Bellamy’s Organic. Get your Baby off to a Pure Start to Life

We all do what we can to protect our children on the outside, but do we think enough about the hazards on the inside? At Bellamy’s we know that a newborn’s immune system is not nearly as effective as an adult’s or even an older child’s, and that’s why we’re convinced that organic foods help you give them a Pure Start to Life.

It takes many months before a newborn can fight off infection as effectively as someone whose immune system is fully matured. Nonetheless, you may be pleasantly reassured to know that newborns are much better protected against (or immune to) potential illnesses and diseases than you might otherwise think. This is because during pregnancy, disease-fighting antibodies made in the mother’s immune system are able to make their way across the placenta and into her baby’s body.

But it’s not just bugs that are a potential hazard, it’s chemicals, too. If we are what we eat, then chemicals in food must make some kind of difference to who we are! OK, so we don’t glow in the dark, but we know harmful things do happen if we accumulate pesticides and other nasties we can’t easily get rid of. Babies in particular are susceptible to impurities and that’s why organic baby foods are a safe alternative.

But let’s not confuse the benefits of eating organic food with living in some sort of sterile environment. Organic foods come from traditional farming practices and it seems one of the reasons our immune systems sometimes turn on us and produces unwanted reactions seems to be not so much about being overly hygienic these days, but because we don’t “mingle”, as generations used to, with animals – particularly farm animals.

A 2006 study published in “Pediatrics”, Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, examined exposure to pets, and the association with Hay Fever, Asthma, and Atopic Sensitization in children living in rural areas. The study ultimately found that animal exposure is most likely to provide a protective effect when the total level of exposure is highest (ie, those children exposed to pets and farm animals).

At the leading edge of this thinking, Professor Graham Rook, Emeritus Professor of Medical Microbiology, University College of London, is looking into what he calls “the old friends” hypothesis. It appears that we have effectively rid ourselves of some types of parasitic worms that now seem to have the ability to regulate our immune response in positive ways! Gross, you say. But if we could understand the mechanism of these worms, we might be on the edge of breakthroughs in immune system related diseases such as MS and Crohn’s disease, among others.

Professor Rook also says that exposure of children, particularly those under 2 and a half, to a range of farm animals, can be beneficial in reducing incidence of asthma and eczema.

The Australian Medical Journal seems to endorse this view and says:

▪       Epidemiological studies have identified a number of factors associated with increased incidence of asthma. These include allergen sensitisation and exposure, reduced exposure to infections and to farm animals in early childhood, and maternal smoking.

▪       These factors may represent “true” risk factors for asthma or may be merely associated factors that do not in themselves cause asthma.

▪       The “hygiene hypothesis” has been proposed as one mechanism by which infections may protect against asthma.

▪       Current recommendations for the primary prevention of asthma include exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life, avoidance of maternal smoking during pregnancy and infancy, and reducing the levels of house-dust mite in some environments.

So, what to do? Well, check out Bellamy’s organic range, it’s better than eating worms, and armed with some delicious fruit snacks, maybe check out your local petting zoo!

If you’d like to know more about Bellamy’s Organic baby products, rusks and fruit snacks click on this link. It will take you straight to our on-line store http://www.bellamysorganic.com.au/catalogue 

Read more at:

• “ALLERGY: PREDICTION, PREVENTION, AND THE “HYGIENE HYPOTHESIS”

Exposure to Pets, and the Association with Hay Fever, Asthma, and Atopic Sensitization in Rural Children.

• “Exposure to animals and the risk of allergic asthma: a population-based cross-sectional study in Finnish and Russian children”

• “Is prevention of childhood asthma possible? Allergens, infections and animals”

About the author