Immune System And Breastfeeding

As is obvious, we certainly promote Breastfeeding, and endorse the scientific fact Breastfeeding is the best way your childs Immune System will develop properly. So, please explore this, and do so if possible.

Benefits of Breastfeeding for the Developing Immune System

The importance of breastfeeding cannot be overstated in building a strong immune system. Breastmilk is much more than food. In addition to providing the absolute best nutrition for a growing body, breastmilk supplies the factors needed to develop the immune system and protect your baby against disease. Breastfeeding also adds the loving touch and comfort that is crucial to the growth and well being of your baby.

Developing a Healthy Immune System

Although they have some antibodies from the placenta of their mother, newborns enter the world largely unprotected. They are faced with organisms they have never met before. Their immune systems are undeveloped, which leaves them at risk for infections and serious illnesses. An infant produces antibodies efficiently by about six months, but the immune system is not fully developed until it is about four or five years old. This is one of the reasons why it is important to breastfeed your baby for as long as possible. Breastmilk protects against illness and encourages development of the immune system.
Breastmilk contains lymphocytes and macrophages that produce antibodies and other immune factors. It provides lactobacillus bifidus, the "friendly" bacterium that helps prevent the growth of dangerous bacteria. Another molecule in breastmilk actually kills harmful bacteria. In addition to providing protection against pathogenic bacteria, breastmilk contains elements that guard against viruses, fungi and parasites. The immunology of breastmilk is quite amazing. Mother Nature definitely knows what she is doing!

Long-Term Breastfeeding

It's baffling that some health professionals believe that there is no benefit from breastmilk to babies after they are six months old! Long-term breastfeeding and natural weaning (letting your child decide when to wean) is by far the healthiest and builds a healthy immune system. Continuing to breastfeed into the preschool years does not make a child dependent on the mother. My daughter decided to quit nursing at age four. This was a gentle, easy transition for her. She is a strong, independent child because she knows she can always get her needs met.

Breastfeeding When You or Your Baby are Sick

Many people also believe that a mother should not breastfeed if she is has a contagious illness. The opposite is true. When you are exposed to a virus, you begin producing antibodies to fight the infection. Some of these antibodies are passed to your baby through your breastmilk so he or she can also fight the virus.
When your baby is sick, it makes sense to nurse him or her more frequently. In addition to providing antibodies, breastmilk is a nourishing calorie-rich fluid, which keeps a baby well hydrated. My daughter intuitively knew to nurse more frequently when she was fighting something off. This frequent nursing managed to keep whatever was trying to invade her body from developing into an actual infection or disease.

Obesity And Sugar

Look around at the youth of today; obesity among children is escalating at an alarming rate and reaching epidemic proportions. To make matters worse, obese children become sick children who develop disease. The disease we once called Adult-Onset Diabetes has now begun to turn up in kids as young as eight and ten. Although epidemiological and nutritional researchers alike rush to pin the blame on dietary fat and lack of exercise, however research is proving otherwise.

Real data shows that amazingly children like most Americans have been eating less fat in recent years. Even more amazing, the children who were the fattest were the children who ate the least amount of fat. If fat can’t be blamed, nor lack of exercise can’t adequately explain the sky rocketing of obesity and the onset of type II diabetes, what can?

The answer is short and sweet, literally. The real culprit is the addictive white powder sugar in the amount it is consumed by our children. Sugar has always been around, but never before consumed at such a rate. The most recent estimates peg the intake of sugar in the US at 150 lbs per person per year. This equates to ½ a pound of sugar a day for every man, woman and child. Compare this to the 2 lbs of sugar per person per year at the turn of the Century, it is no surprise our bodies are revolting against the sugar.

A study published in the March 1999 Issue of the Journal of Pediatrics showed what children eat for breakfast, and lunch will set the tone for their desire to eat the rest of the day. If you feed them quickly absorbable carbohydrates they will eat twice as much later. A folk, even a carbohydrate is a form of sugar, and sugar in all forms consumed at high levels is disastrous to the body.

Due to revelations of sugar’s harmful effects artificial sweeteners now exist in abundance. Saccharin, cyclamate, aspartame, and sucrose all strive to look like sugar, taste like sugar, sweeten like sugar, and even cook like sugar, but have no calories, which is true, and have no adverse health consequences. So, the only negative effects of artificial sweeteners, are stimulation of the pancreas, risks of cancer, and risks to the brain. Actually, Folks the effects of artificial sweeteners are not known yet, conclusively, so they could be even more harmful than predicted once proven scientifically.

The addiction to sweetness represents an enormous departure from the diet of our ancestors, and one that will continue to create a health care crisis. As long as sugar is found as a main ingredient in practically every food found in our diets today, we will continue to struggle with these consequences.

For more information, visit KristaClark.com

Breastfeeding Exclusively

We understand sometimes Breastfeeding is very difficult. However, consider it, and please understand it's importance in a child's development. Nature cannot be outdone.


Breastfeeding is an unequalled way of providing ideal food for the healthy growth and development of infants; it is also an integral part of the reproductive process with important implications for the health of mothers. A recent review of evidence has shown that, on a population basis, exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months is the optimal way of feeding infants. Thereafter infants should receive complementary foods with continued breastfeeding up to 2 years of age if possible.

To enable mothers to establish and sustain exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months, we recommend:

Initiation of breastfeeding within the first hour of life.

Exclusive breastfeeding – that is the infant only receives breastmilk without any additional food or drink, not even water

Breastfeeding on demand – that is as often as the child wants, day and night
No use of bottles, teats or pacifiers.

Breastmilk is the natural first food for babies, it provides all the energy and nutrients that the infant needs for the first months of life, and it continues to provide up to half or more of a child’s nutritional needs during the second half of the first year, and up to one-third during the second year of life. Breastmilk promotes sensory and cognitive development, and protects the infant against infectious and chronic diseases. Exclusive breastfeeding reduces infant mortality due to common childhood illnesses such as diarrhoea or pneumonia, and helps for a quicker recovery during illness.

For more information, visit KristaClark.com