The real reason for pre-chewing baby's food

Regarding your recent article on the health benefits of Hollywood-hip practices, there actually is a rationale for mothers who pre-masticate food for their infants ("Extreme mothering, celeb-style," May 24).

There is a marked absence of a certain salivary enzyme in infants during the period from birth to 3 to 5 months. This enzyme is needed to digest complex carbohydrates found in grains such as rice, wheat, oatmeal, etc.

It's the digestive enzymes in the mother's saliva that matters. The chewing is superfluous. And the myopic idea that the practice has anything to do with the absence of blenders and utensils in "primitive" societies is laughable.

Mark Courtney, Baltimore