Dr. Arturo M. Volpe

(summarized by Janice Welch from the article “Healthy Alternative to Conventional Infant Formula” by Marie Bishop, Sally Fallon and Mary G. Enig, PhD in the magazine “Wise Traditions in Food, Farming and the Healing Arts,” published quarterly by the Weston A. Price Foundation, Volume 6, Number 2, Pages 18-28)

While government officials and orthodox pediatricians are often appalled at the thought of a parent mixing up baby formula, especially one based on raw milk, the feedback we have received from parents has been extremely positive. Make no mistake though, the best food for baby is breast milk from a healthy mother.

If that is not possible, there should be healthy alternatives to conventional store-bought baby formulas. The following milk-based formula takes into account the fact that human milk is richer in whey, lactose, vitamin C, niacin, and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids compared to cow’s milk but leaner in casein (milk protein).

The addition of gelatin to this cow’s milk formula will make it more digestible for infants. Use only true expeller-expressed oils in the formula recipe, otherwise it may lack vitamin E.

The ideal milk for baby, if he cannot be breastfed, is clean, whole raw milk from old-fashioned cows, certified free of disease that feed on green pasture. For sources of good-quality milk, see www.realmilk.com or contact a local chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation.

If the only choice available to you is commercial milk, choose whole milk, preferably organic and unhomogenized, and culture it with a piima or kefir culture to restore enzymes (available from G.E.M. Cultures 707-964-2922).

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from Janice Welch

Homemade whey is easy to make from good-quality plain yogurt.

First, line a strainer with a clean linen kitchen towel or several layers of cheesecloth. Place 2 quarts of yogurt in the strainer. Cover with a plate and leave at room temperature overnight. The whey will drip into the bowl. Place the whey in clean glass jars and store in the refrigerator. Makes about 5 cups.

To read frequently asked questions and other homemade formula variations visit:
www.westonaprice.org/children/formula-faqs.html

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from Janice Welch

2 cups whole milk, preferably unprocessed milk from pasture-fed cows

º cup homemade liquid whey (See recipe for whey, below)

4 tablespoons lactose*

1 teaspoon bifidobacterium infantis*

2 or more tablespoons good quality cream (not ultrapasteurized), more if you are using milk from Holstein cows

1 teaspoon regular dose cod liver oil or 1 teaspoon high-vitamin cod liver oil*

1 teaspoon expeller-expressed sunflower oil*

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil*

2 teaspoons coconut oil*

2 teaspoons Frontier brand nutritional yeast flakes*

2 teaspoons gelatin*

1-7/8 cups filtered water

º teaspoon acerola powder*

Add gelatin to water and heat gently until gelatin is dissolved. Place all ingredients in a very clean glass or stainless steel container and mix well. To serve, pour 6 to 8 ounces into a very clean glass bottle*, attach nipple and set in a pan of simmering water.

Heat until warm but not hot to the touch, shake bottle well and feed baby (never, never heat formula in a microwave oven!). Makes 36 ounces.

* Available from Radiant Life 888.593.8333

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Everybody knows that MSG is a flavor-enhancing additive and we have all heard of “Chinese Restaurant Syndrome,” a reaction to MSG that causes sensitive people to get headaches, dizziness or other symptoms. Few of us realize, however, that MSG has been finding its way into most – if not all – packaged foods in steadily increasing amounts.

The reason is simple: start with bland, highly processed food, add some MSG and you end up with something that is sure to sell.

But MSG in infant vaccines? This sounds outrageous but somehow it’s true. The reason it’s added is not taste but some other stabilizing effect it is reported to have. If you are having trouble believing this, read about it on the government’s own website at http://www.cdc.gov/nip/vacsafe/concerns/gen/additives.htm. You might also like to know that MSG is in flu shots as well (along with mercury).
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An article published in the January issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association (J Am Diet Assoc 2004 Jan; 104 (1 Pt 2): 22-30) reports the findings of a survey on food intake of American infants and toddlers.

The conclusions are truly shocking and confirm what many newspaper articles have been reporting in recent times: that an increasing number of parents are letting the packaged food industry decide what their children eat.

Some parents would say that there’s nothing they can do about it, because their children love sugary foods and refuse green vegetable. However, when we talk about infants and toddlers, the reality is that they will eat what they’re exposed to. Sugar is a non-food that is highly addictive and should be carefully avoided at this age if we want to raise healthy children.

The survey found that fruits and vegetables were rarely consumed in this age group and that, when a vegetable was consumed, it was most often French fries. Even more disturbing is the finding that by the age of seven months nearly half consume some type of sweetened dessert and by 19 to 24 months nearly two-thirds consume baked desserts.

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