CTN Wellness

There’s ‘inside of’  or contents/liquid within and then there’s ‘in’ as in components of all including the plastic bottle itself. It’s truly a head knocking, disbelieving wonder that baby bottles and baby formulas are still being bought and used to feed  babies considering all the deadly ingredients being disclosed in both: (1) Bisphenol A - used to make the hard transparent polycarbonate plastic of the bottle for the formula and water bottles in case you pour water from one to the other. According to David Santillo, a scientist at the Greenpeace research laboratory in Exeter, England, “It is a hormone disruptor able to mimic and interfere with hormone systems in animals. Newborn babies are at a very sensitive stage of their development and the last thing you want to be doing is dosing them with a very potent hormone disruptor.” (2) Monsanto Co.’s recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST) or (rBGH)  recombinant bovine growth hormone - an artificial version of the naturally occurring bovine growth hormone which forces cows to produce 15% more milk than usual. Regarding its safety, It’s rated with pesticides. Even though most cows are not treated with rBGH, you must check the label or call the companies because milk from many dairies is mixed together before being packaged and that means most milk sold in the US probably includes some containing rBGH from treated cows. rBGH was approved in 1993 by the US Department of Agriculture. ‘Organic’ milk and milk not labeled organic but ‘rBGH free’ can be found but all labels must be read. The good news is that many stores and supermarkets are now selling the hormone free milk under their own store brands with more stores coming on board: Safeway, Walmart, Sams Club…

It’s about time people’s demands are being listened to. A reversal by the US Dept. of Agriculture would be very welcome. After all, rBST/rBGH is already banned in Australia, Canada (also banned Bisphenol A in baby bottles), Europe and Japan. You know? At times, living in other countries sounds very appealing.

And let us not forget the pollution of the baby formulas. In light of the above disclosures, unfortunately, cow’s milk is the main component of the formulas along with, get this, sugar, msg, various neurotoxins (see: www.truthinlabeling.org/infantformula), acids,… You really don’t want to give any of this to your baby. And the horror of the poisoned formulas in China — all of this is more than enough to get you to research, go on line, find recipes to draw from for more organic ingredients to make your own — IF you must use a formula, that is. My personal recommendation? Breast feed. BUT, moms, you must eat consciously. Organic or best quality. No non-stick cookware (see my previous blog :Tainted Mother’s Milk?!? Scary! 9/20/08) No plastic water, juice, or tea bottles — look for glass. Really think about what you’re putting into yourselves. Plus, and this is a biggy: “Long-term, exclusive breastfeeding appears to improve children’s cognitive development,” lead researcher Michael Kramer said.

They found that children who were breastfed exclusively for the first three months of life had IQ scores an average of 5.9 points higher, when tested at the age of six, than children who had not been exclusively breastfed. Children in the breastfeeding group were also rated higher by their teachers in both academic reading and writing ability. (www.naturalnews.com/DavidGutierrez “Beast Feeding Boosts IQ of NewBorns”)

Take it from me. It’s so easy. No shlepping, no plastic, no heating, no worry, no BPA, no rBGH and the ‘no’ list goes on. Just you and the baby. And while you’re at it, get rid of the plastic pascifiers. There’s nothing wrong in observing the world without having to be ‘pacified’ for it.

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