Best Infant Formula Reviews

Making infant formula, manufactures are trying very hard to mimic the breastmilk. The most common type of infant formulacontains purified cow’s milk whey and casein as a protein source. Vegetable oil is used as a fat source. Lactose is good as a carbohydrate source. Then there is a mix of vitamins and minerals and other ingredients depending on the manufacturer.

Soybean, in infant formula is used as a protein source in place of cow’s milk. This is to help infants who are allergic to cow’s milk.

Infant formula comes in powder, liquid concentrate, and ready-to-feed forms. Cow’s milk formula is most commonly used type. Soy protein based formulas are used for infants who are allergic to cow’s milk. Partially hydrolyzed formulas like Good Start and Gentlease brands are used to improve digestibility.

The hypoallergenic infant formulas are made from purely synthetic monomeric amino acids. The taste is foul-tasting and it’s not uncommon for infants to reject elemental formulas after having been established on a sweeter-tasting regular formula. Babies with medical complications and ones who are allergic to cow’s milk and soy, hypoallergenic formulas would be considered as an option.

There is a study that 90% of infants who are allergic to cow’s milk is able to tolerate the extensively hydrolyzed formulas. Some these extensively hydrolyzed formulas are Alimentum, Nutramigen and Pregestimil.

Neocate and Nutramigen infant formula are amino acid based formulas. These are more expensive, but are said to least likely to cause allergic reactions.

Lactose is the main carbohydrate in cow’s milk based formulas. Corn maltodextrin is used as a secondary source. Lactose-free, soy and special formulas contain one or more of the following carbohydrates; sucrose, corn maltodextrin, modified cornstarch, or corn syrup solids.

Breast milk contains about 60 percent whey and 40 percent casein.

Most infant formulas have similar protein content. Other formulas contain 100% whey. Soy formulas contain soy protein isolate. Some brands use partially hydrolyzed soy protein for babies to have an easier time to digest. Partially hydrolyzed infant formulas are not hypoallergenic.

Extensively hydrolyzed formulas contain extensively broken-down casein with additional amino acids, which are the building blocks of protein. These are used for babies who have a protein allergy.

Infant Formulas uses a variety of oils to match the fat make up of breast milk. They include soy oil, coconut oil, corn oil, palm oil, palm olein oil, and high oleic sunflower oil.

Studies have shown that palm oil and palm olein oil reduce absorption of fat and calcium from infant formulas. Your baby may not absorb as much fat and calcium as he would from a formula that doesn’t contain these oils.

Triglycerides takes less effort to digest and are more easily absorbed. They are used in special formulas for premature infants and for infants who have trouble digesting and absorbing nutrients.

DHA docosahexaenoic acid and ARA arachidonic acid are approved by FDA to be used in infant formulas. Both of these substances are found in breast milk. Both are important for brain and vision development.