# Formula maker (Enfamil) improving BM by making it more like formula?!?!?



## CookieMonsterMommy (Oct 15, 2002)

I'm not sure if you guys have heard about this, but from the makers of Enfamil comes a miraculous new pill! It's a supplement to be taken during pregnancy and while lactating. It contains DHA, just like that found in Their Enfamil LIPIL w/DHA and ARA formulas. *Now your breastmilk can be just as good as formula!* [my words, their implications]

Quote:

Each Expecta LIPIL softgel provides 200 mg of supplemental DHA. One easy-to-swallow softgel per day helps provide the DHA your diet may lack* (see chart below). Take Expecta LIPIL DHA Supplement in addition to your prenatal vitamin to help support your baby's best start in life.

Expecta LIPIL DHA......is made with the same DHA source that is in Enfamil LIPIL® with Iron infant formula, a product trusted by doctors and moms.
Anyone else wanna write them a letter or something? They have a form that you can fill out to send them a message (click on ask enfamil) or "If you prefer, you can e-mail us directly at [email protected] or call 1-800-BABY123." I'll be emailing them a little later in the week and will post a copy here then.

For a mother trying to decide between BFing and FFing, this propaganda would be very confusing! (hmmm...if BM is so much better-why would I need a supplement

They also have a nifty graph from "experts"....







:

Here's the link if anyone wants it:
http://www.expectalipil.com/expectalipilinfo.html

$31 for a 3 pack of supplement packages.
Of course, there are plenty of free samples being offered at OB/GYN and peds offices (such as the one I work at)....grrrr....

Mods-this is more of a general activism (IMHO) because it has to do with more than just breastfeeding. If you really have to move it to the BFing forums, please just lemme know 1st....thanks

Best Wishes to all,
Kelly


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## djinneyah (Sep 4, 2004)

yes, ladies, supplement your breastmilk with 2 of the THOUSANDS of nutrients FOUND NATURALLY IN BREASTMILK...2 nutrients we managed to make an inferior duplicate of in a lab and put in our crappy formula in the hopes of making it more...like...breastmilk....










sorry...i'd write a letter, but it would come out incoherent and probably bring me to the attention of homeland security (if i haven't caught their attention already







)

maybe someone with nerves of steel could compose a letter that we could all put our names on and send to these idiots.


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## Benji'sMom (Sep 14, 2004)

Did they forget that they started putting DHA & ARA in formula to make it more like BM in the first place!?


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## Pam_and_Abigail (Dec 2, 2002)

This may not be the best place to ask, but can someone remind me again how we make dha for our bm? What is it we're supposed to eat? Is it omega-3's?


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## User101 (Mar 3, 2002)

Actually, there is no proof that increasing DHA has any long-term effects on Baby's health or intelligence, nor is their any proof that breastmilk is deficient in DHA in the first place. (Just talked about this at LLL today!)

http://www.kellymom.com/nutrition/vi...HA-mother.html


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## dreamlette (Mar 20, 2004)

The wording on that website ("made with the same DHA source that is in Enfamil LIPIL® with Iron infant formula, a product trusted by doctors and moms.") is just ridiculous!

Here's a link to a Leaven article about DHA supplementation:
http://www.lalecheleague.org/llleade...Nov98p102.html

and Mead Johnson's professional info:
http://www.meadjohnson.com/professio...ectalipil.html

It's interesting that if you do a PubMed search on the subject (I just looked up 'exaenoic acid supplementation') the studies say that formulas supplemented with DHA end up with levels "similar to those of breast-fed infants"...not higher. So Mead Johnson can argue on the one hand that their formula is great because it's supplemented with DHA, so that "mothers can feel confident that no formula is closer to breast milk" and "the levels of DHA and ARA in Enfamil LIPIL formulas are comparable to global averages found naturally in breast milk" (from their website), and that their DHA nursing supplement is great too because it's the same kind of DHA as the one they put in their formula. Yet, they also say that the DHA in breastmilk isn't ideal according to their promotional chart that's linked to in the OP. So they can promote the same level of DHA as being great for formula babies but not sufficient for breastfed babies. On the bright side I guess they have higher standards for breastfed infants. Of course we know their real motive is profit- sell to everyone in one way or another. My husband spent a couple years in the Philippines and said that it's common for nursing mothers to drink 'special milks' marketed specifically to them. On the Enfamil website it says that "Breastfeeding mothers can increase the amount of DHA in their breast milk by eating foods like salmon and sardines." But on the Expecta website it says " Fish and shellfish are an important part of a healthy diet, and fatty fish, such as salmon and tuna, are the most abundant sources of DHA. However, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration have advised at-risk groups including pregnant and nursing women to reduce their exposure to mercury by avoiding certain fish and by limiting their intake of fish and seafood."

I enjoy doing research, and below is some of what I found. A study that I found did find it beneficial for pregnant & lactating women to supplement their diets with corn oil and cod liver oil; IQ at 4 years of age was augmented. Another study found that "ALA supplementation during pregnancy does not affect cognitive performance during and 32 weeks after gestation". And interestingly, that study also found that "higher plasma DHA levels were associated with lower cognitive performance". I also found some studies that said that DHA supplementation helped prevent pre-term birth.


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## JessicaS (Nov 18, 2001)

Where is that smoking crack smilie when you need it?

That just sounds nuts.


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## yeah yeah yeah (Aug 8, 2003)

that is the dumbest thing i've ever heard. seriously, if it takes off, i'm writing off all of humanity. i don't care how much of a case of "doctor awe" a woman has--taking that supplement seriously defies all logic.


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## HoneymoonBaby (Mar 31, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *dreamlette*
And interestingly, that study also found that "higher plasma DHA levels were associated with lower cognitive performance".











Whaaaaaaat?

My son is on DHA/ARA formula - I'd like to know more about this, please.


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## dreamlette (Mar 20, 2004)

This was a study (from Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2004 Jan;70(1):41-7) about supplementation of *pregnant* women, not about supplemented formulas. Reaction times on a task were slower.

Some research about supplemented formulas has found benefits vs. conventional formulas, and some research found that the supplementation didn't make a difference or only had a small effect.

To provide reassurance you may want to look at:

Visual, cognitive, and language assessments at 39 months: a follow-up study of children fed formulas containing long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids to 1 year of age.

HTH,
- Laura


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## User101 (Mar 3, 2002)

Quote:

METHODS: Infants were randomized within 1 week after birth and fed a control formula (n = 65), one containing DHA (n = 65), or one containing both ARA and DHA (n = 66) to 1 year of age. A comparison group (n = 80) was exclusively breastfed for at least 3 months after which the infants continued to be exclusively breastfed or were supplemented with and/or weaned to infant formula.
OK, not a researcher here so I really am looking for correction on this if I am mistaken, but is this not saying that this study which was completed/funded/sanctioned by Ross Products Division, Abbott Laboratories took two groups of babies fed their two different types of formula and compared them with a group of babies that were exclusively breastfed OR breastfed/supplemented with formula/weaned to formula and then compared them down the road for different developmental aspects. Wouldn't a true comparison need to be babies who were exclusively breastfed with no supplementation with artificial formula at all if you were trying to compare the stats of regular formula babies vs DHA/ARA formula babies vs breastfed babies? They seem to have a really, really broad definition of what they consider to be a "breastfed baby".

Also

Quote:

The adjusted means for the control, ARA+DHA, DHA, and breastfed groups were as follows: IQ scores, 104, 101, 100, 106
Wow.

Additionally, I find this initial statement

Quote:

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (ARA) are long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids found in breast milk and recently added to infant formulas.
to be extremely misleading. The DHA and ARA in formula is nothing like the essential fatty acids in human milk. The formula DHA/ARA is extracted from fermented microalgea and soil fungus, respectively, and, being from plant sources, are structured differently from EFAs in human milk.

Another study found here (well, the abstract anyway)
http://www.jlr.org/cgi/content/abstract/44/2/271
found

Quote:

These results raise the issue of the high content of linoleic acid of i) ingested lipids during pregnancy and lactation, and ii) formula milk and infant foods in relation to the epidemic of childhood obesity.
This study was not produced in conjunction with anyone in the formula industry

I think it is also worthwhile to note that there are health concerns here as well.

Quote:

Side effects have been reported in animal studies of the DHA and ARA, such as; oily soft stool (steatorrhea) and oily hair coat in rat studies. In four week exposures, rat pups had higher liver weights, in three month exposures they showed elevated serum alkaline phosphatase levels, and undeveloped renal papilla. Fungal food sources have the potential of acting as opportunistic pathogens in immunocompromised individuals. An extensive review of this topic was published in the Journal of Nutrition, November 1998 supplement; Vol 128, Number 11S.
and

Quote:

NABA has received many reports of babies being fed Lipil and experiencing watery, explosive diarrhea. One baby was so severely affected that he was admitted into a NICU for dehydration on day three. Such reactions should be reported to the manufacturer and the FDA as a side effect or adverse event of this formula. This is similar to the selling of olestra (the ingredient in potato chips that prevents a person from absorbing the fat, which caused painful cramping and diarrhea in many adults) that it is a scary comparison. We do not know if babies lose fat, fat soluble vitamins, or any other nutrients through the stool when they consume this formula. As a matter of fact, little is known about any alterations in metabolic parameters, blood chemistry, liver enzymes, etc.
AND

Quote:

Animal studies have shown that when these fatty acids are added to the diet and incorporated into plasma and tissue lipids it increases the susceptibility of membranes to lipid peroxidation and disrupts the antioxidant system. Breast milk is full of antioxidants that protect cells from the damaging effects of oxygen radicals (highly reactive chemicals). These oxygen radicals play a part in provoking diseases such as atherosclerosis, some forms of cancer, and a host of other diseases and conditions.
http://www.naba-breastfeeding.org/im...%20article.pdf

The FDA has not "approved" the usage of these EFAs because the clinical trials the formula companies completed were deemed insufficient, but rather has "allowed" it and expects the formula companies to engage in post-marketing studies (sort of like letting the fox guard the henhouse, but that's just my opinion)
According to the FDA

Quote:

studies have reported unexpected deaths among infants consuming these supplemented formulas. The deaths were attributed to SIDS, sepsis and necrotizing enterocolitis. Other studies have reported adverse effects such as diarrhea, flatulence, jaundice and apnea.
Probably the very best you could say is they don't cause any more harm than regular formula
http://www.infactcanada.ca/double_blind.htm

Not that it matters. According to the formula companies themselves, they were going to add this stuff to formula whether it was proven to aid development or not.

Quote:

"Infant formula is currently a commodity market, with all products being almost identical and marketers competing intensely to differentiate their product. *Even if Formulaid has no benefit* (my emphasis), we think it would be widely incorporate into formulas, as a marketing tool and to allow companies to promote their formula as "closest to human milk."
http://www.infactcanada.ca/who_pays.htm

What's my point? I guess I do not think there is anything reassuring about the study Laura posted. It was a study funded and carried out by the formula industry, and, as far as I can tell, the best it can say is that DHA/ARA formula does no harm. According to everything I've read outside the formula industry, there is a very real potential of harm when you give this stuff to a baby.

Honeymoon Baby, if I was using formula, I would absolutely, positively NOT give my baby a formula supplemented with DHA/ARA. Why pay 15% more for something that may be harming your child, and hasn't been proven to help?
Annette

ETA: I realize, Laura, that your post was to address one specific concern of Honeymoon Baby's (lower cognitive developement as a result of DHA supplementation) but this stuff just annoys me so much I had to post a whole rant!


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## djinneyah (Sep 4, 2004)

wow, annette! great research! thanks!

we ended up switching to formula due to my lack of education, and i decided against using the DHA/ARA formula. i'm kinda glad i did now. (not that regular formula is any better, but the supplementation with manufactured DHA/ARA doesn't sound like it's as great an idea as they thought.)


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## User101 (Mar 3, 2002)

If I had absolutely no choice but to use formula, I would probably either use the organic stuff or make my own.
Annette


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## Persephone (Apr 8, 2004)

Omg, that's the most insane thing I've ever heard! Please someone make them stop!!


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## orangebird (Jun 30, 2002)

I guess I am the oddball. I am quite impressed by their product. Not that it is revolutionary but that they are marketing to breastfeeding women rather than trying to convert them is a step in the right direction. The Americam diet is inadequate in DHA. That is the fats that you find in seafood, the ones that are really good for the baby's brain development. it is important for women in this country to have a diet rich in DHA but most of us don't. Women in Japan have much higher levels. Women in alot of countries have higher levels. Anyway, I don't think they are trying to make breastmilk more like formula, they added the DHA to formula because they found it in breastmilk first, they are just offering a product that, like taking salmon oil pills, is good for you and your developing and breastfeeding baby.

I have looked at alot of the research done on this, it is something we have been discussing and reading the research on at work lately since one of our neonatologists has been involved in this research, and all but one study showed everything from no benefit to a large benefit over the placebo groups. If it truely had no effect you would have seen more studies swinging the other way but that 99% pointed one way shows that indeed there is at least some positive benefit. About the side effects someone mentioned, I am sure at some level that would be true but the level that the Enfamil pills has is nowhere near that, it is far less than what is in the average Japanese daily intake so I don't think it is bad for you at all. As I said it is like taking a fish oil supplement, it is just made from a different source (fungus). I am not advocating Enfamil, I can't stand Enfamil, but I have just been looking into this very issue lately and I don't really think they are doing anything negative. I am just glad they found a way to make money that doesn't involve destroying breastfeeding relationships.


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## orangebird (Jun 30, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *HoneymoonBaby*









Whaaaaaaat?

My son is on DHA/ARA formula - I'd like to know more about this, please.

That was one study and I think there was something funky about the cohort groups, I wouldn't lose sleep over it, the rest of the research points the other way.


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## SEEPAE (Feb 18, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mara*
I am quite impressed by their product. Not that it is revolutionary but that they are marketing to breastfeeding women rather than trying to convert them is a step in the right direction.

Im suprised it took them this long to figure out something else to sell to hormonal, questioning, and volnerable pregnant women. Its all about money, they dont give a rats a$$ if its actually good for baby and you or not... just like a PP said in a quote "Even if Formulaid_(replace formulaid with any number of cool sounding words)_ has no benefit, we think it would be widely incorporate into formulas_(replace with anything that they can sell),_ as a marketing tool and to allow companies to promote_(aka make money and capitolize on other peoples ignorance)_.

Quote:

I can't stand Enfamil, but I have just been looking into this very issue lately and I don't really think they are doing anything negative. I am just glad they found a way to make money that doesn't involve destroying breastfeeding relationships.
I would prefer it if they didnt make money at all! They are doing a lot of negative things, IMO, by making us second guess even more if our bodies make the right food for our babies or not.


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## SEEPAE (Feb 18, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mara*
That was one study and I think there was something funky about the cohort groups, I wouldn't lose sleep over it, the rest of the research points the other way.

Id like to read that research...


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## darsmama (Jul 23, 2004)

Omega 3's
You can get it from Flax oil. I take flax seed oil pills.


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## User101 (Mar 3, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mara*
I guess I am the oddball. I am quite impressed by their product. Not that it is revolutionary but that they are marketing to breastfeeding women rather than trying to convert them is a step in the right direction. The Americam diet is inadequate in DHA. That is the fats that you find in seafood, the ones that are really good for the baby's brain development. it is important for women in this country to have a diet rich in DHA but most of us don't. Women in Japan have much higher levels. Women in alot of countries have higher levels. Anyway, I don't think they are trying to make breastmilk more like formula, they added the DHA to formula because they found it in breastmilk first, they are just offering a product that, like taking salmon oil pills, is good for you and your developing and breastfeeding baby.

I guess I would disagree here. If it's a general woman's health issue, then the info should be targeted at everyone. By marketing a supplement like this specifically to breastfeeding mothers, they are essentially saying "breastmilk isn't good enough." It's the same old song sung to a different tune.

Additionally, supplements are no substitution for healthy eating. I would rather get my EFAs from flax seed or fish than soiol fundus and fermented microalgae.

I also found this
http://neuro-www.mgh.harvard.edu/for...3.18ReDHA.html

Quote:

A key study in this area is an Australian double-blind trial of 52
healthy, middle-class, term infants exclusively breast fed for at
least 12 weeks (Eur. J. Clin. Nutr. 51 [9]:578-84, 1997). In
this study mothers were given DHA supplements in various
amounts so that their breast milk achieved DHA concentrations
ranging from 0.1%-1.7% of total fatty acids.

The investigators found that increasing breast milk DHA
resulted in dose-dependent increases in infant plasma and
erythrocyte DHA levels. But these increases stopped once breast
milk DHA levels reached 0.8% of total fatty acids.

"This is important because we don't want mothers to go out and
pop large doses of DHA if they have no further influence on the
baby's status," Dr. Dewey commented.
You could just end up having really expensive pee.

Plus there's just the whole logic disconnect here-

Breastfed babies have higher/normal IQ's because breastmilk is higher/has the proper levels of DHA/ARA

Formula-fed babies have lower/below average IQ's because formula has insufficient DHA/ARA.








Let's supplement formula with DHA/ARA to make it more like breastmilk.

Let's supplement breastmilk, because more DHA/ARA is obviously better.







:
?????
Annette


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## Faith (Nov 14, 2002)

Can I just say that I hate the BF picture they use on their site? They use it in their booklets too.

Could they make it look any more awkward?!! Look at everybody's hands! The mom didn't even get a face, so no bonding there...


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## HoneymoonBaby (Mar 31, 2004)

Thanks for the information. My son is doing very well on DHA/ARA formula and I plain don't have the nerve to take him off it and try something else at this point (thought I've been tempted since I found organic formula). When I had to stop nursing, I stood in tears in the formula aisle at Target for two hours trying to make heads or tails of it all and finally picked the one that seemed the least detrimental. (Actually, I picked Similac because it sounded like "similar to lactation." That was my emotional state at the time. Sad, eh?) I don't know if I can revisit that decision, it was so agonizing. I'm just thankful he's doing so well.


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## User101 (Mar 3, 2002)

Hugs to you- I'm glad your son is doing well also!
Annette


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## artgoddess (Jun 29, 2004)

Brilliant, the formula companies don't make enough $$ they now have decided to tap into the market previously untouchable to them, Breastfeeding Mothers.









Losers


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## kavamamakava (Aug 25, 2004)

It is my understanding that the breast will make DHA on demand if the mother's daily diet is defiicient. So taking a supplement will only ensure that the mother remain healthy and won't change her breastmilk.


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## DebraBaker (Jan 9, 2002)

OK,

Back in the old days BM was, well, shit not breastmilk.

Sooooo, Enfamil may try to make my *shit* more like formula but it's closer to shit than my good breastmilk!!

DB


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## H&HMom (Jul 9, 2004)

DB, I thought the same thing when I read the subject line! BM= Bowel movement. We are in the middle of potty learning around here, so I guess I have poop on the brain!


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## guestmama9924 (Mar 16, 2002)

I am not into supplement for breastfeeding mothers at all .I am also not a fan of drugs being put into baby formula that have not had the benefit of good independent studies. So far, all the results on DHA additives are conducted by Martek....the manufacturere!!!!

DHA can also be converted from ALA in mothers who do not consume meats (like me) by consuming flax, walnut and other naturally oily foods. The thing is , is that breastmilk has DHA and now Martek says we need to boost it. But what is the baseline or minimal needed amount??? no one really knows. weird [email protected]!!!

OK a bit off topic, but since I learned this today I got miffed....Organic Valley is now sharing a spokesperson with Enfamil Lipil! ( sleezy Dr Greene now represents, both.)


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## User101 (Mar 3, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *KeysMama*
OK a bit off topic, but since I learned this today I got miffed....Organic Valley is now sharing a spokesperson with Enfamil Lipil! ( sleezy Dr Greene now represents, both.)

Eeew- really? I guess we're getting Horizon milk from now on.








Anybody got a letter?
Annette


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## Electra375 (Oct 2, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Benji'sMom*
Did they forget that they started putting DHA & ARA in formula to make it more like BM in the first place!?

I sometimes wonder what goes through their tiny brains...
"Let's make it sound like we are making our formula like BM first, then we'll turn it around and have everyone so confused they will FF instead -- we'll make billions at their ignorant expense!"
















I hate that Beachnut is putting this DHA and ARA in their baby food!!!


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