Feeding Your Baby with Enriched Formula Milks

Posted: 28. July, 2011 Comments Off

While breastmilk is still the food of choice for a baby, formulas containing LCPs are the next best option available. If DHA-enriched milks are not given, then a formula-fed baby shows a fall in brain levels of DHA during the first 40 weeks of life outside the womb, rather than the increase that occurs with breastfed babies.

DHA levels in your baby’s brain steadily increase from around 20 weeks gestation in the womb. They are important for the fluidity of membranes at the synapses, and for fast transmission of electrical signals, so this observed fall in brain levels of babies fed unenriched formulas is likely to be non-optimal – if not detrimental – as it slows synaptic transmission of information. Researchers have stated that the structure and function of cell membranes in a baby’s cerebral cortex are likely to be extremely important during early development, and failure to maintain intakes of fatty acids similar to those provided by breastmilk may cause permanent adverse effects.

Manufacturers are now starting to enrich formula milks with LCPs for mothers who are unable or unwilling to breastfeed. Several random, double-blind prospective studies of develop¬mental quotient in healthy, full-term infants have been performed. When breastfed babies are compared with those randomly assigned to receive standard formula or LCP-enriched formula milk, psychomotor developmental assessments show that a baby’s DHA levels are directly related with his developmental advancement. No other fatty acid shows the same relationship. The results are the same when babies’ visual acuity is assessed. Researchers have concluded that, when breastmilk is not available, the use of a formula containing LCPs is the most effective way to achieve DHA levels beneficial for early brain development.

Research also shows that adding LCPs to formula milks dur¬ing the first 30 weeks significantly improves a baby’s sharpness of vision compared with babies not receiving LCP-enriched formulas. Trials are ongoing to see if enrichment also boosts intelligence. At present, it seems that breastfed babies, and those receiving formula enriched with LCPs, may have up to a 10-point IQ advantage on children not receiving LCPs during early development. Breastfeeding also confers additional advantages such as nerve growth factors, which influence brain growth and maturation.

Not surprisingly, there is considerable controversy at present concerning these findings. If a mother is unable or unwilling to breastfeed, however, she is well advised to stake her baby’s intellectual future on an enriched formula. At the worst, it can do no harm. Chances are it will provide a significant intellectual benefit.

If you decide to give your baby a formula milk, check the labels and choose one supplemented with LCPs. These are now becoming more widely available. At first, LCPs were only routinely given to premature infants (since around 1991). They were expensive and difficult to extract in a pure form, but new technology means they can be produced more cheaply. For example:

- DHA may now be extracted from vats of algae that naturally synthesize it, or from eggs
- AA is extracted from fungi that naturally produce it.

Ideally, an LCP-enriched formula should be given to term infants for at least the first 4-6 months of life after birth – until your baby can start making DHA himself in adequate quantities from other dietary essential fatty acids. After this age, continue either giving him formula enriched with LCPs or with linoleic or linolenic acids to ensure his intake of DHA building-blocks. Some milk formulas now have added nucleotides too, molecules needed for the production of new genetic material and for healthy immunity.

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