Breastfeeding: precision nutrition early in life

Zhu Jing, associate researcher, Beijing Institute of Nutritional Sources

Breast milk is a natural gift from mother to baby.

A new born baby is a fragile new life

An important component of breast milk are human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), which are substances that cannot be broken down by the baby's digestive enzymes and are the third most abundant component in breast milk, with more than 1,000 different structures found

The structures of breast milk oligosaccharides are extremely complex and diverse, and the understanding of them is still deepening

Another important class of ingredients is protein

Not only that, these varieties have thousands of various proteins, which can also snatch the raw materials for pathogen growth, regulate intestinal flora, prevent pathogens from binding to intestinal receptors, and improve intestinal permeability, thereby protecting babies from these diseases.

70% of the proteins in breast milk are glycoproteins, that is, oligosaccharides are attached to the peptide chains of proteins.

With the continuous research on the composition of breast milk and its functions, these special codes of maternal love will hopefully be unraveled one by one

"China Food News" (03 edition on August 4, 2021)

(Editor in charge: Zhou Yan)