Dr Bob the Health Builder

Dr Bob the Health Builder

Weekly E-Zine for Wealthy Healthy Wise

Vignettes to make Life Better and More Prosperous

Most of you know that I am an optometrist and very concerned with eye disease which can be prevented. I am particularly interested in preventing cataracts and I will be writing a book regarding this subject – if I ever get the time away from the office.

The following article really got my attention and I wanted to share it with you. The information was obtained from Mike Adams at www.newstarget.com

Mike has some really good ideas but he supports soy beans and is not aware our foods are devoid of trace minerals.

(NewsTarget) Babies who are breast-fed have significantly better vision as young children than babies fed from formula, according to a study published in the January issue of American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Researchers in the United Kingdom followed 262 children from birth until four to six years of age. Seventy-eight of the children were breast-fed, while 184 were formula-fed.

Because scientists have previously hypothesized that chemical known as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) — found in higher concentrations in breast milk than in formula — enhances the vision of developing children, the researchers randomly added DHA to the formulas of some of the non-breast-fed children.

DHA is an omega-3 fatty acid that is added to many brands of infant formula, which are then marketed as being "closer" to breast milk. Some studies have suggested that children who consume formulas fortified with DHA have higher cognitive function than children who drink unfortified formula. However, these studies have not compared DHA-fortified formulas to breast milk itself.

The study found that the breast-fed children were significantly more likely to score higher on tests of stereo-acuity (depth perception) than the formula-fed ones. There was no significant difference in stereo-acuity between the formula-fed children who had received the DHA supplement and those who had not.

"Breastfeeding is absolutely essential for providing healthy nutrition to newborns," said consumer health advocate Mike Adams, author of "The Seven Laws of Nutrition."

"For decades, infant formula manufacturers have tried to convince mothers their breast milk is nutritionally inferior to infant formula, but this is all just marketing propaganda designed to sell products at the expense of infant health. Breast milk always has been, and always will be, the best nutrition for infants."

Previous studies have linked consumption of infant formula to a higher risk of asthma, eczema and insulin-dependent diabetes, as well as higher rates of respiratory, intestinal, middle-ear and other bacterial infections. Breast-fed children have also been shown to have better cognitive development than their formula-fed peers.

This article is right on the “money” but there are some other things that you need to know.

I am NOT against free enterprise but sometimes it goes way beyond capitalism with integrity.

As this article explains, breast feeding is the best form of food you can give babies and formula is one of the worst things you can give an infant. Most of our corporations are so greedy they enter into third world countries and pay doctors and nurses extra money to convince new mothers that formula for infants is better than mother’s breast milk. They even give samples to the newborn infants and their mothers. When the mothers go home, they mix the formula with local water that usually contains bacteria and fecal pollutants. (I traveled to Central America on a missionary trip and observed drinking water coming out of the tap, which were full of creatures doing the back stroke in the glass.) These children become infected in their digestive systems and some die.

Many times if the infants don’t become sick, the mother runs out of money and can’t afford to buy more formula. By this time, the mother’s milk has dried-up and they can no longer feed their babies. Death generally follows because of the lack of nutrition.

I am not sure what the solution is to this problem but I think it is important that we become aware of problems which corporate greed creates. Perhaps sometime in the future, one of us will discover an idea to clean up the image of our country, when we the people are not being represented in an ethical manner.

In the mean time, tell everyone that baby formula is not healthy and will cause damage to infant eyes.

Dr Bob the Health Builder