Imagine you could get all your nutrition from one liquid, which had the perfect nutrition for you1 and also had other benefits like helping your immune system and development!
Your baby has this opportunity, with your breast milk – so what is in this magic liquid that makes it so special?
Breast milk is an extremely complex liquid, which has more components than could ever be listed on a page. It constantly changes, therefore it is difficult to discover it’s exact contents and new components are frequently discovered. It varies in composition from mother to mother, due to your genes, diet, lifestyle, health and lactational stage, and will provide complete nutrition to your baby8. There are millions of different components in breast milk, including different types of proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins and many other components, which are unique and tailored to you baby.
Your breast milk is 87.5% water5. The rest contains millions of different components, including various carbohydrates, fats, proteins and minerals. During a feed, breast milk changes colour and becomes thicker as the amount of energy it contains gradually increases6.
Breast milk constant adapts to meet the needs of your baby, changing during the time of day, age of your baby and even during one feed itself! During a feed your milk will change from for foremilk to hindmilk.
‘Foremilk’ – the first milk of a breastfeeding session is packed with all the carbohydrates, protein and vitamins a baby needs. As a result of its high water composition, it also protects exclusively breastfed babies from dehydration 6,7.
The ‘hindmilk’ produced towards the end of a breastfeeding session looks thicker and is darker in colour. This is because its energy and fat content increases as the feed goes on, allowing babies to take on enough energy to go longer between feeds 6,7.
The energy in breast milk comes from fat and protein, and this gives breast milk its calorific energy content.
So how many calories are there in breast milk?
There are approximately 67 calories per 100ml of breast milk, but this will constantly adapt to change to your baby’s needs8.
The main carbohydrate in breast milk is lactose8. Lactose, along with other carbohydrates in breast milk, provides a large amount of the energy content of breast milk to allow all the normal process in the body to occur. Lactose also helps with mineral absorption9 and help your baby to absorb more calcium from your breast milk. Lactose also helps the ‘good bacteria’ in your baby’s gut10, as any lactose which isn’t digested in your baby’s stomach will be fermented by the ‘good’ bacteria in your baby’s gut.
Breast milk contains many different types of fats11, which all have different important roles in your baby’s development. Long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, or LCPs, for example, are important for the development of your baby’s brain. Research has shown that two particularly important LCPs – AA and DHA – are found in breast milk12. Consuming more of the important fats during pregnancy and while breastfeeding can help your baby’s development, encouraging better visual and brain development and movement skills13. The main ways to include LCPs in your diet are by eating fish, eggs and meat in your healthy breastfeeding diet.
Protein is really important for your baby as they develop. Protein provides the basic building blocks (amino acids) for the growth and repair of all the cells in your baby’s body14. Protein in breast milk is in the form of whey and casein. There are also many proteins in breast milk, which have very specific and important jobs15. For example, your breast milk contains an enormous amount of antibodies that help to support your baby’s immune system, and therefore help your baby’s ability to fight off the infections16.
Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are carbohydrate molecules that naturally occur in breast milk. On average, they are the third largest solid component in breast milk behind lactose and lipids3 with each litre of breast milk contains approximately 12–15g of HMOs17, as with all factors in breast milk these levels are very different between mothers due to the unique nature of your own breastmilk. Breast milk has around 200 known HMO structures that work together to help your baby develop a healthy immune system through the gut3.
Breast milk contains many different types of vitamins and minerals18, for example vitamins A, B6, D and iodine to name just a few. It is important that you make sure you have a healthy balanced diet throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding, as these vitamins and minerals come from your stores19. All these vitamins and minerals have roles within the body from vitamin E’s role in immune system stimulation to iodine’s role in growth and mental development20.
Breast milk contains millions of other factors which help your baby from helping their immune system to developmental benefits. For example, breast milk contains stem cells, growth factors, postbiotics, bacteria, immune factors (cytokines), nucleotides, hormones and immune cells8,20,21.
Breast milk is rich in nucleotides, which are the building blocks for all cells in the body, including the immune system. Research has shown that nucleotides support the activity of certain cells within the immune system, helping protect the body against infection22.
Hormones found in breast milk change throughout the day, and this helps to regulate the baby’s body functions, such as energy balance and sleep23.
Immune cells help to protect your baby while their own immune system is learning how to work best. These cells, which are called leukocytes, will increase in number if you or your baby are ill to protect your baby from infection7.
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Last reviewed: 13th July 2020
Reviewed by Nutricia's Medical and Scientific Affairs Team, and Dr Bernd Stahl
