HealthBeat News

What About Soy Milk For Babies?

Written by Wellness Club on May 2, 2008 – 2:02 pm -

It is great to know that people are reading our posts, and we get some interesting questions and comments as a result.

Gary commented on our soy article to ask: “What about soy milk for babys” ?

 To which we respond:

Yikes! Soy milk for babies? I don’t think so!

Neither Dr. Myatt nor I would advocate feeding soy milk to a baby as a substitute for mothers milk for several reasons, all of which were mentioned in the article.

First, soy is estrogenic. Babies are generally pretty perfectly hormonally balanced little creatures and they are also fragile little creatures; very sensitive to hormonal imbalances in their critical growing time. Would we really want to give a baby something that could alter those delicately balanced hormones?

Next, soy can be goitrogenic, meaning it can suppress the function of the thyroid gland. As you might imagine, this is definitely not a good thing for adults, and it could be disastrous for a baby – thyroid suppression in a baby is called “Cretinism”!

Finally, soy is a challenging protein to digest at the very best of times – many adults, with their better-developed digestive systems have trouble digesting it properly and experience gas and diarrhea – in a baby this would be described as “Colic” but it is actually much more serious than that as it can result in malabsorption and serious allergy and even auto-immune problems.

There is ample evidence in medical literature that the very best nutrition for a baby comes from mothers milk – the kind that comes from mothers breast. Improved brain and intellectual development, and improved immune system function are well-documented in babies fed breast milk over those fed dairy or soy or synthetic products.

So, what about babies who cannot tolerate dairy (cows milk) based formulas? Certainly there are babies who are “allergic” to cows milk – I remember seeing those poor little souls when I worked as a floor nurse in a pediatric ward. They would come in sick, fussing, gassy, cramping, and miserable with mom complaining that “none of the baby formulas I’ve tried seem to make him happy…” (even though she had not tried the “original formula” – the milk from her own breast!) The poor little tyke would be “diagnosed” as having “a milk allergy” and then put on a soy substitute. Often things would improve briefly, as the tiny gut was no longer being assaulted by proteins that it was not really designed to have to deal with, but then things would go downhill again, as that tiny digestive system rebelled against yet another foreign protein.

I can hear the question now: “What about goat milk or sheep’s milk?” Well, many babies who are sensitive to the proteins in cows milk are cross-sensitive to the proteins in goat and sheep’s milk. Further, cows milk, goat milk, and sheep’s milk are likely to contain hormones and antibiotics, and most certainly will have been pasteurized which is very destructive to the proteins and natural enzymes of the milk.

How many kids out there have been unfairly labeled as being “allergic to everything” or “just a sickly kid” or “a failure to thrive” when they could have been healthy, robust little bundles of joy if they had been breast fed?

Nothing beats Mothers Milk for a baby!

 Print This Post
Posted in Childrens Health, Drugs and Alternatives, Family Health, Health Questions, Hormones, Nutrition and Health | Comments Off