Are Asian children different from their Western counterparts and need different formulation in their growing-up milk? If the answer is Yes, then this question zeroes in on the Asian dietary makeup and why it makes us different.

“We are what we eat”, as the saying goes. What it means is: What people eat could eventually shape their entire constitution, for better or for worse.

“Everything you eat becomes a part of not only your inner being but the outer fabric of your body as well,” says a clinical nutritionist in a WebMD[1] article.

“Nutrients from the foods we eat provide the foundation of the structure, function, and wholeness of every little cell in our body, from the skin and hair to the muscles, bones, digestive and immune systems. We may not feel it, but we’re constantly repairing, healing and rebuilding our body,“ says another article from the idsMED Group[2].

This means nutrients or the food we eat, have the ability to alter the flow of genetic information that can change us inside and out. In other words, food is a type of biological information that “talks to” and can influence our DNA.

Food Can Change Our DNA

Can food really change our genetic make-up?

A writer, who is also a molecular biologist and researcher, argues the facts in his article[3] titled: What You Eat Can Reprogram Your Genes. He uses bees as an example.

There are typically two “types” of bees in a beehive, he writes ─ worker bees and the queen bee. Worker bees work nonstop, are sterile and live only for a few weeks. The queen bee doesn’t move much, lives for many years and has the fertility to give birth to generations of the entire colony after a single mating.

And yet, worker bees and queen bees are the exact same insects. They become different life forms because of the food they eat.

The queen bee feasts on royal jelly while the worker bees feed on nectar and pollen. Both foods provide sustenance but royal jelly has special compounds to activate the genetic controllers to trigger the formation of the queen’s organs and sustain her reproductive ability. In other words, royal jelly is able to turn what was once a normal female bee into a huge, egg-laying queen bee with a long lifespan.

Similarly, the food we eat can affect our genomes and trigger changes in our body. Food information derived from animals such as cow’s milk, is transferred to the person drinking the milk. For example, milk from grain-fed cattle differ from milk from grass-fed cows. Grain-fed cattle produces different amounts and types of fatty acids and Vitamin C and A. When humans drink these types of milk, their cells receive different nutritional messages.

That is why there is now the idea that happier farm animals produce higher quality food. Dairy farmers have noted that when their cows are pampered, they produce an increase in the quality and quantity of their milk.

Now we go a step further. These nutritional messages can even alter the flow of genetic information to span across generations.

A LiveScience article says ─ Your Diet Affects Your Grandchildren’s DNA[4], meaning to say ─ not only are you what your mother, father, grandparents and great-grandparents ate, but your children will also be what you ate.

Diet Affects Progeny

Diet, whether it’s good or bad, can alter the nature of a person’s DNA and these changes can be passed on to the next generation.

We are indeed what we eat, and what we eat modifies our cell structures.

“People in an ethnic group often share certain versions of their genes which have been passed down from common ancestors,” says a Medline Plus article[5]. That is why certain cultures or ethnic groups share similarities and inherit the same wellness, disease risks and even lifespan.

For example, in the Health and Morbidity Survey 2019[6], the ethnic group found to have the highest percentage (39%) of anaemia in the 15 to 49 age group were women of Indian ethnicity.

The Asian Staple Vs Others

Though it can be argued that all human beings are essentially the same as we are made of the same sinews and blood, we now see that food can alter our genes and make our ethnic and individual compositions different or same as one another.

The food we eat defines our culture and vice versa. So what do Asians and Asian children eat that makes them so different as to require a different formulation in their growing up milk?

We can begin by looking at the staple foods of the world. For simplicity’s sake, we’ll divide the world into East and West.

Straight off the bat we can say the Eastern or Asian staple is rice ─ a grain.

The Western staple is meat and potatoes. There is grain involved too, such as corn, wheat, or rye which is made into cereals, breads, pasta and so on.

Westerners consume meat in higher proportions than we do. Walk into any Western food restaurant and the signature dishes would be steak, or chicken chop or rack of lamb. The potatoes and vegetables are usually side dishes.

We, on the other hand, eat rice first ─ whether as fried rice or plain white rice eaten as nasi lemak or with a stir fry. A lot of times, noodles feature heavily in our cuisines too. In Malaysia, this runs across all three of our ethno-cultures.

Asian consumption of meat is sparing by comparison to Western cultures. We eat our meat in smaller amounts, usually cut into slivers even when it is cooked as rendang or curry and never as a slab of meat as the main course.

Generally speaking, Asians eat a smaller, lighter, less animal protein-dense diet. As a result, we are genetically predisposed to have a slighter built as compared to our Western counterparts. Our type of diet fits us and their type of diet fits them.

Furthermore, our bodies too, have been programmed, through the generations, to process our kind of diet. Shift that around and it would cause upheavals to our digestive system such as bloating and stomach aches, and headaches, irritability and even flare-ups on the skin.

Asian Food Culture

The Asian food culture is also very different when compared to the Western food culture. We have different attitudes, beliefs and practices that surround how we decide on, prepare and consume our food.

For instance, there is the Chinese philosophy of Yin and Yang or Universal Balance between light and dark and hot and cold, which is applied to food as well. Some foods are considered cooling while some others are heaty. In serving a meal, there should always be a balance between cooling foods and heaty foods. An upset in this equilibrium would cause problems.

Although Malaysia is made up of three main ethnicities, all of us as Asians understand the concept of heaty and cooling foods.

Say to anyone within our Asian community that, “this food is very heaty,” or “I feel heaty, I have a sore throat coming,” and everybody would understand.

Say the same thing to a Westerner and he or she would have no idea what you are talking about.

We Asians would then advise one another to cool our bodies down by drinking cooling drinks.

To a Westerner, that would mean downing an ice-cold soda.

We, on the other hand, would know that the best drink to combat heatiness is young coconut water, or hot herbal cooling tea.

Do Asian Children Need Different Formulation?

Back to the question of whether Asian children require different formulation in their milk, the answer is surely Yes.

Milk, as is already known, is a rich source of protein and calories. It is very beneficial for a toddler’s development, especially if he happens to be a picky eater or has sensivities or food allergies that limit the varieties of food he should have in his diet.

There are many types of toddler milk. All are good with their different fortifications of necessary nutrients. However, in Malaysia, the most suitable milk is the one that has been formulated for the physiology of the Asian child.

Formulated for Asian Children

Did you know that Morinaga Chil-kid is specially designed for Asian children?

Made for Asians by Asians, this Japanese formula milk has a balanced ratio of AA+DHA, Protein, Fat and Energy, and has been made according to the needs of Asian children’s physique.

Many Malaysian parents who have given the milk to their children, praise it well for its suitability with the child’s palate. They have also written reviews to say that their children love its less-sweet, mild vanilla taste. Futhermore, the milk is non-heaty and therefore does not cause discomfort associated with heatiness.

Morinaga Chil-kid is backed by 100+ years of research and development.

The milk comes from cows of Netherland’s natural pastures. These cows are well taken care of and enjoy the sunshine of the green meadows.

Morinaga Chil-kid, fortified with over 45 essential nutrients including AA+DHA, GOS, 5 Nucleotides, Omega 3&6 LCPs and 27 Vitamins and Minerals, undergoes stringent product examinations and double inspections before being exported to Malaysia.

For more information on Morinaga Chil-kid and how it provides optimum, balanced nutrition for your growing child, please click the link here.