Aaron Hartman, MDFunctional Medicine Specialist | Clinical Researcher

Doctors Told Mothers Formula Was Superior to Breast Milk — For Decades #shorts

8 Jul 2026 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

1:59

In this YouTube short, Dr. Aaron Hartman recounts how, from the 1950s through the 1970s, pediatricians routinely advised mothers to use infant formula instead of breastfeeding. He shares a personal story about his own mother, who ignored the pediatrician’s recommendation and breastfed all four of his brothers, secretly keeping the doctor unaware of her choice. Dr. Hartman then critiques formula feeding, noting historical and ongoing issues such as inappropriate fatty‑acid profiles, the inclusion of high‑fructose corn syrup, and vitamin‑D deficiencies, and explains that each reformulation of formula has revealed new problems. He contrasts this with the scientifically supported benefits of breast milk—colostrum, immunoglobulins, and human milk oligosaccharides that foster beneficial Bifidobacterium in the infant gut. Concluding, he invites viewers to share other examples of medical recommendations that were later reversed, emphasizing that recognizing such blind spots can be life‑saving.

Chapters

In the 1950s to the 1970s, doctors routinely told moms that formula was superior to breast milk for the babies. You heard me right. It was routinely recommended to use formula and not breastfeed. My own mother actually, for all of her 4 boys, was told by her pediatrician not to breastfeed and use formula. Now, my mom being my mom decided not to do that and breastfed us all. And she actually was kind of funny. She actually didn't have the heart to tell the pediatrician She'd take the kids back and he was so excited about how well her kids were doing and she didn't have the heart to tell him that she wasn't following his instructions. So I guess, I guess I get it honest, right? But the point was my mom intuitively knew deep down her heart, she knew her gut sense was we've done this for bazillions of years, breastfed. Why is this not the best thing? We've learned since that actually formula feeding, depending on what area you're in, can have the wrong kind of fatty acid mixtures that can cause issues with kids with brain inflammation. The high fructose corn syrup that we used to put in those. Can cause issues. Nutrient deficiencies from inadequate amounts of vitamin D. Using formula actually goes back to the 1880s, and it's interesting, every generation as we retune the formula, we find new things out that are wrong with it. The point is, is that for 50, 20-some years, pediatricians, physicians, doctors in our country got the whole formula thing wrong. And even now, it's, it's pretty common still to use formula, even after everything we know about nutrition, fatty acids, as well as your gut microbiome, the bacteria in your gut. Breast milk with colostrum, with immunoglobulins, with— there's actually a special kind of milk sugar that actually helps Bifidobacterium grow in your gut that we now can get a probiotic out of. It's now commonly used, but literally it just comes in the milk naturally. The point being, something as basic and simple as breastfeeding we got wrong for decades. What else is our healthcare system getting wrong? What else are we recommending to you that's just not, not playing right? If you have any examples in your life of something someone recommended to you in the healthcare system that later they changed their mind, I'd love to learn about it. I'd love to hear about. Share below and let's, um, let's, um, educate each other together. But the point of is avoiding these blind spots literally can save your life.