Breast Feeding Is Still Best!

Breast-feeding can save parents approximately $3000.00 per year on formula. Not only that, breast milk will help a baby to develop maximum intelligence, eyesight, and protection from disease.

As Stacy Kennedy, M.P.H., R.D., L.D.N., C.N.S.D., of Brigham and Women's Hospital notes, "One of the top manufacturers of infant formula boasts that it has been developing its products for over 70 years. Human milk has been in development for 65 million years, since the Cenozoic Age, which saw the rapid evolution of mammals. So, the oldest formula companies have been doing research and development only for .0001 percent of the time our biology has been perfecting a product all females have in their possession.

We have learned that the longer a child is breast-fed, the better he or she will do in school and the higher the child will score on IQ and other standardized tests compared to children who are formula-fed."

An extensive study on breast-feeding was recently conducted by researchers at the U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The study showed that full-term babies who were small at birth and who were exclusively fed breast milk for the first six months of their lives scored an average of 11 points higher on IQ tests at age 5, compared with similar-sized babies who were fed breast milk and formula, or breast milk and solid food.

It's also helpful to note that breast-feeding can help to ensure children won't overeat. Breast-fed babies' immune systems grow into powerful defense arsenals, equipped to protect him or her from a lifetime of exposure to infections and disease. The first human milk that a woman produces, colostrum, is jam-packed with antibodies and key protective nutrients. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends feeding only human milk to babies for the first six months of life and continuing to breast-feed for the first year.

Don't Be Fooled ~ Vaccines And Mercury

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Center for Disease Control (AAP and CDC) are now recommending that healthy infants could benefit from the influenza (flu) vaccine during the 2002-2003 season. The AAP and CDC suggest that, "Inoculating more people against the flu, a leading cause of pneumonia and death in the elderly, would reduce the rate of transmission in the entire population."

Don't be fooled! Most healthy people have mild cases of flu and few complications. Before you vaccinate your baby, you should know that flu vaccine contains thimerosal, a mercury-based preservative. Thimerosal is a biocide - that is, it kills. Mercury is number three on the list of toxic substances. The three main sources of mercury exposure in the human body are dental amalgams, fish consumption and vaccines. It is biologically possible that thimerosal (mercury) exposures could cause neuro-developmental disorders in children.

Up to 60,000 children per year suffer neuro-developmental disorders from prenatal mercury exposure.

Sprouted Grains Are In!

More nutritious and less prone to giving you allergies, sprouted grains are becoming popular in the health food industry. Indeed, sprouted grain can be found in many products, from bread to pizza crust. More people are also sprouting their grains before baking or cooking them.

Try this: soak brown rice for 24 hours before cooking in warm water. This will cause the rice to be slightly germinated. Levels of certain nutrients and phytochemicals, as well as fiber, will increase substantially. Soaking the rice softens the outer bran layer, making the rice easier to cook and sweeter. Soaking won't improve white rice - it has already been altered and won't sprout.