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The Pit Parenting Thread

Little bit of both.

Like if we're cooking chicken wings, we'll leave a few without the wing sauce, cayenne, etc. But if we're doing tacos, he gets the chicken that was cooked in the taco sauce. For some things, you can kind of take out a small portion before you add too much of the seasoning. Or if we're having something where that isn't possible and we think it would be too spicy for him, he just gets leftovers.

Webb recently got hooked on salsa. No problems yet.
 
Nope no baby food and no blender- chicken wings, salmon and tacos right away. You have to wait to introduce solids until they are at least 6 months and showing signs of interest, you also have to be comfortable with them getting the bulk of their nutrition from breastmilk or formula and using solids to "explore". There are a lot of reasons to do it (lets them control how much they eat, learn about textures and tastes right away, has been shown to decrease incidence of childhood obesity, they learn how to push food around in their mouth and how to get it out if they don't want it there. They learn they need to chew before they swallow, etc.) and it's not for everyone (sometimes letting your kid gag is scary - though he only did that a few times and you bear in mind that gagging isn't choking) but it has been the best thing we have done.

We bought a Beaba and made our own baby food (squash, peas, green beans, apples, cauliflower, etc..) for Webb until he moved on to real solids. We also made a decision to go completely organic on any produce we bought him.
 
We bought a Beaba and made our own baby food (squash, peas, green beans, apples, cauliflower, etc..) for Webb until he moved on to real solids. We also made a decision to go completely organic on any produce we bought him.

we had every intention on making birdie's food ourselves. that lasted about 3 weeks. kudos to you and yours.
 
We bought a Beaba and made our own baby food (squash, peas, green beans, apples, cauliflower, etc..) for Webb until he moved on to real solids. We also made a decision to go completely organic on any produce we bought him.

I think it's really stunted his growth.
 
You organic people crack me up

Little evidence of health benefits from organic foods, Stanford study finds
BY MICHELLE BRANDT

Crystal Smith-Spangler and her colleagues reviewed many of the studies comparing organic and conventionally grown food, and found little evidence that organic foods are more nutritious.
You’re in the supermarket eyeing a basket of sweet, juicy plums. You reach for the conventionally grown stone fruit, then decide to spring the extra $1/pound for its organic cousin. You figure you’ve just made the healthier decision by choosing the organic product — but new findings from Stanford University cast some doubt on your thinking.

“There isn’t much difference between organic and conventional foods, if you’re an adult and making a decision based solely on your health,” said Dena Bravata, MD, MS, the senior author of a paper comparing the nutrition of organic and non-organic foods, published in the Sept. 4 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine.

A team led by Bravata, a senior affiliate with Stanford’s Center for Health Policy, and Crystal Smith-Spangler, MD, MS, an instructor in the school’s Division of General Medical Disciplines and a physician-investigator at VA Palo Alto Health Care System, did the most comprehensive meta-analysis to date of existing studies comparing organic and conventional foods. They did not find strong evidence that organic foods are more nutritious or carry fewer health risks than conventional alternatives, though consumption of organic foods can reduce the risk of pesticide exposure.

The popularity of organic products, which are generally grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers or routine use of antibiotics or growth hormones, is skyrocketing in the United States. Between 1997 and 2011, U.S. sales of organic foods increased from $3.6 billion to $24.4 billion, and many consumers are willing to pay a premium for these products. Organic foods are often twice as expensive as their conventionally grown counterparts.

Although there is a common perception — perhaps based on price alone — that organic foods are better for you than non-organic ones, it remains an open question as to the health benefits. In fact, the Stanford study stemmed from Bravata’s patients asking her again and again about the benefits of organic products. She didn’t know how to advise them.

So Bravata, who is also chief medical officer at the health-care transparency company Castlight Health, did a literature search, uncovering what she called a “confusing body of studies, including some that were not very rigorous, appearing in trade publications.” There wasn’t a comprehensive synthesis of the evidence that included both benefits and harms, she said.

“This was a ripe area in which to do a systematic review,” said first author Smith-Spangler, who jumped on board to conduct the meta-analysis with Bravata and other Stanford colleagues.

For their study, the researchers sifted through thousands of papers and identified 237 of the most relevant to analyze. Those included 17 studies (six of which were randomized clinical trials) of populations consuming organic and conventional diets, and 223 studies that compared either the nutrient levels or the bacterial, fungal or pesticide contamination of various products (fruits, vegetables, grains, meats, milk, poultry, and eggs) grown organically and conventionally. There were no long-term studies of health outcomes of people consuming organic versus conventionally produced food; the duration of the studies involving human subjects ranged from two days to two years.

After analyzing the data, the researchers found little significant difference in health benefits between organic and conventional foods. No consistent differences were seen in the vitamin content of organic products, and only one nutrient — phosphorus — was significantly higher in organic versus conventionally grown produce (and the researchers note that because few people have phosphorous deficiency, this has little clinical significance). There was also no difference in protein or fat content between organic and conventional milk, though evidence from a limited number of studies suggested that organic milk may contain significantly higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids.

The researchers were also unable to identify specific fruits and vegetables for which organic appeared the consistently healthier choice, despite running what Bravata called “tons of analyses.”

“Some believe that organic food is always healthier and more nutritious,” said Smith-Spangler, who is also an instructor of medicine at the School of Medicine. “We were a little surprised that we didn’t find that.”

The review yielded scant evidence that conventional foods posed greater health risks than organic products. While researchers found that organic produce had a 30 percent lower risk of pesticide contamination than conventional fruits and vegetables, organic foods are not necessarily 100 percent free of pesticides. What’s more, as the researchers noted, the pesticide levels of all foods generally fell within the allowable safety limits. Two studies of children consuming organic and conventional diets did find lower levels of pesticide residues in the urine of children on organic diets, though the significance of these findings on child health is unclear. Additionally, organic chicken and pork appeared to reduce exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria, but the clinical significance of this is also unclear.

As for what the findings mean for consumers, the researchers said their aim is to educate people, not to discourage them from making organic purchases. “If you look beyond health effects, there are plenty of other reasons to buy organic instead of conventional,” noted Bravata. She listed taste preferences and concerns about the effects of conventional farming practices on the environment and animal welfare as some of the reasons people choose organic products.

“Our goal was to shed light on what the evidence is,” said Smith-Spangler. “This is information that people can use to make their own decisions based on their level of concern about pesticides, their budget and other considerations.”

She also said that people should aim for healthier diets overall. She emphasized the importance of eating of fruits and vegetables, “however they are grown,” noting that most Americans don’t consume the recommended amount.

In discussing limitations of their work, the researchers noted the heterogeneity of the studies they reviewed due to differences in testing methods; physical factors affecting the food, such as weather and soil type; and great variation among organic farming methods. With regard to the latter, there may be specific organic practices (for example, the way that manure fertilizer, a risk for bacterial contamination, is used and handled) that could yield a safer product of higher nutritional quality.

“What I learned is there’s a lot of variation between farming practices,” said Smith-Spangler. “It appears there are a lot of different factors that are important in predicting nutritional quality and harms.”

Other Stanford co-authors are Margaret Brandeau, PhD, the Coleman F. Fung Professor in the School of Engineering; medical students Grace Hunter, J. Clay Bavinger and Maren Pearson; research assistant Paul Eschbach; Vandana Sundaram, MPH, assistant director for research at CHP/PCOR; Hau Liu, MD, MBA, clinical assistant professor of medicine at Stanford and senior director at Castlight Health; Patricia Schirmer, MD, infectious disease physician with the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System; medical librarian Christopher Stave, MLS; and Ingram Olkin, PhD, professor emeritus of statistics and of education. The authors received no external funding for this study.

Information about Stanford’s Department of Medicine, which supported the work, is available at http://medicine.stanford.edu. The Center for Health Policy is a unit of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford.
 
i love how people keep pulling out that study about "organic foods aren't healthier for you." all they showed was that they don't contain more vitamins/minerals. maybe there's a whole world of people that think that organic foods actually do have more vitamins than non-organic, but if that's the case, i have somehow managed to never meet one of them. the main reason that people choose organic is because of the lack of synthetic pesticides, not because of more vitamins.
 
The study wasn't exactly conclusive about pesticides either...

The review yielded scant evidence that conventional foods posed greater health risks than organic products. While researchers found that organic produce had a 30 percent lower risk of pesticide contamination than conventional fruits and vegetables, organic foods are not necessarily 100 percent free of pesticides. What’s more, as the researchers noted, the pesticide levels of all foods generally fell within the allowable safety limits. Two studies of children consuming organic and conventional diets did find lower levels of pesticide residues in the urine of children on organic diets, though the significance of these findings on child health is unclear. Additionally, organic chicken and pork appeared to reduce exposure to antibiotic-resistant bacteria, but the clinical significance of this is also unclear.

As for what the findings mean for consumers, the researchers said their aim is to educate people, not to discourage them from making organic purchases. “If you look beyond health effects, there are plenty of other reasons to buy organic instead of conventional,” noted Bravata. She listed taste preferences and concerns about the effects of conventional farming practices on the environment and animal welfare as some of the reasons people choose organic products.
 
what they found was that there are way higher pesticide levels on traditional fruits/veggies. what they didn't know is whether or not the additional pesticides are actually dangerous. at this point, it's kind of one of those "nobody really knows" things, so there are lots of people and lots of parents who choose to err on the conservative side. while i am probably 80% regular/20% organic (honestly just can't afford to go all organic right now. hoping that i finally get a garden next year so that it's a lot more affordable to just grow my own), i totally understand why parents especially wouldn't want to put all those chemicals in their kids' food. if we don't really know what the results will be 30-40 years down the road, they just want to be cautious.
 
I think most organic fruits and veggies taste better - maybe its just me.

My town has a co-op that is about 5 minutes walking from my house, we buy most of our fruits and stuff there because it is convenient.
 
The only thing we're strict about it organic milk. I won't buy anything with hormones in it.
 
Learn the difference between crying for attention and crying for need. If you want him to sleep through the night, you have to ignore him at night when he isn't wet/hungry.

this...
 
The only thing we're strict about it organic milk. I won't buy anything with hormones in it.

Same plus chicken when we are cooking for the kids. Have you seen the size of the non organic breast these days? I have two girls. If it makes chicken breasts that big, I will have to get a second shot gun when they turn ten for fuck sake.
 
You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to DirtySouthDeacon again.
 
Before going to bed tonight, 3.5 year old LJF told my wife that he wanted to go to the farm to see them milk the cows and to see the animals and play in the hay and see the dog. He's talking about a dairy farm we went to about a year ago.

It's amazing how good of a memory he has.
 
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