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Too much almond milk can cause damage to newborns.
A new report shows that almond milk can lead to scurvy in babies. Apparently, almond milk or other beverages based on plants can be very dangerous for the newborns and they can’t replace infant formula or breast milk.
The report focuses on a newborn from Spain that was fed only with almond beverages and formulas based on almonds. This lasted since the baby was two months old until the baby was 11 months. Due to the almond beverages, the baby developed scurvy which caused failure to thrive and fractures.
Scurvy is rare nowadays but many cases of scurvy occurred in the past, mostly to the sailors who had no access to Vitamin C for many months, due to the fact that they were at sea. Scurvy develops when the vitamin C lacks from a diet.
When the baby boy was born, he was completely healthy and he was even vaccinated on time, as the Spanish guidelines recommend. For the first two and a half months, he was fed with formula based on cow milk. Because the infant developed a skin inflammation, the doctors recommended that the baby should be given almond drinks, almond flour, brown rice and some prebiotics and probiotics. After the age of six months, the mother tried to give him pureed vegetables and fruits but the baby wouldn’t eat them.
When he was 11 months old, the baby was very irritable and often tired and couldn’t support his legs when he was on a solid surface. He cried even when the adults tried to move his legs for him. After he was taken to the doctor, they revealed that the baby had extremely low levels of vitamin C, vitamin D and zinc. And the results of the X-rays revealed that had thinning bones and fractures in his back and legs.
After that, the almond beverages were replaced with cereals, meat, fruits, vegetables, infant formula, vitamin C and D supplements and therapy. Two months after, the levels of vitamin C and D came to normal and he started to walk.
According to the experts, babies should consume up to 60 milligrams of vitamin C on a daily basis. The infant formulas contain up to 30 milligrams per serving of 100 calorie. The breast milk contains 11 milligrams of vitamin C for 8 ounces. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends for the mothers to breastfeed their newborns for the first six months and after that to start including solid food. The beverages based on almonds eliminate the activity of the vitamins, including that of the vitamin C. As the new report shows that almond milk can lead to scurvy in babies, mothers are recommended to not replace infant formula or breast milk with it.
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