, white croaker and largemouth
bass.
4.Continue to avoid dry-cleaning fumes and other solvents from paints
and finishes, glues and other building products.
5.Support efforts to phase out any and all toxic chemicals that
accumulate in mother's milk. To help, contact World Alliance on
Breastfeeding Action.
Enjoy these days as a soon-to-be lactating mother. You are in full
bloom.
Other Resources:
Making Our Milk Safe (MOMS)
Healthy Milk, Healthy Baby: Chemical Pollution and Mother's Milk on
Natural Resources Defense Council website.
American Academy of Pediatrician's Policy Statement on Breastfeeding
Blog
The Benefits of Breast Milk Outweigh Any Risks
Sandra Steingraber, Ph.D. Healthy Child Advisory Board Member,
Biologist, Author and Mother
Having Faith: An Ecologist’s Journey to Motherhood
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
ShareThis.One of the most important decisions you'll make as a new
parent is how you will feed your baby.
Stories in the media about the chemical contamination of human milk
have made many mothers wonder if bottle-feeding might be an equally
healthy alternative to breastfeeding. It is not.
The choice is very clear: Your own breast milk is, hands down, the
best food for your baby - far better than its inferior pretender
infant formula. This is the conclusion I reached after more than two
years of studying the data on the chemical contamination of breast
milk. It's why I nursed Faith for more than two years.
Let's first look at the benefits breast milk offers your baby. And
then we'll examine the contamination issue.
Breast milk is not just food. It is also medicine. It swarms with
antibodies and white blood cells drawn from your own body. By drinking
it, your infant comes to share your immune system.
And benefits mightily from it. Breastfed infants:
have lower rates of hospitalization and death;
develop fewer respiratory infections, gastrointestinal infections,
urinary tract infections, ear infections, and meningitis;
succumb less often to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome; and,
produce more antibodies in response to immunizations.
Studies also consistently show that children who were breastfed as
infants:
suffer less from allergies, asthma, diabetes, colitis, and rheumatoid
arthritis;
have higher I.Q. scores; and
are less likely to develop obesity and cancer.
Breast milk even contains special substances that help guide the
development of the brain after birth.
And breastfeeding protects your own health. You will:
bleed less after childbirth;
lose less blood during the chaotic days of early motherhood, because
breastfeeding suppresses menstruation;
be at lower risk for hip fracture after menopause; and
have lower rates of ovarian and breast cancer.
And there are practical benefits, too. Breastfeeding can be done one-
handed. (Indeed, I'm nursing my son as I'm writing these words.)
Bottle-feeding, which takes two hands, makes multi-tasking impossible.
Breast milk is so digestible that comparatively little comes out the
other end. Less poop. And it has no offensive odor. Really.
On the other hand, the chemical contamination of breast milk is not a
trivial issue. When it comes to persistent organic pollutants, breast
milk is the most contaminated of all human foods. It typically carries
concentrations of organochlorine pollutants, such as dioxin, PCBs and
DDT, that are ten to twenty times higher than those in cow's milk. And
children who were breastfed as babies have higher levels of chemical
contaminants in their bodies than those who were formula-fed.
(Remember, in spite of this fact, breastfed children are healthier,
less prone to cancer, and smarter.)
Breast milk is particularly vulnerable to chemical contamination
because it exists one rung higher on the human food chain than the
food that we adults eat. For chemicals that magnify as they move up
the food chain - and the most serious toxins do - our breasts offer
the poisons one more chance to concentrate.
DDT and PCBs remain the most widespread contaminants in human milk
around the world. Other common contaminants of mother's milk include
ingredients of flame retardants, pesticides, wood preservatives,
toilet deodorizers, and dry-cleaning fluids.
Take these steps to provide your baby with the best nutrition
possible:
1.Breastfeed. Your milk is unsubstitutable. Your baby needs it and
will thrive on it. Indeed some researchers believe that breast milk
can actually help "rescue" the baby from certain kinds of prenatal
toxic damage. The healing powers of breast milk are unsurpassed.
2.Continue to avoid home and garden pesticides after your pregnancy.
These chemicals can easily find their way into your milk through
breathing and skin contact. For information on alternatives to
pesticides, see Pest Control Without Pesticides.
3.Eat healthy by choosing a low-contaminant diet. While most chemical
contaminants in breast milk are drawn from fat reserves that have been
laid down over the mother's lifetime, you can at least reduce your
current daily intake of harmful chemicals by:
eating organic when possible. See Why Go Organic and Ten Fruits and
Vegetables to Buy Organic.
watch your fish consumption. The U.S Food and Drug Administration
advises nursing women to avoid eating shark, swordfish, king mackerel
and tilefish. But, the Environmental Working Group and the U.S. Public
Interest Research Group recommend greater caution, suggesting that
nursing mothers avoid tuna steaks, sea bass, oysters from the Gulf
Coast, marlin, halibut, pike, walleye, white croaker and largemouth
bass.
4.Continue to avoid dry-cleaning fumes and other solvents from paints
and finishes, glues and other building products.
5.Support efforts to phase out any and all toxic chemicals that
accumulate in mother's milk. To help, contact World Alliance on
Breastfeeding Action.
Enjoy these days as a soon-to-be lactating mother. You are in full
bloom.
Other Resources:
Making Our Milk Safe (MOMS)
Healthy Milk, Healthy Baby: Chemical Pollution and Mother's Milk on
Natural Resources Defense Council website.
American Academy of Pediatrician's Policy Statement on Breastfeeding