Why baby cereal is still the most recommended first food
The main reason baby cereal is recommended as a baby’s first food is because it is fortified with iron. Breast milk contains very little iron so while a baby is still in the womb they will store enough iron to last them about 6 months, at which time it is recommended that a baby be given baby cereal with fortified iron to ensure that they get the iron that they need.
However, this is a synthetic form of iron that even adults have trouble digesting and is actually the leading cause of constipation in babies!
Baby cereal is also overly processed and stripped of all nutrients and fibre. This leaves a highly glycemic (causing blood sugar to spike) and bland tasting food (which does not encourage babies to become adventurous eaters) that requires synthetic nutrients to be added back into it to give it any kid of nutritional value, hence the synthetic iron.
Between the ages of 6-12 months a baby needs 11 mg of iron a day, which is actually more than an adult male who needs 8 mg.
So what else could we offer our babies that not only has naturally occurring iron but also contains other essential nutrients that are not present in baby cereal like vitamin D, calcium, choline and healthy fats that are required for healthy development?
- 70g of animal liver contains up to 6.2-13.4mg of iron depending on the animal
- 70g of sardines contains up to 2.2mg of iron
- 70g of minced beef contains up to 2.1mg of iron
- 70g of eggs contains up to 1.8mg of iron, a medium egg is 43g
- 70g of lamb contains up to 2.1mg of iron
- ½ cup of cooked spinach contains 2.4mg of iron
- ½ cup of prune juice contains up to 1.6mg of iron
- ½ cup of tomato puree contains up to 2.4mg of iron
If you are concerned about how you might serve some of these foods to your baby or if your baby is getting enough iron and other essential nutrients book in for a consultation with me and I’ll take you through exactly how to introduce and prepare these foods considering age, shape, size and texture and what to pair these foods with to increase the absorption of iron.
