Dietary patterns affect maternal macronutrient intake levels and the fatty acid profile of breast milk in lactating Chinese mothers

Breast milk provided by healthy, well-nourished lactating mothers is a unique and ideal source of food that ensures the proper growth and development of infants. Approaches to optimize the nutritional status of breast milk are attracting increasing attention. Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats in milk are sources of energy, and fat, especially, plays an important role. However, whether there exist an association between maternal diet and the macronutrients in breast milk remains unclear [1]. Recent reviews have suggested that maternal nutrition has little or no effect on the amount of macronutrients in breast milk [1, 2, 3], but fatty acids (FA) are one of the components of human milk that are most sensitive to maternal dietary habits [2].

Source: Nutrition - July 12, 2018 Category: Nutrition Authors: Hui-Min Tian, Yi-Xia Wu, Yi-Qi Lin, Xue-Yan Chen, Miao Yu, Tong Lu, Lin Xie Source Type: research