Interview of Alice Callahan – Science of Mom

Interview of Alice Callahan – Science of Mom

  The Science of Mom: A Research-Based Guide to Your Baby’s First Year is a new evidence-based book by Dr. Alice Callahan that uses science to common questions new parents ask in the first year of an infant’s life. I reviewed the first portion of this book last month for Science and Sensibility. I greatly enjoyed Dr. Callahan’s no-nonsense approach and reliance on scientific consensus when discussing different issues, especially vaccinations. Additionally, she identifies gaps in the data and specifically discusses how proper study design may help resolve remaining issues. Given Dr. Callahan’s background in nutrition and fetal physiology, I was particularly interested in reading her comments on beginning solid foods. Some of the recommendations were surprising to me, such as the benefits of feeding meat, especially liver, to babies. She also does an excellent job discussing the current literature on food allergies and timing of food introduction. Overall, I found the honest, open, and un-judgmental tone throughout the book refreshing in the collection of parenting books. Below is an interview I did with Dr. Callahan about the impetus behind her new book, how she defines scientific consensus, how she chose her  book content, her future projects, and how science and parenting intertwine in

A Bacterial Scoop on Poop

A Bacterial Scoop on Poop

Changes in poop quantity, quality, and color is a concern to gut microbiome scientists and parents alike. In Science of Mom’s recent post “How Often Should a Baby Poop?” she discusses the amazing variability in pooping patterns between babies and also as a kid ages. I was, of course, excited to see that she mentioned a little about the influence of the gut microbiome, but her post inspired me to think more about pooping patterns from a microbiome perspective. Individual variability First, it’s not too surprising that there’s a huge variability between infants and pooping frequency. Several studies demonstrate that each individual’s gut microbiome is unique. In the guts of healthy adults, a single, unique bacterial strain can be used to identify each individual [1]. With each bacterial strain comes some unique abilities. Various bacterial taxa digest different foods and/or produce and transport different vitamins, amino acids, and other basic nutrients. So microbiome community A may process the nutrients faster, more efficiently, or completely than microbiome community B. That difference in the microbiome community function plus the differences in human gut anatomy due to human genetics could lead to a wide range in pooping frequency. Feeding differences Second, as Science