Ultra Processed Foods

[Koolau]

Perhaps you are joking but I'm afraid that if someone truly thinks that breast milk is basically sugar water with 'some fat thrown in' then there isn't much of a conversation to be had. One of the great mistakes that was made many years ago was to think that everything can be equated to it's chemical formula. A calorie is a calorie and all. Clearly, this has not served us well. Breast milk is 'good' food. The absolute best for newborns in fact.

I wasn't joking and I basically agree with you about mother's milk. And yes, the trace ingredients in mothers milk helps make it "good food" but it's still basically sugar water with some fat and a little protein.

It's the right food from the right person for the right person at the right time.

It's nutritious, digestible and "designed" to meet baby's needs at the time. But it's STILL "basically" sugar water with some fat (and a little protein) and trace minerals and antibodies and probably stuff we don't even know about fully.

Keep in mind that those of us here who have reached our 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and beyond still "live" on (wait for it) "sugar." We eat excellent unprocessed food or highly processed foods and our body turns it mostly into "sugar." Yes, much more complicated than that (anyone recall the Krebs cycle.)

We still haven't defined what "NOT-ultra-processed-food" is, but what ever it is, we STILL wouldn't feed it to a week old baby. Babies wouldn't do well on grilled lean chicken breast or whole-grain breads or for that matter Hot-Pockets. They need something a lot less complex to turn into their own glycogen. Lactose is an easy way for baby to get the energy s/he needs quickly without a lot of complex conversions going on.

Eventually, we add stuff to baby's diet (such as cereals) that are not very complex for baby to break down. Eventually, baby can tolerate more and more things which s/he turns into usable sugar in the blood. It's complicated and beautiful and well "designed."

I agree that a "calorie is not just a calorie" BUT it is theoretically possible to "create" food in a test tube with the right chemicals. I don't know if anyone has ever actually made a food as good as mother's milk (probably not) but it is theoretically possible. And some babies have never had a drop of mother's milk - they have "test tube" food called "formula." I'd be the first to agree that formula is not as "good" as mother's milk (and formula is highly processed) but millions of babies have survived and thrived on it.

Keep in mind that WE are chemicals and foods are chemicals. It's complicated yet simple at the same time.

 

[Koolau]

Breast milk was around before commercial baby food too. I may be wrong here, but doesn't breast milk from the Mom help with building the newborn's immune system?

Yes, and that's probably the best reason to breast feed. But as pointed out above, millions of babies have never even tasted mother's milk. Sadly, a few can't tolerate their own mother's milk. Before formula those few babies died if they couldn't find a donor who's milk they could tolerate. Like I said. It's complicated.

Oh, and I wasn't a Bio major, so I'm sure there are plenty of folks here who understand this subject WAY better than I do - which, IOW means YMMV.

 

[Golden Mean]

In post #93 above I pointed out that mother's milk is basically sugar water with some fat thrown in. Baby humans aren't yet ready to turn "good" food into what they need to survive on.

Regarding vitamins: If "man made" vitamins are chemically equivalent to those made by nature, I don't see any significant issue, but YMMV.o i

A cup of Mother's milk is ~172 kcal, 97 cal are fat, 10 are protein and 68 are lactose (sugar). Over half the calories are from animal fats and protein. Nothing like sugar water.

 

[Koolau]

A cup of Mother's milk is ~172 kcal, 97 cal are fat, 10 are protein and 68 are lactose (sugar). Over half the calories are from animal fats and protein. Nothing like sugar water.

As you may know, per gm, fat has about twice the kcal of energy so while fat content varies, lactose is about 7% (fat 2% to 5%). So "sugar water" with some fat thrown in. Believe it or don't.

By the way, I'm not knocking mother's milk. Just telling you what's in it. If you don't want to call it "sugar water" go ahead and call it whatever you want to - including "mother's milk." That's accurate but not very descriptive from a chemical standpoint.

This discussion began because people are talking about "chemicals" and "processing" with very few details about what that means. Some think chemicals in food are "bad." My MM info was an attempt to put the chemical nature of food into some perspective.

There's nothing more "natural" than MM but it's still basically sugar water with some fat and protein thrown in. Agree/disagree but the facts are the facts. EVERYTHING is made up of chemicals.

Also, by the way, sugary soft drinks (like coke) are about (wait for it) 5 to 12% sugar - so "sugar water" plus some coloring and flavoring (maybe caffeine as well.) Not suggesting that Coke would be a good substitute for MM. Just sayin' it's ALL chemicals. Good? Bad? Indifferent? You decide because I don't know. But the fact that chemicals are added to food is not a priori "bad."

 

[aja8888]

As you may know, per gm, fat has about twice the kcal of energy so while fat content varies, lactose is about 7% (fat 2% to 5%). So "sugar water" with some fat thrown in. Believe it or don't.

By the way, I'm not knocking mother's milk. Just telling you what's in it. If you don't want to call it "sugar water" go ahead and call it whatever you want to - including "mother's milk." That's accurate but not very descriptive from a chemical standpoint.

This discussion began because people are talking about "chemicals" and "processing" with very few details about what that means. Some think chemicals in food are "bad." My MM info was an attempt to put the chemical nature of food into some perspective.

There's nothing more "natural" than MM but it's still basically sugar water with some fat and protein thrown in. Agree/disagree but the facts are the facts. EVERYTHING is made up of chemicals.

Also, by the way, sugary soft drinks (like coke) are about (wait for it) 5 to 12% sugar - so "sugar water" plus some coloring and flavoring (maybe caffeine as well.) Not suggesting that Coke would be a good substitute for MM. Just sayin' it's ALL chemicals. Good? Bad? Indifferent? You decide because I don't know. But the fact that chemicals are added to food is not a priori "bad."

Our bodies are essentially chemical processing plants.

 

[Koolau]

Our bodies are essentially chemical processing plants.

Very good ones. In fact, they are amazing.