Mum Mum's Blog Report: ARS and Cornell University Find Methods for Increasing Iron Uptake in Infants; Benefits of Eating Organic; Organic Baby Foods Preferred by Parents and Food Manufacturers Alike

This is a selection of recent popular blogs from Mum Mum, where parents can find information on everything to do with babies and parenting with an emphasis on health and nutrition. 

ARS and Cornell University Find Methods for Increasing Iron Uptake in Infants
Iron is responsible for making hemoglobin, which carries oxygen to our cells and is a vital component of an infant’s diet for proper brain development.  Mum Mum’s explains new research sought to find ways to increase iron in a baby’s diet.

During the rapid growth stage of infancy, iron reserves become rapidly depleted thus making it imperative to receive iron from the diet.  Researchers from Cornell University along with Agricultural Research Service (ARS) discovered new methods to do just that.  By pureeing chicken liver and beef for several minutes in a blender, the team discovered the evenly distributed in cereal particles could prove to be a highly absorbable method of adding supplemental iron into a baby’s diet. 

Benefits of Eating Organic
Trying to navigate your way through the supermarket in search of healthy food choices can be an arduous task.  Organic or conventional- which is better?  The post explains, choosing organic is both better for the health of your family and the environment.

While little research has been conducted to study the precise health benefits of eating organic, both consumers and food producers have spoken.  Benefits of organic foods include ingesting significantly lower amounts of toxic chemicals in the form of herbicides and pesticides, increased nutrient density, and certainly a great deal more flavor.  Organic foods also spare environmental resources via sustainable agriculture which promises to leave usable land for future generations.   Although organic foods tend to be more expensive, when you compare how many fruits and vegetables you would have to eat to match the nutrient density of organic produce, it is certainly a better value in the long run.

 Organic Baby Foods Preferred by Parents and Food Manufacturers Alike
When on the topic of the benefits of organic foods, discussing the populations who are most vulnerable to toxins in conventional foods is important.  Babies, children, expecting mothers, as well as breastfeeding mothers need organic foods the most as babies do not have the ability to process toxins.  Perhaps, despite the lack of research, this could explain why parents are choosing organic baby foods now more than ever.  Mum Mum’s takes a look at the current rise in organic baby food.

Organic baby food sales have risen to $116 million, and since 2001, have jumped 63%.  Several grocers have noted the need to increase store space for organic baby food products and even mainstream stores, like Babies R Us now sell organic baby foods.  Gerber has also jumped on the healthy bandwagon and changed a previously entitled Tender Harvest line of baby foods to Gerber Organics.  Parents, grocers, and food manufacturers have good reason for going organic.  Babies and children have more skin per surface area thus absorbing more toxins than adults. Pesticides can also cross into the placenta thus into the bloodstream of an unborn baby as well as passing into the breast milk of a nursing mother.  In the case of jarred baby foods, they can often be concentrated doses of pesticides if not organic.  Even though the USDA does not claim any nutritional differences between organic and conventional foods, parents around the world are continuing to choose organic at a rate that doesn’t seem to be slowing anytime soon.

About The Mum-Mum Blog
The Baby Mum Mum Blog discusses everything to do with Babies and Parenting with a focus on Health, Nutrition and Infant Development. Baby Mum Mum is a healthy, easy to digest baby rice snack that is enjoyed by babies and moms around the world for its portability, gluten free ingredients and great taste. Baby Mum Mum is a division of Want Want Holdings, a manufacturer of healthy snack foods, beverage and related products since 1962