Episode 36: How to Reduce Your Baby's Risk of Developing a Food Allergy

Episode 36: How to Reduce Your Baby's Risk of Developing a Food Allergy

Hey welcome back! Today, we're delving into the world of food allergies and how to prevent food allergies in babies!

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Links
https://nourishwithkarina.com/feedingbabies
https://nourishwithkarina.com/3-week-feeding-kids-reset

Highlights:

Introduction (00:00.00)
Understanding Food Allergies in Babies and Adults (02:23.918)
Understanding Food Allergies in Babies (04:47.278)
Food Allergie Risk Factors and Pregnancy (07:05.902)
Maternal Diet and Infant Health (09:30.894)
Breast Milk and Infant Formula: A Scientific Approach (11:52.27)
Breastfeeding and Infant Formula Benefits (14:13.358)
Understanding Food Allergy Formulas (16:32.494)
Feeding Babies Program Overview (18:53.55)
Choosing Healthy Baby Foods (21:16.686)
Introducing Food Allergies to Babies (23:33.678)
Introduction of Allergens to Infants (25:55.022)
Understanding the Impact of Probiotics on Food Allergies (28:11.982)
Breastfeeding and Gut-Friendly Solids for Babies (30:31.694)
Nutritional Tips for Toddlers (32:56.302)

Show notes

READ TRANSCRIPT

Show Notes

Hey welcome back! Today, we're delving into the world of food allergies and how to prevent food allergies in babies! Here is what we will cover:

1. Understanding Food Allergies: I'll walk you through the common food allergies affecting many families and explain their underlying causes.

2. Factors Influencing Allergy Risks: How genetics, mode of delivery and feeding choices can impact your baby's risk of developing food allergies.

3. Pregnancy and Allergy Prevention: Learn how your diet during pregnancy can influence your baby's immune system and help reduce allergy risks.

4. Breastfeeding vs. Formula Feeding: I'll share the benefits of breastfeeding and offer guidance on choosing the right formula for your baby.

5. Introducing Gut-Friendly Solids: Get practical tips on starting solids with wholesome, unprocessed foods that support your baby's digestive health.

For more info head to Nourish with Karina

You can also access her infant feeding blogs here:

Preventing Food Allergies Blog

Introducing Solids Blog

Learn more about my membership program, head over to: https://nourishwithkarina.com/membership

Introduction (00:00.046)
You're listening to the Easy Feed Podcast, episode number 36, how to reduce your baby's risk of developing a food allergy. Hi there, I'm Karina Savage and with over 20 years experience feeding children, including my own, I've learnt all the secrets that busy mums need to get their children eating better and actually enjoying healthy foods. So a huge welcome to the Easy Feed Podcast.

Welcome back, welcome back, it's great to have you. Today we are talking about reducing the risk of food allergies in babies. Look, I totally understand how confusing and overwhelming starting solids can be. As a new mum myself, when my daughter was starting solids, I often second -guessed myself. It was a very confusing time, it was a very frustrating time when she wouldn't necessarily eat the way I wanted her to eat.

And when you throw food allergy into the mix, it can make things 10 times more stressful because food allergy is rife in Australia. We have about 10 % of children being allergic to various foods, foods such as milk, soy, egg, fish. They're probably the most common ones. We have tahini, we have sesame, we have shellfish. We look, we have all sorts of weird and wonderful allergies.

but you know, the common ones we have in milk, soy, egg, fish, nut, wheat as well. So it's really important to make sure that as parents, we are doing everything we can to reduce our baby's risk of developing a food allergy. So how does a food allergy begin, you may ask? Well, look, you can be at risk of developing food allergies if your parents are what we call

allergic or atopic. So if your parents have hay fever or eczema or a food allergy themselves, then the baby may be more at risk of developing a food allergy. So genetics will certainly either increase or reduce your risk of developing a food allergy, but then plenty of other factors will influence your risk of food allergy. And a huge one is how the gastrointestinal tract

Understanding Food Allergies in Babies and Adults (02:23.918)
meaning the immune system develops in a baby. How that develops will significantly influence a baby's risk of developing a food allergy. So a food allergy occurs when the immune system mistakenly identifies a normal harmless protein. So it could be a chasm protein or it could be a soy protein or a peanut protein. And the body identifies that protein

as a threat. So instead of when the protein is presented to the cell surface in the gut, because what happens is the baby eats the free protein and it goes into the stomach, goes into the gastrointestinal tract and at the cell surface in the gastrointestinal tract, normally the body would recognise that protein and go, okay, it's time to digest you and absorb you and get on with the day. But in babies and

children and adults with food allergies, the body sees that food protein as a risk, as a threat, and basically strikes war against this food protein. And when that happens, that's when you get that inflammatory cascade and that basically the allergy starts. And that's when you get the allergic symptoms occurring. And it's that body's natural immune defense kicking into gear when

really shouldn't be. So the body is actually abnormally responding to a food protein that it should normally be digesting it and absorbing and tolerating, but instead it's actually striking war and trying to get rid of that food protein. And that's why the allergic reaction occurs. It's a similar response to when a virus is presented to the cell surface. The body recognizes that as a foreign protein, like a foreign enemy, basically.

and strikes out. Warren tries to kill off the virus by producing an inflammatory response. And so it's similar in a way reaction, the body's viewing the food protein as an enemy. Similar thing with people with celiac disease, when the food protein gluten is presented at the cell surface in the gut, the body sees that and recognizes that as an enemy.

Understanding Food Allergies in Babies (04:47.278)
rather than going, okay, I know gluten, I'm just going to digest you and absorb you. It's like, nah, this is not right. This is foreign. And it strikes out war. It creates this anti -inflammatory cascade of inflammatory cytokines, they're called, to be technical. And then you get the symptoms and the damage that occurs to the gut with celiac disease. So in a way, it's a similar process. The body is recognizing something as foreign when it's

actually not foreign, but the body's actually deciding that it doesn't want this food protein. And so when we talk about babies actually developing oral tolerance, it's meaning oral tolerance for those food proteins. So it means that when they eat the wheat or when they eat the egg or when they eat the milk protein or when they eat the nut, the body tolerates it and digests it and absorbs it as normal, it doesn't

have this allergic reaction and this cascade of immune response, which then causes all of those allergic symptoms that we see. And those symptoms could be vomiting, could be diarrhea or blood in the stool. Those symptoms could be lip swelling, tongue swelling, breathing difficulties, a big rash or hives all over the face. So,

The symptoms can be very variable. In some situations you have a two hour delay and then profuse vomiting. So there's, there's a huge array of different symptoms that can present as an allergic reaction, a food allergy. So it's really important to understand that a food allergy can present many ways and not always straight away. It's often, but sometimes delayed. So I mentioned the family history of

food allergy or atopic conditions such as eczema or hay fever being meaning that your baby has an increased risk. There are other factors that will potentially increase their risk of developing a food allergy. And there is still a reasonable amount of data to suggest that how you're born, whether you're born with a vascular or vaginal delivery, will influence the risk of developing food allergy.

Food Allergie Risk Factors and Pregnancy (07:05.902)
There's a little bit of controversy because there was a study in Australia study that came out a couple of years ago now, effectively debunking that. But then there's been more research has come out again to support the previous earlier data to suggest that it does have a link. It does play a role. So babies born via caesarean section do have a different microbe. Do you have a different gut microbiota? And then that does increase the risk of developing food allergy.

So mode of delivery is likely to influence risk of food allergy, as is whether you're breastfed or formula fed, as is whether you're given antibiotics as a baby or not. Because if you're given antibiotics, and look, don't get me wrong, sometimes you need to give a baby antibiotics to keep them alive and healthy. And that's the most important thing. But antibiotics does change that microbial balance of good bugs and bad bugs in the gut. And especially in that

first four to six weeks when that baby's gut is developing, well, it's developing over the first three years of life, but definitely in that first four to six weeks, any antibiotics will significantly influence that development of that really positive gut microbiome and the development of the immune system and it will increase the risk of developing food allergies. So, you know, there's things that will definitely influence risk, but at the end of the day, some things that out of your control.

And so you just got to do the best you can. And that's why I'm here to give you some other ways that you can reduce your baby's risk of developing a food allergy, especially when we're looking at food and what we're eating as moms and also what we're feeding our babies. Okay. So if we start off with the first way to reduce your baby's risk of developing a food allergy. Well, the first one is actually to do with you when you're pregnant with your baby, because the maternal diet

does play a role in the baby's developing immune system. And if you as a mother are eating a diverse and balanced intake of plenty of whole foods, fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and whatnot, that's going to help support a healthy gut microbiome for you. And it's likely also going to pass on in terms of the benefits to your baby. And it may help reduce the likelihood of developing allergies, especially if they're being

Maternal Diet and Infant Health (09:30.894)
exposed to a variety of those food allergens through your maternal diet because babies get exposed to these various nutrients in utero. Okay, so how the mother eats will influence the baby's health and that's why it's really important as a mom, as a pregnant mom, as much as possible to have the variety of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, lots of healthy fats, foods rich in omega -3s such as

fish, walnuts, black seeds, they also have anti -inflammatory properties and including the milk, the soy, the egg, the wheat, the fish, the nuts will help your baby develop immune tolerance in utero. And then absolutely definitely when breastfeeding, if you're eating those things, it's going to pass through into the breast milk. And, and look, different mums will be different secretors. Some mums are really high secretors of protein.

Some mothers are lower secretors of protein, but protein definitely passes through the breast milk to the baby. So if you as mom is a consuming egg or soy that will pass through to the baby and will help develop immune tolerance or a tolerance for those food allergies. Okay. Number two relates to their milk source. So as a baby, they're either going to be breastfed or formula fed.

And look, whilst breastfeeding has numerous benefits for not only your baby's health, but for the mother's health, it's sometimes not possible. And so there's absolutely no judgment if you are not able to breastfeed your child for whatever reason. If you are, then that's amazing for your child and for yourself. And I would aim to exclusively breastfeed for the first six months. And then you obviously starting solids by then.

But if you're not able to breastfeed, then there's plenty of other things that we can do to support your baby's immune and gut. So infant formula has come a long way and the properties that I'm going to explain now about breast milk is what formula companies have tried to mimic as closely as possible so that formula fed babies are still obtaining, you know, as close to the similar benefits that breastfed babies are. And look,

Breast Milk and Infant Formula: A Scientific Approach (11:52.27)
We're never going to be able to be the same as Mother Nature in any respect, whether it's breast milk or anything that Mother Nature creates. She's phenomenal and we try to get close and we do our best. And that's why formula has come so far over the last 20 years. And it will continue to improve because basically science works out.

why breast milk and how breast milk is beneficial for babies and then tries to replicate that in formula for babies. But breast milk contains important antibodies, prebiotics, nutrients that really help strengthen the baby's immune system. And it adapts and evolves and changes. So the protein concentration changes every month that the baby gets older. The nutrient composition adapts and evolves according to the baby's age.

which is incredible. And that's why you have different stages of infant formula. You have the nought to six months and then the six to 12 months, because again, science is trying to copy what mother nature is doing. And of course, you know, the nought to six months is set for six months and the six to 12 months is set for six months. You're not going to be able to adapt like the breast naturally would in terms of the breast milk produced, but that's why we have those different categories of formula.

because the nutrient composition of breast milk changes and so the formula companies are trying to mimic that as closely as possible. Breast milk is more easily digested than a lot of the infant formulas and that's why sometimes there will be more gut issues with babies that are formula fed. Breastfed babies do have a lower risk of gastrointestinal infections, allergies, other infections such as upper respiratory and middle ear infections,

obesity in later life, type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and breastfed babies are also less likely to be hospitalized for infections and illnesses. There's also a lot of benefits to the mother as well in terms of it helps them lose some of the weight after baby's birth, it helps their uterus return to its normal pre -pregnant state faster, it may reduce the mother's risk of developing diabetes if she had gestational diabetes in

Breastfeeding and Infant Formula Benefits (14:13.358)
Pregnancy and it also reduces the risk of ovarian cancer and pre -menopausal breast cancer. It may also reduce the risk of osteoporosis. But as I said, if breastfeeding isn't possible, then there is no judgment or guilt, even though I've just ruled off a whole lot of benefits. You can't change what you can't change. And that's where I'm saying that we need to pick a formula that has a lot of these benefits that science has learnt about and we are now

putting into, they are now, I should say, not me, as I have no association with infant formula companies, but they are now putting into these infant formula because they have identified that these nutrients are valuable. Nutrients such as choline, which is really important for brain development. Nutrients such as pre and probiotics, which are important for that development of gastrointestinal tractin, development of immune tolerance. Omega -3 fatty acids, so the DHA, especially for brain development,

neurological development for babies. So there's some plenty of good things. So if you can't breastfeed, then please don't stress because your baby will still be getting a lot of great nutrition through these formulas. And there are food standards, which mean that pretty much every infant formula that you will see on the supermarket shelf or the chemist shelf has to meet these standards, these nutritional standards for babies in Australia.

It's food standards for Australia and New Zealand, actually. So most of those formula that you see will be similar. Some will have more of, you know, this pre -aprobotic and some will have more of this protein or this amiga, but really at the end of the day, they're all very comparable in terms of their base ingredients and they're all going to meet the nutritional needs of a baby. Having said all of this, if your baby though is at

increased risk of food allergy because you've had another child that's got a food allergy or you or your partner having food allergy or you or your partner have eczema or your baby's already got a food allergy, then you may want to consider using what we call an HA formula, which is like a partially hydrolyzed formula. So you'll see it written as hydrolyzed whey protein and

Understanding Food Allergy Formulas (16:32.494)
I'm not talking about the extensively hydrolyzed formula, so I'm not talking about the aptamol allopro or the neocate or the Novallac allergy formula. I'm talking about hydrolyzed formula where the proteins just been slightly chopped up. So it's slightly less allergenic. So I'm talking about formula such as the NAND sensitive or the aptamol pro -sino. So both of those have hydrolyzed whey proteins are slightly chopped up and they also have

pre -emprobiotics. So if you've got a baby that doesn't have any allergies right now, that is formula fed, but is at risk of developing food allergy, then you could consider like a partially hydrolyzed, then you could consider partially hydrolyzed formula such as the Nantz -Dip or the Aptomel Procineo. If your baby already has a food allergy, then you would have already moved on to what we call one of the more hyperallergenic formulas.

And that is where the protein is extensively chopped up, basically to amino acids and is hypoallergenic. So theoretically, 98 % of children should not react to that formula. I've, you know, been doing this for 22 years and I have had children that haven't tolerated those formula, but they're far and few between. And it's because they are basically free from any of those intact proteins that are going to cause an allergic reaction at the gut level.

If your baby does have a food allergy and you're feeling lost and confused, then please reach out. I specialize in this area of research, babies in this area, in more than happy to help. Okay, so we've covered two ways that you can reduce your baby's risk of food allergy. First of all, we've got maintaining a diverse diet during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Number two, breastfeeding if possible, and if not possible, choosing a formula with pre and probiotics and potentially

partially hydrolyzed whey or an HA formula in other words. Number three is introducing gut -friendly solids to your baby. And by this I mean we need to try to keep it as wholesome and unprocessed as possible. We want to keep it simple and include fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes where possible in your baby's diet.

Feeding Babies Program Overview (18:53.55)
Now look, I'll take this moment to let you know that I have a brilliant feeding babies program, which is inside nourishing kids, my membership. And you have free unlimited access to that program as well as me on or in our monthly zoom call, where you can ask me any questions you wish, where you have direct access to me to answer any questions inside our private chat group. And also we have a monthly zoom.

live call where you can ask me any questions as well. So if you are wanting support, starting solids, introducing foods to your baby, you want a clear succinct plan that's going to set you and your baby up for success and long -term health to your baby, then please check out my Feeding Babies program inside my membership. We'd love to have you in there. We have a wonderful group of lads in there who support each other often daily. So check that out. We'll include the link in the show notes, but you can head to

My website nourishwithcarina .com forward slash membership and you'll find out all the details. So why do we want to include these gut -friendly solids to your baby? We want to include these whole foods because they are rich in fiber and that otherwise known as prebiotics, that's the sexy name for fiber. So if you ever hear prebiotics, it's really plant fibers and the plant fibers

feed the healthy bugs in our gut. And this means that it stays in good balance. The good bugs and the bad bugs are in great balance. They're in what we call symbiosis. And that means that the immune system can develop and work and operate to its full capacity. We need a really good balance, a good gut microbiota to have an effective

high -performing immune system and that's exactly what we want for your baby, especially to reduce the risk of developing allergic disease. Babies that have a healthy, balanced gut microbiome have a much lower risk of developing food allergy. It's documented, it's in the research, it's proven. So if you can prepare these homemade foods that are rich in these plant foods and avoid processed foods as much as possible,

Choosing Healthy Baby Foods (21:16.686)
then you're going to be doing the best by your baby because often these processed foods also contain additives and preservatives and other substances that can negatively impact your baby's developing immune system and gut health. So, patched food is okay to include at some meals and snacks and it's very versatile and easy to throw in your bag, but do check to make sure there's no preservatives and just remember that

The processing and the fact that it can last in a pouch for an extended period of time does come with a cost. So there will be a reduction in sub nutrients and fibers also often compromised there. So pouch food can have its place, but try not to make it, you know, one meal every single day that's pouch food. Another thing you want to be mindful of is the half to baby snacks and also toddler snacks. So as your baby moves into toddlerhood,

Be really mindful of the puffed potato sticks. So many out there now that are often laden with salt and sugar. I'm actually about to talk about this on TV in a couple of days time about how nine out of 10 toddler snacks do not meet international recommendations. And the World Health Organization has come out with a physician statement recommending that there's a revision of the food standards.

on toddler foods because in Australia, our infant foods are regulated. There's a restriction on the amount of salt sugar that can be added to our infant foods, but not in our toddler foods, which is absolutely crazy. I do not understand it. And we really need to be mindful of how much salt and sugar is in our toddler packaged foods. So just be really careful of that, especially if you've got a baby and also a toddler, that if your baby is consuming some of these toddler muesli bars and whatnot,

They can often be quite laden with sugar or these little mini rice cakes that are covered in yogurt or these little yogurt pops that you look at them as second grain is sugar and like 65 % sugar. So they are absolutely not healthy, but they are marketed as being healthy. And this is a real issue. So where possible, stick to whole foods include high fat healthy options such as mashed avocado and mashed sardines, extra virgin olive oil, salmon.

Introducing Food Allergies to Babies (23:33.678)
nut butters, and obviously, you know, your typical fruits and cereals and meat veggies as well. But we just really want to be focusing on the nutrition that's going to fuel your baby's gut bugs and keep your baby's immune system in good check because that's going to mean that they're going to have a reduced risk of developing food allergy and also reduce risk of sickness and other health problems. Okay, moving on to number four. Don't delay.

get the allergy feeds in early. And look, whilst it can be super stressful and I've certainly, you know, when I used to work in a children's hospital, you'd hear all the time about mums and I totally get this. There were beautiful park clams outside where I used to work the women's insurance hospital in Adelaide. There still is beautiful park clams there and parents would commonly have peanut butter parties. So they would bring their babies there. They would introduce peanut butter to their babies at this party.

And if any of them reacted, then they literally would walk across the road into emergency and be treated. So very smart, very clever. And it was just the way that they could reduce their anxiety around introducing peanuts to their babies. I get it. I get how stressful it is, especially if your baby already has a food allergy and then you've got to continue on and introduce other food allergies. It's hugely stressful because you're worried that they're going to develop another allergy and have a

an even worse reaction, but at the end of the day, we need to be mindful of the fact that delaying the introduction of food allergens will actually increase your baby's risk of developing a food allergy. You know, in the olden days, they used to say, wait till after one to introduce the food allergens to your baby. But now the research is telling us that people are introducing peanuts to babies, even four months of age and

It's actually reducing their risk of developing food allergy. Now, when I say that we don't want peanuts to be given whole, because that's obviously a choking risk, but definitely peanut butter, introduced somewhere between, you know, that four to six months of age is absolutely fine. But look, it doesn't have to be. As long as peanuts and eggs are introduced by eight months of age, that's when you really want to have them introduced by, but certainly you can introduce them anytime from four months when you start solids. Or if you don't start solids till six months,

Introduction of Allergens to Infants (25:55.022)
You would do some iron rich foods first and then you get in the peanut butter. Absolutely fine. Very, very good option. And this is exactly what I go through in my Seeding Baiting Program. I give you a step -by -step guide as to how to introduce solids, including introducing those allergens foods. When introducing allergenic foods, the food allergens, I always encourage mums to offer mid -morning so that you could watch your baby over the day in case they do have a reaction. So signs to watch out for might be a rational hives.

It might be swelling of the lips, face or tongue, could be vomiting or diarrhea, difficulty breathing, coughing or wheezing, or increased irritability or excessive cry. So I don't want to freak you out because let's be honest, four out of every five babies will not react to any food protein whatsoever, will not have a food allergy. But nine out of every 10 babies

We'll introduce food proteins, we'll introduce those allergenic foods and be completely fine and not react and not have a food allergy. But there will be one out of every 10 that will react. Okay, number five relates to using a probiotic supplement when needed to reduce your baby's risk of developing a food allergy. Now I would recommend using a probiotic supplement in these situations.

Firstly, if your baby was a high risk of developing food allergy as I discussed before, or if your baby had already been exposed to antibiotics, or your baby was born vizzeria section, I think at this stage the evidence is still there to support giving them probiotics to help reduce their risk of developing food allergy. Probiotics will only aid to support that

balance of good and bad bugs. And remember having a really good balance of those good and bad bugs that support that healthy gut microbiome, support immune tolerance and support the development of the gastrointestinal tract and really reduces your baby's risk of developing food allergy. So if we're needing to top up with some good probiotics, I would look for either the lactobacillus strominosus GG, lactobacillus rotri.

Understanding the Impact of Probiotics on Food Allergies (28:11.982)
They're good. So those two lactobacillus are quite good. In fact, there's some good studies coming out of Melbourne in relation to babies that already have allergies and the use of the lactobacillus strimulus GG, LGG probiotic, helping young children outgrow their food allergy using this probiotic in conjunction with what we call immunotherapy. So

If your baby is at high risk or has already had a situation where their gut microbiome may have been affected, then giving your baby some probiotics is likely to only support the development of their immune system. We have to remember that every baby is unique and every baby's risk factor will be completely unique. It will be based on the parent's genetic makeup, the parent's history of allergies or lack of history of allergies.

how the baby's born, whether the baby's breastfed or formula fed, even factors such as whether the baby has siblings or dogs, or whether you grew up on a farm, they all influence the risk of food allergy because there's this whole hypothesis around being exposed to bugs and how that can actually strengthen your immune system and how if we are too clean and sterile that actually compromises or kind of

creates a poorer balance of the good and bad bugs. So we actually need to be exposed to bugs to help develop the gastrointestinal tract and we don't want to be too clean. There's even been studies to suggest that babies are playing dirt. That can in turn support the development of the gastrointestinal tract because again they're exposed to different microbes in the soil. So you can see that there's a huge range of factors that will

influence your baby's immune system and how your baby's immune system develops and therefore their risk of developing food allergy. So just to summarize, here are five key ways that you can reduce your baby's risk of developing food allergy. Number one, when you're pregnant, maintain a diverse diet, a healthy diet, rich in whole foods, rich in fruits, vegetable, lean proteins, whole grains, nuts, seeds.

Breastfeeding and Gut-Friendly Solids for Babies (30:31.694)
Healthy fats are really important as well. And also when you're breastfeeding, don't avoid anything. Keep all the allergens in and keep eating a healthy balanced diet as well. Because again, it's only going to benefit you and your baby and exposing your baby to all those big allergens in breast milk will be beneficial to them. Number two, breastfeed if possible, because that is going to be absolutely best for your baby. If not possible, then choose a formula.

with pre and probiotics. And that's because that's what they're missing out on by not being breastfed. 30 % of the weight of breast milk is made up of what we call these prebiotics, which is really important for the development of your baby's gut microbiome. And so that's why you want to make sure that we're giving them a formula that's got these prebiotics as well, because we want the baby's gut to develop and we want their immune system to be strong and robust. So

If it's not possible for breastfeed, then choose a formula with pre and probiotics. And if your baby is at high risk of food allergy, then I would consider getting one, choosing a formula that has hydrolyzed whey protein rather than that whole milk protein. It just may help reduce their risk of developing food allergy. It's not going to guarantee it. Absolutely not. But it just might be more gentle on their gut because that is

closer to the protein type that will be in breast milk. Number three, introducing gut -friendly solids to your baby. So when I said whole unprocessed foods before, I didn't mean actually give your baby the food in its whole entirety because that would be a choking risk. But I mean, whole foods as in, when people say whole foods, they mean unprocessed, they mean the food as it is. So cooked, pureed up or mashed or

can be left if you're doing baby led weaning, it'd be soft chunks of food. But when I say whole foods, unprocessed foods, I mean, not tampered with, I haven't had additives and preservatives mixed with them, they're not in a packet or a pouch. So if we can as much as possible, give them that real wholesome food. And if you are relying on some of those convenience pouch foods, try to limit them to when you're out and about. When you're home, try to give

Nutritional Tips for Toddlers (32:56.302)
food that is home cooked as much as possible because most of the time that food is going to be higher in nutrition. Even if it's frozen peas that you steam and puree up or mash up, it's still going to be much higher in nutrition. Frozen vegetables can still be very nutritious for your child. So just trying to stick to basic wholesome homemade foods as much as possible is only going to benefit their gut health. Even things like tin legumes, tin bag beans, tin chickpeas, tin...

Lentils mash them up. They're very nutritious for your baby. Mashed avocado, tinned sardines, just pop them out of the tin, wash them, rinse them. You rinse, you reduce the sodium salt by 80%. Mash them up with some avocado. Brilliant for your baby. Avoid the salty puffed toddler foods, the sweet muesli bar toddler foods as much as possible. If you've got an older toddler that's around, because those foods aren't going to be as beneficial for your baby's gut health.

Number four, don't delay, get the allergy foods in early. And number five, if needed, use a probiotic supplement. So as I said, I've got all of this information for you at your fingertips when you join me inside Nourishing Kids. It's the My Feeding Babies program and all the resources that you need to start solids with your baby. And you've got direct access to me in our private chat group. And we also catch up on a group Zoom call monthly.

So please head to nourishwithcarina .com for slash membership to learn more about how you can join today. And I'll also pop some more information in the show notes for further reading. There's a great website called ASCIA, Australian Society for Clinical Immunology and Allergy that has some good information on how to introduce solids to babies for allergy prevention and some other useful links will pop them in the show notes too. So thank you for listening. Appreciate you being here.

Please feel free to share this podcast with your friends. If you've got friends that have had babies, if you're in a mother's group, please feel free to copy and paste the link to all of them to share this so that we can get this information out to more moms to help reduce the risk of babies with allergies and just to support moms to reduce the stress and the burden of starting solids and feeding babies. So thanks so much for being here. Can't wait to chat to you next time. Bye for now.