What is wholesome? At it’s root is the word ‘whole’ yet advertisers apply the word wholesome to foods that are anything but whole. Then they use emotions to make you feel like you have to buy their products for your kids to show them you care.

As much as I try to change it, when I see certain processed foods, the first word that comes to mind is “wholesome”. Take the graham cracker, one of those foods everyone (almost everyone) feels good about giving their children. Or that snack that smiles back, or Sugar Snacks-wait, I mean Fruit Snacks… Part of me still thinks of these foods as something every child deserves to eat. Yet they aren’t the best choices, even for a type A baby. Changing my son’s diet is as much about changing my own brainwashing as it is about changing his tastes. Would any loving mother really make her child eat black-eyed peas rather than processed chicken nuggets? Why does part of me feel guilty when I don’t feed him what other moms feed their children? So he likes beans, he likes broccoli, he likes peas…why would he need graham crackers? Part of me feels that he should be entitled to eat all the treats I ate as a kid, or that other kids eat. Yet, I know that one of the greatest gifts I’ve been given is the guidance of the Blood Type Diet for my health, and wouldn’t it be nice to have grown up with some of those healthy habits?

Then there’s the milk. Of course, my son is very allergic to it. (Regrettably, I had lots of milk and yogurt while pregnant and nursing, avoiding it, like I’m supposed to, may have helped; it may have helped if the lactation consultant in the hospital had given him a few drops of soy instead of milk formula while teaching him what to look for) Anyway, I’m never tempted to give him milk, and I never feel guilty about keeping it away from him. Yet, everyone tries milk for their babies first, then if that causes obvious problems for the baby, they switch to soy. I wonder if for As and Os that isn’t backwards. Of course breastmilk is always the first choice, but is milk formula a better second choice than soy formula? Soy bashers may attack me on this one, but I feel that we should feel empowered to make this type of choice, as mothers, without guilt coming into play. Others often feel sorry for my son, that he can’t have milk, like he’s not only missing out on yummy treats that other kids like, but that he’s also missing out on some sort of whole-some-ness that is inherent in milk. Granted for B’s, milk does have wholesomeness and a lot to offer health-wise (especially if it’s from healthy cows free of antibiotics and hormones), but for As and Os it has nothing to offer that we can’t get from other sources, and much to be avoided.

I suppose I’m just having a I-wish-the-whole-world-were-blood-type-enlightened moment.