Breast milk gives certain gut bacteria a head start
Breast milk helps shape the gut microbiota for longer than previously thought. Researchers from DTU and Rigshospitalet have discovered that sugars in breast milk, which are nondigestible by the infant—so-called human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs)—influence which bacteria thrive in the gut during the transition to solid food, and that this influence persists later in life. The findings have been published in Nature Communications.
by Peter Aagaard Brixen, Technical University of Denmark
edited by Lisa Lock , reviewed by Robert Egan
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"We have long known that breastfeeding is important for infants' health. What is new is that we can now explain how the sugars in breast milk, HMOs, also help to select the bacterial communities associated with a healthy gut microbiota later in life. This underlines the importance of combining breastfeeding with solid baby food at this stage of a child's development," says Maher Abou Hachem, professor at DTU Bioengineering and senior author of the study.
The study reveals a previously unknown mechanism that gives specific gut bacteria an advantage in the competition to inhabit the infant's gut during weaning because they are able to metabolize both HMOs from breast milk and fibers from plant-based foods.