Is formula's claim that it closely resembles breastmilk true? What are DHA and ARA? Are they safe additions to infant formula?
DHA is docosahexaenoic acid and ARA is arachidonic acid, polyunsaturated omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids that are important components of the human brain and eyes and are naturally present in human breast milk. In order to add these oils to formula, they must first be obtained. These oils are produced by Martek Biosciences Corporation by extracting them from laboratory-grown fermented algae and fungus and processed utilizing a toxic chemical, hexane. Their forms are structurally different from those found in human milk.
Are these oils really safe for babies? According to several reports, No! Cornupcopia Institute in their full DHA report says:
Questions abound regarding which other crucial nutrients are either missing from formula, added in wrong proportions, or present when they shouldn't be.
Moreover, this study points to the uncertainty of the infant formula manufacturing process and raises questions regarding the unknown side effects and consequences of feeding hexane-extracted DHASCO from microorganisms and hexane-extracted ARASCO from soil fungus to infants. Mother's breast milk is balanced in ways that scientists can only hope to fully comprehend; infant formula is therefore truly a "quixotic quest."
Marsha Walker, RN, IBCLC, head of the National Alliance for Breastfeeding Advocacy (NABA), points out, "This is a huge uncontrolled experiment." Infants are the guinea pigs for studying artificial baby milks. She explains that DHASCO and ARASCO-supplemented infant formula causes watery, explosive diarrhea, among other side effects in some infants.
One NICU in Ohio has deemed it the "diarrhea formula".
Stay tuned for the truth behind the addition of DHA and ARA to infant formulas.
Did you use any of these formulas? Did your baby have a lot of gas? Diarrhea? Any problems that resolved when your baby started drinking just breastmilk?
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