Breast milk – a living superfood. Review of current knowledge
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12775/JEHS.2024.71.51247Keywords
breast milk, breast milk analysis, breast milk macronutrients, breast milk composition, human milk variabilityAbstract
Introduction: Breastfeeding is considered the best nutrition for infants, including born preterm due to containing optimal ingredients for development and growth. Breast milk is a rich source of nutrients, it also contains diverse types of bacteria, which play a role in infant’s gastrointestinal tract colonization and preserving mammary health. Composition of human milk varies depending on numerous maternal and infant factors.
Aim of the study: The aim of the study was to summarize the current knowledge about the content of nutrients, bioactive factors and microbiota diversity in human milk depending on various factors.
Materials and methods: The work is a review of 26 mainly English-language scientific publications from 1989-2024 posted on the PubMed platform.
Results: Milk composition changes in addition to several factors. Depending on postnatal age: preterm milk has higher content of protein, fat and immunological factors and lower concentration of lactose than term milk. Depending on milk maturity: Colostrum is higher in protein but lower in lactose, fat and energy than mature milk. Human milk is also a source of viable bacteria important for developing infant’s gut microbiota, but the diversity of bacterial strains in milk may vary. Depending on mode of delivery: milk of mothers after spontaneous labour contents more probiotic vaginal- and enteric-associated bacteria, while milk of mothers after C-section has more skin-associated microbiota. Depending on mother’s weight: milk of overweight mothers is lower in probiotic- and higher in pathogenic bacteria. Alcohol, nicotine, and some medications also have negative impact on produced milk.
Conclusions: Human milk varies from woman to woman and its composition depends on several factors. Postnatal and gestational stage, delivery mode, mother's weight and certain substances have been found to be important factors influencing the constitution of breast milk, including nutrients, microbiota and volume of milk.
References
ACOG Committee Opinion No. 361: Breastfeeding: maternal and infant aspects. Obstet Gynecol, 2007. 109(2 Pt 1): p. 479-80.
Global strategy for infant and young child feeding. 1st ed. ed. 2003, Geneva: World Health Organization.
Breastfeeding and the use of human milk. Pediatrics, 2012. 129(3): p. e827-41.
Hunt, K.M., et al., Characterization of the diversity and temporal stability of bacterial communities in human milk. PLoS One, 2011. 6(6): p. e21313.
Funkhouser, L.J. and S.R. Bordenstein, Mom knows best: the universality of maternal microbial transmission. PLoS Biol, 2013. 11(8): p. e1001631.
Horta, B.L., C. Loret de Mola, and C.G. Victora, Long-term consequences of breastfeeding on cholesterol, obesity, systolic blood pressure and type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Acta Paediatr, 2015. 104(467): p. 30-7.
Gdalevich, M., D. Mimouni, and M. Mimouni, Breast-feeding and the risk of bronchial asthma in childhood: a systematic review with meta-analysis of prospective studies. J Pediatr, 2001. 139(2): p. 261-6.
Koletzko, S., et al., Role of infant feeding practices in development of Crohn's disease in childhood. Bmj, 1989. 298(6688): p. 1617-8.
Mortensen, E.L., et al., The association between duration of breastfeeding and adult intelligence. Jama, 2002. 287(18): p. 2365-71.
Chua, S., et al., Influence of breastfeeding and nipple stimulation on postpartum uterine activity. Br J Obstet Gynaecol, 1994. 101(9): p. 804-5.
Brewer, M.M., M.R. Bates, and L.P. Vannoy, Postpartum changes in maternal weight and body fat depots in lactating vs nonlactating women. Am J Clin Nutr, 1989. 49(2): p. 259-65.
Brockway, M.M., et al., Human Milk Macronutrients and Child Growth and Body Composition in the First Two Years: A Systematic Review. Adv Nutr, 2024. 15(1): p. 100149.
Leung, A.K. and R.S. Sauve, Breast is best for babies. J Natl Med Assoc, 2005. 97(7): p. 1010-9.
Gidrewicz, D.A. and T.R. Fenton, A systematic review and meta-analysis of the nutrient content of preterm and term breast milk. BMC Pediatr, 2014. 14: p. 216.
Rodriguez-Palmero, M., et al., Nutritional and biochemical properties of human milk: II. Lipids, micronutrients, and bioactive factors. Clin Perinatol, 1999. 26(2): p. 335-59.
Młodawska, M., et al., Breast is the best — czyli co każdy ginekolog o karmieniu piersią wiedzieć powinien. Ginekologia i Perinatologia Praktyczna, 2019. 4(1): p. 23-33.
Collado, M.C., et al., Effect of mother's weight on infant's microbiota acquisition, composition, and activity during early infancy: a prospective follow-up study initiated in early pregnancy. Am J Clin Nutr, 2010. 92(5): p. 1023-30.
Latuga, M.S., A. Stuebe, and P.C. Seed, A review of the source and function of microbiota in breast milk. Semin Reprod Med, 2014. 32(1): p. 68-73.
Jiménez, E., et al., Metagenomic Analysis of Milk of Healthy and Mastitis-Suffering Women. J Hum Lact, 2015. 31(3): p. 406-15.
Jeurink, P.V., et al., Human milk: a source of more life than we imagine. Benef Microbes, 2013. 4(1): p. 17-30.
Fernández, L., et al., The human milk microbiota: origin and potential roles in health and disease. Pharmacol Res, 2013. 69(1): p. 1-10.
Taghizadeh, M., et al., The influence of impact delivery mode, lactation time, infant gender, maternal age and rural or urban life on total number of Lactobacillus in breast milk Isfahan - Iran. Adv Biomed Res, 2015. 4: p. 141.
Carabotti, M., et al., The gut-brain axis: interactions between enteric microbiota, central and enteric nervous systems. Ann Gastroenterol, 2015. 28(2): p. 203-209.
Vio, F., G. Salazar, and C. Infante, Smoking during pregnancy and lactation and its effects on breast-milk volume. Am J Clin Nutr, 1991. 54(6): p. 1011-6.
Institute of Medicine Committee on Nutritional Status During, P. and Lactation, in Nutrition During Lactation. 1991, National Academies Press (US)
Copyright © 1991 by the National Academy of Sciences.: Washington (DC).
Tankeyoon, M., et al., Effects of hormonal contraceptives on milk volume and infant growth. WHO Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction Task force on oral contraceptives. Contraception, 1984. 30(6): p. 505-22.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Patrycja Figurowska, Natalia Małek, Sara Emerla, Aleksandra Brożyna, Anita Kwiatkowska, Arkadiusz Bydliński, Konrad Karłowicz, Maria Hermanowska, Julia Lubomirska, Łukasz Ciulkiewicz, Patryk Pluta
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The periodical offers access to content in the Open Access system under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0
Stats
Number of views and downloads: 280
Number of citations: 0
