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Letter of Recommendation: Bamba

nytimes.com

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Re: Letter of Recommendation: Bamba

#41

Post by hammerzeit »

I have a young child at home. He eats bamba, peanut butter, and a worrying amount of New York City dirt.

That said, this is such a dangerous article, and I'm honestly surprised the NYT published it. It's written by a non-scientist making a "common sense" claim, and it even closes with a paragraph-long variation on the "how much can we really trust science anyways?" claim.

My understanding is that there has been a single study, done among a largely homogenous population, that has indicated Bamba's benefit. Maybe Bamba does help inoculate against peanut allergies -- I think it's plausible, even likely. But it's certainly not anything approaching scientific consensus, the author is not a scientist of any variety, and I think this article has a real danger to mislead.

Re: Letter of Recommendation: Bamba

#42

Post by DanBC »

megaman22 wrote: post #22
megaman22 wrote: post #4

Yup, makes total sense. Let your kids eat a bug or two, play in the dirt, sneeze on each other. Unless you are statistically unlucky, they'll be fine, and they'll build up stronger immune systems, so they won't be as fragile later on. Unless your child is Bubble Boy, there's no need for OCD antiseptic cleanliness.

One comment on the article cites a recommendation that young children not consume honey because it might possibly cause 90 cases of botulism a year. 90 cases out of several million is not really a significant thing to worry about. Sucks if it happens, but it is really unlikely.

There's zero reason to give young children added sugar. The lack of benefit of honey combined with the small risk of botulism and the severe risk of dental problems means it's probably a good idea to avoid honey.

Re: Letter of Recommendation: Bamba

#43

Post by dragonwriter »

hammerzeit wrote: post #41

I have a young child at home. He eats bamba, peanut butter, and a worrying amount of New York City dirt. That said, this is such a dangerous article, and I'm honestly surprised the NYT published it. It's written by a non-scientist making a "common sense" claim, and it even closes with a paragraph-long variation on the "how much can we really trust science anyways?" claim. My understanding is that there has been a sin…

I don't think its particularly dangerous. While its less detailed and formal, its not particularly out of line from common medical guidance on the issue. [0] Certainly, major publications -- including the Times -- frequently print pop-health advice that is more at odds with medical science than this piece.

[0] E.g., this, from the American Academy of Pediatrics, https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/condit...

Re: Letter of Recommendation: Bamba

#44

Post by Jtsummers »

alexbilbie wrote: post #38
Jtsummers wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm, so walnuts are used, but not peanuts . From friends here with allergies, they're specifically allergic to peanuts and not nuts in general (though they avoid most because they're often processed in the same facilities). Depending on the severity of their allergy that avoidance will be greater or lesser, a couple will eat brownies or cookies made with walnuts, or a pecan pie, but won't eat from a can of mixed nuts…

Peanuts are legumes, and walnuts are tree nuts. People can be allergic to just legumes, or just tree nuts or both. Within the tree nut family, some people can be allergic to just certain types such as cashew nuts because the proteins they're allergic differ to other tree nuts.

My first sentence was meant to be a question. OP seemed to be using peanuts as a generic term for nuts and I wanted clarification.

Re: Letter of Recommendation: Bamba

#45

Post by rwallace »

reitanqild wrote: post #30
WalterBright wrote: post #21

Evolution of parents: 1. first kid - sterilize baby bottle nipples 2. second kid - run nipples through the dishwasher 3. third kid - rinse nipples under the faucet 4. fourth kid - hold out nipples for dog to lick clean

Yes, I even know people around here that would let dogs lick wounds, -said it healed them. And this is at the top of the world. For some reason I never wanted to try that (I use Iodine in water or alcohold : )

I couldn't bring myself to go as far as letting a dog lick a wound, but these days the Mayo Clinic is advising against using disinfectants like iodine or alcohol; just make sure it's clean and apply a sterile bandage. Rationale: disinfectants do kill bacteria, but applied to an open wound they also kill white blood cells; apparently it's a net negative.

Re: Letter of Recommendation: Bamba

#46

Post by NickHaflinger »

Is this the future of advertising, a whole 'article' dedicated to a peanut butter coated roasted corn snack, Apple, Amazon, the Jackson Five, talk about product placement. I would have really liked to read an article on the causes of childhood allergies ...
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