Cholesterol for Kids

The industrial food industry provides healthier formula for calves than what manufacturers of infant formula provide for our babies.

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Health Viewpoints

Cholesterol is a dirty word these days—par for the course in this topsy-turvy world where good things are called bad and bad things are embraced as good.

The truth is, animal and human life would be impossible without cholesterol. Cholesterol serves as a structural component of our cell membranes, giving proper “stiffness” and integrity to the cells—playing a similar role as cellulose does in plants. Without cholesterol, our cells would not be “waterproof,” would not allow a different chemistry on the inside and outside of the cell. In addition, we make vitamin D out of the action of sunlight on the cholesterol in our skin, and cholesterol is the main component of bile salts, needed for fat digestion.

No Cholesterol–No Hormones

Most importantly, cholesterol is the precursor for all the steroid hormones, including glucocorticoids (to regulate blood sugar levels), aldosterone (to regulate blood pressure levels), mineralocorticoids (to regulate mineral assimilation), cortisol (to regulate healing and help us deal with stress) and sex hormones—estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. Without cholesterol, maturation and reproduction in humans and animals would be impossible.

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Synthesis of these hormones (cortisol, aldosterone, glucocorticoids, mineralocorticoids, and androgens), occurs in the adrenal cortex, while sex hormone production occurs mainly in the ovaries (estrogens and progestins) and testes (testosterone).

Adults can make the cholesterol they need and we also can obtain cholesterol from animal foods in our diet—mainly from animal fats.

In infants, toddlers and young children, most of the cholesterol should come from the diet in order to spare immature enzyme pathways from the energy-intensive work of making all the cholesterol the child needs. Moreover, babies and toddlers “require significant cholesterol for growth, energy, and normal cellular function.” The proof is in the composition of human milk, which is rich in cholesterol and contains a special enzyme to ensure that all the cholesterol is absorbed.

Infants fed human milk receive much greater quantities of cholesterol than those fed commercial formulas. Human milk contains between 10–15 mg/dl of cholesterol, and supplies an infant with close to six times the amount most adults consume from their food. Cow milk-based formulas contain 1–4 mg/dl of cholesterol, and soy-based formulas contain none. (Soy-based infant formula also contains plant sterols that actually inhibit cholesterol absorption.)

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Newborns and growing children need dietary cholesterol for the development of the brain and nervous system, for the maturation of the eyes, for the development of the gut (which is lined with cells called enterocytes that are very rich in cholesterol) and for hormone production—yes, babies produce hormones! For example, testosterone levels in baby boys up to age six months are as high as those of an adult male. High levels of male hormones program the infant to express male characteristics at puberty. The infant needs cholesterol to make these hormones.

Not Just for Human Babies

Scientists are well aware of the need for cholesterol in the diet of infant mammals. The label for milk replacer for calves reveals that the third ingredient is animal fat! Why would manufacturers put animal fat (which is more expensive than vegetable oil) in calf milk replacer? Because without it, the calves do not grow properly.

Years ago, my mentor and colleague, Mary Enig, who held a doctoral degree in nutritional sciences, told me about a study—which was never published—that compared calves fed animal fat (tallow and lard) with those fed cholesterol-free soybean oil. The calves fed soybean oil utilized vitamins and minerals inefficiently, showed poor growth, poor bone development and had abnormal hearts. They had rickets and diarrhea and also collapsed when they were forced to move around.

A more recent study compared three groups of calves, one given milk replacer with only animal fats (lard and dairy cream), one given milk replacer containing lard and coconut oil, and one given milk replacer containing only vegetable oil. The first group—the one fed animal fats only—had the best growth.

Babies Need Cholesterol for Healthy Development

So, while the food industry recognizes the need for and supplies animals with the fats they need—human babies on formula are not so lucky. With their complex nervous system, human babies need cholesterol even more than calves, but baby formula today contains only cholesterol-free vegetable oils and skim milk powder—even “organic” formulations are devoid of animal fats.

Manufacturers of infant formulas are aware of the need for cholesterol in the diets of infants. “We know formula needs to contain cholesterol,” one insider in the formula industry confided to Mary Enig, “but we dare not add a source of cholesterol because of the mindset that cholesterol is bad.”

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There are many other things babies need from animal fats that they don’t get from vegetable oils, including saturated fats (necessary for growth, cell function, and hormone formation), DHA (required for brain development) and arachidonic acid (for brain development and support of good digestion). (Arachidonic acid is added to many brands of baby formula, but it is a problematic synthetic version made from algae.)

Why do we give cow babies what they need to grow properly, but not human babies? It’s because animal fats are more expensive than vegetable oil. Besides, there is more money to be made from healthy cows than unhealthy cows, and a lot more money to be made from sick children than healthy, robust, normal children.

If moms follow conventional advice, their growing babies will get rice cereal, fruits, and vegetables (in plastic or aluminum pouches), vegetable spreads and lowfat or skim milk—a diet largely devoid of cholesterol and animal fat. No wonder the average IQ is dropping and nearly half our children have a serious illnesses. Old-fashioned weaning foods for babies included egg yolk, pureed liver and meat, butter, and whole milk—and babies, toddlers, and children need the same foods today.

Give baby a soft cooked egg yolk for his first food—no food is richer in cholesterol, and it is loaded with other nutrients that babies require for normal growth and development. Put butter on baby’s meats and vegetables, and cream on his banana and cooked fruit and above all, just ignore the horrible advice to give reduced-fat milk to your growing child.

Sadly, the media and the medical profession have demonized an essential, life-supporting molecule. Moms, feed your kids cholesterol, they’ll thank you for it!

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Epoch Health welcomes professional discussion and friendly debate. To submit an opinion piece, please follow these guidelines and submit through our form here.