Breastfeeding and probiotic supplementation can reduce cancer risk in babies at a later stage in life.
Breastfeeding and probiotic supplements improve the gut health of babies
HIGHLIGHTS
- Breastfeeding and probiotic supplements improve the gut health of babies
- Breast milk and probiotics can make lasting changes in the gut microbiome
- After the supplementation ended, colonies continued to exist for 30 days
Attention mums-to-be! A new study reveals the power of breast milk. You can protect your baby from certain cancers and diabetes with the help of breastfeeding and some probiotic supplements for the initial three weeks. Breastfeeding and probiotic supplements improve the gut health of babies.
This study is the first of its kind to explain how breast milk and probiotics can make lasting changes in the gut microbiome, the lead author Mark Underwood explained.
"Even though we stopped giving the probiotic on day 28 of life, the particular organisms we gave stayed in their fecal community out to 60 days and even longer," he added.
Researchers explained that B infantis pairs with breast milk sugars and shapes gut microbiota. When the microbiota gets disturbed both inside and outside the gut at an early age in life, it increases the risk of diseases like diabetes, allergies and asthma, IBS and even cancer, Underwood explained.
Researchers at the University of California explained that Davis breast milk can help in maintaining those colonies in a long run. They picked 66 breastfeeding mothers. They were divided into two groups. In the first group consisting of 34 mothers, the babies were breastfed and given a three-week course of the probiotic Bifidobacterium longum subspecies infantis EVC001. Mothers in the second group did not give probiotics to their kids.
Fecal samples of the babies was collected and analyzed during the first 60 days of their life and the results showed a lot of differences in the two groups. The results indicated that the Genetic sequencing, PCR analysis and mass spectrometry responsible for improving gut health, were present in the babies who received the supplements as compared to the kids who did not get supplements.
After the supplementation ended, the colonies continued to exist for 30 days. This suggests that the changes were durable. Researchers now aim at studying how a combination of breast milk and probiotics affected gut health of premature babies, who are at a risk of dysbiosis.
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