Breastfeeding and Microbiome | Milk and Microbes: Nuturing Gut Health from Day One

Breastfeeding and the Microbiome

After the mother's birth canal, the most important factor that effects the infant gut colonization is breastfeeding.
Did you know that breast-fed infants and formula-fed infants have significantly different microbiomes?
- Breastfed infants have a higher concentration of bifidobacteria in their microbiome, which is thought to come from breast milk. Bifidobacteria in infant feces are considered health-promoting, and their colonization in the infant microbiome has been linked to reduced allergies and obesity (1), (3).
There are also indigestible oligosaccharides (a type of carbohydrate made up of 10 simple sugars in human milk), which do not directly provide energy to the newborn, but microbes in the intestine use them (2).
The oligosaccharides act as decoy receptors for pathogens in the intestines, which lower the risk of viral, bacterial, and protozoan infections (2).
Breastfeeding may be a potential target for microbial therapeutic interventions that can help support the immune system and protect against disease later in life (3).

HMOs can act as prebiotics in the gut microbiome! (2)
- Prebiotics are food for good bacteria in the gut, like B. Infantis and B. bifidum

HMOs can also act as "anti-adhesive antimicrobials" (5):
- Many viral and bacterial pathogens need to adhere to a mucosal surface to cause disease
- Some HMOs mimic mucosal cell surface glycans
- They act as “decoy receptors” to prevent pathogen binding and decrease risk of your infant's infection.