This blog is a follow-up to Nita’s informative blog “Fats 101”. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to read it first to gain a better understanding of all the different types of fats out there.

When reading the ingredient label, you may notice all the different types of oils used in Neocate. Why are there so many types? Each one is a source of a different type of fat, and a variety of fats are needed to maintain a balanced blend of fatty acids to help your baby develop and grow properly.

Sources of fat found in Neocate products include:

• Refined Vegetable Oil made up of:
  • Palm Kernel and/or Coconut Oil (source of Medium Chain Triglycerides)
  • High Oleic Sunflower Oil
• Soy Oil
• Canola Oil
• M. Alpina Oil (source of ARA)
• C. Cohnii Oil (source of DHA)

*Keep in mind that all of the proteins from these ingredients have been extracted. Since proteins are generally what cause an allergic reaction, Neocate should still be an appropriate choice for your little one – even if they have a soy, coconut or sunflower allergy.

Take a look at this very helpful chart which compares different sources of fat:

Source: www.canola.okstate.edu/nutrition/index.htm

I have this chart near me at all times to help me understand what exactly each fat ingredient contains.

You will notice how some ingredients have a very specific ratio of polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, and saturated fats. Each fat found in Neocate was specifically chosen to ensure there is a balanced blend in order for your child to get the right amounts of essential fats needed to grow and thrive.

You may also notice that Neocate Infant, Neocate Junior and Neocate One+ all have different percentages of fat. This is because children need different amounts of fat depending on their age and medical conditions. For this reason, it is important to pick a formula that is tailored to your child’s specific needs.

Infants need plenty of fat for proper growth and development, so Neocate Infant contains 41percent fat. Once children get to be a little bit older, fat should be taken in moderation, so Neocate One+ has 32 percent fat. If your child has a GI or allergy disease, they might have issues with malabsorption of certain nutrients. Neocate Junior is specially formulated to account for this with 45 percent fat and higher amounts of other important vitamins and minerals.

Mallory will be diving deeper into the fatty acids DHA and ARA at the end of the month, so be on the lookout for that blog!

I hope this helps a bit with understanding the ingredients in the Neocate Infant formula. If you still have questions about these or any other ingredients, ask away!

- Christine

To start off our ingredient series, I wanted to review the basics about fats and why they are an important part of a person’s diet. 

The main purpose of fats is to serve as a storage system. They can also be used as an energy source if the body is depleted of necessary carbohydrates. Fats provide more calories (9 calories/gram) than both carbohydrates and protein (4 calories/gram), but this doesn’t mean they are bad and should be avoided!  As you probably know, there are both good and bad fats.

Bad Fats

Saturated and trans fats are known as the “bad fats,” as they are linked to raising cholesterol levels and are attributed to increased risk for heart disease.  Examples of bad fats include butter, animal fats, fried foods, all those yummy pastries, stick margarines and shortenings.  Although these fats are known as the “bad fats” they are still okay to have in moderation, so it’s not necessary to strike them completely from the diet! 

Good Fats

There are two types of unsaturated fats – polyunsaturated or monounsaturated.  They are known as the “good fats” and aid in lowering cholesterol levels and are beneficial in fighting heart disease. Examples of good fats include vegetable oils, avocados, peanut butter, nuts, seeds and fatty fish like salmon and trout. If you want to learn more about good and bad fats, the American Heart Association has some fun facts.  

Triglycerides

Now that we know the basics of fats, I wanted to briefly discuss triglycerides. Triglycerides are the chemical form in which most fat exists in food as well as in the body.

There are two types of triglycerides — Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCTs) and Long Chain Triglycerides (LCTs). Both refer to the length of the carbon chain of a fatty acid. 

• MCTs are comprised of 6 to 12 carbon chains and are considered saturated fats. They are beneficial in the treatment of constipation or as a natural laxative and are digested more easily than LCTs. 
• LCTs have a carbon chain greater than 12 and can be monounsaturated, polyunsaturated and saturated fats.  LCTs have been studied and shown to repair the gut if it’s been damaged. ¹

Normal fats and oils contain LCTs and MCTs.  Both types of triglycerides are beneficial and should be incorporated into your child’s diet.    

DHA and ARA

Next, I wanted to touch on DHA and ARA which has been a hot topic for some time now.  DHA and ARA are polyunsaturated fatty acids which are naturally found in breast milk.  Studies have shown that they aid in brain and vision development, and are most effective when provided in the diet for up to 6 months of age.  With this, it was also found that formula fed babies were getting less DHA and ARA than breast fed babies, so now most formulas have a formula option with DHA and ARA. ^{2, 3, 4} This means, if your little one needs to be formula fed, now you can ensure that he or she is getting enough DHA and ARA that is needed to meet their needs!  

Now that we know the basics of fats, look out for Christine’s blog next week when she will continue this topic to discuss the fats found in Neocate! 

- Nita

References:
1. Warner BW, Vanderhoof JA, Reyes JD. What’s new in the management of short gut syndrome in children. J Am Coll Surg. 2000 Jun;190(6):725-36. 2. Birch, EE, Hoffman, DR, Uauy, R et al. Visual Acuity and the Essentiality of Docosahexanoic Acid and Arachidonic Acid in the Diets of Term infants. Pediatr Res. 44:201-209, 1998. 3. Birch, EE, Garfield, S, Hoffman, DR et al. A Randomized Controlled Trail of Early Dietary Supply of Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Mental Development in Term Infants. Develop Med Child Neurol. 42: 174-181, 2000 4. Hoffman DR, Birch EE, Castañeda YS, Fawcett SL, Wheaton DH, Birch DG, Uauy R.  Visual function in breast-fed term infants weaned to formula with or without long-chain polyunsaturates at 4 to 6 months: a randomized clinical trial.  J Pediatr. 2003 Jun;142(6):669-77.

I often get asked whether our Neocate^® formulas have all the vitamins and minerals a child would need to thrive for all stages throughout their lives. The answer is yes; but I thought I should explain further what the term “nutritionally complete” really means.

If a formula is considered nutritionally complete it can be used as a sole source of nutrition because it will provide all of the important carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals a child needs to grow and thrive.  For a nutritional product to be nutritionally complete and say so on its product label, it should be age-appropriate and provide all the nutrients a child would need for that specific age.  For example, infant formulas are designed specifically to meet the needs of infants.  As the infant grows into a toddler and older child, their nutritional needs differ and age-specific nutritionally complete products are needed to ensure they are meeting all their nutrient needs.

Having complete nutrition is important for children who are on very restrictive diets because of conditions such as food allergies, eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) and short bowel syndrome (SBS). When children cannot eat a wide variety of foods, it is common for them to have nutrient deficiencies as a consequence. One study¹ found that in children with food allergies, many were not receiving enough vitamin D, calcium, iron, vitamin E and zinc. This is a serious problem because inadequate nutrition in children could have long-lasting implications such as poor growth, delayed development, and failure to thrive.

One way to avoid nutrient deficiencies is by having a registered dietitian involved in your child’s care – they can assess your child’s nutritional status and give recommendations on what options may work for you and your family. Your chosen nutritionist can also help you to properly read food labels and really understand what is being put into your child’s food.  Just as important, finding a nutritional formula that has adequate (and even higher) amounts of important nutrients (such as calcium, iron, vitamin D, phosphorus and zinc) can help you ensure your little one is receiving proper age-specific nutrition to grow and thrive.

As I mentioned, all of the nutrition formulas in the Neocate family are nutritionally complete. If you are also using Neocate Nutra (a semi-solid amino-acid based medical food) don’t forget that it is meant to supplement formula and not replace it. Nutra contains lots of important nutrients like protein, fat, calcium, and vitamin D but just not enough to be the only source of nutrition.

Are there any vitamins and/or minerals you are worried your little one may not be getting enough of due to a restricted diet? Let us hear about it!

Christine

1. Salman et al, Dietary intakes of children with food allergies: comparison of the food guide pyramid and the recommended dietary allowances, J Allergy Clin Immunol 2002.

Back in our vitamin series we often referenced the ingredient list on formula & food labels and helped identify some of those long words as vitamins.  This sparked us to think about ingredients in general and the importance of understanding ingredients when dealing with food allergies.

There is so much more to ingredients then what’s listed on the label.  So, of course, we decided to blog about it!  Understanding fats, carbohydrates and proteins will be the topic of our next series.   Within the next few months we hope to cover some common inquiries such as types of fat, healthy vs. unhealthy fats, types of carbohydrate including corn, identify sugars, and hidden allergens such as dairy, and explain the building blocks of protein.

A few things to keep in mind while reading those labels and looking at ingredient lists: 

• The FDA requires all manufacturers to list all ingredients in the food on the label.
• Based on the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2004, manufacturers are required to list the top eight foods which account for the most food allergies in commonly used terms.  This does not include allergens accidently introduced during manufacturing or packaging through cross-contamination. 
• Ingredients are listed in order of predominance.  The ingredient used in the greatest amount is listed first, followed by those in smaller amounts listed next, in descending order.
• There are several different types of ingredients such as:
  • Preservatives (ascorbic acid, citric acid) to prevent food from spoiling
  • Emulsifiers (soy lecithin, mono-and diglycderides) which allow smooth mixing and prevent separation
  • Sweeteners (saccharin, aspartame, acesulfame potassium) to add sweetness with or without the extra calories
  • Color Additives (citrus red no. 2, beta-carotene) which offsets color loss due to exposure to light, air, temperature extremes or moisture

Don’t forget to check back with us next week as we kick-off our ingredient series with the topic of fats.  Do you have any questions on what’s listed in the ingredients on food labels?

- Sarah