Why are babies who are breast fed less likely to catch cholera than those who are bottle fed?
Two reasons: cholera is contracted through contaminated water, and because being breast-fed is better for the child than being bottle fed. If you look on a lot of baby formula, it will say something like ‘closest product on the market to actual breastmilk’ or ‘healthiest product in comparison to breastmilk.’ Realistically, we will never be able to make a formula as good as breastmilk. There are certain antibodies that help fight off pathogens that babies need (especially animal babies; a huge part of their immune system is passed on to them through the colostrum in the first few hours of birth through their mother’s milk) to survive better. Unless we find a way to get these antibodies into baby formula, it won’t ever work. Sorry, not to knock anyone who staunchly believe in bottle feeding, but the biological make-up of human beings indicates that the natural way (breastfeeding) is better than bottle feeding, at least for the first several weeks and months.
