breast
| credits: File copy
| credits: File copy
Scientists
have discovered that important ‘good’ bacteria arrive in babies’
digestive systems from their mother’s gut via breast milk.
Although this does confirm that when it
comes to early establishment of gut and immune health, ‘breast is best’,
a greater understanding of how babies acquire a population of good
bacteria can also help to develop formula milk that more closely mimics
nature.
The study, published in Environmental
Microbiology, which is a journal of the Society for Applied Microbiology
(SfAM), was led by Professor Christophe Lacroix at the Institute for
Food, Nutrition and Health, ETH-Zurich, Switzerland.
Professor Lacroix said: “We are excited to find out that bacteria can actually travel from the mother’s gut to her breast milk.
“A healthy community of bacteria in the
gut of both mother and baby is really important for baby’s gut health
and immune system development.”
The Zurich team found the same strains
of Bifidobacterium breve and several types of Clostridium bacteria,
which are important for colonic health, in breast milk, and maternal
and/or neonatal faeces. Strains found in breast milk may be involved in
establishing a critical nutritional balance in the baby’s gut and may be
important to prevent intestinal disorders.
Professor Lacroix continued “We’re not
sure of the route the bacteria take from gut to breast milk but, we have
used culture, isolation, sequencing and fingerprinting methods to
confirm that they are definitely the same strains.”
Future research will hopefully complete
the picture of how bacteria are transferred from mother to neonate. With
a more thorough knowledge, we can decide which bacterial species will
be most important as probiotics in formula. But until then, for neonates
at least, the old adage is true, breast is best.
Source: www.sciencedaily
0 Comments