Scientific research suggests that extra virgin olive oil is a beneficial and healthy addition to a baby’s diet. The reason is that this oil has very similar nutritional values to breast milk.
This finding has been published in the scientific journal ‘Il Medico Pediatra’ written by Gianfranco Trapani, Director of the Alfred Nobel Friends Study Center of Sanremo, and Domenico Careddu, National Secretary of the Italian Federation of Pediatricians.
“When EVO oil is added to the gruel (an average of 13 ml) - write the two Italian family pediatricians - the content of omega-6 and omega-3 is 918.5 and 115.8 mg respectively. These values are very close to those of breast milk where 200 ml of milk contain 1075 mg of omega-6 and 156 mg of omega-3. In both cases, the omega 6 to omega 3 ratio is about 7:1."
Additionally, the two doctors state that “using EVO oil during weaning provides balanced amounts of two essential fatty acids, useful for the development of the Central Nervous System, neurological, psychological and motor abilities, as well as the development of the retina and for many other metabolic functions”.
What is the right amount?
Trapani and Careddu clarify that ‘the optimal amount of EVO oil that should be consumed by a baby during weaning in order to take in all nutraceutical benefits and introduce up to 5 mg of hydroxytyrosol - in line with the European Food and Safety Authority (EFSA) guidelines - is 20 mg of EVO oil in a day, equal to two soup spoons. Up to 30 mg, three soup spoons, is also a safe daily consumption.’
Scientists also note that to obtain the greatest possible benefit from extra virgin olive oil, ‘it should be consumed consistently throughout life and in particular before and during pregnancy, during lactation and from the beginning of complementary feeding, that is in the first 1000 days of life".
Source
https://www.ilmedicopediatra-rivistafimp.it/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/10_attualit%C3%A0_olio-1.pdf
This article is open access and disclosed under the CC-BY-NC-ND (Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International) license.
12 May 2022
