Ingredients Matter

This week, a recent report found glyphosate in a pediatric tube feeding product used to feed children who can’t eat by mouth. Usually these children are very sick and have compromised immune systems. I have often felt conflicted about recommending tube feedings and nutritional supplements to patients, knowing that they are made from ingredients like corn, soy, canola, and sugar, but didn't have a choice when it was imperative to provide calories, protein, and other nutrients; until recently...

As a registered dietitian, I can still hear my professors from the 1980s saying: “There is no such thing as junk food… All types of food are okay, in moderation…. The food produced in the United States is the safest, most nutritious, and most plentiful food in the world.”

That was before our food was manipulated by chemical companies. In the 1990s, without our knowledge or consent, crops (corn, soy, sugar beets, cottonseed and canola – which are currently found in 80% of processed foods in this country) became engineered to withstand the application of a substance known as glyphosate – a weed killer. That substance is also sprayed on non-GMO crops to ripen them, increase seed production, and dry them out. (Crops like wheat, sugar cane, and tea.)

Many of the components found in traditional tube feeding formulas and medical nutritional supplements are made from these crops. What is most concerning is a study which was published in Biomedical Research International, in 2014. It was entitled: Major Pesticides Are More Toxic to Human Cells Than Their Declared Active Principles.

The study describes how glyphosate is usually evaluated for toxicity by itself. Yet, when combined with “inert” ingredients, and made into a formulation such as Round Up, the study found that the combination can be 125 times more toxic than the glyphosate alone. As a patented antibiotic, glyphosate has the ability to destroy gut bacteria, which is important to the immune system. Already compromised patients, especially children, should not, in my opinion, be exposed to this toxic chemical, especially if there is a cleaner, safer, health-promoting alternative.

There is a new tube feeding formula available, called Liquid Hope. It is made from organic, non-gmo, REAL food. There are no chemicals, and ingredients include foods like garbanzo beans, broccoli, and tumeric; just pure food in a balanced and complete formulation.

For more information, check out their website!