Certain Juices May Contribute to Restlessness And Irritability in Infants after Feeding, According to Pediatric Researchers
Researchers suggest white grape juice as best choice
Miami, FL, November 1, 1999
Feeding your infant certain juices may lead to restlessness and irritability, suggests a study published in the October issue of Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. The innovative study found that juice containing sorbitol and an imbalance of fructose and glucose - characteristics of pear and apple -- may be incompletely digested by infants, resulting in build-up of abdominal gas and increased metabolic rates and physical activity after feeding. In contrast, infants in the study consuming white grape juice were generally calmer after feeding, exhibiting less restlessness and lower metabolic rates than children drinking pear juice. These children also excreted less breath hydrogen-an indicator of excess gas generated in the gastrointestinal tract. White grape juice contains no sorbitol and has an even balance of the simple carbohydrates fructose and glucose.
"Feeding time is usually a calming experience for infants and their parents," explains Fima Lifshitz, M.D., co-author of the study and chief of staff at Miami Children's Hospital. "The baby's hunger is satisfied, she is relaxed and may even go to sleep. Yet, when we compared babies who drank white grape juice with those who consumed pear juice, we found that the pear juice babies exhibited significantly increased activity and greater restlessness and irritability after feeding than those who drank the white grape juice.
Research indicates that this is because infants have trouble digesting juices that contain sorbitol and which have an imbalance of fructose and glucose."
The study looked at 14 healthy infants at approximately six months of age. After a two- hour fast, half were given pear juice; half were given white grape juice. In the study, 71 percent of the children drinking pear juice experienced difficulty digesting the carbohydrates in the juice, whereas only 29 percent of those babies drinking white grape juice experienced such problems.
The research was conducted with sophisticated equipment designed to study metabolic rate and physical activity of infants. Those children who did have difficulty digesting the carbohydrates (measured as peak breath hydrogen levels greater than 20 ppm above baseline) showed both increased metabolic rates and increased physical activity.
Such findings have also resulted in the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition issuing an advisory calling for moderation in the amount of sorbitol-containing fruit juices fed to children.
Of the three clear juices typically introduced as weaning foods, two-apple and pear-contain sorbitol and a ratio of basic sugars that is out of balance. White grape juice contains no sorbitol and an even balance of these basic sugars. The AAP also warns against excessive feeding of juice to any child, and suggests that introductory foods, like clear juices, be introduced at nine to twelve months.
The study was supported by the Maimonides Research and Development Foundation, Miami Children's Hospital Foundation, and Welch Foods, Inc.
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