Egg Yolks For Babies
While I believe in eating whole foods, I prefer to feed younger babies egg yolks only. Their stomachs are small, so whatever food they eat should be as nutrient dense as possible. Egg white omelets were the rage for a while, but the truth is: nutritionally speaking, egg yolks trump whites. The whites have mostly protein, sodium and potassium, but the yolk is where the most beneficial nutrients are found. They are stocked with B vitamins, healthy fats, choline, and the harder to obtain fat-soluble vitamins A & D. Also, allergies and sensitivities to the proteins found in egg white are much more common.
Dear cholesterol, I know it’s not your fault. You were only trying to help.
The cholesterol in eggs and other foods has been heavily demonized, but the role that cholesterol plays in our health has been gravely misunderstood.
Most modern diseases are brought about by chronic inflammation. Not the kind that occurs after an injury, but the kind that is happening at a cellular level. The suspected culprits of this inflammation are smoking, processed food, pollution, and stress. One of the biggest dietary contributors is our imbalance of omega-6 fats (inflammatory) to omega-3 fats (anti-inflammatory) due to industrial seed oils like vegetable and canola.
This inflammation causes damage to our arteries and our bodies try to heal and repair by using cholesterol to patch the damage. The more damage that continues to occur, the more cholesterol our bodies use to line the inside of our arteries with, causing atherosclerosis. Unfortunately, cholesterol is found at the scene of the crime “clogging” the arteries, when it was actually used by our bodies as a defense mechanism against damage. We are then prescribed low cholesterol diets, which is clearly a misdirected prescription.
Babies need cholesterol
Mother Nature provides babies with the perfect food: breast milk, with all of the essential nutrients infants need to thrive. Breast milk a rich source of cholesterol, providing close to six times the amount most adults consume from food. It is a very important component of breast milk and crucial for the health and development babies.
Cholesterol is:
essential for optimal brain development and function,
an important component to all cells of the body,
needed to strengthen the intestinal wall in preparation for digestion of solid foods,
vital to hormone production,
necessary for vitamin D conversion.
At present time, infant formulas do not contain cholesterol, so it’s important for formula feed babies to receive cholesterol rich foods when solids are introduced.
Vitamin D, the sun, & cholesterol
You may know that we obtain vitamin D from the sun, but did you know that the cholesterol on our skin is what makes this process possible? Again Mother Nature provides us foods with the perfect symbiotic relationship.
Foods containing cholesterol > also contain vit D3 > and contain fat (needed to absorb the vitamin D).
That’s why getting vitamin D from foods and the sun is more effective than from supplementation. This is another complication of eating a low cholesterol diet, because they also typically equate to a diet deficient in vitamin D.
Egg yolks as finger food
Egg yolks make a wonderful first food for babies. They contain an easily absorbable iron (heme iron) that babies start to require more of around the time solids are introduced. If the eggs are pasture raised they also contain the powerful fat needed for babies brains, DHA.
Egg yolk was the first food I offered my son, but it was from a boiled egg which crumbled and was hard for him to pick up. The following method of preparing egg yolks is much easier for babies to handle, especially younger babies who haven’t fully developed their pincer grasp yet.
Crack 1-2 eggs and separate the yolks into hot, buttered pan (I use cast iron).
Using a spatula, try guiding the yolks into somewhat of a rectangle shape as they cook.
Let the yolks cool and cut lengthwise into strips for an easy, nourishing finger food.
