I’ve been a subscriber of Dr. Mercola’s Recommendations through email. But i just got the idea now that i will blog those articles or findings or recommendations that we all can relate with. Just like now – about this soy formula not good for babies and children because of high content of manganese.
New category: Dr. Mercola Articles.
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You probably know that manganese is an essential nutrient, but were you aware that when consumed in excess, manganese becomes a potent neurotoxin?
Studies on miners and steelworkers, for example, have shown that excessive exposure to manganese can cause manganese poisoning, Parkinson’s disease, and Wilson’s disease, for example.
Manganese occurs naturally in soil and can therefore be present in groundwater to a greater or lesser degree. Hence some people who drink well water could be exposed to higher naturally-occurring levels of manganese.
But there is another source of manganese that many people are completely unaware of, which may be even more significant than groundwater, and that is soy infant formula!
Soy formula is frequently used when a baby is allergic to milk, or if the parents are somehow convinced that soy is a healthier alternative. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth, because soy formula could easily be considered one of the most DANGEROUS food products on the market…
I always recommend breast feeding, if at all possible, but if you can’t, please educate yourself about the dangers of soy formula!
This is such an important issue because so many mothers end up using formula in lieu of breast feeding or after breast feeding for a short time, not realizing just how bad most formulas are for their baby’s health, particularly soy formula.
I’ve been concerned about this for a long time, and my team has now been working on an infant formula for an entire year. We still have about another year to go, but once we’re done we should be able to offer the best commercial infant formula available in the US.
Soy Infant Formula is LOADED with Manganese!
Yes, researchers have found that soybean plants absorb manganese from the soil and concentrate it, so that its use in soy-based infant formula can result in as much as 200 times the level found in natural breast milk!
Such high concentrations can wreak havoc on your baby’s immature metabolic systems.
I rarely talk about absolutes but this is one instant where I will say: NEVER give your child soy formula. (I guess the only exception would be if there was a catastrophe and soy formula was the only food source temporarily available to keep your baby alive.)
Because just like this latest study confirms, high concentrations of manganese, such as those found in soy formula, can lead to brain damage in infants and altered behaviors in adolescents.
In the study reported by Science Daily, researchers discovered that higher concentrations of manganese in groundwater significantly lowered the IQ of the children who drank it, even though the levels were below current guidelines.
A total of 362 children, aged six to 13, living in homes with individual or public wells were examined to test cognition, motor skills and behavior.
Science Daily reports:
“The average IQ of children whose tap water was in the upper 20% of manganese concentration was 6 points below children whose water contained little or no manganese.
The analyses of the association between manganese in tap water and children’s IQ took into account various factors such as family income, maternal intelligence, maternal education, and the presence of other metals in the water.
… For co-author Donna Mergler, “This is a very marked effect; few environmental contaminants have shown such a strong correlation with intellectual ability.”
The authors state that the amount of manganese present in food showed no relationship to the children’s IQ.”
For Maximum Health Hazard, Just Add Fluoridated Water…
As if that wasn’t bad enough, there are a number of other factors that make soy formula an even more dangerous option.
One of these factors is the fact that fluoride can increase manganese absorption, so if you mix the powdered- or concentrated soy formula with fluoridated water, you’re worsening matters even further!
Fluoride and manganese interact in a number of ways through various pathways.
For example, fluorides can cause zinc deficiency which in turn can cause damage to your brain by altering your manganese levels.
This is because fluorides act as a TSH (thyroid-stimulating-hormone) analogue, and along with iodine, zinc and selenium are also controlled by TSH. And when you’re deficient in zinc, the manganese levels in your brain become altered.
Other Health Dangers of Soy Formula
Another significant issue is the estrogen in soy.
A soy-fed baby receives the equivalent of five birth control pills’ worth of estrogen every day! These babies’ isoflavone levels are typically anywhere between 13,000 to 22,000 times higher than in non-soy fed infants.
Unfermented soy is not a healthy option for anyone, but when you’re feeding soy to an infant, you’re really setting the stage for a number of health problems.
Dr. Kaayla Daniel, author of The Whole Soy Story, points out thousands of studies linking soy to malnutrition, digestive distress, immune-system breakdown, thyroid dysfunction, cognitive decline, reproductive disorders and infertility—even cancer and heart disease.
For more information about the many ways soy can damage your health – and certainly your baby’s, if you’re feeding them soy formula – please review this recent report.
It’s also worth noting that at least 91 percent of soy grown in the US is also genetically modified (GM), and this too can have serious health effects.
Not only is the soy loaded with toxic pesticide, the plants also contain genes from bacteria that produce a protein that has never been part of the human food supply. Hence, GM soy has been linked to an increase in allergies.
Disturbingly, the only published human feeding study on GM foods ever conducted verified that the gene inserted into GM soy transfers into the DNA of our gut bacteria and continues to function. This means that years after you stop eating GM soy, you may still have a potentially allergenic protein continuously being produced in your intestines.
Even more frightening is the potential for GM soy to cause infertility in future generations, which has been evidenced by recent Russian research.
Soy-based formula also typically includes cornstarch, cornstarch hydrolysate (remember, any corn derivatives are also suspect of being GM), tapioca starch, or sucrose instead of lactose.
(Did you know that many infant formulas actually have MORE sugar than a can of soda? Do you really feel comfortable giving your precious newborn a can of soda for EVERY meal? If not, then it would sure seem best to avoid them ALL like the plague.)
All these things considered, it’s truly shocking that soy formula is even allowed on the market.
