Infantile Colic: Nutritional Considerations

In research studies, the following factors have emerged as having relevance for colic:

• Cow’s milk proteins: The possibility that cow’s milk proteins may cause colic has been supported by at least two kinds of evidence. The first includes the observation that colic symptoms often improve in infants who are switched from a cow’s milk formula to a formula free of cow’s milk proteins and in breast–fed infants whose mothers begin to avoid cow’s milk. The second is the high number of infants who experience colic symptoms when fed with breast milk after the mother consumes whey protein capsules. Further, it has been shown that cow’s milk proteins are absorbed from the mother’s gastrointestinal tract into the blood and can then be transferred into breast milk.
• Allergy–causing and gas–producing foods: A breast–feeding mother who eats a hypoallergenic diet may improve her infant’s colic. Breast–feeding mothers with allergic diseases (e.g., eczema or asthma) may find that colic symptoms increase on days that dairy products are consumed. A survey of breast–feeding women revealed that the foods mothers found to be most strongly linked to colic in their infants were cruciferous vegetables (e.g., broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower), onions, and chocolate. However, evidence is increasing that many other foods may bring on colic. In a randomized controlled trial in which many of these foods (e.g., cow's milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, soy, and fish) were excluded from the diets of breast–feeding women with colicky infants, a reduction in colic symptoms was observed, compared with women who continued eating these foods.
• Fructose malabsorption: Rarely, patients with colic may have a syndrome of fructose malabsorption and respond to a fructose–free diet.