Eureka! Protection Ingredient of Breast Milk Identified
December 7, 2006 by kate baggott
Filed under Baby Care, Breastfeeding, Nutrition
They are called oligosaccharides and they have been identified by scietists working at the University of California at Davis and at Agilent Technologies. According to an article in the Technology Review, the compound may explain how breast milk helps to protect infants from bacteria and viruses.
- Complex sugars called oligosaccharides are the third most common solid component of human breast milk, after lipids and proteins. But unlike lipids and proteins, oligosaccharides have no nutritional value, and babies can’t digest them. Instead, these molecules have been found to bind to bacteria in the gut, preventing agents like E. coli and Campylobacter jejuni from attaching to the intestinal wall and causing diseases such as diarrhea in infants.
Up until now, commerical formulas have ignored oligosaccharides. The technology finally exists that will enable scientists to classify and examine different types of oligosaccharides and determine if they can be replicated, not just for formulas, but for medical use infection prevention.
That is very cool news. It should be interesting to see how long that takes to make to the market, though, considering that the primary market will be feeding infants. I bet the testing on that is pretty strict.
cool! I wonder where I can get me some oligosaccharides as I’ve got the flu
Mike- I hope so! I think it’s important to emphasize applications other than breat milk. No one needs to turn infant formula into a medication, but the applications for all of us during cold and flu season are could be huge.
Darren- I hope you feel better soon. I don’t think they’ll be serving the flu-striken from the breast milk bank any time soon.
And breastfeeding for at least six months allegedly helps fend off coeliac disease, which has to be good.