The Hidden Secrets of Natural Milk
A classic strategy in business is to replace something freely available with a patentable commodity everyone is then forced to purchase. Beyond this being highly exploitative, in many cases, the synthetic substitute is a poor imitation of what nature created and hence creates a myriad of problems for humanity.
This very much characterizes what happened to infant nutrition and allowed formula sales to become a 90.91 billion annual market. In turn, two major problems have followed the switch away from natural milk:
• Infant formula is full of unhealthy components that promote allergies and obesity (e.g., the first ingredient in formula is often corn syrup and then followed by seed oils—which remarkably federal law requires to be in infant formula due to a law based on flawed nutritional science from the 1960s that was never updated).
• Breast milk was designed to be one of most nutritious foods a developing infant could have and contains many vital components which will never be possible to synthetically replicate.
Note: in some cases, the milk a mother produces is not enough for her infant. In those cases, a supplemental natural infant formula can be highly beneficial to her infant, but only if it is composed of natural ingredients which adequately provide the critical nutrients infants need and if it uses raw rather than pasteurized milk (as this preserves the vital nutrients milk contains and prevents it from turning into a potent allergen).
In this article, we will explore the numerous benefits of breastmilk, not just for the infant, but for the mother as well. We’ll examine how the unique components of breastmilk contribute to a healthier immune system, stronger brain development, and even a reduced risk of chronic diseases later in life. Additionally, we’ll look at how maternal health and diet impact the quality of breastmilk, highlighting the importance of support systems for mothers to ensure successful breastfeeding. Ultimately, the evidence supports what many already know: breastmilk is truly irreplaceable.
Breastmilk: Nature’s Perfect Food
Breastmilk contains a variety of complex bioactive molecules which allow the mother to continually aid the growth and health of their child such as:
• Numerous vital growth factors (e.g., ones that facilitate the development of the gastrointestinal tract,1,2,3,4).
• MicroRNA (which are protected from digestion and hence able to absorb into the body), which guides the development of tissues throughout the body, regulate critical gene expression, prevents allergies (e.g., to foods), and produce many critical parts of the developing immune system.
• A unique set of antibodies and immunoglobulins are produced by the mother to both protect the infant against expected pathogens in the environment (e.g., what the mother has encountered) while the infant’s immune system is still developing, and guide the development of their immune system.
• Key cytokines such as TGF-β, IL-6 and IL-10 which also play a critical role in much of the previous (e.g., promoting oral tolerance, supporting immune system development, and enhancing intestinal epithelial proliferation and repair).1,2,3
Note: a major problem with many vaccines is that they tend to provoke a Th2 response (which eliminates certain extracellular pathogens but also creates autoimmunity) and suppress the Th1 response (which eliminates intracellular pathogens and cancers). Breastmilk inhibits immune cells shifting to a Th2 state and can change a Th2 response into a more balanced Th1-Th2 response.
• A variety of enzymes that both help the infant’s digestive tract break down the ingested milk and release key peptides from breastmilk components (that both develop the immune system and directly eliminate pathogenic organisms),1,2,3 along with many other enzymes and bioactive molecules that inhibit microbial growth (e.g., lactoferrin, lysozymes and mucin, interferon and fibronectin).
• A protein with potent anticancer activity (against over 40 types of cancers) that does not harm normal cells and has successfully treated cancer in humans. It also has powerful antimicrobial activity and enhances bacterial sensitivity to antibiotics.
• Breastmilk contains endogenous cannabinoids that are important for human development (e.g. by affecting appetite, mother-child bonding, immune function, brain development and motor function).1,2
Note: the most potent milk a mother releases is the colostrum (the first milk). In parallel, over the years, many have discovered that colostrum from healthy cows has healed a variety of challenging illnesses and significant injuries.
Furthermore, breastmilk also contains a variety of nutrients which are invaluable for the developing infant such as:
• Human Milk Oligosaccharides that support the growth of healthy gut bacteria (e.g., bifidobacteria and lactobacilli), reduce inflammation, and contribute to immune system development.
• Essential fatty acids, cholesterol (and many other unique lipids) which are critical for brain development, eye development, and cognitive function (e.g., academic success). These fats are not present in infant formula (or present in relatively low levels—except in animal milk substitutes, as it’s well recognized copious fats are necessary for their growth) and many experts in the field believe their absence from formula is one of the reasons why breastmilk is so much healthier for infants. Human breastmilk also contains bile salt-stimulated lipase, an enzyme absent in cow’s milk and most other commonly consumed milks (e.g., formula) which is specifically adapted to enhance the digestion and absorption of fats and cholesterol in human infants.
Note: cholesterol is also necessary to produce hormones (e.g., boys undergo a surge of testosterone in the first 1-3 months of life which is pivotal in masculinizing their bodies).
• Highly bioavailable nutrients (e.g., iron), which allows much lower concentrations of them needed in milk than formula (which then prevents those nutrients from competing with the absorption of other critical nutrients, such as iron added to infant formula interfering with the critical absorption of zinc).
Note: if breastmilk (or formula) is stored, it should never be microwaved to warm it (as this destroys many critical nutrients). Likewise, most sources of donated human breastmilk will pasteurize them (which destroys many of these vital components in milk).
In short, I would argue that the complexity of breastmilk makes it unlikely a synthetic substitute will ever be able to replace it (e.g., many of the bioactive molecules it contains cost thousands of dollars to synthesize).
The Benefits of Breastmilk
Beyond being less likely to be overweight or have a dysfunctional metabolism (e.g., breastfeeding halves the risk of diabetes), many other benefits have also been attributed to breastfeeding such as:
• Lower rates of infections (e.g., pneumonia, ear infections) and lower hospitalization rates (e.g., for infections).
• Lower rates of gastrointestinal issues (e.g., stomach problems, constipation, gas, diarrhea) and allergies (e.g., being half as likely to develop asthma).
• Being half as likely to die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (a condition decades of evidence shows is linked to vaccination).
• Being less likely to develop cancers (particularly leukemia).
• Improved brain development (particularly white matter growth).
• Improved cognition (e.g., verbal and spatial skills or mathematical ability and working memory). Likewise, breastfeeding for 12 months was associated with a three-point increase in IQ (along with a 0.8 point increase for each additional month), and higher educational and financial success in life.
• Being significantly less likely to develop autism or ADHD.
Note: many of the conditions breastmilk prevents often follow vaccination. Breastmilk’s ability to prevent those conditions is likely due to it reducing the Th2 response, improving the physiologic zeta potential, and reducing the total allergen burden seen with formula feeding (as consuming allergens exacerbates existing autoimmune processes). This is particularly consequential for premature infants, as for a variety of reasons they are both significantly less likely to be breastfed and significantly more vulnerable to vaccine injuries (e.g., this has extensively been shown with their risk for dying from vaccination).
Breastfeeding also offers significant benefits to the mother, both immediately after pregnancy and later in life. In the short term, it promotes better infant bonding, enhances maternal mood, aids in post-pregnancy weight loss, and reduces the likelihood of developing postpartum depression.1,2 Over the long term, in addition to each childbirth lowering the risk of breast cancer by 7%, breastfeeding over 12-months of breastfeeding reduces the risk of breast cancer by 4.3%, ovarian cancer by 34% (and by up to 91% with extended breastfeeding), as well as decreasing the risks of endometrial cancer and high blood pressure.
Early Feeding
As I show here, many of these benefits attributed to breastfeeding are also seen in mothers who avoid the more invasive (and often unnecessary) hospital birth procedures. It hence should come as no surprise that mothers who undergo invasive birthing procedures are significantly less likely to breastfeed—which again illustrates the critical need for our society to reexamine how we handle bringing our children into this world and raising them.
For example, skin-to-skin contact (which is often is prevented at hospital births) provides many immense benefits to infants (including make them less likely to cry1,2,3,4) and to their mothers including stimulating the a critical maternal release of oxytocin (a hormone necessary for lactation), and in one study infants separated from their mothers during the first week of life were half as likely to breast feed (37% vs. 72%). Newborns infants are eager to latch in the first 30 minutes following birth and this early period is critical for both the infant (e.g., to set the rhythm of feeding and to obtain the mother’s colostrum which is only present for a few days after birth) and the mother (as the maternal oxytocin release from suckling helps to expel the placenta, contract the uterus, and hence minimize postpartum blood loss). For these reasons, it is critical to ensure this early feeding occurs over the first several days of the child’s life, and if possible not to introduce any artificial nipples (e.g., pacifiers or bottles) during that time.
Likewise, analgesia during childbirth or delaying the start of breastfeeding has been shown to impair the ability of the infant to breastfeed. Because of this, it’s important to be informed about the hospital birthing process before you arrive, have appropriate support while there, and if at all possible, to deliver at a “baby friendly” hospital.
Note: one popular practice is to wrap infants in blankets to soothe them, prevent them from moving and help them get to sleep. While this practice is viewed as safe if done correctly (which it often is not) I am not a fan of swaddling infants as I feel they should be moving, swaddling has repeatedly been linked to doubling the risk of sudden infant death, developmental hip dysplasia, overheating the baby, and not breast feeding—particularly if the infant is swaddled immediately after birth.
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