Feeding your baby organic baby food is one of the best ways to give her a head start in life.
By giving her a diet free of the preservatives and additives you are training her taste buds to prefer healthy meals over processed foods.
Furthermore, studies now prove the long-time assumption that organic food has nutritional and environmental benefits over conventional food.
Benefits of Organic Baby Food
Certified organic foods are grown without pesticides, chemical fertilizers, growth hormones, antibiotics and other carcinogenic chemicals.
Learn more about organic labels here.
The absence of chemicals in organic farming preserves the land for generations to come. Conventional methods deplete the soil, so each time it is used, the food grown from it contains less nutrients.
In Raising Baby Green, Alan Greene, M.D. cites a USDA study comparing food composition from 1950 - 1999. They found conventional crops have less protein, iron, calcium, phosphorous, riboflavin, and vitamin C as the years go by.
A 2007 European Union study says organic vegetables and fruits average about 40 percent higher antioxidant levels than their conventional counterparts. Antioxidants are beneficial in fighting of cancer cells and in heart health.
This same study shows 60 percent more antioxidants and healthy fatty acids in organic milk vs. conventional milk.
If your baby has a food allergy, organic baby foods are a better choice. The additives present in conventional foods are said to cause or irritate food allergies.
Ninety percent of food allergies in children are caused by milk, eggs, peanuts, wheat, soy, and tree nuts. Consider avoiding them when your child is starting solids. Breastfeeding moms should eat these foods cautiously or consume organic versions of them.
If your baby eats poultry or meat, consider switching to organic. Organic cows are allowed to graze on grass opposed to corn and grain. Dr. Green says grass fed cows are leaner and have five times the omega-3 fatty acids of conventional beef.
Eating organic helps you avoid Genetically Modified (GM) foods. Corn, soy and cotton are the top three GM crops in the U.S.
While you may not feed your baby these crops in whole form consider that cotton seed oil, soy bean oil and corn syrup are major ingredients in many conventional foods.
Although GM organisms are prohibited in some countries, they are heavily used in the U.S. Studies are inconclusive about the effects on people, but many environmentalists and scientists worry about the effects on babies' fragile immune systems.
Whole grain organic baby cereal also has its benefits. You not only skip the pesticides, but the heavily processed white flour. Teach your child healthy eating habits early by choosing brown starches first.
Organic foods taste better. Taste and see. Organic produce has a fresher and more vibrant flavor. Getting children to eat vegetables can be a challenge, so why not give your baby the best tasting veggies available to help her develop healthy habits?
Babies Need Organic Foods Even More Than You
From the time they are conceived until they are one years old, babies are most vulnerable to the effects of toxins in food. Here are some reasons why:
Babies are smaller and taking in more pesticides per pound of body weight than adults.
Babies are also made up of more water and less fat than adults; meaning pesticides circulate throughout their bodies with more ease.
Babies' digestive systems absorb toxins faster than adults.
Babies' kidneys are less able to filter out and break down toxins so toxins stay in their systems longer.
Babies development of the nervous system can be disrupted by exposure to high levels of toxins.
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