Health & Medicine
Mothers Transfer Good Bacteria From Gut to Babies Via Breast Milk
Benita Matilda
First Posted: Aug 23, 2013 07:09 AM EDT
A team of Zurich researchers has discovered that good bacteria from the mother's gut arrive in babies via breast milk.
Studies have highlighted the importance of breastfeeding during the first year of a baby's life as it protects an infant from illnesses. Breast milk helps babies to grow healthy and strong. It is one of the unique nutritional sources a mother can offer her child, which cannot be replaced by any other food.
According to the latest finding, the researchers state that good bacteria from the mother's gut reach the babies' digestive systems via breast milk. This study confirms that breast milk is best when it comes to early establishment of gut and immune health. This study helps in understanding how babies acquire a great number of good bacteria. The research might also help in the making formula milk with all the health benefits of breast milk.
The new study was led by Professor Christophe Lacroix at the Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health, ETH-Zurich, Switzerland.
"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," said professor Lacroix.
The researchers discovered the exact strains of Bifidobacterium breve and several types of Clostridium bacteria, in the breast milk and maternal and/or neonatal faeces. The researchers say the strains present in the breast milk help in setting nutritional balance in the baby's gut and help in preventing intestinal disorder.
"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," Professor Lacroix added.
The study is published in the journal Environmental Microbiology.
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First Posted: Aug 23, 2013 07:09 AM EDT
A team of Zurich researchers has discovered that good bacteria from the mother's gut arrive in babies via breast milk.
Studies have highlighted the importance of breastfeeding during the first year of a baby's life as it protects an infant from illnesses. Breast milk helps babies to grow healthy and strong. It is one of the unique nutritional sources a mother can offer her child, which cannot be replaced by any other food.
According to the latest finding, the researchers state that good bacteria from the mother's gut reach the babies' digestive systems via breast milk. This study confirms that breast milk is best when it comes to early establishment of gut and immune health. This study helps in understanding how babies acquire a great number of good bacteria. The research might also help in the making formula milk with all the health benefits of breast milk.
The new study was led by Professor Christophe Lacroix at the Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health, ETH-Zurich, Switzerland.
"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," said professor Lacroix.
The researchers discovered the exact strains of Bifidobacterium breve and several types of Clostridium bacteria, in the breast milk and maternal and/or neonatal faeces. The researchers say the strains present in the breast milk help in setting nutritional balance in the baby's gut and help in preventing intestinal disorder.
"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," Professor Lacroix added.
The study is published in the journal Environmental Microbiology.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone