The Five Coolest Things About Breast Milk

Scientists are constantly discovering new benefits of breastfeeding, as well as new components of breast milk. Over 200 components have been identified so far! The coolest things I've learned about mama's milk are:

• Breast milk contains high amounts of secretory Immunoglobulin A (sIgA), which is an antibody that coats the intestinal walls in order to prevent pathogens from penetrating the wall and being absorbed into the bloodstream. Newborns do not produce their own sIgA for several weeks or months, which means that without breast milk they may have a more difficult time combating ingested pathogens, such as bacteria, viruses, food proteins, fungus, and parasites. If you are unable to breastfeed, you may want to consider giving your baby a high quality probiotic designed for infants, specifically one that contains the strain L. Casei, which increases the amount of intestinal cells secreting IgA (source). 

• Breast milk contains about one million white blood cells per drop! Colostrum (the milk mothers produce the first few days after giving birth) is especially loaded with white blood cells.  Just imagine how many of these pathogen-destroying cells breastfeeding babies receive each day! Some moms even use colostrum as antibacterial eye drops when their babies develop an eye infection.

• Breast milk has pain-relieving properties (source). This is why babies breastfeed more when they are teething. Many moms choose to breastfeed before, during, or immediately after their baby receives shots to relieve some of the baby's pain. 

• Breast milk contains the perfect carbohydrates for babies. It is especially high in the carbohydrate lactose, which aids in the absorption of calcium and phosphorous, supports the growth of good bacteria in the intestines, and is especially important for healthy brain and nervous system development. Breast milk also contains the enzyme lactase which is needed to break down lactose. Cow's milk formulas contain lactose, but not the lactase enzyme. In fact, formula companies add extra lactose because cow's milk does not provide as much as human milk. But without the lactase enzyme many babies experience difficulty digesting these infant formulas. As a result, many babies today are on lactose-free formulas that are instead sweetened with much less healthy sugars like corn syrup or rice syrup. 

• Researchers have found that children who were breastfed typically have less behavioral problems (source) and higher IQ scores (source) than those who were fed formula, even when accounting for socioeconomic status and maternal education. It could be because of the lactose. Or maybe it's the abundance of DHA and cholesterol, which manufacture myelin, a fatty sheath that insulates nerve fibers to help them send messages from one part of the brain to another. Taurine, an amino acid, is another component of breast milk that helps with neurological development. Some formula companies are now adding both DHA and taurine to their formulas. There are so many ingredients in breast milk that it would be silly to assume that just one is responsible for better brain development. It's certainly a combination of all the good stuff. 

It's amazing how perfect breast milk is for babies. And milk is just one facet of the human body, which is just one facet of all of God's creation. That's what's really cool.