Ever wonder if your infant has the capacity to really taste his or her food?  Well, this post will address the sense of taste in infancy!

To start, let’s review the basics of the “gustatory system”. Taste buds on the tongue relay information to the brain, which is perceived as taste.

The 5 basic tastes of any human are:

• sweet
• salty
• sour
• bitter
• savory (aka umami).

Research shows that infants are born with a predisposition to accept sweet tastes, such as breast milk. Infants also have a predisposition to reject new foods, a phenomenon known as “neophobia”[1]. During infancy, almost all foods are “new” so it’s no wonder that introducing a new food or formula may result in some resistance from your baby.

The good news is that this neophobia can be overcome by repeated exposure to the food. In other words, taste preferences aren’t set in stone; they are constantly evolving. With repeated experience, infants accept and may even prefer the previously rejected food. One study observed mothers who presented a particular food daily over a period of time. The researchers found that it took 15 feedings for the infants to accept the new food readily.

Therefore, whether you are introducing solids or switching over to Neocate from another formula, don’t be discouraged! It is not only ok, but normal for your little one to reject the new food at first. Just be patient and persistent and continue to present the food in a positive manner.

An interesting tidbit: An infant’s perception of bitter taste is developed several months after birth. A study found that newborn infants did not reject the taste of bitter, while older infants did[2]. Another study identified the time period for this developmental change to be around 4 months of age[3]. The researchers found that infants who were put on a specialized, broken down formula (which have a slightly bitter taste due to the broken down protein) before the age of 4 months transitioned to the new formula with no resistance.

After this age, the infants identify the change in taste and moms may have to be a bit craftier to transition their little one onto the new formula. The researchers pointed out that a gradual transition, where the new formula is mixed with the previous formula, helps older infants to accept the new formula. This allows infants taste buds to gradually and repeatedly be exposed to the new flavor and associates the flavor with something that they already like (the previous formula).

What tastes did your child prefer when you first began introducing foods? Have you noticed any change in their taste preferences as they get older?

- Mallory

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[1] Birch, L. L. (2002). Acquisition of food preferences and eating patterns in children. In C. G. Fairburn, & K. D. Brownell (Eds.), Eating disorders and obesity (2nd ed., pp. 75-79). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.
[2] Beauchamp GK, Cowart BJ, Kajiura H. Early developmental change in bitter taste responses in human infants. Dev Psychobiol. 1992 Jul;25(5):375-86.
[3] Beauchamp GK, Griffin CE, Mennella JA. Flavor Programming During Infancy. PEDIATRICS Vol. 113 No. 4 April 2004, pp. 840-845

Over the past few years we’ve had some great guest bloggers share their personal experiences with food allergies. We wanted to highlight some of our favorites for you below. These food allergy parents and advocates have some great stories and advice to contribute!

Dealing with a New Diagnosis of Food Allergy

This entry was written by Lynda Mitchell, founder and president of Kids With Food Allergies, a national non-profit food allergy support group. She discusses the confusion some parents feel when their child is first diagnosed with a food allergy.

Silent Aspirations

Susan Weissman, author of the blog Peanutsineden.com and a writer for the Huffington Post, is currently working on a memoir about the challenges of parenting her allergic child. Her blog focuses on her son Eden and the difficulties associated with eating out and being different from other kids his age.
 
Never Let Food Allergies Stop You!

The founder of AllergyMoms.com and author of One of the Gang: Nurturing the Souls of Children with Food Allergies, Gina Clowes, shared this blog entry with us. In it she shares Washington Capitals player Tom Poti’s message for children with food allergies.

Nick’s Story

After Karen Wylie’s son Nick was born, he often refused to eat and when he did he would cry in pain afterwards. Karen Wylie shared her story and how they were finally able to diagnose Nick with a milk protein intolerance, reflux and eosinophilic esophagitis.

Sam’s Story

Jodie DiMisa, mother of 3, shared her family’s experience. Her son Sam was diagnosed with milk and soy allergies and severe reflux. Unfortunately, that was just the beginning of her trials, because their insurance company wouldn’t cover the Neocate he needed to survive.

Eva’s Story

Chris Kozimor wasn’t sure why her newborn daughter Eva would not stop crying. After months of worry, her pediatrician diagnosed Eva with a milk protein allergy and she found relief with an elemental formula.

Do any of you want to share your experiences having a child with food allergies? Let us know and you could be our next guest blogger!

-Sarah

So your little one has just been diagnosed with a milk or food allergy and you’re already wondering when (or even if) he or she will finally outgrow it.  As much as your new elemental formula and allergen-friendly diet is helping, you can’t help but wonder when you can feed your child without anxiety.  Don’t worry, you’re not alone!

Good news – It is possible for children to outgrow their allergies; however, it may depend on what the child is allergic to and the type of allergy.  Most importantly, keep in mind that all children are different! 

Children with cow’s milk allergy (CMA) may be more likely to outgrow their allergies than their peanut or tree nut allergy buddies.  Studies have shown that about 45-50% of children outgrow a CMA at one year, 60-75% at two years and 85-90% at three years.[1]^,[2]

Now, compare that to the studies which show that about 20% and 10%, respectively, of young patients may outgrow peanut and tree nut allergies and approximately 8% of patients who outgrow a peanut allergy relapse.  Additionally, nut related allergies are typically more severe and can even be fatal, which is quite scary![3]

If your little one has multiple protein allergies, such as both CMA and nut related allergies, he or she may outgrow the CMA while the nut related allergy could still persist.  Still, outgrowing an allergy to cow’s milk will expand their diet and improve the quality of life and available foods for your little one. 

The other factor that may influence your little one’s ability to outgrow an allergy is the levels of allergen-specific IgE detected in their blood.  This means, the lower the allergen-specific IgE detected, the greater the chance of outgrowing the allergy.  Your doctor can monitor this with either blood or skin prick tests. 

As I mentioned before, all children are different.  Your little one may have all the right “ingredients” to overcome their allergy, but they may be doing it at their own pace.  Your doctor may decide to attempt a food trial by introducing some foods that your child is allergic to, in order to see if the allergy still persists.  Be patient, sometimes food trials can be taxing. 

As many of you know, I suffered from CMA growing up and over time, I was finally able to consume milk products.  It happened gradually -first I stopped having a reaction when consuming cheese (most likely because it’s processed, so my immune system didn’t recognize the milk proteins as allergens) and then I could finally add in other foods that were previously not allowed in my diet.

So my advice to all of you new allergy parents is don’t worry, there is a light at the end of the tunnel!  To the more experienced allergy parents, can you shed any advice on food trials and outgrowing allergies?

- Nita

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[1] de Boissieu D, Dupont C. Time course of allergy to extensively hydrolyzed cow’s milk proteins in infants. J Pediatr 2000;136:119-20.

 

[2] de Boissieu D, Dupont C. Allergy to extensively hydrolyzed cow’s milk proteins in infants: safety and duration of amino acid-based formula. : J Pediatr. 2002;141:271-3.

[3] The natural history of peanut and tree nut allergy. Fleischer DM. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep. 2007 Jun;7(3):175-81. Review.

January is coming to a close (I can’t believe January is almost over!), so we will end our Vitamin Series with a run through of the vitamins we haven’t discussed yet. We have already covered Vitamin D, Calcium, and all of the B vitamins. (Calcium snuck its way into the Vitamin Series even though it is a mineral because it is very closely linked with Vitamin D).

As you may recall, the B vitamins are all water soluble. Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid) is also water soluble and acts as an antioxidant. In addition, vitamin C is important for wound healing. A deficiency in vitamin C, results in a disease called scurvy.

• Good sources of vitamin C are colorful fruits and veggies such as red peppers, broccoli and strawberries.

You may notice lots of fruit juices out in the market have added vitamin C, as a result deficiencies in this vitamin are rare in today’s world.

Vitamins can be either water soluble or they can be fat soluble. Vitamins D, E, K, and A are all fat soluble vitamins. These vitamins are absorbed into the GI tract with the help of fat. They are also easier to accumulate in the body vs. the water soluble vitamins. Vitamin E and vitamin A are both useful antioxidants. Vitamin A also plays an important role in eye sight.

• Good sources of vitamin A are broccoli, carrots and most fruits or vegetables that are orange or yellow in color.
• Good vitamin E sources are asparagus, avocado and eggs.

Lastly, we will discuss Vitamin K (also known as phylloquinone). This vitamin is interesting because it helps for wound clotting and coagulation. Any scab you may get is a result of vitamin K at work! It is rare to be deficient in this nutrient, unless there is significant damage to your intestine.

• Good sources of vitamin K are leafy green vegetables.

When a child is on a restricted diet due to allergies, ensuring they are getting adequate amounts of each nutrient can be tricky. This vitamin series was developed to help families understand these nutrients and find ways to ensure your little one is getting the amounts they need to thrive. If your little one is on a very restricted diet, it may help to look for nutritionally complete amino acid-based formulas, like Neocate Infant or Neocate Junior, that will ensure these vitamins (along with minerals and macronutrients) are being taken in adequate amounts.

Do you often find it hard to ensure your little one is getting all the vitamins he/she needs? What have you done to help this?

Christine

Our post today is a guest blog entry from Lynda Mitchell, founder and president of Kids With Food Allergies, a national non-profit food allergy support group.  We’d like to thank her for guest blogging for us.

In her book, AfterShock, social psychologist Jessie Gruman, PhD, the president of the Center for Advancing Health, writes about what to do when the doctor gives you – or someone you love – a devastating diagnosis. Although she may not have had a food allergy diagnosis on her mind when she wrote it, much of what she spells out in her book would generally apply to how we, as parents, feel when we find out one of our children has been diagnosed with food allergy.  Let’s face it:  food allergy rocks our world – it not only changes our whole family’s lifestyle and greatly impacts our quality of life, it also requires meticulous management to keep our children safe and reaction-free.  Knowing that our children could have an allergic reaction and change from the picture of health one minute to life-threatening anaphylaxis the next adds much stress to our lives as well.

National nonprofit organization Kids With Food Allergies has a very active online community for families, and many members join to learn about food allergies and to connect with other parents for day-to-day support when they are dealing with a new diagnosis.   From the outset, we’ve seen parents asking the same questions and searching for the same answers to learn the basics immediately after diagnosis to understand what they are dealing with and learn how to keep their children safe.

With that in mind, and knowing that many Web-savvy families search the Internet looking for information about food allergy when their children are diagnosed, we decided to create a getting started guide for families – a free e-book, From Confusion to Confidence, that doesn’t answer every possible question, but rather focuses on the essential things you would need to know – those “mundane details” Dr. Gruman references – if your child is just diagnosed with a food allergy.  This free guide includes a 42-page compilation of articles, checklists and resources on topics ranging from understanding food allergy, diagnosis and treatment to day-to-day management of nutrition, cooking, shopping and living with food allergies.

Please take a look; download it and spread the word that it’s now available for families and can be a ready resource if they face a new diagnosis.

- Lynda