8 Amazing Benefits of Breastfeeding for Babies [Infographic]

In honor of World Breastfeeding Week, I thought I'd share a special infographic with you highlighting only a few of the amazing benefits of breastfeeding for babies.  I'm definitely an advocate for breastfeeding and want to do my part in bringing awareness to this natural, healthy feeding practice for infants.  If interested, please check out my previous posts on this topic:  Breastfeeding: A Moral Decision?, Breastfeeding: What are the Benefits for Baby?,  Breastfeeding: How Does it Benefit Mom?, and Breastfeeding: Sticking with it.   Without further adieu, here's the infographic. Please feel free to share with proper credit.

How do you bring awareness to and support breastfeeding?  

Amazing Benefits of Breastfeeding for Babies - Copyright 2014 - Michelle Loy, MPH, MS, RDN, CSSD

Amazing Benefits of Breastfeeding for Babies by Michelle Loy, MPH, MS, RDN, CSSD is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at nutritionandwellnessbytes.blogspot.com.

4 keys to staying well during cold and flu season

Image Credit:  William Brawley (Flickr)

We're smack dab in the middle of cold and flu season, and I'm sure that you'd like to avoid catching the bug, right?  Aside from practicing good hygiene, there are four key lifestyle behaviors that have been determined to be true guardians of health during this time of year.  Practice these behaviors and you'll better protect yourself from the misery of cold and flu season.

Eat enough nutrient-dense, immune-supportive foods.
One of the first lines of defense against cold and flu season starts in the grocery cart.  Make sure that you're including plenty of nutrient-dense, immune-supportive foods that will bolster your immune system.  What foods are these?  Eat fish for vitamin D, which helps regulate the immune system.  Include a variety of produce, especially citrus fruits, cruciferous vegetables, winter squash, and dark leafy greens, for immunoprotective vitamins A and C.  Also be sure to incorporate high quality meat and dried beans for protein, iron, and zinc, which help the immune system function at its best.  For more information on foods that support a strong immune system, check out this blog post that I wrote last year.

Get 7-9 hours of sleep every night.
When we sleep, the body's immune system recharges.  The release of infection-fighting cytokines from the immune system surges during sleep.  When we are sleep-deprived, the levels of cytokines and other immune-supportive cells in the body declines.  In fact, one study found that individuals who slept less than seven hours each night were nearly three times more likely to develop colds than those who slept at least eight hours or more.  So make sleep a priority!

Manage stress effectively.
Short-term, long-term, real or perceived, the body does not discriminate against the type of stress we experience.  When we experience stress, a cascade of biochemical reactions that lower the body's immune function begins.  When stress becomes chronic, the immune system becomes weaker.  While we cannot completely eliminate all sources of stress, we certainly can find ways to better manage it.  In fact, relaxation actually boosts certain activities of the immune system, including sending more infection-fighting cells into action in the bloodstream.  Remember that relaxation is not necessarily 'doing nothing', but rather, it is a learned behavior.  For more tips on managing stress effectively, check out this  advice from the American Psychological Association.

Perform at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise on 5+ days of the week.
Studies have found that exercise may boost the number and function of certain cells of the immune system.  Investigators also believe that exercise enhances the transport of these cells throughout the body making them more effective at eradicating the bacteria and viruses responsible for the cold and flu.  One study detected a 46% lower frequency of colds for participants that exercised at least 5 days a week compared to those who were sedentary.   Another investigation observed that women who performed 45 minutes of moderate-intensity activity 5 days a week experienced 50% fewer colds than women in the control group who stretched daily.  While getting enough exercise is essential, keep in mind that performing prolonged or intense exercise can actually depress the body's immune system.  If you participate in these types of activities, such as marathons or ultra-endurance events, adequate recovery time is vital and make sure to practice the other lifestyle behaviors listed above.

What are your best strategies for practicing these behaviors?  What behaviors would you add to this list?  

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How to lose the pregnancy weight after having a baby

Having had my second child 7 months ago, I definitely understand the challenges of getting that body back after having a baby.  If you're getting ready to have a little one or if you're a new mom yourself, you may want to check out an article in Parenting Orange County Magazine that I recently contributed to that discusses guidelines on post-baby weight loss and tips that will help any new mom blast through the diet traps that keep her from losing that "baby weight".  If you're interested in learning more, you can read the article: "Body After Baby: 8 Diet Traps New Moms Face".

Quoted in Parenting OC Magazine - Body After Baby

 Photo credit: sendung - Marian Steinbach (Flickr)

Look for my quotes in an short read about the 8 diet traps that new moms face in the latest Parenting OC Magazine.

Brain food

It may sound silly, but as I was growing up, my mom often told me the reason I was smart is because she ate fish while she was pregnant. It's funny to look back now and realize how intuitive she was about this concept. While there is much controversy over the consumption of fish during pregnancy, I've recently read more recent evidence revealing that the consumption of fish, specifically the omega-3 fatty acid, DHA, may be associated with increased cognitive and visual performance in young children. This essential fat is highly concentrated in the brain, eyes, and central nervous system, and it appears that consumption of it during the last two trimesters of pregnancy may be critical to optimal brain and visual development. I personally understand the importance of making informed decisions about factors that affect the health of the baby during pregnancy (and lactation), so if you know of a pregnant or nursing mom in need of some guidance on this you may check out this link for more information regarding guidelines on fish consumption during pregnancy. To a happy and healthy 9 months...

The truth about trans fat

This topic may seem a bit un-hip at the moment as various items in nutrition news become hot and then not in no time. However, trans fat still interests me. I teach my students about it, and I still get asked about it a lot in practice. I thought I'd write about it this week because it still seems to be an area of interest for many. In fact, in July 2008 California lawmakers approved legislation for a ban on trans fat in foods from restaurants and bakeries, and the law will take effect in 2010. This follows the somewhat controversial ban on trans fat in restaurants in New York City and others.

First of all, what is trans fat? Well, it's a type of fatty acid in which the chemical structure has been changed. This can be done industrially in order to enhance the shelf life and texture of foods. There are two types of trans fats: industrially produced (usually found in margarines, shortening, baked and fried foods) and naturally occurring (found in beef fat and milk). It appears that it's the industrially-produced type that poses the most health risk.

Why all the hype? Well, let me count the ways.

First and foremost, intake of trans fat is linked with increased risk of coronary artery disease, risk of fatal and nonfatal heart attacks, and sudden cardiac death. It is associated with increasing total and LDL (bad) cholesterol, lowering HDL (good) cholesterol, and increasing total to HDL and LDL to HDL cholesterol ratios. Plus, the effect on LDL cholesterol appears to be dose-dependent meaning that trans fat has an affect at varying doses rather than starting at say an intake of X grams/day.

It doesn't stop there. There are several other avenues through which it possibly contributes to heart disease including causing the arterial walls to be less flexible and activating inflammatory responses, which is increasingly associated with heart disease.

The shocker for me was the effect on the unborn fetus and breastfed infant. Of course, this is a potential risk, but it may adversely affect growth and development by interfering with the metabolism of essential fatty acids needed for growth and brain development (DHA and ARA). However, it may also just be that women who consume a diet high in trans fat may also not eat sources of healthy fat (omega-3 fatty acids like fish, fish oil). In one study, newborns with high levels of trans fat in their blood system tended to have smaller head circumferences, which can be an indicator of brain growth/development. This was a small study with several limitations, but the data are intriguing. What I don't believe a lot of pregnant and/or breastfeeding women realize is that what they eat really can affect their babies negatively. The ONLY way a fetus or solely breastfed infant can have trans fat in their bodies is through the mother's dietary consumption.

Other studies show either no or some positive association between trans fat and cancer and diabetes. There are also studies linking trans fat with impaired insulin sensitivity or insulin resistance. This appears to be mostly in obese subjects and/or those who already have diabetes and/or insulin resistance.

The good news is that the FDA started requiring placement of trans fat content in foods on the Nutrition Facts Panel as of Jan. '06. So even before then, companies were scurrying to remove or reduce trans fat from their foods. This was done in other countries well before us, and the average trans fat intake in those countries declined with this change. That's good news for us! At the same time, in order to make up for this reduction in trans fat, many food manufacturers utilized fat sources that are high in almost equally unhealthy -- saturated fat. Be careful! Read the label. In addition, something can say it has 0 grams trans fat or 'trans fat free' and still contain trans fat. In order to state these things, it has to contain <0.5g trans fat per serving. Check the ingredients list, and if you see the words "partially hydrogenated" and whatever type of vegetable oil listed, it contains some trans fat. Be aware that the trans fat content includes both industrially produced ("partially hydrogenated") and naturally-occurring. Also, supplements may contain trans fat as well. They are also required to list this info on their Supplement Facts Panel. In fact, one woman I know saw that her child's Flintstone gummy vitamins contained "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil".

As for the ban on trans fats, I have no problem seeing industrially-produced trans fat disappear from the food supply. There is no real human need for it other than to offer a dense source of energy (calories), and there are other nutrients and types of fat that can serve that purpose. It is simply not an essential nutrient meaning our body does not need trans fat for survival or to function properly AND it is actually potentially harmful. Yet another reason to get a little closer to mother nature when it comes to the food we eat:)

Here's to a healthy week!