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Looking for Healthy Baby Food? Foods to Avoid or Eat Organic
Tricia Edgar | Thursday 28th January 2010
 Bodies need healthy food, and little bodies in particular need food that does not contain a lot of pesticides. Pesticides can interfere with brain development, hormones, and can lead to cancer. Just what you'd like to avoid, I'm sure! If you're looking for safe first foods for babies, consider going organic. Organic doesn't need to mean processed and expensive. Even though there are many organic baby food products available and these are extremely convenient, with a masher or baby food processer it is fairly simple to make your own baby food. It's also cheaper than relying solely on processed organic baby food, and you'll get more of that lovely fiber in your baby's diet.If you aren't able to afford organic or healthy, organic baby food is simply not available in your area, what can you do? There are a few options. First, grow it yourself! Growing potatoes in a pot, growing a blueberry bush - these take very little space and produce great, pesticide-free produce. Also, check out your local farms and farmers' markets and chat with the farmers. Perhaps some of the produce there is already pesticide-free, but it is not certified organic. Of course, breastfeeding your baby is also an important way to contribute to your baby's long-term health, and if you eat organic, so will your child. If your baby is now moving into the world of solid food, which foods should you choose to ensure that your child gets healthy food? There are lists of less-allergenic foods for babies, to be sure. But which ones are low in pesticides? If you need to go to the grocery store and you're looking at a selection of conventional foods of indeterminate origin, which ones should you choose for baby food? The head whirls, the anxiety mounts, and you debate never eating again, then realize that is not a practical idea. If you're looking for healthy baby foods, what should you avoid? Apples tend to have a lot of pesticides. Avoid conventional applesauce, apple juice, and apples whenever possible. Choose organic and processed applesauce if there are no organic apples available. Avoid tomato products that are canned in metal, since the lining of the can may contain BPA. Choose tomato products that are canned in glass instead. Strawberries and raspberries are delicious, especially in the summer. However, they can also contain large amounts of pesticides, since they tend to mould very easily. Choose organic and local strawberries when they are in season, or eat blueberries instead. Peaches, pears, and nectarines are lovely soft fruits for a baby to nibble, but they too contain large quantities of pesticides. Try to find these organic. While many vegetable crops have fewer pesticides than the perishable tree fruits, crops to avoid include bell peppers, carrots, potatoes, and spinach. What are safer foods for babies to eat? Avocadoes, peas, cabbage, corn, blueberries, and papayas have some of the lowest levels of pesticides. Broccoli and onions are also on the list, to the delight of toddlers and preschoolers everywhere! |
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