When choosing a formula for your infant or toddler, we know that there are a multitude of factors that go into making the best decision for your family. For many parents and caregivers, in addition to cost, the nutritional makeup and quality of the ingredients used in a formula are of utmost importance. While choosing between formula types and brands can be overwhelming at best, we believe that the whole food difference allows Else Nutrition products to come out on top every time. 

What Makes Else Nutrition Different

Else Nutrition takes great pride in creating products of high nutritional quality for your child, all while using minimally-processed ingredients to do so. Whether your family practices a plant-based or vegan diet or you’re simply looking for a soy-free and dairy-free formula option, Else offers an option that’s both cutting edge and whole foods- derived.

What are Whole Foods Ingredients?

Whole foods ingredients are just as they sound: derived from whole food (plants) sources and kept as close to their natural state as possible. Else Nutrition aims to utilize these healthy ingredients from nature in a way that keeps more of the nutritional quality intact in the final product. In fact, Else uses the cleanest and most natural production process in the industry. While most other baby and toddler formula companies utilize a high degree of processing to isolate and prepare their ingredients for large-scale manufacturing, Else chooses to sustainably maintain the original ingredients as much as possible, only changing the texture of the plant. This allows for the most nutrient-dense products, just as nature intended. How do they do it? With no solvents, chemicals, or extractions using hexane (a petroleum byproduct of gasoline refining) that are commonly used in other baby formulas, Else Nutrition sets a new standard for baby and toddler nutrition. The whole food benefits extend to the environment as well, and the manufacturing process is much gentler and cleaner than most others in the baby formula industry. Instead of using chemicals to breakdown ingredients, Else processes them in a more natural way. This allows for the nutritional makeup of the formula to stay largely the same, with just the plant ingredient textures altered to make them digestible for babies. It also means that the macronutrients - protein, fat, and carbohydrates - found in Else products come directly from the whole plant food sources used to make them. Additionally, Else Nutrition products are packed with the fiber, phytonutrients, vitamins, and minerals nature intended, from start to finish. Further, you can take comfort in knowing that Else Nutrition products are non-GMO and bear the Clean Label, and Certified Organic seals. The Clean Label movement is a consumer-driven movement which focuses on food and ingredient transparency, which is especially important for infant and toddler formulas. Products with the Clean Label seal are allowed to only contain familiar, natural, simple ingredients that are easy to recognize, understand, and pronounce. In other words, when you look at the Else Nutrition labels, you will find no artificial ingredients or synthetic chemicals listed. Else’s Plant-based Complete Nutrition for Toddlers contains just three main organic ingredients, that you can actually pronounce.

Whole Food Ingredients in Else Nutrition

Else Nutrition products are formulated using three main nutrient dense foods as the base ingredients. Just these three ingredients make up 92% of the formulation. They include almonds, tapioca, and buckwheat, each of which offer unique benefits for your child, and come together to provide a nutrient-dense, whole food-derived formula option. 

Organic Almonds

Almonds are a fantastic source of plant-based protein, unsaturated healthy fats, and essential vitamins and minerals. Else uses almonds as a whole foods substitute for whey or casein protein derived from dairy milk as well as processed soy used in many baby formula products. Almonds are incredibly digestible, which is important for small, developing tummies. They’re also known to have anti-inflammatory effects, which provide health benefits throughout all stages of growth and development. These health benefits include reducing the risk of chronic disease including diabetes, colon cancer, and cardiovascular disease. The essential fatty acids found in almonds are good for brain development and cognitive function. Furthermore, almonds contain dietary fiber called prebiotics - or fuel for the good bacteria in the gut microbiome - that can positively alter the bacteria that live in the intestinal tract. 

Organic Tapioca

Tapioca is a starch taken from the roots of cassava, a type of root vegetable. It’s an easily digestible carbohydrate for little tummies and is packed with a high amount of important nutrients. For instance, tapioca is an excellent source of vitamin C, which plays a role in immune function and collagen production, and acts as an antioxidant in the body, fighting off free radicals that can lead to damage and disease. Tapioca is also rich in fiber, calcium, and iron.

Organic Buckwheat

A lesser known, but highly nutritious, pseudograin, buckwheat is a naturally gluten-free plant that has grain-like seeds. It’s a rich source of antioxidants and plant protein as well as essential micronutrients like magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, copper, and iron. Buckwheat is also high in fiber-rich prebiotics to help promote a healthy digestive system. Parents and caregivers can also feel good about the locations from which these whole food ingredients are sourced. The almonds and buckwheat come from the United States and Europe, and the almonds come from organic orchards in the San Joaquin valley of central California. What’s more, Else Nutrition formulas are manufactured in the United States. Looking at the ingredient list you’ll notice that, in addition to these three main ingredients, Else Nutrition uses less than 2% of the remaining ingredients listed to complete their formulation. Overall, the whole foods-derived formula provides over 20 vitamins and minerals from minimally processed sources, without extra unwanted ingredients like corn syrup solids, dairy, whey, soy, or palm oil, or chemicals and hexane solvent often used in many commercial formula manufacturing processes. Else Nutrition takes pride in carefully formulating their baby and toddler nutrition with your child’s health, growth, and development in mind. Using whole foods ingredients and little processing, their products retain the highest levels of quality ingredients and nutrients that your family seeks.

The content and advice provided in this article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical diagnosis, treatment, advice for specific medical conditions. Always consult a pediatrician to understand the individual needs of your child.