Before an infant is born it lives on the mother’s blood, which circulates through the fetus. Upon birth it lives on mother’s milk. An infant is given its start solely through the mother. The vital beginning for bones, organs and glands lies in the health of the mother during and after pregnancy as well as many years before conception. If the mother pursued such adverse habits as drug use before birth, has other health conditions that might prevent advantageous nursing, or if the mother is disturbed by family situations, is miserable and unhappy, or is plagued by problems (this will have an effect on her milk), it might be advisable to review the alternatives listed below.

FACTS

The average age of weaning in the U.S. is three months. However, the average age for weaning worldwide is 4.2 years. The World Health Organization states that babies should be breastfed for at least two years, which is the average age for the immune system’s maturation. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding for a minimum of one year.

Many people feel that once a baby is eating a well-rounded diet of solid food, there is no reason to continue nursing. However, there certainly are benefits to breastfeeding past this point.

NUTRITION

Breastmilk is the most nutritionally dense food available to a growing child. Studies have shown that breastfed children over a year old take in significantly more energy and nutrients than non-nursers. Studies have also shown that children who are breast-fed have higher IQ’s. Mother’s milk can provide as much as a third of a toddler’s calorie and protein needs, and the majority of a child’s vitamin A, vitamin C, and iron. Toddlers are notoriously picky eaters, and it can be difficult to ensure they are getting enough high-quality nutrients.

IMMUNITY

The disease-protective factors in breastmilk do not diminish over time; in fact, they become more concentrated as the child matures. This is nature’s way of protecting the older child who is increasingly more mobile and thus exposed to more sources of infection. Studies show that many of the immune-protecting benefits of long-term breastfeeding may be life long. Nursing children are continuously protected day-to-day from the antibodies in their mother’s milk.

EMOTIONAL BONDING

Nursing releases strong mothering hormones that deepen the bond between mother and child. Nursing provides physical contact for the toddler, who is now very active, and provides a powerful means of comfort to a sick or hurt child.

MOTHER’S BENEFITS

A woman’s risk of breast and ovarian cancer as well as osteoporosis decreases proportionally the longer she breastfeeds.

FURTHER TOPICS

• CALMING FEARS OF LONG-TERM NURSING
• SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES: THE ILL MOTHER AND/OR THE ILL CHILD
• DRUGS AND BREASTFEEDING

ALTERNATIVES TO BREASTFEEDING

GOAT MILK

Goat milk is the best food for a baby. It compares in chemical balance to a mother’s milk, and nature built mother’s milk to nurture, not to harm. Milk balance is necessary for bone structure, glandular balance, good teeth, and strong, developed jaws. As a tonic for growing children it is unexcelled in its power to resist disease. Goat milk works its wonders through cleansing and rebuilding abilities.

Diseases are developed in today’s youth by current milk treatment. I believe a good deal of infantile paralysis is due to the free use of pasteurized milk. NO PASTEURIZED MILK HAS THE SAME VITAL QUALITIES AS RAW GOAT MILK. Pasteurized milk is constipating. Calves fed pasteurized milk have died within a month. Never use pasteurized or homogenized milk if health is your goal.

Let’s compare goat milk with cow milk: Goat milk is a far better emulsion than cow’s milk; the oil globules of goat milk are one-fifth the size of cow’s milk; the reaction of goat milk is alkaline (the same as mother’s milk), whereas cow milk gives an acid reaction; the curd in goat milk is small and flocculent, hence easily digested and assimilated, while cow milk has large dense curd that is largely indigestible and causes an excess of catarrh and constipation; the goat is a browser fond of herbs and barks (as opposed to a cow, which is a grazer), and thus its milk is high in silicon—silicon is the enemy of tuberculosis, which is never found among goats or goat milk but flourishes among cows; goat milk is naturally homogenized, but in our attempt to duplicate this process in cow milk something went wrong; and, finally, The Journal of the American Medical Association, the official organization of 100,000 physicians in the U.S., under the heading “Dietetics and Hygiene” says: “The goat is the healthiest domestic animal known. Goat milk is superior in every way to cow’s milk. Goat milk is the ideal food for babies, convalescents and invalids, especially those with weakened digestive powers. Goat milk is the most healthful and complete food known.”

Why is goat milk the best tonic available? Because of the properties and percentage composition of Goat Milk (see chart). Such a composition makes goat milk an almost perfect food for man, containing all 16 vital elements and in quantities closely paralleling that of the human body.

Goats are the flourin animals, and the flourin content of the milk is high. Flourin, known as the “anti-resistant” element, is successful in clearing catarrhal (toxic mucous) conditions that have settled in the body. It is reconstructive, healing, and curative due to the element balance and overall composition. It acts as a cement, giving hardness to teeth and bones. Flourin also enters into the skin composition, nails, hair, arterial walls, and solid membranes. It is necessary to spleen function. It is antiseptic and combats anything that threatens the integrity of the bones, nails or membranes. Oxygen is powerless against flourin-fortified teeth. However, flourin is volatile and unstable; heat destroys it. Pasteurized milk causes tooth decay for that reason.

It is high in choline, known as the “great cleanser” of the body, whose germicidal properties heal wounds and injuries, benefit the bloodstream, and aid heart function. Choline helps purify the cells by eliminating decomposed water and impurities, preventing hydrosis and dropsical conditions.

Sulphur enters nearly all body protein and thus is essential for general well-being. It cools the brain.

Zinc found in goat milk attacks respiratory disorders, helps prevent cardiac abnormalities, epilepsy, neuralgia, and gastralgia.

Sodium, known as the “youth” element, is the star in goat milk. It maintains body youth, limber and pliable joints, and counteracts acidosis by purifying the blood stream. Goat milk is the highest sodium food known! Sodium acts upon the stomach walls and intestinal tract; it is active in the blood, serous and mucous structure, throat walls, pancreas, spleen, alimentary tract, and secretory glands. It helps keep blood fibrin in solution and effects metabolism. Additionally, it is found in joints, bones, cartilage, liver, muscles, blood vessels and brain corpuscles.

Goat milk contains magnesium, the digestive element; thus it is easy to digest.

Goat milk contains more vitamins than any other food (see chart).

Finally, and most importantly, animal phosphorous as found in goat milk is essential to the brain. It is virtually unavailable to the vegetable kingdom. In goat milk it is highly evolved and less sublimated. It is easily assimilated. Dr. V. G. Rocine termed goat milk, “It contains mind stuff.” Goat milk cholesterol is superior for the human brain because of the higher percentage of chemical salts it has. Cholesterol is of a finer composition in goat milk and thus has a higher value for bone marrow, communication fibers in the brain, nerve structures, endolymph in ears, spinal ganglia, nerve nets, and brain cells. There is no better food to be found for our children’s wonderful thought machine.

Many babies suffer from lactic acid indigestion, diarrhea, vomiting and colic. Often they are overfed, or overfed formula with sugars that have fermented in their systems. Goat milk helps the baby’s disposition, especially if the mother is nervous, fussy, angry or stressed. The goat is a serene creature not subject to fear, hysteria, disappointments, nervousness, overeating, neurosis or jealousy.

FURTHER TOPICS

• GOAT MILK PRODUCTS FOR HEALING
• SOY, SEED AND NUT BUTTER MILKS
• DANGERS OF FORMULA

SOLID FOODS

FURTHER TOPICS

• CREATING AN ACID-ALKALINE BALANCE
• FOOD IS FOR HEALING
• FOODS THAT HARM
• RECIPES, AND PROTOCOL FOR THE DOWN CHILD
• SUPPLEMENTATION
• MYTHS OF VITAMINS

The post Nutritional Protocol for Infants – Ages 0 to 2 years appeared first on NACD International | The National Association for Child Development.

There has been a lot of interest lately in many nutritional therapies reportedly of benefit to people with Down syndrome. Some of these therapies are relatively new and others have been around for awhile. Some of the more widely talked about supplements are Nutrivene D, MSB, and HAP Caps. Some of these therapies have been combined with Piracetam or thyroid medications. Historically, the interest in nutritional supplementation has come and gone and now come again.

The proponents claim the supplements will improve behavior, learning and even appearance. They claim there are known deficiencies in people with Down syndrome and these deficiencies can be demonstrated by laboratory tests. There is no evidence to show these therapies are beneficial. There are some studies, for example, that show zinc levels are low and that replacing the zinc has a beneficial effect. The studies are in Italian, however, and so I cannot comment on their quality. So far, I have not found any zinc deficiencies in patients I have tested. On the other hand, there is a recent study that shows that the amino acid levels in the blood of people with Down syndrome are not deficient. There was also a study supported by NADS, a parent organization of the Chicago area, that showed no benefit of supplementation with a special vitamin formula that is similar to the present-day HAP caps of Dr. Warner. What the study did show is there does seem to be improvement both with the vitamin formula as well as with the placebo. This suggests that our expectations of the outcome of therapy affects the results. Furthermore, learning and developmental progress are stepwise processes and don’t always follow a smooth curve.

Although generally the therapies are felt to be safe, there are potential side effects if very large doses are used, particularly of the fat soluble vitamins (Vitamins A, D, E, and K) as well as some minerals. For example, zinc at 20 times the typical dose has been shown to decrease the infection-fighting cells of the blood and also decreases copper levels in the blood. Chromium in large doses is linked to cancer. Beta-carotenes and anti-oxidants in improper amounts and proportions may increase cancer and heart disease.

There are many issues involved. What is true deficiency and how reliable is the testing? In some cases, the laboratories not only do the testing, but they also sell the supplements. Does a “low” level necessarily mean that the function is abnormal? What does a “high” level mean? Does supplementation correct a deficiency? Sometimes giving a substance by mouth does not always lead to a change in the blood level or the cellular level of that substance. And if you do correct the deficiency, does that have an effect upon the function of the person? The real issue is just that, does putting a supplement into the mouth cause a beneficial effect for the person? The human body is a complex organism that does not simply respond to simple biochemical measures. What happens to cells in a test tube does not always translate into what happens to the person.

My personal observations are that individuals who use supplements are not significantly different than those without supplementation. Some people have stopped the therapies because of side effects or because they noticed no difference. They can also be quite expensive for those with limited income.

This doesn’t mean that these therapies should be ignored. I think that any promising therapies should be studied. However, they should be studied in an unbiased manner and with well-designed, controlled studies that directly compare treatment with no treatment.

As a parent, a response to waiting for these studies is? “My child is here now. By the time these studies are done, it may be too late.” This is true. There is, however, no reasonably good evidence to show they are effective compared to those things that we know are available. My recommendation is to take full advantage of the things we know are effective. Love and support and raising children with Down syndrome in an environment in which they are included in family and community activities. Take advantage of good educational practices and stay involved with their schooling. Speech and language therapy, in particular, is important, since communication is a valuable tool that will allow them to learn, work and be independent. Lastly, good health care as outlined by the Guidelines for Health Care for Individuals with Down syndrome. Ensure that your child has every opportunity to learn and to be involved. If there are concerns about the adequacies of diet, a multiple vitamin is an option. If there are other concerns, dietary counseling may be useful as well.

There are a lot of claims and misinformation out there. Particularly, in an age where communication is so rapid, information spreads quickly. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Professionals, such as myself, who are members of the Down Syndrome Medical Interest Group and Directors of clinics for people with Down syndrome are here to help you and your child.

The post Alternative Therapies/Nutrition Supplements appeared first on NACD International | The National Association for Child Development.