Year: 2017

  • UNDOING THE MYTH THAT SUSTAINS FORMULA FEEDING

    Food in general has never been more extensively and intensively investigated, and recently three books have added to my knowledge of the reality of food processing. I commend them to anyone interested in the politics and science of food. And I hope the authors of all three books will in future address the topic of…

  • THE MYTH THAT SUSTAINS ARTIFICIAL FEEDING

      “I don’t see the difference really between breast-feeding and bottle-feeding. If bottle-feeding wasn’t good for a baby,  no-one would have ever invented this formula we are feeding our children”. Quote from a thesis which grossly misrepresents my writing as condemning women who formula feed.  What creates such naïve unwillingness to believe that modern infant…

  • Amazon reviews of Milk Matters!

    An eye opening lightbulb moment read that should be essential reading for health professionals By Amy Brown   (Author Of Breastfeeding Uncovered) on 27 September 2017 We all know that ‘Breast is best’ right? Posters tell us, health professionals tell us, even the tin of formula says it (albeit in tiny writing). That message doesn’t work though,…

  • Milk Matters review that gets the problem

    Review by Tracy Cassels: Milk Matters by Maureen Minchin There are few times when a book comes out that should fundamentally change the popular discourse on a topic, but hasn’t (yet).  When this happens, it’s often because the message is one that people simply don’t want to hear due to a host of reasons.  Milk…

  • Intolerant Bodies: a history of immune research

    Intolerant bodies: a history of auto immunity. Anderson W, Mackay IR. (Johns Hopkins Press 2014) A focussed partial review and commentary.. This readable and illuminating text by an historian and an immunologist outlines the historical process of uncovering the workings of the immune system. Finding this book was for me finding a missing piece of…

  • Formulas for obesity and altered development: an excerpt about cows and soy formulas

    An excerpt about formulas and obesity, from pages 37-49 of Milk Matters: infant feeding and immune disorder. Also e-book Infant formula and modern epidemics: the Milk Hypothesis Author note: The previous section of this first part of the 800+ page book discussed the ways that breastmilk directs and supports normal infant development. The subsequent pages…

  • Hard to swallow: a book review

    Swallow This: serving up the food industry’s darkest secrets by Joanna Blythman (Fourth Estate London 2015) There are many interesting books on food. There are few fascinating detailed readable ones on food processing. This one is a must read for those feeling brave or curious. It is not a reassuring one for those who believe that…

  • Mixed messages mislead mothers: Danone does it.

    Some time ago I checked the Amazon page for my book Milk Matters: infant feeding and immune disorder, curious to see what sponsored advertisements might turn up. I was not very surprised to find advertisements for three infant formula companies. A Danone link listed what seemed like 10 positive facts about breastmilk. How factual where…

  • Fever is a Friend

    Paying attention to the baby requires constant (though not uninterrrupted) adult presence. Two really important signals all caregivers need to notice in all children, especially young ones, are pain and fever. Both are indiscriminate responses to a wide range of problems that activate the immune system, among them allergy. And let it be said upfront,…

  • LEAPing to conclusions: when to introduce foods

    LEAPing to conclusions about timing of widening the diet. Background Any society’s most common food allergens reflect both the immunological characteristics of the foods, and the cultural use of those foods. The most common western allergens are cows’ milk, egg, peanuts, and wheat, with cows’ milk protein allergy/hypersensitivity negatively affecting (and indeed killing) more children…

  • Milk supply regulation

    Milk production: an outline mums need to understand The basics: appropriate hormonal stimulation + emptying of milk from breast So, obviously 1. you need to allow baby to feed as needed, little and often to start; 2. feeding must be effective with no obstacles to milk drainage. Stimulation creates and maintains a basal level of…

  • NATIONAL STRATEGY ON INFANT AND YOUNG CHILD FEEDING: SOME THOUGHTS

    “At the COAG Health Ministers meeting in September 2016, it was agreed that an enduring Australian National Breastfeeding Strategy (the Strategy) be developed, incorporating two components: development of a high level enduring strategy to support breastfeeding in Australia, with no end date; and national agreement on how data is collected nationally to measure progress on…