Food Allergy Living Blog Tagged Results

Brain development is most sensitive to a baby's nutrition between the last trimester of pregnancy and the first two years life. The brain is rapidly growing during this period; in fact, an infant’s brain increases in size by 175% during the first year of life and by another 18% during the second year[1] Children who are malnourished during this period do not grow and develop properly so adequate nutrition is of utmost importance[2]. Although all nutrients are important for health and development, certain nutrients play especially important roles. If your LO has food allergies, his/her limited diet can make it more difficult to get enough of these nutrients. Therefore, it is important to understand which nutrients are key so that you can make sure your LO’s needs are met.

• Protein and Calories

  True malnourishment occurs when there is a prolonged inadequate intake of protein and calories. Studies show that grossly malnourished infants and toddlers suffer both short and long-term consequences, which may include delayed motor and language development, as well as poorer intelligence schools and school performance[3].

• Fat

  Myelin is a fatty substance that covers and protects nerves. Myelination (the development of myelin around nerve fibers) occurs at a very rapid rate during the first 2 years of life and this is a key part of brain growth and development. Because myelin is composed mostly of fat, fat is an important component of nutrition for infants and toddlers and fat intake should not be restricted during this period.

  • DHA and ARA:

    DHA and ARA are fatty acids found in breast milk. Research shows that DHA and ARA are important for brain and eye development, especially during the first year of life. The levels of DHA and ARA in breast milk and formula has been linked to better visual acuity and cognitive performance1.

• Iron

  Iron deficiency during the first 2 years of life can result in irreversible cognitive deficits[4]. Bottle-fed babies should receive formula that contains iron and breast-fed infants should receive some form of iron supplementation at around 6 months of age. Most infant starter foods (such as rice cereal and Neocate Nutra) are fortified with iron to meet these needs.

• Other Nutrients

  Like iron, iodine deficiency during infancy and toddlerhood can have long-term cognitive consequences. Fortunately, iodine deficiency is very rare is developed countries. Research also shows that zinc, choline, Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D play important roles in brain development but there is less concrete knowledge about the specific roles they play.

Nutrition and Brain Development for Children with Food Allergies

For most children, milk and milk products are key sources of calories, protein and fats, all of which are critical for proper brain development. For infants and children with milk allergies, its critical that they receive alternate sources of nutrition so that their brains have all the ingredients necessary for proper brain growth and development. This is why its so important to work with a health care provider to develop an allergy-safe, nutritionally-adequate diet.

• Breast milk or a nutritionally-complete infant formula provides a full range of nutrition for infants
• If your LO is formula fed, consider a formula supplemented with DHA and ARA to support brain and eye development
• If your LO is breast-fed, be sure to supplement iron after 6 months of age and if formula-fed, be sure to choose a formula with iron. Starter foods like rice cereal or Neocate Nutra are fortified with iron to meet these needs
• Once children transition to solids, be sure to provide a balanced diet to ensure all nutrient needs are met. For children with a restricted diet, a wide variety of foods may not be possible so talk with your health care provider about appropriate medical foods or supplements, which can be helpful for filling in the blanks

-Mallory

[1] Abad-Jorge, A. “The Role of DHA and ARA in Infant Nutrition and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes”. Today’s Dietitian Vol. 10 No. 10 P. 66.
[2] Zero to Three: The National Center for Infants, Toddlers and Families. http://www.main.zerotothree.org.
[3] Benton, D. The Influence of Dietary Status on the Cognitive Performance of Children. Mol. Nutr. Food Res. 2010, 54, 457-470.
[4] Beard J. Iron deficiency alters brain development and functioning. J Nutr. 2003 May;133(5 Suppl 1):1468S-72S.

Last week for our Ingredient Series, Christine wrote about the fats in Neocate. In this post, I’ll expand on that and explain DHA and ARA in more detail.

As you may know, the Neocate Infant formula is available in the original formulation and the updated formulation, which contains DHA and ARA.

Docosahexaenoic acid and arachidonic acid, better known as DHA and ARA, are types of fats (lipids) called long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (often abbreviated as “PUFAs”). DHA is an omega-3 fatty acid and ARA is an omega-6 fatty acid.

These fatty acids are found naturally in human breast milk and several other foods. Fish, especially cold water fish, have very high amounts of DHA. Eggs are also a natural source of DHA, but to a lesser degree than fish. ARA is found mostly in animal products, such as eggs, meat and fish.

It has been known for many years that long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (DHA and ARA in particular) accumulate in the brain and eye of the fetus during gestation, especially during the last trimester of pregnancy.[1] More recent studies show that DHA and ARA may play an important role for brain and eye development during infancy as well.[2] Breast-fed infants receive DHA and ARA from their moms and studies show that breast-fed infants typically have higher blood levels of DHA and ARA in comparison to infants fed formulas without DHA and ARA. For this reason, and because of the important role DHA and ARA are thought to play with brain and eye development, many infant formulas are now fortified with DHA and ARA to more closely resemble the intake of breast-fed infants.

The DHA and ARA found in Neocate Infant with DHA and ARA are vegetarian and non-GMO (meaning they are not derived from genetically-modified sources). The source of DHA is C. Cohnii Oil and the source of ARA is M. Alpina Oil.

So now when you see the “DHA and ARA” banner on your can of Neocate (if you use the Neocate Infant with DHA and ARA), you’ll know exactly what it means!

We hope you found our Ingredient Series helpful. If you are curious about anything else in Neocate please ask us in the comments!

-Mallory

[1] FDA/CFSAN Office of Nutritional Products, Labeling and Dietary Supplements July 2002
[2] Alan S. Ryan, James D. Astwood, Sheila Gautier, Connye N. Kuratko, Edward B. Nelson, Norman Salem . Effects of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation on neurodevelopment in childhood: A review of human studies. Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids - 26 February 2010 (10.1016/j.plefa.2010.02.007

To start off our ingredient series, I wanted to review the basics about fats and why they are an important part of a person’s diet.

The main purpose of fats is to serve as a storage system. They can also be used as an energy source if the body is depleted of necessary carbohydrates. Fats provide more calories (9 calories/gram) than both carbohydrates and protein (4 calories/gram), but this doesn’t mean they are bad and should be avoided! As you probably know, there are both good and bad fats.

Bad Fats

Saturated and trans fats are known as the “bad fats,” as they are linked to raising cholesterol levels and are attributed to increased risk for heart disease. Examples of bad fats include butter, animal fats, fried foods, all those yummy pastries, stick margarines and shortenings. Although these fats are known as the “bad fats” they are still okay to have in moderation, so it’s not necessary to strike them completely from the diet!

Good Fats

There are two types of unsaturated fats – polyunsaturated or monounsaturated. They are known as the “good fats” and aid in lowering cholesterol levels and are beneficial in fighting heart disease. Examples of good fats include vegetable oils, avocados, peanut butter, nuts, seeds and fatty fish like salmon and trout. If you want to learn more about good and bad fats, the American Heart Association has some fun facts.

Triglycerides

Now that we know the basics of fats, I wanted to briefly discuss triglycerides. Triglycerides are the chemical form in which most fat exists in food as well as in the body. There are two types of triglycerides — Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCTs) and Long Chain Triglycerides (LCTs). Both refer to the length of the carbon chain of a fatty acid.

• MCTs are comprised of 6 to 12 carbon chains and are considered saturated fats. They are beneficial in the treatment of constipation or as a natural laxative and are digested more easily than LCTs.
• LCTs have a carbon chain greater than 12 and can be monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and saturated fats. LCTs have been studied and shown to repair the gut if it’s been damaged. ¹

Normal fats and oils contain LCTs and MCTs. Both types of triglycerides are beneficial and should be incorporated into your child’s diet.

DHA and ARA

Next, I wanted to touch on DHA and ARA which has been a hot topic for some time now. DHA and ARA are polyunsaturated fatty acids which are naturally found in breast milk. Studies have shown that they aid in brain and vision development, and are most effective when provided in the diet for up to 6 months of age. With this, it was also found that formula fed babies were getting less DHA and ARA than breast fed babies, so now most formulas have a formula option with DHA and ARA. ^{2, 3, 4} This means, if your little one needs to be formula fed, now you can ensure that he or she is getting enough DHA and ARA that is needed to meet their needs!

Now that we know the basics of fats, look out for Christine’s blog next week when she will continue this topic to discuss the fats found in Neocate!

- Nita

References: 1. Warner BW, Vanderhoof JA, Reyes JD. What's new in the management of short gut syndrome in children. J Am Coll Surg. 2000 Jun;190(6):725-36.
2. Birch, EE, Hoffman, DR, Uauy, R et al. Visual Acuity and the Essentiality of Docosahexanoic Acid and Arachidonic Acid in the Diets of Term infants. Pediatr Res. 44:201-209, 1998.
3. Birch, EE, Garfield, S, Hoffman, DR et al. A Randomized Controlled Trail of Early Dietary Supply of Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Mental Development in Term Infants. Develop Med Child Neurol. 42: 174-181, 2000
4. Hoffman DR, Birch EE, Castañeda YS, Fawcett SL, Wheaton DH, Birch DG, Uauy R. Visual function in breast-fed term infants weaned to formula with or without long-chain polyunsaturates at 4 to 6 months: a randomized clinical trial. J Pediatr. 2003 Jun;142(6):669-77.

About a year ago here at Nutricia we introduced DHA and ARA to our Neocate Infant product. Since a lot of parents often ask us questions about DHA and ARA, I wanted to share some basic information with you.

OK, here’s the DHA/ARA rundown:

DHA and ARA are two important nutrients naturally found in breast milk. They are important for healthy infant growth and development. Studies have shown that a direct consumption of these key ingredients will promote both your baby’s visual and brain development.

Just like its predecessor, Neocate Infant with DHA & ARA is:

• Hypoallergenic;
• Comprised of 100% non-allergenic free amino acids;
• Nutritionally complete; and Manufactured in a 100% milk-free environment.

Overall, the addition of DHA and ARA doesn’t change much about the other properties of the formula (i.e. taste, texture, if it’s hypoallergenic) but it does provide an extra boost to benefit your little one.

Feel free to send any questions my way.

- Sarah

As you know, in 2008 we introduced Neocate Infant DHA & ARA.  DHA and ARA are two fatty acids naturally found in breast milk that have been shown to help promote brain and eye development.  The addition of DHA and ARA does not change the other properties of the formula (i.e. taste, texture, hypoallergenicity), but it does provide an extra boost to benefit your little one!  As a consequence, in October 2011, Nutricia North America announced and began the discontinuation of Neocate Infant original and over the past few months we’ve been proactively transitioning original formulation families toNeocate Infant DHA & ARA. 

We wanted to remind you of this and let you know that we have run through all of our stock of the Neocate Infant original.  We are no longer selling the Neocate Infant without DHA and ARA.

We encourage you to discuss alternative options such as, Neocate Infant DHA & ARAwith your child’s doctor or dietitian.  Or, if your child is over the age of 1 year, we have Neocate Junior Unflavored or Neocate Junior Unflavored with Prebiotic fiber.

If you have further questions or need assistance with transitioning, please feel free to contact us at 1-800-NEOCATE (Monday through Friday 8:30 A.M. – 7:00 P.M. EST)and ask to speak with our nutrition specialists.

-Sarah

As you know, in 2008 we introduced Neocate Infant DHA & ARA.  DHA and ARA are two fatty acids naturally found in breast milk that have been shown to help promote brain and eye development.  The addition of DHA and ARA does not change the other properties of the formula (i.e. taste, texture, hypoallergenicity), but it does provide an extra boost to benefit your little one!  As a consequence, in October 2011, Nutricia North America announced and began the discontinuation of Neocate Infant original and over the past few months we’ve been proactively transitioning original formulation families toNeocate Infant DHA & ARA. 

We wanted to remind you of this and let you know that we have run through all of our stock of the Neocate Infant original.  We are no longer selling the Neocate Infant without DHA and ARA.

We encourage you to discuss alternative options such as, Neocate Infant DHA & ARAwith your child’s doctor or dietitian.  Or, if your child is over the age of 1 year, we have Neocate Junior Unflavored or Neocate Junior Unflavored with Prebiotic fiber.

If you have further questions or need assistance with transitioning, please feel free to contact us at 1-800-NEOCATE (Monday through Friday 8:30 A.M. – 7:00 P.M. EST)and ask to speak with our nutrition specialists.

-Sarah