Tag: vitamin D

The Latest COVID-19 Treatment Regimens

The latest COVID-19 treatment regimens do not include zinc, vitamin C, vitamin D, CBD oil, azithromycin, or hydroxychloroquine.

As cases surge once again, let’s do an update on COVID-19 treatment regimens, after all, you have likely been hearing about cures and treatments for months now, right?

This doc also has a daily "immune booster" regimen that has you taking zinc, aspirin, vitamin B12, vitamin D3, NAC, vitamin C, probiotics, CBD oil, and Elderberry, in addition to taking hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, budesonide, methylprednisolone, losartan, and ivermectim when you get sick with COVID-19.
This doc also has a daily “immune booster” regimen that has you taking zinc, aspirin, vitamin B12, vitamin D3, NAC, vitamin C, probiotics, CBD oil, and Elderberry, in addition to taking hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, budesonide, methylprednisolone, losartan, and ivermectim when you get sick with COVID-19.

Unfortunately, despite the “treatments” that some folks are pushing, there still isn’t a cure and there aren’t many treatments that are very effective for COVID-19.

Sure, the FDA has granted emergency use authorization (EUA) for some treatments, including monoclonal antibodies, convalescent plasma, remdesivir, bamlanivimab, baricitinib, and casirivimab and imdevimab, but many are either for patients with severe COVID-19, who are progressing to severe COVID-19, or they are in limited supply.

The Latest COVID-19 Treatment Regimens

But why wouldn’t you take over a dozen medicines if someone on the Internet tells you they read a bunch of well designed studies, he has the support of “America’s Frontline Doctors,” and he has his own statistics proving they work?

Take home point - don't trust a health care provider who says that masks and lockdowns do nothing.
Take home point – don’t trust a health care provider who says that masks and lockdowns do nothing.

Because it all quickly falls apart if you really take a close look at what he is doing.

Consider Dr. Procter’s comparison of “death rates”…

He is trying to talk about the case fatality rate, but fails to mention any of the things that would cause his practice to have lower rates than the rest of the world, especially younger patients without many co-morbid conditions who aren’t yet hospitalized.

How many of Dr. Procter's patients are over age 65?
How many of Dr. Procter’s patients are over age 65?

And the bias in his data aside, there is evidence that shows his recommended treatments don’t work.

Some are even dangerous.

“The results of an observational study suggest that delayed viral clearance may be a concern in patients with non-severe COVID-19 who are receiving corticosteroids without antiviral drugs. Corticosteroids have also been associated with delayed viral clearance and/or worse clinical outcomes in patients with other viral respiratory infections.”

Therapeutic Management of Patients with COVID-19

So you should likely avoid these medications and unless you have a vitamin deficiency (zinc and vitamin C deficiency are very uncommon in developed countries), there is likely no good reason to take extra or high doses of vitamins to try and prevent or treat COVID-19.

The latest NIH recommendations for treating COVID-19 in non-hospitalized patients.

You should certainly make sure you are getting plenty of all of these important nutrients, especially vitamin D, but understand that the kind of multi-drug COVID-19 treatment regimens you might see some doctors pushing are not proven, are not recommended, and likely won’t help you get better any faster.

And again, some are harmful!

So why do some people think they work?

“Garlic is a healthy food that may have some antimicrobial properties. However, there is no evidence from the current outbreak that eating garlic has protected people from the new coronavirus.”

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public: Mythbusters

Probably the same reason that some folks think that eating garlic works against COVID-19 – it is a highly variable disease and some people have very mild symptoms and get better quickly. If you are lucky enough to be one of these people and you tried some alternative treatment, you will likely associate your quick recovery with that treatment, even if it was just a coincidence.

“New symptoms are usually due to the virus rather than side effects of medications.”

Brian Procter, MD

And if you are really lucky when following one of these treatment regimens, you won’t suffer any side effects as you try to recover from your COVID-19 symptoms. Especially if you are being treated by a doctor who might ignore those side effects…

So what treatments can work?

  • monoclonal antibodies, but except for sotrovimab, they don’t work well against the Omicon variant
  • high-titer COVID-19 convalescent plasma, but only only for the treatment of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 early in their disease course or hospitalized patients who have impaired humoral immunity
  • paxlovid (nirmatrelvir and ritonavir) – an oral antiviral that was recently authorized and can be given twice a day for 5 days to those nonhospitalized patients who test positive for SARS-CoV-2,who are at least 12 years old with mild to moderate COVID-19 and who are at high risk of disease progression
  • remdesivir – an IV medication that can be given once a day for 3 days to those nonhospitalized patients who test positive for SARS-CoV-2,who are at least 12 years old with mild to moderate COVID-19 and who are at high risk of disease progression
  • molnupiravir – was recently authorized and can be given twice a day for 5 days to those nonhospitalized patients who test positive for SARS-CoV-2, who are at least 18 years old with mild to moderate COVID-19 and who are at high risk of disease progression
  • dexamethasone – typically only used in hospitalized patients who require oxygen

And of course, better than getting sick and relying on these treatments, you should encourage everyone to get vaccinated and boosted!

More on COVID-19 Treatment Regimens

What Are the Best Foods for Kids?

How do you choose healthy foods and snacks for kids?

What are the best foods for kids?

No, they aren’t brain foods, super foods, or clean foods…

Best Foods for Kids

Follow the My Plate guidelines to make sure your kids are eating healthy foods.
Follow the My Plate guidelines to make sure your kids are eating healthy foods.

In general,  the best foods are healthy foods packed with the nutrients that your kids need, including foods that are high in fiber, low in fat, and good sources of protein, calcium, vitamin D, and iron, etc.

And they are foods that make it easy to avoid things your kids don’t need, like trans fats and too much extra salt, added sugar and calories.

That’s why many of the best foods include things like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, and low fat milk. Eat enough of them and you won’t have to worry about giving your kids vitamins.

High Fiber Foods

Do your kids get enough fiber in their diet?

According to the latest recommendations, based on their age, the average child needs:

  • 1-3 years old – 19g fiber/day
  • 4-8 years old – 25g fiber/day
  • 9-13 years old (female) – 26g / (male) – 31g fiber/day
  • 14-18 years old (female) – 26g / (male) – 38g fiber/day

Some snack bars have up to 9g of fiber per serving!
Some snack bars have up to 9g of fiber per serving!

Is 19 or 21g of fiber a lot? What about 38g?

When you consider that a high fiber food has 5g per serving and one that is a good source of fiber only has 2.5g per serving, then it might be hard for some kids to reach recommended levels each day.

To help make sure that they do, look for:

  • high fiber foods – beans, broccoli, peas, lentils, pears, prunes, raspberries, shredded wheat cereal, spinach, whole wheat pasta, snack bars
  • foods that are good sources of fiber – air popped popcorn, nuts, apples (with the skin on), bananas, brown rice, carrots, celery, corn, figs, oatmeal, raisins, strawberries, whole wheat bread

And compare food labels, looking for foods with high amounts of fiber.

Iron-Rich Foods

Since many kid-friendly foods have plenty of iron, getting kids to eat iron-rich foods isn’t as big an issue as some parents imagine.

It can be a problem if your exclusively breastfed infant isn’t eating much baby food, your toddler or preschooler drinks too much milk and doesn’t eat much food, or when a kid on a specialized diet doesn’t eat meat or other iron-rich food (vegans and vegetarians).

Fortunately, there are plenty of iron-rich foods, even if your kids don’t eat red meat, including:

  • most types of beans
  • iron fortified bread, cereal, rice, and pasta, including those made with whole grains
  • collard greens, kale, mustard greens, spinach, and turnip greens
  • broccoli, swiss chard, asparagus, parsley, watercress, Brussels sprouts and other vegetables
  • raisins, prunes, dates, apricots and some other dried fruits
  • tofu
  • egg yolks
  • blackstrap molassses
  • nuts

Seafood and poultry are also good sources of iron.

And while the iron in non-meat sources isn’t as easily absorbed by our bodies as the iron from meat, fish, and poultry, you can boost that absorption by pairing those iron rich foods with some vitamin C, such as drinking orange juice or eating citrus fruits.

Calcium-Rich Foods

Many kids don’t drink enough milk. That’s not necessarily a problem, as some kids actually drink too much milk, but it can be if they don’t make up for it with other foods to get calcium and vitamin D in their diets.

Some brands of American singles have more vitamin D than a glass of milk!
Some brands of American singles have more vitamin D than a glass of milk!

How much calcium do kids need?

  • 700 mg a day for kids who are 1 to 3 years old
  • 1,000 mg a day for kids who are 4 to 8 years old
  • 1,300 mg a day for kids who are 9 to 18 years old

And when you consider that 1/2 cup of broccoli only has 21mg of calcium, you are probably going to want to turn to milk, cheese and yogurt and calcium fortified orange juice, cereal and bread to make sure your kids are getting enough calcium.

Other foods that are good sources of calcium include tofu, sardines, and salmon.

Foods with Vitamin D

Like calcium, good sources of vitamin D can include milk, cheese, and yogurt, but only because many of these foods are fortified. That’s why ice cream, even though it is made with milk, isn’t usually a good source of vitamin D! Neither is raw milk.

Some non-dairy foods that do contain vitamin D include:

  • fatty fish such as salmon, tuna, and mackerel (just don’t overdo it on the fish because of the risks from mercury)
  • beef liver and egg yolks
  • some mushrooms

And of course, many foods are fortified with vitamin D, including breakfast cereal and orange juice.

Are your kids getting at least 600 IU/d of vitamin D?

Protein-Rich Foods

Believe it or not, your child likely gets enough protein in their diet.

Kids should eat a variety of protein rich foods though, including lean meats, seafood, poultry, eggs, legumes (beans and peas), nuts, seeds, and soy products.

“Strategies to increase the variety of protein foods include incorporating seafood as the protein foods choice in meals twice per week in place of meat, poultry, or eggs, and using legumes or nuts and seeds in mixed dishes instead of some meat or poultry. For example, choosing a salmon steak, a tuna sandwich, bean chili, or almonds on a main-dish salad could all increase protein variety.”

2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans

For most kids, it is the variety of protein that’s the problem, not the overall amounts, as most of their protein likely comes from red meat and dairy products.

What to Know About the Best Foods for Kids

Are you worried that your kids are too picky? Are they overweight, with portion sizes that are too big?

Learn to make healthy food choices and help avoid kid-friendly junk foods, but still make sure your growing kids are getting all of the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients they need.

A registered dietician can be especially helpful in planning a healthy eating plan for your kids if you are still having trouble.

More on the Best Foods for Kids

Which Vitamins Should My Kids Take?

Are you sure that your kids need a vitamin? If so, which one should you give them?

All kids need vitamins.

So which vitamins or supplements should you give them?

“The American Academy of Pediatrics believes that healthy children receiving a normal, well-balanced diet do not need vitamin supplementation over and above the recommended dietary allowances, which includes 400 IU (International Units) of vitamin D a day in infants less than 1 year of age and 600 units/day for children over 1 year of age.”

AAP on Where We Stand: Vitamins

It depends. Most kids don’t actually need to take any extra vitamins.

Which Vitamins Should My Kids Take?

Follow the My Plate guidelines to make sure your kids are getting enough vitamins and minerals.
Follow the My Plate guidelines to make sure your kids are getting enough vitamins and minerals.

Wait, if all kids need vitamins, then why don’t you need to give them extra vitamins?

That’s easy. Most kids should get enough vitamins from the foods they eat.

Are your kids missing out on something? Then that would be a clue on which vitamins and minerals they would need to take.

Does your child have a chronic medical condition?

Are they on a special or restrictive diet?

Even if they are a little picky or don’t eat as much as you like, do they eat some foods from each food group, leading to a balanced diet by the end of the week?

In general, to see what your child might need, focus on your child’s intake of:

  • iron – can be low (anemia) in preterm babies, when infants are exclusively breastfeeding and not eating foods with iron, toddlers and preschoolers who are drinking excessive amounts of cow’s milk and not eating foods with iron, other kids who don’t eat many foods with iron, and teen girls who have heavy periods
  • vitamin D – can be low when infants are exclusively breastfeeding and don’t take a daily vitamin D supplement and older children who don’t eat or drink enough foods with vitamin D, including milk, cheese, yogurt, and orange juice
  • calcium – can be low when children don’t eat or drink enough foods with calcium, including milk, cheese, yogurt, and orange juice
  • fluoride – can be deficient when children mainly drink bottled water, soda, and juices, but since too much fluoride can lead to tooth staining, it is best to get fluoride from drinking fluoridated water – offer it daily once your child is about six months old
  • vitamin B12 and folate – can become classically low in vegans (who don’t take a supplement) and kids who drink goat milk that’s not fortified with vitamin B12 and folate
  • vitamin C – rarely low, which would cause scurvy, as most fruits and fruit juices are high in vitamin C

What other things do parents think about supplementing?

  • protein – while many parents worry that their kids aren’t getting enough protein in their diets, protein is rarely the thing that they are missing out on, as only about 20 percent of our calories need to come from protein.
  • calories – if your child is a picky eater, you might think that they aren’t getting enough calories and might think of supplementing them with a shake or two to boost their calories, but keep in mind that these typically end up replacing meals, leading kids to eat even less food and teach them to just drink their calories
  • vitamin K – typically only a problem for breastfeeding newborns who didn’t get a vitamin K shot, as vitamin K is found in many foods
  • vitamin A – since milk and many other foods are fortified with vitamin A, this is rarely a vitamin that we worry about being low. Supplements are also a concern, because too much vitamin A can be toxic.
  • potassium – few people worry about their potassium intake, but maybe they should. Most of us don’t eat enough foods with potassium.
  • magnesium – since magnesium is so easily absorbed, this is rarely a mineral that we get concerned about being low.
  • vitamin E – most kids get enough vitamin E in their diet, so a supplement probably isn’t necessary unless your child has a malabsorption problem or abetalipoproteinemia
  • iodine – most kids get enough iodine thanks to salt iodization, but extra iodine is recommended for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers
  • zinc – many foods contain zinc, so zinc deficiency is rare
  • fiber – giving kids extra fiber can be a good idea if your kids don’t eat enough high fiber foods, especially if they are having stomach issues
  • probiotics – although taking probiotics is one of the latest fads, there is little evidence that probiotics are helpful for much of anything in healthy kids
  • fish oil – another fad, there is likely no benefit to giving your kids omega 3 fatty acids

So which vitamins and supplements do your kids need?

Best Vitamins and Supplements for Kids

Once you figure out which vitamins and minerals your kids need, you have to figure out the best way to make sure they get them, understanding that the answer isn’t always going to be a gummy vitamin.

You also will likely need a different supplement if you are actually treating a deficiency vs if you are just trying to prevent your child from developing a deficiency in the first place.

So the best supplement(s) might be:

  • a multivitamin with iron – keeping in mine that gummy vitamins typically don’t contain iron, so if your main concern is that your child isn’t getting enough iron, then you should give your child an iron vitamin or a multivitamin with iron. Also low in calcium. Either liquid (infants), chewable, or tablets.
  • a multivitamin without iron – keeping in mine that in addition to not containing iron, these types of multivitamins also often don’t contain very much calcium. Often available as liquid (infants), gummies, chewables, and tablets.
  • a vitamin D supplement – was your child’s vitamin D level low or do you just think that he doesn’t get enough vitamin D in his diet? These are typically available as liquid, gummies, chewables, and tablets.
  • a calcium supplement – These are typically available as gummies, chewables, and tablets.
  • a vitamin D supplement combined with calcium – These are typically available as gummies, chewables, and tablets.
  • an iron supplement – if  your child’s iron was low, then they will likely need an iron supplement, like Feosol, Niferex, or Fer-In-Sol. Either liquid or tablets.
  • a fluoride supplement – do you live in an area where the water isn’t fluoridated? Do you use a reverse osmosis system that filters out fluoride? Usually available as a prescription only. Or you can buy ‘baby water’ with added fluoride.

Again, remember that unless your child has already been diagnosed with a deficiency, you can often work to get your kids to eat more foods with these nutrients instead of giving them an extra supplement, including vitamin fortified foods.

Look to you pediatrician and a registered dietician if you need extra help.

More on Which Vitamins Should My Kids Take

 

What’s Wrong with Homemade Baby Formula?

Stick to breastmilk or an iron fortified baby formula until your baby is at least twelve months old. There are no benefits to feeding your baby a homemade baby formula and there are certainly some risks. Those risks go up even more if you use raw goat milk or leave out key nutrients.

Once upon a time, before we had commercial baby formula, didn’t everyone make their own homemade baby formula if they couldn’t breastfeed or were separated from their baby?

Not necessarily.

Some parents hired a wet nurse and others simply fed their baby wheat containing porridge or milk from camels, cows, goats, or even pigs. Of course, wet nursing was the safest option by far.

History of Homemade Baby Formula

There were recipes for ‘baby formula’ though, which often “consisted of a liquid ingredient (milk, beer, wine, vegetable or meat stock, water), a cereal (rice, wheat or corn flour, bread) and additives (sugar, honey, herbs or spices, eggs, meat).” These recipes were missing foods with vitamin C and were later missing vitamin D, iron, and protein, as they were mixed with more water and less meat and eggs.

Before commercial baby formula was widely available, public health nurses had to sometimes teach new moms how to make their own formula.
Before commercial baby formula was widely available, public health nurses had to sometimes teach new moms how to make their own baby formula.

Fortunately, there were several major breakthroughs in the mid-nineteenth century that offered hope to babies who couldn’t breastfeed, including the invention of the rubber nipple and other feeding devices, improved methods of hygiene and later pasteurization, and the first commercial baby formula.

Many of the first baby formulas basically looked like homemade recipes, such as the Leibig formula – a powder made up of wheat flour, malt, and potassium bicarbonate that was added to diluted cow’s milk. Later, there were recipes to make baby formula from condensed and then evaporated milk (mixed with corn syrup).

And eventually, in the 1950s, we got the commercial baby formulas that we still use today.

What’s in Baby Formula

Like breastmilk, baby formula has three main components that provide the calories:

  • a sugar
  • fats
  • proteins

Different combinations of these proteins (cow’s milk vs soy), sugar (lactose vs corn syrup), and fats (vegetable oils), etc., help produce cow’s milk based, soy based, and elemental baby formulas.

And then, to make it more like breastmilk, lots of other stuff can be added to baby formula, including DHA, probiotics, and nucleotides, etc.

Enspire, the newest formula from Mead Johnson, also adds lactoferrin, Milk Fat Globule Membrane (MFGM), and prebiotics, to try and make it their “closest formula ever to breast milk.”

What’s Not in Baby Formula

Are you still confused about what’s in your baby’s formula?

While it might make you feel better to feed your baby goat milk, it won't make your baby feel any better, and could make them sick...
While it might make you feel better to feed your baby goat milk, it won’t make your baby feel any better, and could make them sick… (CC BY-ND 2.0)

It’s possible that you are just confused about what you think is in your baby’s formula?

Kristin Cavallari has written that she made her own homemade baby formula because “I would rather feed my baby these real, organic ingredients than a heavily processed store-bought formula that contains ‘glucose syrup solids,’ which is another name for corn syrup solids, maltodextrin, carrageenan, and palm oil.”

So what are glucose syrup solids and why are they in your baby’s formula?

While cow’s milk based baby formulas use lactose (glucose plus galactose) as their source of sugar, non-milk based formulas usually use use sucrose (cane sugar) and corn syrup solids (glucose).

Should you worry about cane sugar in some organic formulas?

What about the corn syrup in formula? Isn’t that bad for them?

No. These are just different types of sugar. Even maltodextrin is simply glucose polymers made from corn starch that is used as a thickening agent in baby formula and other foods.

And no, corn syrup solids don’t have anything to do with high fructose corn syrup.

Goat Milk Formula

In addition to warning about making homemade formula, pediatricians have long warned about feeding baby’s goat milk and goat milk based baby formula.

Goat milk is very high in sodium and protein, giving almost three times the amounts present in breast milk. And cross-reactivity that occurs between proteins means that babies who are sensitive or allergic to cow’s milk will likely have problems with goat milk too.

“It is recommended that formula-fed infants who are allergic to milk use an extensively hydrolyzed, casein-based formula. This type of formula contains protein that has been extensively broken down so it is different than milk protein and not as likely to cause an allergic reaction.”

FARE on Formula for Infants with a Milk Allergy

Of course, that doesn’t keep folks from pushing “false and potentially dangerous information” about what some think are benefits of goat milk for infants.

What’s Wrong with Homemade Baby Formula?

In her latest book, Kristin Cavallari, known for dangerous stance against vaccines, even offers a recipe for a goat’s milk baby formula that is made with:

  • filtered water
  • goat milk powder
  • pure organic maple syrup – provides calories from sugar
  • extra virgin olive oil – provides calories and monounsaturated fats
  • unflavored cod-liver oil – for extra vitamin D and vitamin A
  • unsulfured blackstrap molasses – for extra iron and calcium
  • coconut oil – for omega-6-fatty acids
  • probiotics

In this homemade formula, much of the sugar, protein, and fat and half of the calories comes from goat milk.

The majority of the sugar comes from the maple syrup though, which is just sucrose. Just like the sucrose from cane sugar that folks complain about in some organic formulas.

Extra fat comes from the olive oil.

What about the other ingredients?

They provide extra vitamins and minerals, including vitamin D, vitamin A, and iron.

What’s missing?

This homemade formula seems to be missing folate. Goat milk is deficient in folate and can lead to megaloblastic anemia and it is one of the main reasons babies should avoid unfortified goat milk.

And it is missing enough vitamin D to avoid vitamin D deficiency.

Cavallari’s recipe seems to add just 100IU of vitamin D to the whole 32 ounce batch (from the cod liver oil). That’s just 10IU per 100ml, about 6 times less than baby formula. Keep in mind that it is recommended that infants get at least 400IU of vitamin D each day.

Remember that formula is fortified with vitamin D and breastfeeding babies are supposed to take a vitamin D supplement. Depending on your water filter, this homemade baby formula recipe might also be missing fluoride, which infants start to need beginning at around six months.

Can You Find a Safe Homemade Baby Formula Recipe?

You probably can, especially if you use a full fat milk powder that has been pasteurized and fortified with vitamin D and folic acid and the right combination of other ingredients to get enough calories, protein, fat, sugar, and all of the essential vitamins and minerals that your baby needs to gain weight and development normally.

“FDA regulates commercially available infant formulas, which are marketed in liquid and powder forms, but does not regulate recipes for homemade formulas. Great care must be given to the decision to make infant formulas at home, and safety should be of prime concern. The potential problems associated with errors in selecting and combining the ingredients for the formula are very serious and range from severe nutritional imbalances to unsafe products that can harm infants. Because of these potentially very serious health concerns, FDA does not recommend that consumers make infant formulas at home.”

FDA Questions & Answers for Consumers Concerning Infant Formula

You will almost certainly have to give your baby a multi-vitamin each day too.

Also, you will have to make sure you are mixing all of the ingredients of your recipe correctly and safely, so that you don’t contaminate any of the batches.

But it still won’t be any better for your baby than store bought formula.

So just like skipping your RhoGAM shot, skipping your baby’s vitamin K shot and delaying or skipping vaccines, you will have some very big risks and absolutely no health benefits.

What to Know About Homemade Baby Formula

Stick to breastmilk or an iron fortified baby formula until your baby is at least twelve months old. There are no benefits to feeding your baby a homemade baby formula and there are certainly some risks. Those risks go up even more if you use raw goat milk or leave out key nutrients.

More About Homemade Baby Formula

Understanding the Risks and Benefits of Drinking Raw Milk

Drinking raw milk milks provides plenty of risks, but no real health benefits. Did you know that raw milk is low in vitamin D?

Understand the many risks of drinking raw milk and don't be fooled by propaganda, such as that 'raw milk heals.'
Understand the many risks of drinking raw milk and don’t be fooled by propaganda, such as that ‘raw milk heals.’ (CC BY 2.0)

Surprisingly, more and more people are starting to drink raw, unpasteurized cow’s milk.

Or maybe that shouldn’t be too surprising as most people associate things that are raw or natural as being safer and healthier for them, often without understand the consequences.

Unfortunately, drinking raw milk can be dangerous, especially for young children.

There are plenty of risks and no real health benefits.

Drinking Raw Milk

Just as you would have thought, is basically “straight from the cow,” and hasn’t been processed or pasteurized.

Although most experts consider pasteurization to be one of the most important health advances of the last century, some people think that it removes nutrients and kills beneficial bacteria. They also claim that raw milk can taste better than pasteurized milk, which if you believe it, is really the only possible benefit of drinking raw milk.

It’s not even a good way to avoid growth hormones in milk, as most milk is now growth hormone free anyway and is labeled rBST-free.

Is raw milk healthier than pasteurized milk? There is no research to support that raw milk is healthier or, according to the FDA, that there is a “meaningful difference between the nutrient content of pasteurized and unpasteurized milk.”

In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics states that “substantial data suggest that pasteurized milk confers equivalent health benefits compared with raw milk, without the additional risk of bacterial infections.”

Dangers of Drinking Raw Milk

According to the FDA, raw milk can be contaminated with bacteria, including:

  • Brucella species
  • Campylobacter jejuni
  • Coxiella Burnetii
  • Escherichia coli
  • Enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus aureus
  • Listeria monocytogenes
  • Mycobacterium bovis
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis
  • Salmonella species
  • Yersinia enterocolitica

These bacteria can cause people to get sick, leading to symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, fever, stomach cramps, and headaches. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that about 200 to 300 people get sick each year from drinking raw milk or eating cheese made from raw milk.

Another big danger of drinking raw milk that some people may overlook is that raw milk is very low in vitamin D. In addition to being pasteurized, processed milk that you routinely buy in a store is typically fortified with vitamin D, which is important to keep your bones strong.

Since young children are at big risk for getting sick from any bacteria that may be in raw milk and they need vitamin D, it is important that you not give your child raw, unpasteurized cow’s milk. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics states that “children should not consume unpasteurized milk or products made from unpasteurized milk, such as cheese and butter, from species including cows, sheep, and goats.”

We will have to add unpasteurized camel milk to the list, as that seems to be a thing now too.

Keep in mind that kids should also avoid unpasteurized fruit juices, including unpasteurized apple juice and apple cider.

Lastly, raw milk is about the same as whole milk in terms of fat content and calories. Experts recommend that children start drinking reduced fat milk, which has less fat and calories than whole milk, beginning at age two, you won’t be able to do that if your kids are drinking raw milk.

What To Know About Drinking Raw Milk

If you are still thinking of giving your child raw milk, keep in mind that “the AAP strongly supports the position of the FDA and other national and international associations in endorsing the consumption of only pasteurized milk and milk products for pregnant women, infants, and children.”

And remember that you are basically giving raw milk to your kids because you think it tastes better, as it certainly isn’t better for them, is missing key nutrients, and it could be contaminated with dangerous bacteria.

More Information on Drinking Raw Milk:

Preventing and Treating Vitamin D Deficiency

More people seem to be getting the message that too little vitamin D in our diets can lead to health problems. In addition to being at risk of developing rickets (extreme vitamin D deficiency), children with milder forms of vitamin D deficiency can develop weak bones and muscle weakness.

Why is vitamin D so important?

Vitamin D is a hormone that helps our bodies absorb both calcium and phosphorous, two very important minerals that help keep our bones strong.

Without enough vitamin D, we absorb 85-90% less of the calcium in our diet! And then, to keep calcium levels normal, our bodies pull more calcium out of our bones, causing osteopenia and osteoporosis.

Some experts also think that a low vitamin D level is associated with other conditions that are not linked to calcium and our bones, including some psychiatric conditions. The American Academy of Pediatrics even states that “new evidence suggests that vitamin D plays a vital role in maintaining innate immunity and has been implicated in the prevention of certain disease states including infection, autoimmune diseases (multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis), some forms of cancer (breast, ovarian, colorectal, prostate), and type 2 diabetes mellitus.”

The role of vitamin D in preventing infections, cancer, or anything else beyond preventing and treating vitamin D deficiency (extraskeletal effects) is far from proven though. In fact, a 2010 investigation by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) didn’t find any evidence to support a role for vitamin D in any other health conditions besides supporting bone health.

Surprisingly to many people, the IOM report also found that most people in North America are already getting enough calcium and vitamin D in their diet and that getting too much can be harmful. They also warned that “the number of people with vitamin D deficiency in North America may be overestimated because many laboratories appear to be using cut-points that are much higher than the committee suggests is appropriate.”

Tests for Vitamin D Deficiency

Although vitamin D testing seems to becoming part of the routine screening tests that some doctors order, it is important to keep in mind that only those at risk for having low levels should be routinely tested.

Are your kids at risk for vitamin D deficiency?

These high risk children can include:

  • exclusively breastfed infants who don’t get a vitamin D supplement
  • babies born to mothers with a vitamin D deficiency, especially premature babies
  • children with chronic kidney or liver disease
  • children with malabsorption syndromes (Crohn’s disease, inflammatory bowel disease, cystic fibrosis, etc.), as vitamin D is absorbed with fats in our diet
  • obese children, because vitamin D is stored in fat tissue and is not readily available for use
  • children with dark skin, who live at high latitudes, and/or spend a lot of time indoors (less vitamin D from sun exposure)
  • children taking certain medications, including antiseizure medications and oral steroids
  • children who simply don’t get enough vitamin D – at least 400-600 IU of vitamin D each day, depending on their age. This might include vegetarians, vegans, and children who simply don’t drink vitamin D fortified cow’s milk, soy milk, or almond milk, etc., or other foods that are high in vitamin D.

If your child falls into one or more of these risk factors for vitamin D deficiency, then talk to your pediatrician about testing his vitamin D levels.

Although different tests are available, the test that is recommended by the AAP and the Endocrine Society is the serum 25(OH)D level (25-hydroxyvitamin D). This actually measures the levels of a prehormone of vitamin D, calcifediol, but is thought to give a good idea of a person’s vitamin D status.

This vitamin D test is preferred over testing 1,25(OH)2D levels, another test that is available, as those levels can be normal or even elevated when someone has a vitamin D deficiency. Similarly, measuring vitamin D levels (the active hormone) has not been found to be helpful. Instead, we use 25(OH)D levels as a marker for vitamin D levels.

Treating Vitamin D Deficiency

Is your child’s vitamin D level low?

That question is a actually a little harder to answer than you might realize. According to the IOM, in discussing cut-points for 25(OH)D levels, or what’s low and what’s normal, “At this time, there is no central body that is responsible for establishing such values for clinical use.”

The serum 25(OH)D level is typically defined as low (vitamin D deficiency) in children if it is below 20 ng/ml. Some experts think that a 25(OH)D level above 16 ng/ml is normal for infants and children though.

Experts do agree that a level below 5 ng/ml is a sign of a severe vitamin D deficiency.

Recommendations for treating children with low vitamin D levels depend on their age, and might include:

  • newborns: 1,000 IU /day vitamin D2 or D3
  • children 1 to 12 months old: 2,000 IU /day vitamin D2 or D3
  • children > 12 months old: 2,000 IU /day vitamin D2 or D3

These vitamin D supplements, together with adequate amounts of calcium, are usually continued for at least 1 to 3 months, at which time the child’s serum 25(OH)D level can be repeated to make sure it is responding to treatment.

“The upper limit for vitamin D is 1,000 to 1,500 IU/day for infants, 2,500 to 3,000 IU/day for children 1-8 years, and 4,000 IU/day for children 9 years and older, adults, and pregnant and lactating teens and women. Vitamin D toxicity almost always occurs from overuse of supplements.”

NIH Vitamin D Fact Sheet for Consumers

The Endocrine Society also advises that some children can take 50,000 IU of vitamin D2 once a week as an alternative treatment for vitamin D deficiency. Since you can definitely get too much vitamin D, be sure to talk to your pediatrician and make sure your child is getting the right dose before starting a treatment regimen for vitamin D deficiency.

Preventing Vitamin D Deficiency

Once you get your child’s vitamin D levels back into a normal range, it is important to take steps so that they don’t drop again.

To prevent vitamin D deficiency, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that healthy infants get at least 400 IU of vitamin D each day, while older children – toddlers to teens – get at least 600 IU. This vitamin D should come from some combination of:

  • foods that are naturally rich in vitamin D – salmon, tuna, shitake mushrooms, etc.
  • foods that are fortified with vitamin D – vitamin D fortified milk, orange juice, cheese, yogurt, margarine, and cereal, etc.
  • a vitamin D supplement – with just vitamin D, vitamin D plus calcium, or a children’s multivitamin

What about sunlight? Can’t your kids just spend more time in the sun to boost their vitamin D levels?

Although we all have the ability to make vitamin D when we are out in the sun, it isn’t considered a good source of vitamin D. Intentional, unprotected (no sunscreen) exposure to the sun has risks of sunburn and skin cancer. And it is very hard to judge how much sun exposure is necessary to get adequate amounts of vitamin D. The intensity of the sun’s radiation varies greatly in different parts of the world and at different times of year and will also affect how much vitamin D your body makes.

Other Things To Know about Vitamin D Deficiency

  • Raw milk, in addition to being unprocessed and unpasteurized, is unfortified and has very little vitamin D.
  • Although other foods may be fortified with vitamin D, in the United States, only milk, margarine, infant formula, and “fortified-plant based beverages” are mandated by the FDA to be vitamin D fortified.
  • In addition to low 25(OH)D levels, children with vitamin D deficiency will often have low phosphorous, high alkaline phosphatase, and high parathyroid hormone levels. These levels might be checked and monitored when kids are treated for vitamin D deficiency.
  • Vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol, derived from plants) and vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol, derived from animals) are two major forms of vitamin D. Some experts think that vitamin D3 is more potent than vitamin D2, especially at higher doses. Still, these prohormones are converted to the same active form of vitamin D (calcitriol) in the liver and kidney.
  • Some experts think that 25(OH)D levels between 21 and 30 ng/ml are a sign of vitamin D insufficiency in children, as in adults, and are a sign that the child needs more vitamin D in their diet.
  • Although the use of sunscreen can block the synthesis of vitamin D by blocking UVB radiation and has been blamed for lower vitamin D levels in recent years, many people likely don’t use sunscreen properly and don’t use it consistently enough and so “sunscreen use may not actually diminish vitamin D synthesis in real world use.”
  • Taking high doses of vitamin D is yet another nutrition fad which has been linked to serious consequences. Mega doses of vitamin D have been linked to kidney problems and tissue damage. That makes it important to stay below the upper limit that your child can likely take each day without causing harm, which ranges from 2,500 IU/day for toddlers to 4,000 IU/day for teenagers. Most only need 400 to 600 IU/day though.

Children with severe vitamin D deficiency are often managed by a pediatric endocrinologist or a pediatric nephrologist.

More Information on Treating Vitamin D Deficiency

  • AAP – Vitamin D: On the Double
  • The rise and inevitable fall of Vitamin D
  • Help Your Child Build Healthy Bones
  • NIH Vitamin D Fact Sheet for Consumers
  • Study – American Academy of Pediatrics Clinical Report. Optimizing Bone Health in Children and Adolescents. Pediatrics. Pediatrics Oct 2014, 134 (4) e1229-e1243
  • Study – Institute of Medicine Report. Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium and Vitamin D. Released: November 30, 2010.
  • Study – The Endocrine Society. Evaluation, Treatment, and Prevention of Vitamin D Deficiency: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, July 2011, 96(7):1911–1930.
  • Study – Misra, M. Vitamin D Deficiency in Children and Its Management. Pediatrics, Aug 2008; 122: 398 – 417.

The Best Milk for Kids – Does It Still Come from a Cow?

While each type of milk has its fans, in general, unless your child has food allergies or intolerances, the best milk is going to be the one you can afford, with the nutrients your child needs, and which he is going to drink, whether it comes from a cow, soybean, almond, or hazelnut.

You wouldn’t think that the idea that kids should drink milk would be controversial.

Of course, it is…

The new joke seems to be that you can turn anything into milk.
The new joke seems to be that you can turn anything into “milk,” even peas.

The controversy is more over the type of milk now and not so much over the amounts though.

Few people disagree with the American Academy of Pediatrics 2014 clinical report on Optimizing Bone Health in Children and Adolescents, in which they recommended that “Children 4 through 8 years of age require 2 to 3 servings of  dairy products or equivalent per day. Adolescents require 4 servings per day.”

Which Kind of Milk You Got?

While you used to have to go to Whole Foods to get soy milk, nearly every grocery store now has every type of “milk” you can think of, and some you haven’t.

So in addition to raw milk and pasteurized cow’s milk, it is possible to buy:

  • almond milk
  • cashew milk
  • coconut milk
  • flax milk (flax seeds)
  • goat milk
  • hazelnut milk
  • hemp milk
  • lactose free milk (cow’s milk without lactose)
  • oat milk
  • potato milk (as powdered milk)
  • quinoa milk
  • rice milk
  • ripple milk (peas)
  • 7 grain milk (Oats, Brown Rice, Wheat, Barley, Triticale, Spelt and Millet)
  • soy milk
  • sprouted rice milk

Complicating matters even more, once you decide on the type of milk to give your kids, you will have a lot of other options to choose from – organic, hormone free, sweetened vs unsweeted, enriched vs original, and a long list of flavors, etc.

The question is no longer simply Got Milk?

Best Milk for Kids

So which milk is best for your kids?

While each type of milk has its fans, in general, unless your child has food allergies or intolerances, the best milk is going to be the one you can afford, with the nutrients your child needs, and most importantly, which he is going to drink.

What about the idea or argument that cow’s milk is made for baby cows?

Following that logic, if you weren’t going to give your kids cow’s milk, then you probably wouldn’t give them most plant based milks, as they are commonly made from seeds. Almonds, peas, and soybeans, etc., aren’t “made” to make milk. They are produced to make more plants. But just like we pasteurize and fortify cow’s milk so that we can consume it, we have learned to use these other foods.

Best Milk for Kids with Food Allergies

While the wide availability of so many different types of milk is confusing for many parents, it has been great for pediatricians and parents of kids with food allergies and intolerances. Having more of a variety has also been helpful for vegan families.

In general, you should breastfeed or give your infant an iron fortified formula until they are at least 12 months old, avoiding milk or other allergy foods as indicated if you are breastfeeding and your child develops an allergy to that food, or switching to a hypoallergenic or elemental formula if your child develops a formula allergy.

And then, after your toddler is old enough to wean from breastmilk or formula, you:

  • should avoid cow’s milk, lactose-free cow’s milk, and goat milk if your child has a milk protein allergy
  • should avoid almond, cashew, coconut, and hazelnut milk if your child has a nut allergy (yes, even though almonds and coconuts are really stone fruits and not true nuts, they have been rarely known to cross react and trigger allergic reactions)
  • should avoid soy milk if your child has a soy allergy
  • should make sure your child’s milk is fortified with calcium and vitamin D

Most importantly, talk to your pediatrician and/or a pediatric allergist before switching to a plant based milk if your child has food allergies and before trying to switch back to cow’s milk after you think they have outgrown their allergy.

Other Things to Know About Kids Drinking Milk

Kids don’t necessarily need to drink any kind of milk.

They do need the nutrients that you commonly get from milk, including fat, protein, calcium, and vitamin D, etc.

You should also know that:

  • the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that most toddlers drink whole milk until they are two years old, when they should switch to reduced fat milk.
  • switching to reduced fat milk can be appropriate for some toddlers who are already overweight or if their pediatrician is concerned about their becoming overweight or about their cholesterol, etc.
  • most cow’s milk that you buy in your grocery store doesn’t have any added growth hormone (labeled rBST-free), even if it isn’t organic
  • the AAP, in a report on Organic Foods: Health and Environmental Advantages and Disadvantages, states that “there is no evidence of clinically relevant differences in organic and conventional milk”
  • if a company makes more than one type of non-dairy milk, such as rice, almond, and soy, then cross-contamination could be a problem for your child with food allergies
  • most kids with a lactose intolerance can tolerate some lactose in their diet, so may be able to drink some cow’s milk and eat cheese, yogurt, and ice cream, even if they can’t tolerate a lot of regular cow’s milk
  • while plant based milks are lactose free and some are unsweetened, others might have added sugar, including cane sugar or cane syrup
  • reduced-calorie and no added sugar flavored cow’s milk often use artificial sweeteners
  • unlike cow’s milk, most plant based milks are very low in protein, so look to give other protein rich foods to make up for it, like eggs, peanut butter, beans, tofu, and of course meats
  • although they aren’t labeled as 1% or 2%, plant based milks typically have less fat than whole milk, so look to give other foods with healthy fats to make up for it, like avocados, hummus (provides protein and fat!), peanut butter, some fish (salmon), and use olive oil, coconut oil, and real butter when possible
  • phytoestrogens in soy milk are a concern for some people
  • most milk, even oat milk, is gluten-free, with the exception of 7 grain milk, which obviously contains wheat
  • UHT milk undergoes ultra-high temperature processing or ultra-pasteurization to allow it have a longer shelf life, even if not refrigerated, at least until the carton is opened
  • although some experts warn about cross reactivity, like between peanuts and green peas, the Food Allergy Research & Education website states that “If you are allergic to peanuts, you do not have a greater chance of being allergic to another legume (including soy) than you would to any other food.”
  • raw cow’s milk, in addition to being a risk for bacterial contamination and outbreaks of Escherichia coli, Campylobacter, and Salmonella, is very low in vitamin D and has no proven health benefits over pasteurized milk
  • some brands of almond milk contain only about 2% of almonds, which leads some critics to say that you should just eat a few almonds to get even more nutritional benefits

But don’t forget about cost. Plant based milk can be at least two to four times more expensive than cow’s milk.

So again, remember that while each type of milk has its fans, in general, unless your child has food allergies or intolerances, the best milk is going to be the one you can afford, with the nutrients your child needs, and which he is going to drink, whether it comes from a cow, soybean, almond, or hazelnut, etc.

For More Information On The Best Milk For Kids:

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