"Treating Infant Colic by Changing Mom’s Diet"
Colic affects up to 40% of young infants,
characterized by prolonged periods of inconsolable crying.
The condition is often dismissed as trivial
by the medical profession, but should be treated seriously.
It can contribute to postpartum depression,
interfere with breastfeeding,
and even lead to the death of the infant
at the hands of a parent from shaken baby syndrome.
They’re not just crybabies.
Colic is pain.
The medical profession has a scandalous history
not just denying pain relief to infants,
but routinely performing surgery on infants
with minimal or no anesthesia into the 1980’s.
One famous case in 1985 was little Jeffrey Lawson,
who underwent open heart surgery
fully awake and conscious.
They just gave him a drug to paralyze him so he wouldn’t squirm,
but like a horror movie he couldn’t move
but could feel everything.
This wasn’t some rogue surgeon,
torturing babies was standard operating procedure in the 80’s.
Not the 1880’s, mind you, the 1980’s.
The liaison between the American Academy of Pediatrics
and the Society of Anesthesiologists
commented that the use of paralyzing agents
was a standard and time-honored technique.
The profession has a history of infant pain denial.
They didn’t think babies could feel pain.
Even today, most physicians don’t use pain-killers
or even local anesthesia for circumcisions, for example,
a procedure so traumatic the babies show
stronger pain responses to vaccinations even months later.
The pain of colic, is thought to be caused
by gastrointestinal discomfort, like intestinal cramping.
In my videos on irritable bowel
and relaxing the colon before a colonoscopy
I explored the role of peppermint oil
in reducing intestinal spasms,
so might it help with colic?
A few drops of a peppermint leaf solution appeared
to cut the number of colicky episodes in half,
and reduced daily crying from three hours to two hours,
working just as well as the leading over-the-counter drug
for colic called simethicone.
The problem is that simethicone has been shown to have
no benefit for colic,
so saying peppermint is as good as useless
isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement.
And the American Academy of Pediatrics
warns about the use of peppermint oil in infants.
One study found an herbal tea preparation to be helpful,
but parents have been cautioned not to use them,
not only because tea may interfere with breastfeeding continuity,
but the lack of adequate industry regulation.
For example, star anise tea is commonly used for colic.
Chinese star anise is regarded as safe and nontoxic,
but Japanese star anise is poisonous.
They look identical, but Japanese star anise
contains a potent neurotoxin,
and it’s been found contaminating star anise tea in the U.S.,
and so we shouldn’t give it to kids.
There’s even a report of toxicity
from a supposed homeopathic dose of belladonna,
also known as deadly nightshade,
that evidently wasn’t homeopathic enough, and then another.
Just because it’s homeopathic doesn’t necessarily mean it’s safe.
It’s no better when doctors prescribe it though.
The drugs used for colic are made from belladonna too.
The drugs may work, but should not be used
because of their serious side effects.
What about just good old fashioned burping?
Burping after feeding is, after all, commonly advised
by pediatricians, nurses and parenting websites
to promote expulsion of gases that accumulate during feeding
with the aim of decreasing discomfort and crying episodes,
but scientific evidence for the efficacy of burping is lacking,
until this 2014 randomized controlled trial
for the prevention of colic and regurgitation,
also known as spitting up, in healthy infants.
So what did they find?
Useless for colic, and made the regurgitation worse.
Burped babies spit up twice as many times as unburped babies!
So what’s an effective treatment?
The elimination of cow’s milk protein,
thinking colic may be some sort of allergic response.
Decades ago it was shown that infants fed cow’s milk
developed antibody responses to the bovine proteins,
which may explain why colic can improve
after changing from a cow’s milk formula
to either a hypoallergenic hydrolyzed protein formula
or a soy-based formula.
Now, breast fed infants have similar rates
of colic as formula fed infants,
but that might be because breast milk from milk drinking mothers
contains cow's milk proteins.
We know cow’s milk proteins can pass through breast milk
and cause certain serious allergic reactions,
but what about colic?
Based on studies of formula fed infants,
colic was already a well-known symptom of intolerance
to cow’s-milk protein back in the 70’s,
so thinking colic in breast-fed infants
may be caused by cow’s-milk proteins transmitted
from mother to infant via breast milk,
they tried a dairy-free diet for breast-feeding mothers
whose infants had colic.
Of 19 infants, the colic disappeared promptly from 13,
and in 12 of those 13 they were able to show
that they could bring back the colic by
challenging the mothers with a little dairy.
For example, baby boy develops colic
that almost completely disappears within a day
of mom eliminating cow’s milk,
and then promptly comes back when mom went back on dairy.
The researches conclude that the treatment for infantile colic
in breast-fed infants is a diet free of cow’s milk for the mother,
a recommendation that continues to this day.